Chapter Two

Introduction to Windows

In this topic, we are going to learn about the Introduction to Windows. Microsoft
Windows is a multitasking operating system developed by Microsoft Corporation
which uses Graphical User Interface to interact with the users. Microsoft entered
the marketplace in August 1981 by releasing version 1.0 of the operating system
Microsoft DOS (MS-DOS), a 16-bit command-line operating system.

Type of windows OS evolved over time:

• Windows 1.0 – Nov 1985
• Windows 2.0 – Dec 1987
• Windows 3.0 – May 1990
• Windows 95 – Aug 1995
• Windows 98 – June 1998
• Windows ME – Sep 2000
• Windows XP – Oct 2001
• Windows Vista – Nov 2006
• Windows 7 – July 2009
• Windows 8.0 – Oct 2012
• Windows 8.1 – Oct 2013
• Windows 10 – July 2015

Main Components of Windows

After learning about the Introduction to Windows, we are now going to study the
main components of Windows. The main components of the Windows Operating
System are the following:
• Configuration and maintenance
• User interface
• Applications and utilities

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• Windows Server components
• File systems
• Core components
• Services
• DirectX
• Networking
• Scripting and command-line
• Kernel
• NET Framework
• Security
• Deprecated components and apps

When coming to GUI components, we have the following as the main

components:

• Desktop
It is the very first screen that you will see once the windows start. Here you will
see “My Computer”, “My Documents”, “Start Menu”, “Recycle Bin”, and the
shortcuts of any applications that you might have created.

• Taskbar
At the bottom, you will see a row which is known as the taskbar. It has currently
running applications, you can also pin applications that you frequently use by
using the option Pin to Taskbar”.

• Start Menu
This is located in the bottom left corner of Windows OS GUI. This is the place
where the user can search for any setting and for any application for their use.
Users can uninstall or repair applications from the control panel. The user can do
a lot of activities just by searching through the start menu.

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• My Computer
When you double-click on the “My Computer” menu, it will let you navigate
between your different computer drives and the control panel tools. You can see
and manage the contents that are inside your drive.

• Recycle Bin
When you delete an item from any of your drives by making use of the “delete”
button or even by simply clicking right-clicking and selecting the “delete” option,
it is not deleted completely, instead, it is moved to the “Recycle Bin” folder of
Windows. You can recover your content if you have deleted it by mistake from
here or if you choose to delete the items from here, it will get deleted permanently.
Should you wish to delete the item in first go itself without moving it to recycle
bin, you can use the key “Shift+Del”

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Windows Applications
A program that is written to run under MS operating System is the Windows

Application. Examples of applications that run on Windows OS are Microsoft

Outlook, Internet Explorer, Remote Desktop Condition, Snipping Tool, and

numerous others.

These applications provide great functionality for users to do their day-to-day

activities. Every application that is developed, for them to launch on windows,

should be compatible with the Windows operating system.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Windows

After going through all the components, Features, and the wide Introduction to

Windows, we are going to explore the advantages and disadvantages of Windows

Advantages
Let us see some advantages:

• Desktop as well as tablet-friendly OS

• Switch between applications is very easy
• Not much technical knowledge is required to operate windows
• Windows OS is the dominant OS and enjoys more than 90% of the Market
share
• MS OS has a great support community and it also has the largest number of
applications
• Microsoft provides a powerful set of Enterprise-focused Operating systems,
Applications, and services making it the most dominant player in the OS
market.

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 • More gaming

Disadvantages
There are privacy and security concerns and incidents and they are widespread.
Linux OS is by far the most secure OS ever built.

• Cost for upgrade

• Windows OS attracts a large number of virus programs due to its largest
market share and easy to breach paradigm
• Windows OS is not that much of touch-friendly

How to Use the Mouse

The mouse is an input device and is commonly used for pointing and clicking in
order to issue commands. How to hold and be able to use it proficiently is usually
a challenge especially to newbies in the computer field. However, with a little
practice, it is possible to get adapted to it quickly. The pointing finger and the
middle finger should be resting on the left and right buttons respectively ready to
click. The remaining fingers should hold the mouse in a light grip; they should
also be used to move the mouse in all directions.

