Using Personal Computers

Section 2: Windows 95

Part 1: The Basics

	In this section of the course, we will look at the main features of Windows 95 and how to use them. We will also look at some of the main differences between Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. The important area of how to organise the files and programs on your hard disk under Windows 95 will also be looked at. Finally, we will introduce some tips and tricks for getting the best out of Windows 95.

	Many people get confused over when to use single clicks and when to use double clicks with the mouse. The simple rule is that double clicks are only normally used with icons on the desktop or in a My Computer or Windows Explorer file window (we will look at these later). When on the desktop or in a file window, a single click will select a file, folder or program icon (see next slide), but a double click will open it. Almost any other time, only a single click is required. These actions apply to the left mouse button unless the mouse buttons have been reversed via the control panel.

	The left mouse button is used for most of the basic operations. It functions In much the same way under Windows 95 as it does under Windows 3.1. The right mouse button gives a lot more control over what can be done under Windows 95. Performing a right click over an object on the screen will usually produce a context menu, which contains a list of relevant operations for that object. This applies to just about anything, including the desktop, the taskbar, file icons, etc. This is often the quickest way of doing things. The simple rule is - if in doubt, do a right click and see what options you are presented with. People upgrading from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95 in particular should get used to using the right mouse button, as it simplifies and speeds up many operations. Just try right clicking around the screen and see what you come up with! Note - throughout this course, the default right-handed assignment for the mouse buttons is assumed. If you reverse the mouse buttons via the control panel, then for right read left and vice versa.
	Under Windows 3.1, the desktop is little more than a background on top of which the windows sit. With Windows 95, however, the desktop is much more useful and important. Files, folders and shortcuts (which we will look at in a moment) can be placed on the desktop. It is a useful place in which to keep things that you use frequently, such as a folder which you often have to open, or a shortcut to a program that you often use. The desktop is also a good place for putting files temporarily while you are working on them. Try to think of the Windows 95 desktop like a real desktop. In this analogy, the hard disk on the computer can be thought of as the filing cabinet (we'll see how access this shortly). Files are normally kept in the filing cabinet, but you may wish to leave them on your desk whilst you are working with them, to save having to find them and get them out all the time. Like a real desktop, though, you may need to be careful or it may get so cluttered with files, folders and programs that you can't find what you are looking for! Where are files on the desktop really kept? Well, although we've just said that the hard disk is the filing cabinet and that we can move files from the hard disk to the desktop, in reality the contents of the desktop are held in a special place on the hard disk, so files on the desktop won't get lost when you switch the computer off. This "special place", for those who really want to know, is normally the C:\Windows\Desktop folder, but for most people it's better to forget about this and think of it as a separate place in the computer.
	You can create a shortcut to a file, a folder or a program. When you start a program from an icon on the desktop, this is normally a shortcut, as the actual program files will be stored elsewhere on the hard disk. When you double click a program shortcut, the program runs. When you double click a shortcut to a file or folder, it opens just as if you had clicked on the file or folder itself. You can place shortcuts to files or folders that you often open on the desktop, so that you can get at them more easily than with "My Computer" or "Windows Explorer" which we will look at later. You can also place them in other folders. For example, you might have a file which contains a list of names and addresses in one folder, but have several different folders for correspondence - one for work, another for church, another for personal etc. You could put a shortcut to the file of names and addresses in each of these folders so that you can get to it easily whenever you are working on any of your correspondence. For people familiar with Windows 3.1, the program icons in the Windows 3.1 Program Manager are just like shortcuts. However, under Windows 3.1, they can only live in the program manager groups. Under Windows 95, they can live anywhere. We'll look at how to create shortcuts later on in this section of the course.
