The Desktop and Start Menu Part 1 The Desktop and Start Menu This lesson will cover: • Logging on to the system... • The.
Download ReportTranscript The Desktop and Start Menu Part 1 The Desktop and Start Menu This lesson will cover: • Logging on to the system... • The.
Slide 1
The Desktop and Start Menu
Part 1
1
Slide 2
The Desktop and Start Menu
This lesson will cover:
• Logging on to the system...
• The Windows Desktop
• The Taskbar
• Changing Desktop Properties
• Desktop shortcuts
• The Start Menu
• Exiting Windows
• The Windows XP Task Manager
…and other selected lessons from Chapter 5….
2
Slide 3
Logging on to the system
The act of running a computer under a specific user account
is called being “logged on.” To gain access to a Windows
XP computer you must have a user account.
This account defines who you are
and what you can do on the
network. Privileges to perform
specific tasks on a computer are
called rights or permissions.
Users have various degrees of
permissions depending on their
needs. The account with the most
permissions is called
administrator.
3
Slide 4
Logging on to the system
You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of
the Administrators group to perform certain functions,
such as installing programs or modifying system wide
settings. However, network policy settings may prevent
you from completing tasks even if you appear to have
sufficient rights and are a member of the Administrators
group. Varying the degree of access to the system (or
permissions) is one of the main ways system
administrators secure a network.
4
Slide 5
Logging on to the system
If you are using a PC that is not connected to a network,
Windows XP still employs user accounts, and therefore
requires users to log on. If there is only one user account
then it will automatically be logged on when the PC starts.
By default a standalone (non-networked) PC will display
the XP “Welcome” screen as shown in the next slide.
From there you select the account (or user name) that you
want to log on as, enter the user’s password and you are
logged on as that user.
5
Slide 6
The XP Logon screen…
Accounts (or Users)
6
Slide 7
The Desktop and Start Menu
The Windows XP desktop is the main interface to your PC.
From it you can access your program and data files, and the
tools to manage your system as a whole. The Windows
desktop is the first thing you see after you log on to the
computer. On it are located the Start Menu and Taskbar,
two of the most basic and essential tools Windows provides
you.
Because the desktop can be changed to suit your tastes,
some of these slides may not reflect your specific
configuration of Windows XP.
7
Slide 8
This desktop is using the Background called “Bliss”, it
is the default background installed by Windows XP.
Desktop Shortcuts
The Taskbar
The XP Desktop…
8
Slide 9
My Documents
My Computer
My Network Places
Recycle Bin
Quick Launch bar
Start Button
Minimized windows
System clock
9
Slide 10
Managing the Taskbar
The XP Taskbar provides you access to many functions and
tools of the operating system. In some ways it is like a
digital dashboard...
Since the Taskbar contains many features you will use on a
daily basis, it is important that it be configured to fit your
needs.
10
Slide 11
Managing the Taskbar
To Modify and Configure the Taskbar:
Right click on any “empty” area of the Taskbar, then from the pop-up
(shortcut) menu that appears, select the Properties command,
The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box opens, as shown in
the following slide. This dialog box allows you to modify several
taskbar settings. Among them are:
• Lock the Taskbar – locks or unlocks the Taskbar size and position
• Auto-Hide the Taskbar – hides the Taskbar when windows are open on
the desktop or the mouse pointer is not over it.
• Keep the Taskbar on top - this setting keeps the Taskbar always visible.
This is the default setting.
• Show Quick Launch – displays the Quick Launch bar. This setting can
be changed from the Taskbar shortcut menu.
• Show the Clock – shows or hides a clock on the Taskbar.
• Customize button – configures the Taskbar’s Notification Area.
11
Slide 12
Taskbar tab
The Taskbar Shortcut menu
Taskbar Properties
Command
12
Slide 13
The Quick Launch bar
The Quick Launch bar is a portion of the Taskbar that displays
program shortcuts. This is a good place to put shortcuts to
your most often used programs. Many applications try to add
their icons here when they are installed. Keeping a careful eye
on the installation process will prevent a “cluttered” Quick
Launch bar. The previous slide shows a Quick Launch bar
with two program shortcuts, Windows Media and Internet
Explorer, and the Show Desktop icon displayed on it.
