this expression means to turn on the computer · web viewarea and two programs open – microsoft...

SeniorNet West Auckland Windows 7 Basics

COMPUTER BASICSfor

WINDOWS 7

Tutor …………………………………………..

Phone …………………………………………..

Revised April 2014

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West Auckland


What to Expect From This Course

Tutors offer their services voluntarily to pass on knowledge and skills they themselves have acquired, often only recently. As they become more experienced they will be better able to discern the levels of help required for individual members. Members are encouraged to help each other. It makes the tutor's task easier and adds greatly to the fun! Practice makes perfect so at least a little bit each day will jog the memory and is good preparation for the next session. This SeniorNet Course manual is not an exhaustive one. People learn in different ways and what is a clear instruction to some may not be so to others. The manual does not claim to be perfect and is subject to periodic revision.Neither tutor nor member has to prove anything to anyone. With patience and appreciation for each other's needs, strengths and limitations; with goodwill and a sense of humour, you will enjoy this course.Windows 7 is a recent Operating System and Windows 8 has just been released. They are similar but always with some advanced features on a new version.

Good Luck and have fun learning.

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Contents What are all these Buttons and Slots Page 4Starting the Computer – Booting Up Page 5Looking at the Start Menu Page 6Notification Area Page 7Practice Using the Mouse Page 8Opening a Program Page 9Opening a Document Page 10Formatting Page 11Shutting Down Page 12Microsoft Word 2007/2010 Page 13Exploring the Word Window Page 14Manipulating Windows Page 15The Open Dialog Box Page 17Navigating through a Document/Short Cut Keys Page 18Simple Formatting Page 19Moving around a Document Page 20Changing the Desktop background Page 21Gadgets Page 22Notes Page 23

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What are all these Buttons and Slots?

There are 3 types of computers the Tower, the Desktop and the Laptop.

On the Tower you can see various buttons and slots.

Your own computer may have the buttons and slots arranged slightly differently and may be different from the Learning Centre computers.

If you have a desktop style computer that is flat and wide instead of tall and thin, you will have the same sorts of disk drives and buttons and lights, but they will be in different positions. If you have a laptop computer, the situation is similar, but laptops tend to vary a lot more.

If you have a Laptop computer all these buttons and slots will be there but in different places. It’s a matter of looking for them.

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DVD/CD Drive

Hard Drive(s) (concealed)

Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port

DVD/CD Drive


Floppy disk drive

Power on/off button

Power on light

Disk activity light

USB Port


Starting the Computer

Booting Up or Powering Up

This expression means to turn on the computer by turning the electric power on and off. What you see first on the screen are words and symbols and numbers which tell you that the computer is loading all the programs that help it to run, such as the Internet Explorer, Email, Recycle bin etc. It will then show you the name of your Operating System (in this case Windows 7) and then your Desktop/Monitor.

Switch on the Power button and watch what appears on the screen.

Shutting Down or Powering Off the ComputerWhen you shut down the computer, the power is normally turned off automatically. Press the

Start Button then Shut Down.

Don’t turn the power off at the wall until the computer is properly shut down.

DVD/CD DriveThis is used to manage computer CDs and DVDs, which look just like music/video disks and can probably be played on your computer. These disks can contain large amounts of information but you need to be careful not to scratch the surface. If the information is saved in a read-only format this means that you can’t change the contents on the disc.

USB PortUSB (Universal Serial Bus) is a way of connecting external devices to your computer. Your computer will probably have several of these connector ports at the front and back. Typical things that are connected to USB ports are digital cameras, flash drives and printers.

Flash DrivesA Flash drive is a small solid-state device that can be used to store data from your computer or load data on. They are small, transportable and convenient. A flash drive can typically hold several billion bytes of data.

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Looking at the Start menu

Click on the start button which brings up the menu to get access to all the programs and functions available on your computer. We will discuss the start button in more detail later.

Some program names will have a black arrow by the side of them. Click the arrow to see a list of the most recently opened documents. You can click on the document name to open the program and the document.

Taskbar: The taskbar runs across the bottom of the screen. It shows the various programs that are currently open on your computer.

The partial view below shows the start button, the quick launch area and two programs open – Microsoft Outlook for email, and Microsoft Word for this manual.

Quick Launch buttons. The icons in this area are also shortcuts, although they don’t display the arrow. A single click on one of these icons will immediately launch a program. You can control what programs appear here. Usually programs that you want to use frequently will be stored in the quick launch area.

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Click the arrow to see the jump list.




