	There are some icons which Windows 95 puts on the desktop which are not really files, folders or shortcuts. Which ones exist on a particular computer depend on the computer setup. The most important are: My Computer. This contains the disk drives and some special folders. We'll look at My Computer in more detail a little later on. Recycle bin. This is where files are put temporarily when they are deleted. They can be recovered by opening the bin, unless the files have been in there too long or the bin has been emptied. The Internet. This runs "Internet Explorer", Microsoft's Web Browser (see later on). Note that you do not have to use Internet Explorer as your web browser - others (such as Netscape Navigator) are available. These are not launched with the "The Internet" icon, which is just for Internet Explorer. Inbox. This runs a program called "Microsoft Exchange" or "Windows Messaging" (depending on the version of Windows you have installed).This is a program for sending e-mails and faxes. However, other, simpler programs are available which are more suitable for many people. My Briefcase. This is used for moving files between computers (e.g. to and from a laptop) and keeping them in sync. between them.
	Internet Explorer 4 is Microsoft's latest Web Browser. Included with it are some optional enhancements to Windows 95, called the desktop enhancements. These change the behaviour of some parts of Windows 95, such as the desktop, the start menu, Windows Explorer and My Computer, and add a few new features. The difference between Windows 95 with the desktop enhancements and without them is not very great, and someone who has used Windows 95 without the desktop enhancements should not find it difficult to switch to a computer with them installed, so we will not be covering the desktop enhancements in detail in this course. The active desktop is an optional part of the desktop enhancements, and allows the desktop to be treated like a web page. It is not very useful unless you have a direct Internet connection (i.e. not via a modem), and it tends to cause computers to crash a lot, so it's best avoided at present.
	The taskbar contains the start button, the system tray, and a button for each window currently open on the screen. These windows could be a program which is running or a folder which is open. They show up on the taskbar whether they are visible, hidden behind another window, or minimized. We'll look at minimizing windows later. The system tray contains the current time, plus icons for some special programs such as display drivers and anti-virus programs. These are programs which do not normally appear on the screen, but sit in the background and help Windows to do its job. Some special status indicators may also appear here, such as an icon to tell you that a modem is currently being used. Exactly what appears here depends on how the computer is set up and what software has been installed. You do not need to worry too much about the icons that appear here, but if you are curious, try double clicking them (left mouse button) and/or single right clicking them to see what they do. The taskbar is normally at the bottom of the screen, but it can be dragged to any edge of the screen. You can also make it bigger or smaller by dragging its edge. You can customise the taskbar in other ways, such as making it hide except when the cursor is at the bottom of the screen. To alter these settings, Choose "Taskbar" from the "Settings" section of the start menu. Alternatively, right click a blank part of the task bar and choose "properties" from the context menu. We'll look at this in more detail later on in the course.
	The start menu replaces the Windows 3.1 Program Manager. It contains icons for all of the programs installed on the computer, in the "Programs" section (see the next slide). It also contains: Shut Down. Shuts Windows 95 down before switching off the computer. It is important to do this (if possible!) before you switch the computer off to avoid corrupting your system and possibly losing information. Windows will normally close any programs automatically when you shut down, but you will have to close any DOS type programs yourself. Run...Allows you to run a program by typing it's name or path. It also has two other uses. If you type a folder name, the folder will be opened in a new window on the screen. If you type a file name and path, and Windows "knows" which program to use to open that type of file, it will start the program and load the file. Help. Starts the Windows 95 help system. Find. Allows you to search part or all of your disk for files. You can search by name (all or part of the name), by content (some words in the file), or by the date the file was last modified. Depending on the computer's configuration, Find may also contain some other entries, but these are outside the scope of this course. Settings. Allows you to change your computer configuration. This will be covered later on in the course. Documents. Gives a list of recently opened documents (files), to save time in finding them again.
