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Computer TRAINING MANUAL

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

COMPUTER BASICS

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In today’s world, computers influence most of our day-to-day activities. Whether you make an
airline or hotel reservation, withdraw cash from an ATM, pay electricity bill, or buy groceries at
the supermarket, computers are involved at some level or the other in each of these tasks. It is
therefore important for you to have a basic knowledge of computers.

What is a Computer?

A computer is an electronic device that accepts and stores data, performs certain operations on
the data based on given instructions and produces results. A computer cannot perform tasks
independently. It requires specific instructions on how exactly to perform these tasks. It therefore
requires two types of input to produce a result – the basic data that needs to be processed and a
set of instructions containing the methodology to process the data. Processing of data refers to
the operations performed by the computer on data to produce the required result and the set of
instructions used to process the data is called a program or software.

ADVANTAGES OF USING COMPUTERS

Computers have affected virtually all aspects of life in today’s world. The main reasons for the
popularity of computers are their speed, accuracy, consistency, storage capacity and flexibility.

 Speed – Computers work at very high speed and are much faster than humans. The time
required by computers to execute basic operations varies from a few microseconds (one
millionth of a second) to a few nanoseconds (one billion of a second). Therefore
computers can perform millions to billions of machine operations in a second.

 Accuracy – They generate very accurate results to specified instructions.

 Consistency – They provide consistent performance. This is because they do not get
bored or tired like human beings. The monotony of repetitive work does not affect
computers. They are therefore ideal for carrying out repetitive and voluminous work.

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  Storage Capacity – They have very high storage capacity. For instance, a flash drive can
store the records of all the students and staff of the University.

 Flexibility – A computer is very flexible because it is a general-purpose machine. It can

be used to type documents, play music, send messages, create designs, etc.

EVOLUTION OF COMPUTERS

Although computers are in use in almost every field today, the main stages in the evolution of the
computer took place in a short span of 50 years. This rapid development was characterized by
phases of growth, which are called computer generations. With each generation, computers
became smaller, faster, more powerful, less expensive and easier to maintain.

 1st generation – These were developed in the mid-1940s and were based on vacuum
tubes. They were huge, had limited storage capacity and slow in speed. Examples of this
type are ENIAC (Electrical Numerical Integrator Automatic Computer) and UNIVAC
(Universal Automatic Computer).
 2nd generation – Second generation computers were developed in the 1950s. They use
transistors instead of vacuum tubes. They had increased storage capacity and faster speed
than the earlier generation. Examples of this are IBM-700 and ATLAS.
 3rd generation – In the 1960s, a major breakthrough was achieved that made it possible
to place hundreds of transistors on a single silicon chip known as integrated circuit (IC).
The IC became the basis for the 3rd generation computers, which were smaller and
provided better performance. Examples are IBM 360 and IBM 370.
 4th generation – In the 1970s, 4th generation computers were developed with the
introduction of Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) and Ultra Large Scale Integration
(ULSI), using abound 50,000 transistors to millions placed on a single chip. As a result,
they were considerably faster, smaller and cheaper. An example of this is the Personal
Computer (PC).
 5th generation – Computer scientists and engineers are infusing artificial intelligence
into computers and have develop the 5th generation of computers. This generation is
highly complex and simulates humans.

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OVERVIEW OF A PC SYSTEM

The physical components of a PC, which are the components that are visible to you, are called
the PC hardware. The graphic below displays a typical PC system. In the graphic, the hardware
device that resembles a television screen is called the Visual Display Unit (VDU) or the monitor.
The hardware device that resembles a typewriter is called the keyboard. The rectangular box-like
component is called the Central Processing Unit (CPU). The CPU stores the necessary
components, such as memory, to run the PC. The small device connected to the CPU through a
long cord is called a mouse. Moving the mouse produces a corresponding movement of an
arrowhead on the VDU. There are different types of personal computers, ranging from the
desktop, laptop, notebook to palmtop or the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). We are going to
study the in details the desktop PC and the laptop PC which you a most likely to find yourself
using.

A Desktop personal computer A Laptop Co

Basic computer concepts

A computer is an electronic machine that is capable of accepting data (as input), processing the
data, and producing information (as output) fast, accurately, and thus more efficiently than

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human beings. Computer may be in the form of a personal computer (PC), a laptop, a notebook
or palmtop.

* Data can be considered as a computer’s raw material e.g. students exams records, goods
received, employer’s names, list of invoices and cash, goods produced per day. These and
such other raw materials are referred to as data.

