Software Application

Tutorial

Microsoft
Windows XP

Copyright 2002, Software Application Training Unit, West Chester University. No Portion of
this document may be reproduced without the written permission of the authors.
For Assistance Call x3350

Table of Contents
Introduction..................................................................................................................... 3
Components of Windows XP ......................................................................................... 4
The NEW! Start Menu................................................................................................... 5
Manipulating Windows ................................................................................................... 7
The Control Panel............................................................................................................ 8
Display Properties .......................................................................................................... 9
Mouse Settings ............................................................................................................. 10
Setting a Screen Saver................................................................................................ 11
Accessories Menu ......................................................................................................... 12
WordPad ......................................................................................................................... 13
Paint ................................................................................................................................. 14
Multi-Tasking................................................................................................................. 15
Shortcuts........................................................................................................................ 16
My Computer.................................................................................................................. 17
Changing your Desktop ................................................................................................ 18
Making Your Own Icons............................................................................................... 21

Introduction

There are many new and exciting features at your fingertips in

Windows XP. Some of these features are making their debut in Windows XP
but they are built off of Windows 98. There are new tools you can use to get
the most out of your computer experience, and other technologies that run
in the background, making your computer run more efficiently and reliably.
First, what you can't see, Windows XP has great capability in the
behind-the-scenes running of your computer. Overall security has been
improved. Performance is at an all-time high, allowing you to use more
programs and have them run faster than ever. Windows XP is dependable and
stable, so you can always rely on the performance and effectiveness of your
computer. Best of all, compatibility with other programs is better than ever.
Windows XP is designed to make you have less work to do with the least
amount of hassle.

To logon to Windows XP, you must first press CTRL + ALT + Delete.

Components of the Windows XP Desktop

Minimized Programs
Start Menu

Shortcuts

The New Start Menu

Clicking Start displays a

menu that lets you easily access
the most useful items on your
computer. Clicking All Programs
opens a list of programs currently
installed on your computer. The list
of programs on the Start menu is
divided into two parts: the
programs displayed above the
separator line (also known as the
pinned items list) and the programs
displayed below the separator line
(also known as the most frequently
used programs list). The programs
on the pinned items list remain
there and are always available for
you to click to start them. You can
add programs to the pinned items
list.

Control Panel

Programs are added to the

most frequently used programs list
when you use them. Windows has a
default number of programs that
are displayed on the most
frequently used programs list.
When that number of programs is
reached, the programs you have
not opened recently are replaced
by the programs you used last.

These are your most recently used

programs.

Shutdown

The Start Menu

All Programs The all programs menu holds all of the applications that
come with Windows XP or ones that you have installed that are
supplied by the university or ones that you have installed yourself.
My Recent Documents is a list of the most recent documents that
you have worked on.
Control Panel NEW! It now has its own menu. Control Panel is full
of specialized tools that are used to change the way Windows looks
and behaves.
Help and Support - NEW! The Help and Support Center is your
comprehensive resource for tools and information. Use Search, the
Index, or the table of contents to gain access to the extensive online
Help system.
Search NEW! This use to be called Find, this option allows you to
search for files and folders on your computer.
Run This option allows you to specify a program to run if it does not
have an entry in the All Programs Menu
Turn Off The Computer NEW! It is the same as the Shutdown
option from Windows 98. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO
USE THIS OPTION BEFORE YOU TURN OFF THE COMPUTER.

Manipulating Windows
All programs in Windows XP are run within windows that have similar
properties.
Control Menu
Box

Maximize

Minimize

Close

Title Bar

Formatting Toolbar
Standard Toolbar

Scroll Bar

Pull Down Menu Bar

The Control Panel

To open Control Panel, click Start and then click Control Panel.
Control Panel is full of specialized tools that are used to change the way
Windows looks and behaves. Some of these tools help you adjust settings
that make your computer more fun to use. For example, use Mouse to replace
standard mouse pointers with animated icons that move on your screen, or
use Sounds and Audio Devices to replace standard system sounds with
sounds you choose. Other tools help you set up Windows so that your
computer is easier to use.
When you first open Control Panel, you will see some of the most
commonly used Control Panel items organized by category. To find out more
information about an item in Control Panel while in Category view, hold your
mouse pointer over the icon or category name and read the text that
appears. To open one of these items, click its icon or category name. Some of
these items will open to a list of tasks you can perform, as well as a selection
of individual Control Panel items. For example, when you click Appearance
and Themes, you will see a list of tasks such as Choose a screen saver along
with individual Control Panel items. If you open Control Panel and do not see
the item you want, click Switch to Classic View.

Display Properties
Windows provides different options for the look of the screens. To get to
the display options in Control Panel click on Display then on the Appearance
tab. This is the screen that will appear:

Under Windows and Buttons you can change the look of a Window Box
to the XP style (above) or you can select Classic style, which is the
style that was used in Windows 98.
Under Color Scheme you can choose different color for the windows
boxes.
Under Font Size you can choose between small, normal, and large
icons.

Mouse Settings
The mouse option can also be found in the Control Panel under Mouse.

Mouse Properties allows you to choose whether you want it as a right-handed

or left handed mouse, the double-clicking speed, and also click-lock: which is
a NEW! feature. This enables you to highlight or drag without holding down
the mouse button. You can choose your pointer, the pointer speed, and the
visibility of the pointer. You can choose how many lines you can scroll over
when using the mouse.