	The programs section of the start menu, as it's name suggests, allows you to start programs. It is the Windows 95 equivalent of the Windows 3.1 Program Manager. The programs themselves are not located on the start menu. They are elsewhere on the hard disk. Instead, the items on the start menu are actually shortcuts, so they do the same job as having a shortcut to a program on the desktop. So if the start menu does the same job as a shortcut on the desktop, why have two ways of doing the same thing? There are several good reasons: A lot of shortcuts on the desktop would make it very crowded. The start menu gives more room for programs. The start menu allows programs to be grouped together. It is hierarchical, like the filing system, so that they are easier to find. When other windows are open on the screen, they can hide the shortcuts on the desktop, making them awkward to get at. The start menu pops up on top of the other windows, so it's easy to get at at any time. Note that although a double click is needed to start a program from a shortcut on the desktop or in a folder, only a single click is needed on the start menu. There is a special group in the Programs section of the start menu called StartUp. Any programs in the StartUp group will be run whenever the computer is started. It is possible to rearrange the start menu to your liking, including the StartUp group. You can even add extra items to it. We'll look at how to do this later on in the course. Finally, it is worth pointing out that sometimes you will find shortcuts to files and folders on the start menu, as well as programs. These will allow you to open the respective file or folder.
	Several controls are common to most on-screen windows... To move a window, drag it by the title bar at the top To re-size it, drag the corners or edges To close it, click the x button at top right To maximise a window when it is not filling the screen (i.e. to zoom it up to full screen) click the centre button at the top right. Alternatively, double click the title bar To restore a window when it is filling the screen (i.e. to switch back from full screen to a window) click the centre button at the top right (as with maximise above). Alternatively, double click the title bar. To minimize a window, click the leftmost of the three buttons at the top right It is possible to have windows inside other windows - for example, a word processor might show two open documents in different windows inside the main word processor window. If a window inside another window is maximised, it will fill the window that contains it and it's title bar will disappear. In this case, you will get two sets of buttons in the top right corner of the parent window. The lower set belongs to the maximised window inside the parent window.
	My Computer "contains" the disk drives, including hard disk or disks (and its partitions), floppy disks and CD-ROMs. It also shows some special folders. These will include the control panel and the printer folders, and possibly some others. The control panel and printers folders can also be accessed from the "settings" section of the start menu. Opening a disk drive in My Computer (using a double click) opens a window which shows the files and folders within it. These in turn may be opened by double clicking in the same way. Windows Explorer can show the same things as My Computer, but includes a "tree" view, which helps to see how the information on the computer is organised. You can start Windows Explorer from the start menu, or by right clicking My Computer (or any folder) and selecting Explore. In the tree view (on the left of the explorer view), clicking on the small icon of a disk or folder (a single click) will show the contents of that disk or folder. A "+" next to a folder means it contains more folders - clicking on the "+" will show them. The "+" will then change to a "-". Clicking on that will hide the folders inside that folder. You can also open a folder in the right hand window by double clicking it, just the same as in windows opened using My Computer. Windows Explorer shows the desktop at the top level, with My Computer "on" the desktop. If you are connected to a network, this will also be shown as being on the desktop. Any other folders which have been put directly on the desktop are also shown at the top level, alongside My Computer. This is for convenience. As we discussed when we looked at the desktop, the files and folders which are show as being "on" the desktop are actually stored on the hard disk (usually in a special place on C: drive). This is not too important, but it's worth bearing in mind. Knowing how to use My Computer and Windows Explorer properly is an important part of getting the best use out of Windows 95. We'll be learning more about them as we go through the course.
	Files and folders can be moved about using My Computer or Windows Explorer (whichever you prefer). It is not a good idea to use the Windows 3.1 file manager (even though it is still available under Windows 95 if you look hard enough), because your files can lose their long file names and revert to eight character names.
	Drag and drop is the easiest and most intuitive way of moving and copying files and folders. To drag a single file or folder, just put the mouse pointer over it and drag it along whilst holding the button down. To move several, select them first with the mouse. Then put the mouse over one of them and drag it. The others which are selected will come with it. It's a good idea to get into the habit of using the right mouse button for moving and copying files using drag and drop. That way, you don't end up accidentally copying when you mean to move, ore vice versa.