* Information can be considered as the finished product obtained from the raw materials.
The information is the result of the various operations which the computer performs on
the data submitted to it. E.g. statements of results, a list of balances, a set of pay slips e.t.c

* Process; Computers perform processes on data which may include sorting for example
(into number or alphabetical sequence), calculations (add, subtract, multiply, divide)

An illustration of the relationship between data, a computer, and information

DATA COMPUTER INFORMATION

[INPUT] [PROCESS]
[OUTPUT]

CLASSIFYING COMPUTERS

There are several criteria by which a computer may be classified. These criteria maybe by type,
by purpose, or by size which is by far the most commonly used criteria.

Classification by Type

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(A) Digital Computers; Functions by taking discrete numbers and performing mathematical
calculations on them and is the type used in commercial data processing.

(B) Analogue Computer; measures physical magnitudes such as temperature, pressure, and
signals whose amplitude vary with time. E.g. slide rule and car speedometer. Generally,
analogue computers are used for scientific and engineering purposes.

Classification by Purpose

(A) Social purpose; Computers designed for a particular job only and are used to solve
problems of a restricted nature. E.g. computers designed for air traffic control or weapons
guidance systems.

(B) General purpose; designed to solve a wide variety of problems within the limitations
imposed by their particular tasks or solve problems by means of appropriate programs.

Classification by Size

(A) Micro-computers; small computers realized on a small number of silicon chips with a
microprocessor as the central processing unit (C.P.U). They are usually the smallest in
size, in terms of memory (data storage facility) capacity.

(B) Mini-computers; these are middle range computers between the smallest (Micro)
computers and the (Mainframe) computers.

(C) Mainframe computers; these are large computers having wide range of memory facilities.
They occupy larger space areas than either the Mini or Micro.

CHAPTER TWO

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MICROSOFT WINDOWS

Microsoft Windows is a Graphical User Interface (GUI) program that makes the computer

much easier to use than other Operating Systems. All possible operations that users might

want to perform using computers are individually represented by small graphics technically

called icons. They are logically arranged in different rectangular boxes on the screen called

Dialog Boxes or Windows. Windows perform tasks by moving the mouse pointer to the icon

that represents the operation that one intends to perform and clicking on that icon. It is

possible to switch between programs without having to close down one open window before

opening the next. Windows comes with a collection of useful accessories i.e. programs to

help you manage the various parts of your daily work, like calendar, calculator, WordPad and

so on. Word is a powerful word processing program and is about the most popular word

processor around. It has features that make it easy for you to create all kinds of documents

with amazing ease. Word helps you to painlessly create letters, memos, reports, proposals,

web pages, business plans, resumes, novels and even graphics based multicolumn

publications, such as fliers and newsletters. With Word, the information you type in as input

are first stored in the computer memory. What you see on the screen is just an image of what

will be printed on paper. However, word allows you to preview your document before

printing.

STARTING WORD

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There are several ways to start Word but we shall consider the following:

1. Click on the Start button.

2. Move your pointer to All Programs and then click on Microsoft Office 2007.

3. Click Microsoft Office Word 2007.

You can also start Word by double clicking on the Microsoft Office Word 2007 shortcut (icon)
on the desktop.

MS-WORD SCREEN

When you start Word, you see the opening screen, where a new document is automatically

opened for you. The following items can be identified on the screen.

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Title Bar: The title bar shows the title of the document that is currently open and the name of the
program being used i.e. Microsoft Word.

The Ribbon: The ribbon is the horizontal bar you see across the screen. The three parts of the
ribbon are tabs, groups and commands.

Tabs sit across the top of the Ribbon. Each one represents core tasks you do in a given program.
The tabs that are visible on the ribbon when you start are, Home, Insert, Page Layout,
References, Mailings, Review and View. Certain tabs appear only when you need them.

Groups: are sets of related commands. They remain on display and readily available, giving you
rich visual aids. Under the Home tab, you have the Font, Paragraph, Styles and Editing
groups.

Commands: are arranged in groups. A command can be a button, a menu, or a box where you
enter information. Frequently used commands are the ones that are most prominently featured on
the ribbon. Others appear only when you need them in response to action you have taken. To get
to a less commonly used command that is not visible on the ribbon, click on the arrow at the
right corner of the group, called the Dialog box launcher. This opens the dialog box for that
group to show more options.