Icons and shortcuts on the Quick Launch bar act like any
others, and can be added or deleted as you desire.
13
Slide 14
The Notification Area
The Notification Area is a portion of the Taskbar usually
located at the far right side (if the Taskbar is docked at the sides
of the desktop it will be at the bottom). The Notification Area
is where the system clock is displayed (if configured to show).
The purpose of this section of the Taskbar is to display
shortcuts to important programs that are currently running, like
anti-virus software, and to notify you of special events that
occur. Events that could be displayed here are incoming e-mail,
printing a document or when the Task Manager is open.
Collapse or Expand button
14
Slide 15
Display Properties
The XP desktop can be configured in many ways to suit your needs and
your tastes. For example your can change your background or general
Windows color scheme, the resolution of your monitor or add or change
a screen saver. The Display Properties dialog box provides many such
settings.
Desktop Themes
The new look of Windows as introduced with Windows XP is an
example of desktop themes. A desktop theme is a predefined set of
colors, backgrounds, sounds, fonts and other window elements that have
been configured and saved as a theme. This way you can apply one
theme that will change the entire look and feel of the Windows interface.
15
Slide 16
To open the Display Properties dialog box, right click
anywhere on the Desktop to display the shortcut menu
and select the Properties command...
16
Slide 17
The Display Properties “Themes” tab
Click the “Desktop” tab...
17
Slide 18
...to show the Display Properties “Desktop” tab
18
Slide 19
Desktop Properties tab
Select the desktop
background you want to
use here…
See a preview of the
background here…
More settings are
available by clicking
this button…
19
Slide 20
Display Properties
Select the theme
you want to use
here…
See a preview of the
selected theme
here…
20
Slide 21
Settings Properties
Change your
screen resolution
here…
... You can manage the way your computer’s video system
works from the Settings tab…even by controlling 2 monitors to
work as one desktop
21
Slide 22
The Start Menu…
The Start Menu provides easy access to your programs and
data files and important system tools (such as the Search tool
and the Control Panel). It is available by clicking the Start
button or by using the Control + Escape (Ctrl+Esc) shortcut
key sequence.
Because the Taskbar (and therefore the Start button) can be
moved to any border of your screen, the Start menu can appear
in different locations. It will always be, however, next to the
Start button when opened.
22
Slide 23
The Start Menu
The user that is currently logged on.
Start Menu items:
Pinned items list
Most frequently used programs list
Desktop Icons (My Computer, etc.)
System Settings (Control Panel, Network,
and Printers)
Help and Support
Search (Known as Find in Windows 98)
Run…
All Programs
Log Off and Turn Off Computer
23
Slide 24
All Programs…
The All Programs menu item is nothing more than a shortcut to
a menu of commands that launch applications. Some of the
menu items do link to files, however these files are opened by
running an associated program. Such a case would be a menu
item for a program’s help file or an MS Word document.
Two ways to run a program:
1. Use the mouse to move through the hierarchy of the menus
2. Use keyboard shortcuts to navigate the menu
1. Crtl+Esc to open the Start Menu
2. Arrow keys to move through the sub-menus
3. Pressing the Enter key runs the menu command
24
Slide 25
Sub-Menus
The All Programs menu…
25
Slide 26
My Recent Documents…
The My Recent Documents menu contains a listing of
shortcuts to documents and other files that were previously
opened on the system. Using this menu can save time by
making recently used, or frequently used data files easily
accessible. The list can be cleared by clicking a button on the
“Advanced” tab of the Customize Start Menu dialog found on
the Start Menu Properties.
The Start Menu also includes a link to the My Documents
folder giving easy access to files stored there.
26
Slide 27
My Recent Documents menu…
Link to the My Documents folder
Document types:
PowerPoint files
Media File (MP3)
Document types:
Word files
Paint file (bitmap)
27
Slide 28
Settings…
The Settings menu items are the gateway to the most often used
methods for changing or configuring the system. These menu
items can include (depending on how you installed your system)
the following items:
1. Control Panel
2. Network Connections (or Connect to...)
3. Printers and Faxes
These tools for modifying or configuring the system use two
methods, wizards and applets. A wizard is a step by step
process that guides the user in a given procedure, such as
adding a new printer. An applet is a small program whose only
purpose is to perform a narrow process such as the Add/Remove
Programs tool found in the Control Panel.