Notification Area

At the right-hand end of the taskbar. It also shows programs that are currently running usually in the background, i.e. they are not immediately visible. At the far right, you can see the current time, and if you hover the mouse over it, you can also see the date.

Although the mouse and mouse pointer is not actually part of the desktop, this is a good point at which to have a look at it and how you use it.

Movement: As you move the mouse around on your (physical) desktop, the cursor moves on the screen. If you move your mouse so that the cursor is over an icon, the icon lights up.

Click: Also known as a left-click. Whenever you see “click on ...” this invariably means a single left-click. A left click normally selects whatever you have clicked on – such as an

icon. However if the cursor is in the shape of a pointing finger a single click will cause the program to start, or transfer you to the location shown by the link.

Double-click: This is two quick clicks on the left mouse button. A double-click will tell Windows to open the program, or perform whatever other action you are requesting. A double-click is different from two single-clicks. If you have problems with the double-click, you can click once to select the item, then press the ENTER key on the keyboard to perform the same action.

You can change how quickly you must click for it to be recognised as a double click. We talk about that later. It is important not to move your mouse while you double-click, or Windows will think you have done two separate clicks.

Right-click: This is a single click with the right side of the mouse button. A right-click will either do nothing, or will open a context menu. A context menu will either tell you things about the item you have clicked on, or give you various options that you can choose from. What you see will be different depending on the item and what you are doing, hence the name context menu. You can select an item from the context menu by moving the mouse and clicking (i.e. left-clicking) on the item.

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Practise using the Mouse

For students who have difficulty in using the Mouse the best way to practice is to play Games - Solitaire, (Patience). To find Solitaire ….

Click on the Start Button , then click on Games in the right hand panel. Double click on Solitaire and ask your Tutor to help you get started.

Click and Drag to move cards around remembering red on black and vice versa Click to turn cards over off the deck Put up Aces and build Suite Stacks

Have a look at the options by clicking on the Game Tab to set New Game, Options and Change Appearance.

Also click on the Help Tab.

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Opening a Program using Word 2007 or if student hasn’t got this use Wordpad

There are significant differences between Windows 7 and earlier versions, introducing the concept called the ribbons. The ribbon is a visual way to present the different options available in a program.

Click on the start button then double click on Wordpad (or single

click and Enter). This will open on your screen. There are two menu tabs. The image above shows the Home tab is selected. It displays various options for formatting text, and inserting text. The other Tab is called ViewOpen a document called Planets off your Flash Drive. Your Tutor will show you how to insert the Flash Drive into the computer and open this document.Follow instructions on next page.

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Menu tabBlinking Cursor – insertion point for text

Sizing buttons

Title Bar


Opening a Document

Open blank word document. On this occasion in Word or WordPad. Click the File/Office button at the top left of the screen. Click on

Open. From the left column of the dialog box click on Computer. Double click on Removable Disk (eg Drive: F ). When using a Flash Drive, a list of all course folders contained on

the drive will appear. Click on SNWA Coursework Course Files Word

2007/2010 Double click on the file called Planets to open it. Zoom screen to 100% if not already done.

Formatting text: To change the appearance of a piece of text you have entered, first you must select it. You can use the ribbon to apply formatting. The font section of the ribbon gives you the various choices for your changes.

In Windows 7 WordPad, this preview is applied directly to the text in the document. As you move the mouse over the fonts and sizes these are previewed directly in the selected text.

This is called a Live Preview and will be covered more as we go through the courses.

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Formatting - here is the original selected text:

Here we have selected a different font:

Here we have selected a different size:

Note that the changes will not actually be applied until you click on the font or size that you want.

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Click the arrow to display the fonts

As you move the mouse over the list, the result is previewed in the text.

Click the arrow to display the sizes

As you move the mouse over the sizes, the result is previewed in the text.

Selected text


Shutting Down – Closing WordPad

You can close the program in two ways.

1 Click the Red cross at the top right hand corner of screen.

2 Or Click File Close

3 Or Click File, Exit if you want to close right out of your program

4 If you want to save your document you must do this before shutting down.

5 If you have altered the text in anyway your computer will ask

Do you want to save – don’t save – or cancel.

6 Documents you open off your Flash Drive are Read-Only which means you can’t save them back to the Flash Drive.

7 You can save them to a Documents file on your computer which will be covered later.

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Microsoft Word 2007/2010

This is taken from the manual for Stage 1 Word Processing the next process after having completed the 3 week W7 Basics course.An alternative to using WordPad

How to startClick the Start button then All Programs and from the list that appears scroll until you find Microsoft Office. Click on this item and select Microsoft Office Word 2007 or 2010.