A Computer Mouse

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Features of Windows

Microsoft Windows includes a lot of features to help users. Some of its excellent
features are as follows:

1. Control Panel: Windows provides a Control Panel feature that includes

many tools to configure and manage the resources on their computer. For
example, users can change settings for audio, video, printers, mouse,
keyboard, network connections, date and time, power saving options, user
accounts, installed applications, etc.

2. Cortana: Windows 10 introduced a feature named Cortana, which is able to

accept voice commands. It can perform various tasks such as it can answers
your questions, searching data on your computer, online purchases, set
reminders, appointments, etc. Furthermore, it acts like other voice-activated
services such as Google Assistant, Alexa, or Siri, including one more benefit
of searching the information on your computer. To open the Cortana in
Windows 10, press the Window key + S.

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3. File Explorer: It is also known as Windows Explorer, which displays your
files and folders on the computer. It allows users to browse the data on the
hard drive, SSD, and other inserted removable disks like pen drives and CDs,
and you can manage the content according to the requirements such as delete,
rename, search, and transfer the data.

4. Internet browser: As the internet browser is very important to search for

anything, view pages, do online shopping, play games, watch videos, etc.
Windows come with a pre-installed internet browser. in Windows 10, the
Edge internet browser is the default browser. Furthermore, Internet Explorer
was the default browser in Microsoft Windows from the Windows edition 95
to 8.1 version.

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5. Microsoft Paint: Since November 1985, Microsoft Windows comes with
pre-installed Microsoft Paint. It is simple software to create, view, and edit
an image. It offers several tools to draw an image, crop, resize, and save an
image with a different file extension.

6. Taskbar: Windows comes with a taskbar that displays currently opened

programs; it also allows users to access any specific programs. Additionally,
it includes the notification area on the right side that shows date and time,
battery, network, volume, and other background running applications.

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7. Start menu: Microsoft Windows contains a start menu to the left side of the
taskbar. It displays programs and utilities that are installed on the computer.
It can be simply opened by clicking on the Start menu button or pressing the
start key on the keyboard.

8. Task Manager: Windows includes the task manager feature that provides
detail of the running applications or programs on the computer. You can also
check how much of the system resources, such as RAM, CPU, disk I/O, are
being used by each of the applications.

9. Disk Cleanup: It is used to free up disk space with the help of deleting
temporary or unnecessary files. It also helps to enhance the performance of

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 the computer, and boost storage space to download the programs and
documents. To open Disk Cleanup, follow the below steps:
o Open the File Explorer by pressing Window + E.
o Then, right-click on any disk drive and select the Properties option
from the drop-down list.
o Now, click on the Disk Cleanup.

Manage Files and Folders

When using your Windows 10 system to create information, we accumulate many
files that store on our hard disk over time. A critical part of how Windows 10
(and Windows in general) organizes this is using a File System that manages how
files are stored and accessed on your computer. When we interact with the records
that we create on our computers, such as documents, audio files, pictures, and
videos, the part in the File Manager.

Using File Explorer in Windows 10

To see into your computer’s storage vault, click the File Explorer icon located on
your Taskbar or click Start > File Explorer.

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When you launch File Explorer in Windows 10, you get the Quick
access window. Formally called Favorites in previous versions of Windows, here
you will see your most frequently accessed folders and files you created.

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You can use File Explorer for a variety of tasks. In addition to the management
and organization of files and folders, it’s also used to view and manage the
resources of your computer, such as internal storage, attached storage, and optical
drives.

What Everything Means on File Explorer

Quick
Here you can pin your most frequently accessed commands. Quick
Access
Access also automatically pins your most frequently accessed folders.
Toolbar
If you are familiar with Microsoft Office or apps such as Paint and
WordPad, the Ribbon toolbar command is used to manage your files
Ribbon and often reveals hidden commands quickly. When you select a file or
Toolbar folder, this will display a contextual tab with additional options. You can
copy, move, delete, rename, and do a host of other tasks using the
Ribbon.
Navigation You can use these to navigate smoothly through a folder’s hierarchy or
and back and forward between folders. The Address bar also has a
Address breadcrumb menu that makes it easy to navigate to a different folder
Bar path.
Quick Here you can find your most frequently accessed folders, and the ones
Access you have pinned show up here, which is a new feature in Windows 10.
OneDrive If you have a Microsoft Account setup with your Windows 10 PC, you
synced can have your files stored in the online storage service and have them
folders synced to your computer.
In previous versions of Windows, this was called Computer Explorer.
This PC Here you can view and manage your internal storage and attached
storage devices, including optical media.
Search Use the search command to find files stored in the current folder.
Displays information about the contents stored in the window, such as
Status bar the number of files, size, file selection, and quick access to folder
layout.