28
Slide 29
Opening menus…
If there isn’t an arrow to the right of the menu
item you must click on it (or press the enter key) to
“expand” the sub-menu. If the arrow is present it
may expand on its own with the mouse cursor over
it…if you’re using the keyboard you will still need
to press enter. This behavior can be changed in the
Taskbar & Start Menu settings.
...as usual hovering your mouse pointer over
an item displays “tooltip” or “screentip” help
29
Slide 30
Displayed as a “Menu” versus as a “Link”…
The Control Panel menu
item here is being displayed
as a “menu”…it is really
just a sub-menu.
30
Slide 31
Displayed as a “Link” versus as a “Menu”…
The Control Panel menu item here is
being displayed as a “link”…it must
be clicked to open the Control Panel
window. This window contains icons
that represent the same menu items as
shown on the previous slide.
31
Slide 32
Search…
Although the XP Search tool is used by most people for
finding files and folders on their computer, it can be used to
find many other things. For instance, you can search for
computers or other users on your network, contacts from
your Windows address book, information from the Internet
and help or support information from your local help system
or directly from Microsoft’s Web site all from this single
interface.
To open the Search tool click on the Search menu item on
the Start Menu...
32
Slide 33
Search…
To find a file or folder located on your computer (see the
following slide):
• From the left pane select All Files and Folders.
• Enter all are part of the filename
• Then enter the location to look in, such as your C drive, your
floppy drive, or a specific folder like My Documents.
You can also enter other conditions to limited or aid in your
search, such as:
• any text (a word or phrase) that may be found within the
file
• the date the file was last modified
• the size of the file
• or other advanced options
33
Slide 34
Search…
Select a type of Search:
Pictures, Music, or Videos
Documents
For Files or Folders
Computers or People
Information in Help and Support
You can also search the Internet...
34
Slide 35
Enter a file or folder name here…
Enter a keyword that may be in
the file or folder, this is optional…
Enter a drive or drives to look in…
Add additional restrictions to the search…
Finally press the Search Now button.
35
Slide 36
If you double click one of the entries that file will open if it can.
The “found” items, in this case all files ending with the file extension
doc located on the C: drive, are displayed in the right pane.
36
Slide 37
You can also choose to views the results in detail, thumbnail or tiled view.
37
Slide 38
Search…
Searching for a file, a folder or some other item that you don’t
exactly know how to spell is made simpler by the use of
wildcards. A wildcard is a character that represents one unknown
character or a set of characters. Wildcards can be used anywhere
within the file, folder or word being searched.
The Windows XP Search tools make use of 2 different wildcards:
? - replaces a single character, for example:
wind? – could mean windy
* - replaces a set of characters , for example:
wind* – could mean windy, windward or windows
The wildcards can be used in any position, for example:
Wind*.* - could mean window.html or winword.doc
38
Slide 39
The Help and Support Center
XP presents a completely new interface to the Windows help
system. It is based on the language of the World Wide Web,
HTML, so viewing the help topics is like browsing a
Website.
The Help and Support Center window looks and behaves
like a Web browser with the most frequently used help
topics displayed on a “home page”. In fact, that is what
Microsoft calls the start page of the Help center, the Help
home page.
39
Slide 40
The Help and Support Center
The XP help window is like a Web browser in the following ways:
• When you select a topic, it is displayed in the window like a Web
page with hyperlinks to other related subjects.
• There is a Back, Forward and Home button to move through the
help topics you have already viewed and return you to your starting
point
• You can save help topics as Favorites, which are actually
bookmarks to help topics you may need to view again.
• A history of your search through the help system is saved to assist
you in returning to topics you did not add to your Favorites.