Alternatively, if there is a shortcut on the desktop to the Word program it will open with a double click or a single click and tap the Enter key.

A new window opens with the title Document 1

Exploring the Word window Manipulating Windows Opening files Navigating through a document Basic formatting Closing

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Exploring the Word windowThe opening window of this latest version of Word might at first seem a little cluttered but as we progress through you will become familiar with most of the features.

Title Bar

This is the bar at the very top of the window. It displays the name of the document you are working on. It also includes the standard Minimize, Restore and Close buttons.

The Ribbon

Across the top of the screen you will see one of the main features of this version of Word. By default, a new document window opens with the Home tab of the Ribbon activated. This is the tab that we will initially use. By clicking on the tabs for Inset, Page Layout etc the other varieties of Ribbons become available to us.

To restore Ribbons if they are not visible, double click on the Home Ribbon.

The Office Button or File Menu

This is the large colourful button at the top left corner of the Word window. Or on 2010 it shows as a blue rectangle with File on it. A click on this will reveal a menu of useful shortcuts together with a list of recently opened files.

Quick Access Toolbar

Just to the right of the Office Button is the Quick Access toolbar. It is a convenient place to store often used Word commands. More items can be added by right clicking a button on an open ribbon and choosing Add to Quick Access Toolbar. Please do not add extra buttons on the club’s computers.

Rulers

A vertical ruler at the left and a horizontal ruler just beneath the ribbon should be shown on the Word page. If not, open the View ribbon and put a tick next to Ruler in the Show/Hide group.

Task Pane

The Task Pane will automatically appear at the right side of the Word screen when needed. It helps complete common tasks.

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Status Bar and Zoom Control

Information and tools for zoom control are at the foot of the screen, right hand side and are self-explanatory.

As we progress through the various lessons the Ribbons and the buttons within them will become more familiar. In the meantime spend a little time opening the various ribbons and without clicking hold the mouse over some of the buttons to see the options available.

Manipulating Windows

Maximize, Restore & Minimize Windows

MaximizeIn order to Maximize (make full screen) an active Window you can either:

Click on the “Maximize” button in the top right corner, or

Double-click on the Title bar, or Click on the appropriate Minimized task

icon in the Taskbar at the bottom of the screen.

Restore

In order to Restore (Intermediate display mode – neither Maximized or Minimized) you can either:

Click on the “Restore” button in the top right corner, or

Double-click on the Title bar Minimize

In order to Minimize the active Window and place it as an icon in the

Taskbar at the bottom of the screen, you:

Click on the “Minimize” button in the top right corner.

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When the window is in the restore display mode (neither maximized, nor minimized) it can be resized and/or moved.

Ensure that the window is in the Restore mode.

Move the pointer up to the top border line. Wriggle it if necessary until it changes into the re-size handle. Drag the borderline up and down by this handle.

Do a similar exercise with the right and left borderlines and resize handle

Move the pointer to the bottom right corner, where the borderlines meet. Wriggle until you see the resize handle. Drag it along and watch the window change shape. To move the Window. Place the mouse pointer in the title bar of Document 1 and drag the document about. Drag and release the mouse button at various positions of the window. Finally, place the window roughly back in its original position again and maximize.

With Word 2007 or 2010 it is recommended that when working with a document the window should be maximized to enable the ribbons to be visible as much as possible.

The “Open” Dialog Box

Dialog boxes provide a means of input by the user to the application that is running (having a dialogue).

Two of the most frequently used dialog boxes are the 'Open' and 'Save As' dialog boxes that allow you as user to tell the computer which file to open, how to navigate to it, or where and under what name to store/save the file you are currently working on.

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It pays to get thoroughly acquainted with these dialog boxes.

At the top left corner of the dialog box are the 2 back & forward arrows. These appear in many windows . The panel next to these shows the name of the folder that contains files listed in the main panel on the right in the Documents Folder. These are listed alphabetically.

A double click on any file will open it. Alternatively a single click will put the file name in the small panel near the foot and then a tap on ENTER on the keyboard will achieve the same result. By default the small panel close to the bottom right reads Save as Type - Word Documents.

Open the document called Planets off your Flash Drive – refer Page 9. Also open document called Speed.

You will now have 2 files opened and their names will appear on the Task Bar at the bottom of the screen. On the Task Bar the currently open active window is shown in a darker (or stronger) colour than any others. Clicking on any of these buttons on the task bar will make that document the active one.

Close the Speed document, click the Office Button and choose Close. Do not click the RED

X at (top right hand corner of screen) as this closes out of the Word program.