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This PC
If you would rather see your computer environment now called This PC, click it
in the left pane, or you can change it to the default from the Folder
Options dialogue. To do so, select the View tab on the Ribbon and
click Options under Show/Hide group.

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Click in the Open File Explorer to list box, choose This PC, and then
click Apply and OK.
If you don’t like to see your most frequently accessed folders and recently
accessed files, you can adjust those settings from the same dialog. Under Privacy,
uncheck the following:

• Show recently used files in Quick access

• Show frequently used folders in Quick access
Or you can choose to erase all traces by clicking the Clear button.

User Folder
In Windows 7 and earlier versions, you had a User folder directory used to store
and organize your files in folders by content, such as Documents, Audio Files,
Pictures, Videos, and other types of data. Some of these folders will still be
available from This PC. Other folders that might be part of your User Folder
created by third-party applications are accessible from within your user directory
from the Bread Crumb menu.

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To do that, click the arrow on the address bar (see below) and click your user
folder represented by your account name. Or, press Windows key + R,
then type: %userprofile% and hit Enter.

Change how Files Display in Windows 10 File Explorer

You can change how your files look by using the View tab. When you activate
this tab, you will see various groups for changing the window’s layout, files,
current view, or hiding certain things you see onscreen. Within the Layout group,
click one of the available options to change how your files display onscreen. You
can also preview the layout before confirming by hovering over one of the
available options.

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 File Explorer provides different ways to view your files

Go Back to a Previous Folder

If you would like to navigate to a previous folder, you can do this a couple of
ways efficiently using either the Recent Locations button or the Bread Crumb
menu. When you click the Recent Locations menu, you can go back to a
previously working directory quickly without going through multiple directories
along the way.

The Bread Crumb menu introduced in Windows Vista provides similar

capabilities; for instance, you can easily navigate to a folder with a folder path.
So, if there are subfolders within a folder, you can quickly jump to any folder
within that path.

Tip: You can also use the Backspace key to go back one step too.

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Organizing Files and Folders
If you have many files on your Windows 10 system computer, you’ll want to
organize them. So, if you need to see recent files created or older files, or you
need to archive certain files elsewhere, you can easily do so. The View tab
provides options for sorting how files are displayed. Here, I have chosen to sort
my files by type. When I select this view, I can see all my Microsoft Word
documents and Excel workbooks.

Copy, Pasting a File or Folder

One of the most common operations for users is copying, which creates a replica
of an original file. To copy a file, select the file you want to copy and click Copy
under the Home tab.

You can just as easily copy or move a file without leaving your current location.
Under the Home tab within the Organize group, click the ‘Copy to’ or ‘Move to’
button, choose the location if it’s listed, or click the Choose Location button and
select the location.

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Customizing Windows 10 File Explorer
If there are folders you commonly access, you can have them pinned to the Quick
Access pane. Right-click the folder you want to be pinned and select Pin to Quick
Access or select the folder and then Pin to Quick access under the Home tab.

If you don’t always want to see the Ribbon in Windows 10, you can minimize it
by clicking the Minimize button or press Ctrl + F1 on your keyboard.

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As you now know, File Explorer in Windows 10 contains a wealth of tools you
can use to manage your files! The ribbon, which will be new to many, offers
numerous organizational tools that are quickly accessible. All of this makes it
easier to discover and find your information.

To search for a file:

In the Search Box next to the Start button, type to search for a file. The search
results will appear above the search box.

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Adjusting your settings
At some point, you may want to adjust your computer's settings. For example,
you might want to change your desktop background or modify
your Internet settings. You can change these settings and more from
the Control Panel.

However, in Windows 10, the Control Panel has mostly been replaced by
the Settings app. The Control Panel is still available, but most of the tasks and
settings are now also located in the Settings app.

To open the Settings app:

Click the Start button, then select the gear icon.

To open the Control Panel:

Type Control Panel in the Search Box next to the Start button. Then, select the
Control Panel app from the menu.