• The Home button takes you back to the main menu
• Did you know? This section features different selected help topics
(called headlines) for you to view each time you open the Help and
Support Center
40
Slide 41
Search for words or phrases
Get help from an
outside source such
as an Internet
newsgroup
Windows update
System
Restore
Undoes
changes
you’ve made
to your PC
Commonly used
help topics
The XP Help and Support Center
41
Slide 42
The Run command…
The Run command is one of the many ways to run a program or
open a document. Although it is used primarily for running
text-based commands or programs like dir, format, ping or
tracert, it can be used to start any Windows program.
To run a program using the Run command simply enter the
command to start the program, typically the name of the
executable file, and then press the OK key. Most of the
programs that come with Windows XP can be run by entering
just the filename; the others will need to have the full path
entered. The path is the complete filename including its
location, for example the path of WordPad is:
c:\program files\windows nt\accessories\wordpad.exe
42
Slide 43
Using the Run command…
When you click on the Run command menu item, this simple
window opens…
Enter a command
here…such as “Wordpad”
To find the Full Path of a file, or just
locate it, use the browse button…
43
Slide 44
After pressing the OK button the file, wordpad.exe, will run. The
full filename or path was not necessary as this is a program that
was supplied and installed by Windows XP. The operating
system knows where it is located.
44
Slide 45
The Run command…
The real value of the Run command is the ability to run textbased command line utilities outside of the GUI. To do this
you must start a new instance of the Windows XP command
interpreter, cmd.exe.
The Command Interpreter, also known as the Command
Processor, is a program that displays a prompt, accepts
keyboard input and executes the commands. Commands such
as dir, format or ping can be executed in this manner.
For example, to run the tracert program you do the following:
45
Slide 46
Using the Command Prompt…
After clicking the Run menu item, you enter the command,
“cmd”, in the window. Again, you do not need to enter the
path or full filename for this program as Windows knows
where it is located.
46
Slide 47
At the command prompt enter “tracert” and an internet address,
then press the enter key. Here www.oracle.com is used.
47
Slide 48
Tracert is a program that does its best to show you what route
an internet packet is taking. Although it is not always a
complete listing, it does show you that it usually is not a very
direct path. To close the command processor window type
“exit” and press enter.
48
Slide 49
The Desktop and Start Menu
End of Part 1….
49
The Desktop and Start Menu
Part 1
1
Slide 2
The Desktop and Start Menu
This lesson will cover:
• Logging on to the system...
• The Windows Desktop
• The Taskbar
• Changing Desktop Properties
• Desktop shortcuts
• The Start Menu
• Exiting Windows
• The Windows XP Task Manager
…and other selected lessons from Chapter 5….
2
Slide 3
Logging on to the system
The act of running a computer under a specific user account
is called being “logged on.” To gain access to a Windows
XP computer you must have a user account.
This account defines who you are
and what you can do on the
network. Privileges to perform
specific tasks on a computer are
called rights or permissions.
Users have various degrees of
permissions depending on their
needs. The account with the most
permissions is called
administrator.
3
Slide 4
Logging on to the system
You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of
the Administrators group to perform certain functions,
such as installing programs or modifying system wide
settings. However, network policy settings may prevent
you from completing tasks even if you appear to have
sufficient rights and are a member of the Administrators
group. Varying the degree of access to the system (or
permissions) is one of the main ways system
administrators secure a network.
4
Slide 5
Logging on to the system
If you are using a PC that is not connected to a network,
Windows XP still employs user accounts, and therefore
requires users to log on. If there is only one user account
then it will automatically be logged on when the PC starts.
By default a standalone (non-networked) PC will display
the XP “Welcome” screen as shown in the next slide.
From there you select the account (or user name) that you
want to log on as, enter the user’s password and you are
logged on as that user.
5
Slide 6
The XP Logon screen…
Accounts (or Users)
6
Slide 7
The Desktop and Start Menu
The Windows XP desktop is the main interface to your PC.
From it you can access your program and data files, and the
tools to manage your system as a whole. The Windows
desktop is the first thing you see after you log on to the
computer. On it are located the Start Menu and Taskbar,
two of the most basic and essential tools Windows provides
you.