	Cut and paste works by putting files in a special temporary place called the clipboard. The clipboard is also used for other things - we will learn about these later on in the course. There are several ways of using cut and paste. The easiest and most flexible way is... Right click on a file you want to move or copy. A context menu appears. Choose cut (for moving) or copy. Find the destination disk or folder using My Computer or Windows Explorer. (Note - the destination could also be the desktop, or another disk). Right click and choose paste. If you need to move or copy several files, select them first using the mouse. Then right click one of them to get the context menu. You can also find cut, copy and paste on the Edit menu, or on the My Computer toolbar (if you have it turned on in the View menu). You can also use the keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl X for cut Ctrl C for copy Ctrl V for paste Drag and drop is generally easier than cut and paste. However, cut and paste can be useful if the source and destination are not visible at the same time on the screen.
	As well as the method described in the slide, there are also several other methods of renaming files. These are: Choosing rename on the right click context menu Selecting a file and choosing rename from the File menu Selecting a file and pressing F2 on the keyboard In all cases, it is important that if the extension of the file is not hidden (in other words if the file ends in something like .xyz) then you must type the extension again for the new file name.
	When you delete a file, it is not actually deleted straight away. Instead, it is put in the Recycle Bin where it is kept for a while, in case you decide that you did not really want to delete your last six hours work after all! Files can be deleted by using the delete key, by choosing Delete from the File menu or from the right click context menu, or by dragging them into the recycle bin. To recover them, open the recycle bin (by double clicking it) and drag the files back out of it. When the bin gets full, older files are removed to make room for newer ones, so they don't stay in there for ever. The bin can also be emptied by right clicking it and choosing Empty Recycle Bin The Recycle Bin is on the desktop. You will also see a "Recycled" bin in the root folder of each disk. These should be there and should be left alone - don't try to move or delete them.
	Programs can be started in several ways. The most obvious is using the Programs section of the start menu. Another way is by using a program shortcut. These are usually placed on the desktop as a quick way to get to programs that you use often. They can, however, be placed in any folder, should you wish to. If a file is associated with a program (see next slide), you can start the program and load the file by double clicking the file. You can also start a program by using Run on the start typing the filename and path of the program. You can also double click the program file itself using (if you know where it is). Neither of these methods are very useful in most cases.
	Many programs are used to load, modify and save files. The most obvious example of this type of program is a word processor. Some types of file (for example, word processing documents) are registered, or associated with a particular program, so Windows "knows" which program is usually used to open that type of file. The two terms registered and associated mean roughly the same thing. If a file is associated with a program, then you can "open" that file by double clicking it. This will then automatically start the correct program and load the file. For example, if you double click a word processing document (in a My Computer window, in Windows Explorer, or on the desktop), then Windows will start the word processing program and load the document. This is a lot quicker than the "traditional" method or starting the program and then loading the file. File associations are normally set up when a program is installed. If you try to open a file which has not been associated with a program, Windows will ask you which program to use. It will also ask you if it should always use that program to open that type of file. Choosing this option will associate that file type with that program. Registered file types will have an icon which represents their type. Unregistered files will use the default Windows file icon. The file association is based on the file name extension (the part after the dot e.g. .doc), which may or may not be visible depending on how the computer is set up. This is because Windows gives the option of hiding the file extensions for file types which are registered. We will learn how to change this later on in the course.
	You can create new folders using My Computer or Windows Explorer. When using Windows Explorer, you must right click in the right hand pane of the window to use the method described in this slide. An alternative to using the right click menu is to choose "New" from the "File" menu in a My Computer or Windows Explorer window.
	Shortcuts were described earlier. They provide a convenient way to get to files, folders and programs that you commonly use without having to open the folders that they are in. This is not the only way to create shortcuts. You can create a shortcut to a file by right clicking and choosing "New" from the context menu, then choosing "Shortcut". This runs a "Wizard" which allows you to create a shortcut, and also choose the name and icon for the shortcut. However, it's a lot more long-winded than the method described in the slide.

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