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Keyboard shortcuts in Windows
Keyboard shortcuts are keys or a combination of keys you can press on your
keyboard to perform a variety of tasks. Using keyboard shortcuts is often faster
than using a mouse because you can keep both hands on the keyboard. Keyboard
shortcuts are also universal, which means you can use many of the same
shortcuts in a variety of applications. For example, you can use the shortcuts to
copy and paste text in a word processor and in a web browser.

Using shortcuts
Many keyboard shortcuts require you to press two or more keys in a specific
order. For example, to perform the shortcut Ctrl+X, you would press and hold
the Ctrl key, then press the X key, then release.

You'll use the Ctrl (Control) or Alt key to perform most keyboard shortcuts.
You'll find these keys near the bottom-left corner of your keyboard.

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Working with text
These keyboard shortcuts are useful when working with text in word processors,
email applications, and more. They can help you perform commonly repeated
tasks, like copying and pasting text.

Ctrl+X: Cut the selected text.

Ctrl+C: Copy the selected text.

Ctrl+V: Paste the copied or cut text.

Ctrl+A: Select all of the text on the page or in the active window.

Ctrl+B: Bold the selected text.

Ctrl+I: Italicize the selected text.

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 Ctrl+U: Underline the selected text.

Working with files and applications

You can use keyboard shortcuts to open, close, and switch applications. When
working with a file, like a Microsoft Word document, shortcuts can be used
to create new files, find words, and print.

❖ Ctrl+Alt+Delete: Force an unresponsive or frozen program to quit. This

keyboard shortcut opens the Task Manager. You can then select the
unresponsive application and close it.

❖ Delete: Send a selected file or files to the Recycle Bin.

❖ Enter: Open a selected application or file.

❖ Ctrl+N: Create a new file.

❖ Ctrl+O: Open an existing file.

❖ Ctrl+S: Save the current file.

❖ Ctrl+Z: Undo the previous action. If you want to redo the action,
press Ctrl+Y.

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Internet shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts can also be used to navigate your web browser. Many of
the text shortcuts above are also useful online, like the shortcuts
for selecting, copying, and pasting text into your web browser's address bar.
Note that some of these shortcuts may work a bit differently depending on the
web browser you're using.

 Ctrl+N: Open a new browser window.

 Ctrl+T: Open a new browser tab.

 Ctrl+D: Bookmark the current page.

 Ctrl+B: View bookmarks.
 Ctrl+J: View recently downloaded files.

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Shut down, sleep, or hibernate the PC
There are many ways to shut down your PC—you can turn the PC off completely,
you can make it sleep, or you can hibernate the PC.

Turn your PC off completely

To shut down:

Sleep
This uses very little power, your PC starts up faster, and you’re instantly back to
where you left off. You don’t have to worry that you'll lose your work because of
your battery draining, because Windows automatically saves all your work and
turns off the PC if the battery is too low. Use sleep when you’re going to be away
from your PC for just a little while—like when you’re taking a coffee break.

For a lot of PCs (especially laptops and tablets), your PC goes to sleep when you
close your lid or press the power button.

To make your PC sleep:

1- Open power options:

2- Do one of the following:

❖ If you’re using a desktop, tablet, or laptop, select Choose what the power
buttons do. Next When I press the power button, select Sleep, and then
select Save changes.

❖ If you’re using only a laptop, select Choose what closing the lid does. Next
When I close the lid, select Sleep, and then select Save changes.

3- When you’re ready to make your PC sleep, just press the power button on your
desktop, tablet, or laptop, or close your laptop’s lid.

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On most PCs, you can resume working by pressing your PC's power button.
However, not all PCs are the same. You might be able to wake it by pressing any
key on the keyboard, clicking a mouse button, or opening the lid on a laptop.
Check the documentation that came with your computer or go to the
manufacturer's website.

Hibernate
This option was designed for laptops and might not be available for all PCs.
(Hibernate uses less power than sleep and when you start up the PC again, you’re
back to where you left off (though not as fast as sleep).

Use hibernation when you know that you won't use your laptop or tablet for an
extended period and won't have an opportunity to charge the battery during that
time. First check to see if this option is available on your PC and if it is, turns it
on.

To hibernate your PC:

1- Open power options:

2- Select Choose what the power button does, and then select Change settings
that are currently unavailable. Under Shutdown settings, select
the Hibernate checkbox (if it's available), and then select Save changes.

Now you’ll be able to hibernate your PC in a few different ways:

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