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Remember the Undo Button on the Quick Access bar at the top left corner of the window. We all make mistakes as we are working with a document. While working with the following exercises don’t hesitate to use the Undo button.


Navigating through a Document

There are various ways in which the cursor can be repositioned.

1. Place the Cursor somewhere in the middle of a line of text. Use any of the arrow keys to change its position.

2. Tap the Home key and the Cursor moves to the beginning of the line.

3. Tap the End key and the Cursor moves to the end of the line.

Just as holding down the XShift key changes the result of a key press, so does holding down the Ctrl key.

4. Hold the Ctrl key down and tap Home (i.e. Press Ctrl + Home )

and see the C move to the start of the document.Press Ctrl + End and it moves to the very end of the

document.

5. Choose Office Button / Close and if asked to save changes click NO.

Shortcut Keys

The following combination of keys allows actions to be carried out very quickly. We will be using these in the rest of the lessons.

Ctrl A Selects whole document

Ctrl C Copies text

Ctrl X Cuts out text Ctrl V Pastes text to new area

Ctrl N Open new screen Ctrl S Saves textCtrl E Centres text Ctrl B Bolds textCtrl Home Takes cursor to top

of documentCtrl End Takes cursor to

bottom of document

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The Control, Alt and Shift keys (left-hand side of keyboard) are held down and used in conjunction with another key.

There are many more Shortcut Keys that will be covered in later lessons.

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Simple Formatting Click the Office Button and from the

list of recent documents and open Speed.

In the Font section of the Home Ribbon you will notice a very small arrow to the right of the word Font. Click on this arrow and the Font Dialog Box opens.

Click on the Question Mark at the right end of the title bar and a Help window opens.

Click on the Question Mark at the left end of this new window and you will see that it can be minimised thus enabling it to be activated again while you are working on a document.

Close the Help window and leave the Font dialog box open.

Of the 3 panels at the top there are 2 that have scroll bars within them. Whenever there is more information than there is room for, a scroll bar is automatically included.In some smaller panels a reveal arrow ▼ is used for the same purpose. To change the formatting within a document the wording to be changed must be highlighted first.

Close the Font Dialog box and then highlight the complete document. The easiest way to do this, especially for a large document, is to use the Select All command or Control A.

In the Editing group of commands at the right end of the Home Ribbon click on Select then from the menu that appears click on Select All.

Open the Font Dialog Box again.In the Font panel choose any style you like (remember the scroll bar)Make sure you try Webdings and the 3 Wingdings fonts.Alter the Style and the Size if you wish.

Click OK and you are returned to your document. With your tutor’s help try some of the other options in this dialog

box. More exercises using different methods of formatting are to follow in

other lessons. If time permits open Roses and experiment further. Finally, close the documents and when asked if you want to save

changes click No

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Moving around a Document

Practice moving through the document using this Navigation Table

Function Key Strokes Alternative using Mouse

Character at a time Right or Left Arrow

Move Mouse and click

Line at a time Up or Down Arrow

Move Mouse and click

Beginning of a line Home Key Move Mouse and click

End of Line End Key Move Mouse and click

Beginning of Document Ctrl Home Point and drag vertical scroll box up

End of Document Ctrl End Point and drag vertical scroll box up

Word to Right Ctrl Move Mouse and click

Word to Left Ctrl Move Mouse and click

Up one paragraph Ctrl Move Mouse and click

Down one paragraph Ctrl Move Mouse and click

Top of current screen Ctrl Page Up Move Mouse and click

Start of Next Page Ctrl Page Down Move Mouse and click

Control )Alt ) these keys are always used in conjunction with another keyShift )

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Change the desktop background

In Windows 7, to change your desktop background, Right Click on the desktop and when the drop down menu appears, Click on Personalise. The Window below opens; pass your cursor over the choices to see the effects that you can get, try for yourself.

At home you can also use your photos and put these on the Desktop. You can learn more about this by doing the Digital Camera course at a later date.

Please return the Learning Centre Computers back to their original Desktop pattern before switching off.

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GadgetsAnother useful tool is the Sidebar, Right Click on the desktop and in the context menu Click, “Add Gadgets “the Gadgets Gallery window will open,

Choose a gadget by double clicking on the Icon, or dragging it to the Right Side of the desktop. You may add more than one.

To remove a Gadget right click on the gadget you have just put there, and click “Close Gadget” and it will disappear.

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Next CourseWould you like to enrol for the next Course while you are here? The course is Word Processing Stage 1 to give a basic understanding of how the computer operates. This is the criteria before being able to graduate on to any of our other courses

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