CS-0110 Introduction to Windows XP Spring 2009

What is Windows XP? Windows XP is an operating system: Software that controls the hardware attached to your computer Uses a graphical user interface (GUI) —graphics or pictures to represent commands and actions <#>

Introduction Windows is the most popular operating system in use today. In this session we will go over some of the basic fundamentals of Windows’ GUI. Most of these will be common or similar to other GUI’s you might come across.

Mouse Pointing Device 3 Buttons (typically) Actions Left, Right, & Middle Actions Click & Double click Click, Drag, & Drop Hover Scrolling

Scrolling Allows one to view a document that doesn’t fit on screen. Ways to scroll: Click on scrollbar Drag scrollbar Arrow Keys Page Up & Down Keys Scrollwheel

Keyboard Primary input method for text. Also used for commands (hotkeys) Key Combos: [Shift] + [4] = “$”

Modifier keys Don’t usually do anything by themselves. Used in combos to execute commands Keys: Shift (Capitals & symbols, Reverse command) Control “Ctrl” (App. Hotkeys) Windows (OS Hotkeys) Alternate “Alt” (Menu Hotkeys)

Navigation keys Used to move around within an application Sometimes used with modifier keys Keys: Arrow keys – move text cursor Home – move to beginning End – move to end Page Up/Down – scroll window

Function keys Keys that perform special commands on their own Windows key – Opens the start Menu Application Key – Opens a context menu Print Screen – Copies the screen to the clipboard F1-F12 – Usually application specific F1 – almost always “help” F2 – Usually rename F3 – Usually “search” or “find” F5 – Usually “refresh”

Desktop What you see when you clear off your desk, or close everything on your computer Where everything is displayed, and where files and shortcuts can be stored

The Desktop <#>

Re-size, Move, and Scroll Windows Windows opens in the same size and shape as it was when last used. Windows can be increased, decreased, or moved. Use scroll bars to display information that extends beyond the screen. <#>

Maximize, Restore, Minimize, and Close Windows Maximize enlarges the window to occupy the entire screen. Restore reduces the window to the size it was before being maximized. Minimize: Reduces the window to a button on the taskbar and removes it from the screen entirely. Click the taskbar button to bring it back into view. <#>

Drives The hard drive (local disk) is identified by C:\ Other drives: A floppy disk drive is identified by (A:). A zip drive uses a removable disk that holds more information than a floppy disk. Flash drives or USB drives or thumb drives plug into a computer Universal Serial Bus (USB) port. <#>

Examples of Drives <#>

Folder / Directory A container to store files in Organized in a hierarchy called a tree The top (or root) of the tree is either the drive the files are on or the desktop

To Create a New Folder <#>

File A set of related data bundled into one package Has a name and an extension that indicates the type of file it is. .txt = text file .jpg = picture file .mp3 = audio file

Folders and Files <#>

Ways to Use Files To manage data files: Copy files from one location to another. Delete files to remove clutter. Archive documents for long-term storage. Make file and folder names more descriptive. <#>

Finding Files and Folders <#>

Finding Files and Folders <#>

Clipboard The windows clipboard is a way to easily store and move text from one application to another Can be used to store: Text Pictures Files And More…

Clipboard Copy – Causes the computer to remember one thing for later Cut – Causes the computer to remember one thing for later and remove it from the current spot Paste – Causes the computer to take what it remembered and place it in the current location

Hotkeys for the Clipboard Useful key combos for executing commands in windows and applications Examples: Ctrl – C, Ctrl – X, & Ctrl – V run the clipboard Alt-F4 closes a program

The Recycle Bin Windows temporarily stores files deleted from your hard drive in a Recycle Bin. To recover deleted files, right-click the file name in the Contents pane and click Restore in the shortcut menu. <#>

Compressing Files Compressing multiple files into a single folder that uses a .zip file extension: Reduces the size of files to send as e-mail attachments. Files can be unzipped for editing using the Extraction Wizard. <#>

Compressed File Results <#>

Office 2007 Requirements 500 MHz processor 256 MB RAM 1.5 Hard Drive Space Windows XP SP2 or higher

Software Services If you don’t own Windows XP, Vista, or Office 2007 and would like to, Pitt’s software services offers them free to Pitt students Website: http://technology.pitt.edu/Students.aspx?mp=3&body=Students/softwareforstudents.html&right=students/softwareforstudentsmenu.html Location: 105 Bellefield Hall open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m

FTP File Transfer Protocol A way to share files on the internet Windows Explorer works with FTP Class Submission Site: ftp://ftp.cs.pitt.edu/incoming/CS0110/cole

Some information in these lectures is influenced by or derived from Shayne Evans, Prof. George Novacky, Dr. Yasir Khalifa, and/or John Knox’s CS-0110 lecture materials. Additional images are obtained from stock.xchng or the Wikipedia Commons under either a royalty-free or GNU license.