Installing Windows
Installing MS Windows OS is simple since the process is GUI-based. However, you need to keep installing CD so that you can be able to reinstall or recover your PC when you are forced to format (erase) your hard drive. If a PC is attacked by viruses and the antivirus software failed to work, then you can format the hard drive and reinstall OS and application programs.
Make sure you keep a system restoration CD for easy recovery. The system restoration CD is not an upgrade CD.
Most of the major computer vendors provide a system restoration CD along with their computers. However, remember to take backups of important data files by saving them in CD, DVD, external hard disks, or flash disks.
Version of Microsoft Window
MS Windows Operating Systems come in several versions. Newer versions of OS offer more advantages, so make sure you have the latest version.
Some of the MS Windows versions include Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows 7, and Windows 10.
MS-WINDOWS Versions
MS Windows OS are graphics-based, offer easy access to files and a user-friendly interface. All files and folders appear as icons on the Desktop. Desktop is the empty space on your screen when all windows are closed, showing My Computer, Recycle Bin, and several program shortcuts.
Common Features of MS-WINDOWS
All MS Windows OS consists of the common features such as Logoff (log off the current user), Turn Off Computer (shutdown, restart and standby), All Programs (access to installed programs), Run (used to manually start executable files/programs), Search, Help and Support, Desktop, My Computer, Recycle bin, My Document, Control Panel.
Starting and Stopping MS Window
To start and stop the computer can be done by pressing the start button key or by clicking the start icon. By clicking on the Turn Off Computer option on the start menu you will see a dialogue box, below is a summary of the options available:
Turn Off ComputerStandby:This will put your computer into standby mode, basically it will power down components like the monitor and hard drive to preserve energy.
Turn Off: Shuts down the PC, always use this option to turn
off your PC.
Restart:This will restart the computer.
Default Folders
Some of the important default folders in any MS Windows OS are My Computer, My Pictures, My Recent Documents, My Documents, and Recycle Bin. My Computer gives you access to the computer's disk drives and files. The common disk drives are drive A, drive B, drive C, drive D, drive E, etc. The (A:) and (B:) drives are reserved for a floppy drives. The (C:) drive is the hard disk drive. This drive is non-removable. The (D:) drive is usually the CD-ROM drive. Sometimes it is the (E:) drive. The drives (F, G, H, etc) are reserved for flash disks.
My Pictures folder links to other folders to access and store any pictures or images on your hard drive. My Recent Documents folder contains any recently viewed documents. My Documents folder gives access to a folder that is used (by default) to store any documents on your hard drive. The Recycle Bin folder is used to temporarily delete files and folders from the hard drive. Recycle Bin allows you to restore the file in case you deleted it by mistake. This is called a soft delete since files can be recovered or restored from their original locations.
Windows Desktop
The Windows Desktop is the working area (background) of the Windows display on your computer. Desktop refers to the main background area when all windows are minimized. A desktop can be customized by adding background pictures, changing the background color, changing the size of the icons, and more.
Windows DesktopIcons
Icons are small graphical images that can represent your computer's programs, files, folders, and printers amongst other things. To activate the program/file/folder, double click the icon that represents it using a left mouse button. The icons can be renamed, selected, and deleted by right-clicking and selecting action. An icon is a little picture that represents a program, command, or file. For instance, the My Computer icon looks like a small computer. Icons that have a small white arrow in the lower-left corner are Shortcuts. The arrow indicates that the icon is a shortcut that points to a program, folder, or another item. A shortcut is a quick way to open a program or file.
Windows can automatically align and sort your desktop icons to keep the desktop tidy by right click the mouse button anywhere on the desktop. When a menu appears, hover the mouse pointer over Arrange Icons By and a submenu will appear, then you can sort your desktop icons by name, size, type, and last modified date. By selecting the Auto Arrange option will automatically align your desktop icons every time you add one to the desktop. The Desktop Cleanup Wizard will remove any desktop shortcuts that have never been used to a new folder on your desktop called Unused Desktop Shortcuts.
The Taskbar is used to switch between any open programs or documents. The Window Clock sits on the taskbar and displays the system time, hovering the mouse pointer over the clock will reveal the date. A pointer is an arrow you use to choose things on the screen. Since the Shortcut is simply a pointer to a specific program or file, you can delete the shortcut or remove it from the Desktop without actually deleting the program or file.
Programme icons
Working with Windows
Windows can be opened, minimized, maximized, and closed. Also, Windows can be moved and resized. Any opened Window is displayed on the Desktop. To open a window displaying a program, start the program. Also, too many windows can be opened.
When you put the pointer on any of the window's borders, the
mouse pointer turns into a two-headed arrow. Then you can drag the border to
change the size of the window. Use the Minimize and Maximize buttons that are
located in the upper right corner of every window to minimize Window instead of
quitting the program entirely. The title of the program you minimized now
appears as a button on the taskbar. To maximize or open the window again, click
on the button.
Taskbar Overview
The figure above shows a typical Windows Taskbar. The areas of interest include the Start Button (provides access to start menu for programs, settings, printers, etc); Taskbar (horizontal bar along the bottom of the Desktop showing programs that are running); Window Tabs (used to switch between any open windows such as programs, folders, documents, etc); System Tray (displays icons for programs that are loaded into memory).
Windows Explorer
An integral part of using your PC is file management where at some point you will want to make a new folder or delete a file. Windows Explorer is basically the same environment as My Computer except it has a folders list shown by default (which can be turned on anyway in the My computer environment, making them exactly the same), so all of the tasks in this section can be achieved using either Windows Explorer or the My Computer environment. There are a few ways to open Windows Explorer, here are four different methods:
Method 1: Click on the START button, hover your mouse over
the All Programs (or programs in classic view) and then hover over Accessories,
finally click on Windows Explorer.
Method 2: Hold down the START button and press the E key.
Method 3: Click the START button, click Run, type explorer into the box, and
press enter.
Method 4: Open My Computer and click on the Folders button
at the top of the My Computer environment.
Whichever method you choose to use has the same results.
My Computer Window
You can see Windows Explorer is split into two parts, the left-hand side which is called the folders list (A), and the right-hand side (B) which is where you will be managing your files and folders. On the folders list, you may have noticed the small plus sign (+) next to some of the icons, these indicate that the drive/folder has more folders inside it. The file system of your PC is organized in a hierarchical way.
Folder Hierarchy
The Disk or Device is the upper hierarchical level and is known as the root. Notice how the folders are organized, this type of structure can facilitate a very organized PC. In the following below example, the disk or device is Local Disk (C:).