Because the desktop can be changed to suit your tastes,
some of these slides may not reflect your specific
configuration of Windows XP.
7
Slide 8
This desktop is using the Background called “Bliss”, it
is the default background installed by Windows XP.
Desktop Shortcuts
The Taskbar
The XP Desktop…
8
Slide 9
My Documents
My Computer
My Network Places
Recycle Bin
Quick Launch bar
Start Button
Minimized windows
System clock
9
Slide 10
Managing the Taskbar
The XP Taskbar provides you access to many functions and
tools of the operating system. In some ways it is like a
digital dashboard...
Since the Taskbar contains many features you will use on a
daily basis, it is important that it be configured to fit your
needs.
10
Slide 11
Managing the Taskbar
To Modify and Configure the Taskbar:
Right click on any “empty” area of the Taskbar, then from the pop-up
(shortcut) menu that appears, select the Properties command,
The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box opens, as shown in
the following slide. This dialog box allows you to modify several
taskbar settings. Among them are:
• Lock the Taskbar – locks or unlocks the Taskbar size and position
• Auto-Hide the Taskbar – hides the Taskbar when windows are open on
the desktop or the mouse pointer is not over it.
• Keep the Taskbar on top - this setting keeps the Taskbar always visible.
This is the default setting.
• Show Quick Launch – displays the Quick Launch bar. This setting can
be changed from the Taskbar shortcut menu.
• Show the Clock – shows or hides a clock on the Taskbar.
• Customize button – configures the Taskbar’s Notification Area.
11
Slide 12
Taskbar tab
The Taskbar Shortcut menu
Taskbar Properties
Command
12
Slide 13
The Quick Launch bar
The Quick Launch bar is a portion of the Taskbar that displays
program shortcuts. This is a good place to put shortcuts to
your most often used programs. Many applications try to add
their icons here when they are installed. Keeping a careful eye
on the installation process will prevent a “cluttered” Quick
Launch bar. The previous slide shows a Quick Launch bar
with two program shortcuts, Windows Media and Internet
Explorer, and the Show Desktop icon displayed on it.
Icons and shortcuts on the Quick Launch bar act like any
others, and can be added or deleted as you desire.
13
Slide 14
The Notification Area
The Notification Area is a portion of the Taskbar usually
located at the far right side (if the Taskbar is docked at the sides
of the desktop it will be at the bottom). The Notification Area
is where the system clock is displayed (if configured to show).
The purpose of this section of the Taskbar is to display
shortcuts to important programs that are currently running, like
anti-virus software, and to notify you of special events that
occur. Events that could be displayed here are incoming e-mail,
printing a document or when the Task Manager is open.
Collapse or Expand button
14
Slide 15
Display Properties
The XP desktop can be configured in many ways to suit your needs and
your tastes. For example your can change your background or general
Windows color scheme, the resolution of your monitor or add or change
a screen saver. The Display Properties dialog box provides many such
settings.
Desktop Themes
The new look of Windows as introduced with Windows XP is an
example of desktop themes. A desktop theme is a predefined set of
colors, backgrounds, sounds, fonts and other window elements that have
been configured and saved as a theme. This way you can apply one
theme that will change the entire look and feel of the Windows interface.
15
Slide 16
To open the Display Properties dialog box, right click
anywhere on the Desktop to display the shortcut menu
and select the Properties command...
16
Slide 17
The Display Properties “Themes” tab
Click the “Desktop” tab...
17
Slide 18
...to show the Display Properties “Desktop” tab
18
Slide 19
Desktop Properties tab
Select the desktop
background you want to
use here…
See a preview of the
background here…
More settings are
available by clicking
this button…
19
Slide 20
Display Properties
Select the theme
you want to use
here…
See a preview of the
selected theme
here…
20
Slide 21
Settings Properties
Change your
screen resolution
here…
... You can manage the way your computer’s video system
works from the Settings tab…even by controlling 2 monitors to
work as one desktop
21
Slide 22
The Start Menu…
The Start Menu provides easy access to your programs and
data files and important system tools (such as the Search tool
and the Control Panel). It is available by clicking the Start
button or by using the Control + Escape (Ctrl+Esc) shortcut
key sequence.
