Windows Operating System and its Built-in Facilities Lab 03 Windows Operating System and its Built-in Facilities

Objectives What is an Operating System? Various types of Operating Systems Built-in features of Microsoft Windows

Operating System A program that acts as an intermediary between a user of a computer and the computer hardware. Operating system goals: Execute user programs and make solving user problems easier. Make the computer system convenient to use. Use the computer hardware in an efficient manner.

Types of Operating Systems Single user/Single tasking OS Single user/Multitasking OS Multi user/Multitasking OS

Multi user/Multi tasking OS

Graphical User Interface Graphical user interface (GUI) Most common interface Uses a mouse to control objects Shortcuts open programs or documents Open documents have additional objects Task switching Dialog boxes allow directed input Insider information The first commercial GUI was the Xerox Star. Teaching Tip There are several types of dialog boxes. Any errors are displayed in a dialog box. This box is system modal - it requires a response before returning to the OS. Save and print boxes are application modal - The box must be dealt with before returning to the application. However, other OS tasks can be performed.

Graphical User Interface

Command Line Interface Command line interfaces Older interface DOS, Linux, UNIX User types commands at a prompt User must remember all commands Included in all GUIs Teaching tip Demonstrate the command line interface in Windows by running cmd. In the command line interface use ping and ipconfig as commands that cannot be run in the GUI.

Command Line Interface

Different Operating Systems Windows Linux Mac OS Solaris Red Hat Linux Java Ubuntu Fedora

Windows Developed by Microsoft Windows is a GUI (Graphical User Interface) Almost all applications and games are compatible Available in different flavors As of July 2009, Windows had approximately 93% of the market share of the client operating systems for usage on the Internet

Starting your computer To start your computer just turn on the power switch or power bar. The computer will take a few minutes to go through its initialization procedure and might ask you to enter password. If computer was shut improperly, you may see a screen saying Windows would like to check your files for errors.

Shutting down your computer Windows is very demanding about being shut down properly (do not just shut the power off). Move your cursor to “start” button and click on “Turn Off Computer”. Choose the option you wish. WAIT (Windows will go through an elaborate process of making sure all programs are shut down. )

Restarting your computer Sometimes your computer will start doing funny things or your mouse will stop working etc. Try ALT + CTL + DELETE If you see a program is not responding, you can try to highlight that program and press the “End Task” button. If nothing happens try to restart your computer. You might need to do a hard reset in worst cases.

Mouse Pointing device that moves pointer or cursor Point and click (tip of the arrow is the point) Left and right buttons Start programs - 1 click vs 2 clicks Highlight text (click and drag) Practice makes perfect

Common Cursor Types

Scrolling Pages Mouse Click on up and down arrows or Click on up and down keys in the scroll bar Click and drag the small box appearing in scroll bar Keyboard (make sure cursor is on page by clicking on empty space) Use arrow keys Use page up, page down, home and end

Opening Programs If on desktop as icon, double click on icon. You may use “Enter” as well. Click on “Start” button, move cursor up to “All Programs”. After menu on the right appears move cursor over to menu and up or down to required program. Click on program

Closing Programs Click on the X icon in the top right hand corner of the window . Right click on program from taskbar and choose "Quit” or “Exit” or “Close”. Hold down the Alt key and press F4.

Title bar Menu bar Tool bar Format bar Status bar

Using Menu Bars All Windows programs have a menu bar and everything you can do with that program will be available from one of the drop-down menus Place tip of the cursor on the word in Menu bar and click. Move cursor down drop-down menu to action you want to perform and click. If item has an arrow pointing to the right move cursor to the right to see the submenu.

Menu items common to most Windows programs File (includes New file, open file, save and print functions) Edit (includes Find and Cut, Copy and Paste) View (allows you to change the look of screen by adding and subtracting bars like tool bar) Tools (most programs but program specific) Window (allows you arrange windows and choose between different files) Help used to give help in program’s functions and gives version no. for troubleshooting purposes

Using Tool Bars Icons which represent frequently used actions Place tip of cursor in middle of icon and click Opening files, printing, and saving files are common in tool bars If you do not know what an icon signifies, move cursor over the icon and wait for a couple of seconds and a brief description will appear.

Handling files Organized hierarchy My Documents (equivalent of filing cabinet) Folders (drawers) (eg. House related items) Subfolders (folders within drawer) Documents (papers within folders) Organization

Windows Explorer Open by right clicking on “Start” button or going to start -> All Programs -> Accessories Left-hand pane is hierarchical organization of your computer (includes folders only, no files) + means subfolders are available under heading - means all folders have been displayed Right-hand pane lists all folder or files of the highlighted folder

Saving Files Saving files for first time is “Save as” “Save” will save previously saved item in same place as before wiping out original When saving a file always remember to check that “Save in” box is correct Failure to change to correct folder can make it difficult to find file when needed

Opening Files Put cursor on word “File” in file menu and click. Move down the drop-down menu to “Open” and click If you do not get the Dialog box with the “Look in” box in it, click on the box labeled “Browse” You can also open a file by finding it in Windows Explorer and double clicking on it

Deleting Files Highlight the file you want to delete and press the delete key. Right click on the file and select “Delete”. Drag the file to the recycle bin.

Creating Shortcuts A shortcut is a pointer to a file or program on your hard drive. A shortcut can be identified by an arrow in the icon. Shortcuts can be deleted without deleting the original program. Using Windows Explorer.

Hard Drive Maintenance Monthly scan of your hard drive Checks your drive for bad segments and marks them so that hard drive does not try to save things there Monthly or semi-annual defragmentation Checks to make different parts of same file are not stored in different places on hard drive (happens when files are resaved many times) in order to improve performance of hard drive

Control Panel Add Hardware Add or Remove Programs Date and Time Display Folder Options Keyboard Mouse Printers and Faxes Regional and Language Settings Sounds and Audio Devices System Taskbar and Start Menu User Accounts

Help Primary source of information about Windows. Index tab can be used for detailed information on specific topics. You can find information about printing a document by searching keyword “printing” and selecting “documents”. Then click “Display” to see search results.

Search Used for searching files and folders in your drives. You can specify file name, file type and drive(s) to search. Search results are displayed on the right side.

Recycle Bin Deleted files and folders are temporarily stored in Recycle Bin. You can retrieve the file or delete it permanently from Recycle Bin. To retrieve, open Recycle Bin. Right click on the icon you want to retrieve and select “Restore”. To permanently delete file or folder, use “Empty Recycle Bin” option.

Task Manager Provides detailed information about computer performance, running applications, processes, CPU usage, memory information, logged-in users, and system services etc. Can be used to set process priorities, forcibly terminate processes, shut down, restart, hibernate and log off from Windows. Pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del or Ctrl+Shift+Esc directly launches Task Manager. You can also start “taskmgr.exe” from command prompt.

Further Study History of Microsoft Windows http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Microsoft_Windows Learning Windows XP http://www.learnthat.com/courses/computer/windowsxp/ Windows Help http://www.helpwithwindows.com/