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Setting a Screen Saver

A screen saver is a program that displays moving graphics or words on your
screen when you are not working. To choose a screen saver, select Display in
the Control Panel then choose the Screen Saver Tab. This is the screen
that will appear:

Use the Screen Saver pull down menu to choose a screen saver. If there
are settings that you want to change for the screen saver, use the Settings
button. The Wait prompt allows you to change the time it takes for the
screen saver to appear while the computer is idle.

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The Accessories Menu

Calculator it can be set for simple or complex math operations.

Command Prompt - MS-DOS, the acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating

System, is an operating system with a command-line interface used on
personal computers.
Notepad A simple text editor.

Paint A paint program for editing pictures.

Word Pad - A low level word processor.

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WordPad
You can use WordPad to create or edit text files that contain formatting or
graphics. (Use Notepad for basic text editing or for creating Web pages.)
You can add special formatting such as boldface, italic, and underline.
WordPad has many features but if you already have a capable word
processor (e.g. Microsoft Word) it is recommended that you use that.

To open WordPad, click Start, point to All Programs, point to

Accessories, and then click WordPad.

To Save in WordPad:
9 Select a File from the Pull
Down Menu bar.
9 Select Save.
9 Choose a name for your
document.
9 Then click on Save.

To Print in WordPad:
9 Select a File from the
Pull Down Menu bar.
9 Select Print.
9 Then click Ok.

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Paint
Paint is a drawing tool you can use to create black-and-white or color
drawings that you can save as bit map (.bmp) files. You can also use Paint to
send your drawing in e-mail, set the image as a desktop background, and save
image files using different file formats.

To open Paint, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories,

and then click Paint.

To Draw:
9 Select the color and tool you
would like to use.
9 Move the pointer into the
drawing area.
9 Click and drag the mouse
pointer across the drawing
area.

To Save a Picture:
9 Select file from the pull
down menu bar. Choose
Save.
9 Type in a file name then
select Save.

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Multi-Tasking
One of the most useful features of Windows XP is multi-tasking.
Multitasking is the process of running two or more programs at the same
time. With this feature you can quickly copy information from one program
to another. A NEW! Feature in Windows XP is grouping in multitasking. It
groups different documents all from the same program together.
Here is an example of the taskbar:

Grouped Multitasking

Other Programs with only one

instance of their program running.

These are the three

documents open in
word. You just click
on the one you would
like to work on! It
cleans up your
taskbar by grouping
them together.

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Shortcuts
Shortcuts are icons that can be placed on the desktop or in the Start Menu.
They represent programs, folders and files that are on the computer. Since
they only represent items, they can be copied, moved and deleted without
any harm to the actual program, folder, or file.
To Create a Shortcut on the Desktop:
Use the right mouse button to click on the desktop (anywhere not in a
window), a menu will appear.
From the New menu choose Shortcut. The following menu will appear:

This dialog box will walk you through the process of creating the
shortcut. Once you find the file by clicking on the browse button, you
can name the folder or file anything you like. If you make a mistake in
the previous dialog window click the Back button. Then click Finish
and you will see the shortcut on your desktop.

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My Computer
In My Computer you can browse through a hierarchy of folders on your
computer and all the files and folders in each selected folder.
To start My Computer
You can either double-click on the My Computer icon on your desktop or
you can go to the Start Menu and select My Computer.

You can select a number of different views to look at My Computer.

To access any file click on the drive that it is stored on and locate the file.

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Changing Your Desktop

To change your desktop, click on the Start Menu, and then the Control
Panel, select Display, and then click on the desktop tab.
There are many choices to choose from! Highlight the one you prefer, then
click apply, and then click ok. You can also create your own by clicking on the
Browse button and locate a picture that you have saved then click apply,
then click ok.

When you click on Customize desktop, there are more advanced options such
as the look of the icons, and a New! cleanup tool feature for your desktop to
make it less cluttered.

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This is the screen that will appear:

This is where you

can select a
different icon for
your desktop
items.

This option will

set your icons
back the original
ones.

Desktop Cleanup Feature

You can set it to when you
would like it to run. This
feature cleans out the icons
that you never use.

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Making Your Own Icons

This will allow you to create the icons that appear on your desktop.
Click on Start, Programs, Accessories, and Paint.
From the pull down menu bar, click on Image and then select
Attributes.
Enter 32 Pixels in Height and Width. Click Ok.
A small white box appears. Then create an icon using the Paintbrush
or Pencil Tools.
Select File, Save As. Name the file and click Save.

Replacing the Shortcut on Your Desktop

Replacing the Shortcut allows you to change the standard icons to ones
you have created.

Right-click on the shortcut and choose Properties.

Click on the Change Icon button.
Click on Browse and locate the icon you saved.
Locate the file and highlight it. Click Open. Then click Ok.

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Downloading Music
**NOTE: YOUR COMPUTER MUST BE EQUIPPED WITH AN AUDIO
CARD AND SPEAKERS TO PLAY AUDIO.
From Internet Explorer, go to www.spinner.com

Scroll down the page until you see Download Now and click on it.
Choose the option, Save this Program to a Disk and hit Ok.
Save the program in C:\Program Files and hit Save.

****If a Spinner icon does not appear on your desktop, see below.
Enter Windows Explorer, and go to C:\Program Files.
Locate the file Spinner and double-click on it to begin the setup.
A box will appear asking, "Do you want to start Spinner every time you
start Windows?" Click Yes.
Click Agree when you are at the License box.
Check the box that reads, Yes, I want to run Spinner Plus now. Click
Finish.
Enter a username and password to Register. Then click on Submit.
Spinner will start playing!

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