Because the Taskbar (and therefore the Start button) can be
moved to any border of your screen, the Start menu can appear
in different locations. It will always be, however, next to the
Start button when opened.
22
Slide 23
The Start Menu
The user that is currently logged on.
Start Menu items:
Pinned items list
Most frequently used programs list
Desktop Icons (My Computer, etc.)
System Settings (Control Panel, Network,
and Printers)
Help and Support
Search (Known as Find in Windows 98)
Run…
All Programs
Log Off and Turn Off Computer
23
Slide 24
All Programs…
The All Programs menu item is nothing more than a shortcut to
a menu of commands that launch applications. Some of the
menu items do link to files, however these files are opened by
running an associated program. Such a case would be a menu
item for a program’s help file or an MS Word document.
Two ways to run a program:
1. Use the mouse to move through the hierarchy of the menus
2. Use keyboard shortcuts to navigate the menu
1. Crtl+Esc to open the Start Menu
2. Arrow keys to move through the sub-menus
3. Pressing the Enter key runs the menu command
24
Slide 25
Sub-Menus
The All Programs menu…
25
Slide 26
My Recent Documents…
The My Recent Documents menu contains a listing of
shortcuts to documents and other files that were previously
opened on the system. Using this menu can save time by
making recently used, or frequently used data files easily
accessible. The list can be cleared by clicking a button on the
“Advanced” tab of the Customize Start Menu dialog found on
the Start Menu Properties.
The Start Menu also includes a link to the My Documents
folder giving easy access to files stored there.
26
Slide 27
My Recent Documents menu…
Link to the My Documents folder
Document types:
PowerPoint files
Media File (MP3)
Document types:
Word files
Paint file (bitmap)
27
Slide 28
Settings…
The Settings menu items are the gateway to the most often used
methods for changing or configuring the system. These menu
items can include (depending on how you installed your system)
the following items:
1. Control Panel
2. Network Connections (or Connect to...)
3. Printers and Faxes
These tools for modifying or configuring the system use two
methods, wizards and applets. A wizard is a step by step
process that guides the user in a given procedure, such as
adding a new printer. An applet is a small program whose only
purpose is to perform a narrow process such as the Add/Remove
Programs tool found in the Control Panel.
28
Slide 29
Opening menus…
If there isn’t an arrow to the right of the menu
item you must click on it (or press the enter key) to
“expand” the sub-menu. If the arrow is present it
may expand on its own with the mouse cursor over
it…if you’re using the keyboard you will still need
to press enter. This behavior can be changed in the
Taskbar & Start Menu settings.
...as usual hovering your mouse pointer over
an item displays “tooltip” or “screentip” help
29
Slide 30
Displayed as a “Menu” versus as a “Link”…
The Control Panel menu
item here is being displayed
as a “menu”…it is really
just a sub-menu.
30
Slide 31
Displayed as a “Link” versus as a “Menu”…
The Control Panel menu item here is
being displayed as a “link”…it must
be clicked to open the Control Panel
window. This window contains icons
that represent the same menu items as
shown on the previous slide.
31
Slide 32
Search…
Although the XP Search tool is used by most people for
finding files and folders on their computer, it can be used to
find many other things. For instance, you can search for
computers or other users on your network, contacts from
your Windows address book, information from the Internet
and help or support information from your local help system
or directly from Microsoft’s Web site all from this single
interface.
To open the Search tool click on the Search menu item on
the Start Menu...
32
Slide 33
Search…
To find a file or folder located on your computer (see the
following slide):
• From the left pane select All Files and Folders.
• Enter all are part of the filename
• Then enter the location to look in, such as your C drive, your
floppy drive, or a specific folder like My Documents.
You can also enter other conditions to limited or aid in your
search, such as:
• any text (a word or phrase) that may be found within the
file
• the date the file was last modified
• the size of the file
• or other advanced options
33
Slide 34
Search…
Select a type of Search:
Pictures, Music, or Videos
Documents
For Files or Folders
Computers or People
Information in Help and Support
You can also search the Internet...
34
Slide 35
Enter a file or folder name here…
Enter a keyword that may be in
the file or folder, this is optional…
Enter a drive or drives to look in…
Add additional restrictions to the search…
Finally press the Search Now button.
35
Slide 36
If you double click one of the entries that file will open if it can.
The “found” items, in this case all files ending with the file extension
doc located on the C: drive, are displayed in the right pane.
36
Slide 37
You can also choose to views the results in detail, thumbnail or tiled view.
37
Slide 38
Search…
Searching for a file, a folder or some other item that you don’t
exactly know how to spell is made simpler by the use of
wildcards. A wildcard is a character that represents one unknown
character or a set of characters. Wildcards can be used anywhere
within the file, folder or word being searched.
The Windows XP Search tools make use of 2 different wildcards:
? - replaces a single character, for example:
wind? – could mean windy
* - replaces a set of characters , for example:
wind* – could mean windy, windward or windows
The wildcards can be used in any position, for example:
Wind*.* - could mean window.html or winword.doc
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Slide 39
The Help and Support Center
XP presents a completely new interface to the Windows help
system. It is based on the language of the World Wide Web,
HTML, so viewing the help topics is like browsing a
Website.
The Help and Support Center window looks and behaves
like a Web browser with the most frequently used help
topics displayed on a “home page”. In fact, that is what
Microsoft calls the start page of the Help center, the Help
home page.
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Slide 40
The Help and Support Center
The XP help window is like a Web browser in the following ways:
• When you select a topic, it is displayed in the window like a Web
page with hyperlinks to other related subjects.
• There is a Back, Forward and Home button to move through the
help topics you have already viewed and return you to your starting
point
• You can save help topics as Favorites, which are actually
bookmarks to help topics you may need to view again.
• A history of your search through the help system is saved to assist
you in returning to topics you did not add to your Favorites.
• The Home button takes you back to the main menu
• Did you know? This section features different selected help topics
(called headlines) for you to view each time you open the Help and
Support Center
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Slide 41
Search for words or phrases
Get help from an
outside source such
as an Internet
newsgroup
Windows update
System
Restore
Undoes
changes
you’ve made
to your PC
Commonly used
help topics
The XP Help and Support Center
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Slide 42
The Run command…
The Run command is one of the many ways to run a program or
open a document. Although it is used primarily for running
text-based commands or programs like dir, format, ping or
tracert, it can be used to start any Windows program.
To run a program using the Run command simply enter the
command to start the program, typically the name of the
executable file, and then press the OK key. Most of the
programs that come with Windows XP can be run by entering
just the filename; the others will need to have the full path
entered. The path is the complete filename including its
location, for example the path of WordPad is:
c:\program files\windows nt\accessories\wordpad.exe
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Slide 43
Using the Run command…
When you click on the Run command menu item, this simple
window opens…
Enter a command
here…such as “Wordpad”
To find the Full Path of a file, or just
locate it, use the browse button…
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Slide 44
After pressing the OK button the file, wordpad.exe, will run. The
full filename or path was not necessary as this is a program that
was supplied and installed by Windows XP. The operating
system knows where it is located.
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Slide 45
The Run command…
The real value of the Run command is the ability to run textbased command line utilities outside of the GUI. To do this
you must start a new instance of the Windows XP command
interpreter, cmd.exe.
The Command Interpreter, also known as the Command
Processor, is a program that displays a prompt, accepts
keyboard input and executes the commands. Commands such
as dir, format or ping can be executed in this manner.
For example, to run the tracert program you do the following:
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Slide 46
Using the Command Prompt…
After clicking the Run menu item, you enter the command,
“cmd”, in the window. Again, you do not need to enter the
path or full filename for this program as Windows knows
where it is located.
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Slide 47
At the command prompt enter “tracert” and an internet address,
then press the enter key. Here www.oracle.com is used.
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Slide 48
Tracert is a program that does its best to show you what route
an internet packet is taking. Although it is not always a
complete listing, it does show you that it usually is not a very
direct path. To close the command processor window type
“exit” and press enter.
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Slide 49
The Desktop and Start Menu
End of Part 1….
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