The Quick Access Toolbar: The Quick Access Toolbar is the small area to the upper left of the
Ribbon. It contains the things that you use over and over every day: Save, Undo, and Repeat.
You can also add your favourite commands to the Quick Access Toolbar so that they‘re available
no matter which tab you‘re on.

The Mini Toolbar: The mini toolbar is a handy, miniature, semitransparent toolbar that appears
when you select text. It helps you work with fonts, font styles, font sizing, alignment, text colour,
indent levels, and bullet features. Select your text by dragging with your mouse, and then point at
the selection. The Mini toolbar will appear in a faded fashion. If you point to the Mini toolbar, it
will become solid, and you can click a formatting option on it.

The Microsoft Office Button: This is located at the top left corner of every Office program

screen. When you click on it, the menu looks more like the File menu on older versions of
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Word. It contains all the command that you will need to work with your document, like open,

save, print, send, close, etc.

The Rulers: The horizontal and vertical rulers, located at the top and left side of your document,
are often used to align text, graphics, tables and other elements in a document. To view these
rulers, your document must be in Print Layout view.

Insertion Point: Marks the place where the next text you type will be inserted.

Mouse Pointer: Shows where the next action will occur if you click the mouse button.

Scroll Bars: Indicate your location in a document and also allows you to scroll around your
document.

Status Bar: Displays information about the active document or selected command.

Key Tips: This is another name for keyboard shortcuts. There are shortcuts for every single
button on the ribbon. Shortcuts often require fewer key strokes. Pressing ALT makes the Key
Tip badges appear for all Ribbon tabs, the Quick Access Toolbar commands, and the Microsoft
Office Button. Press the key tip for the tab you want and then the key tip for the command you
want.

TO OPEN A NEW WORD DOCUMENT:

1. Click New from the Microsoft Office button menu.

2. Click Create when you see the ―Blank Document‖ highlighted.

TO OPEN AN EXISTING WORD DOCUMENT:

1. Click Open from the Microsoft Office button menu.

2. From the Dialog box, select the appropriate drive, folder, and filename.

3. Click Open.

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You can also open an existing file from the Quick Access Toolbar. Saving a Document When
you are working in Word, you are actually working on a copy of your document temporarily
stored on the computer‘s memory. To save your work for future use, you must give the document
a name and store it on disk. A document may be saved as a fresh document or update.

TO SAVE A FRESH DOCUMENT

 Click Save As from the Microsoft Office button menu.

 In the pop-up menu, select the format in which the file will be save.
 In the Save As Dialog box, type in the name of the file and other appropriate information.
 Click the Save button.

TO SAVE A COPY OF AN UPDATED DOCUMENT

 Click Save As from the Microsoft Office button menu.

 In the pop-up menu, select the format in which the file will be save.

 The document name appears in the file name box on the dialog box.

 Type in a new file name if you wish to change the old name in the Save As Dialog box,
make other changes where appropriate.

 Click the Save button.

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CLOSING A DOCUMENT

In Word, several documents can be open at a time but only one can be active at a time. When

you no longer need to work on a particular document, you may need to close it. This does not

mean closing the Word program. When an active document is closed, the previous document

that is open appears on the screen or a new document is opened if there is no previous document.

TO CLOSE A DOCUMENT

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Close.

2. Select Yes if you want to save the document before closing, No if you do not want save
to save, or Cancel if you are no longer interested in closing the document.

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EDITING DOCUMENTS IN WORD

Entering Text: Working in Word is easier than working on a typewriter. Nothing is on paper
until you print the document, so you can easily make corrections until you are satisfied with the
result. When you start Word, it displays a blank editing area, with the cursor, a blinking vertical
line in the upper-left corner of the page, showing where the content you type will appear on the
page. Key in you text, and as you type, the cursor moves to the right. When you get to the end of
a line on the right side of the page, just continue to type. Word will move on to the next line for
you as you type; this is called word wrapping. To allow Word to work effectively, keep the
following points in mind while keying in your text:

 Press Enter only to begin a new paragraph or to add an extra blank line before the next
paragraph.

 To add to existing text, click the mouse pointer where you want text to be inserted and
type.

 Do not use spaces to align text, instead use a tab, an indent, a table, or one of the
paragraph alignment options.

 If you type a web address in your document, Word automatically changes that Web
address to a hyperlink that you can click to jump to that page if you (or someone who
reads your document file) have internet access.

Navigating Word Documents: You would need to move around your document to edit or format
after typing. Much of the time, you navigate through a Word document using these general
practices:

 Use the four arrow keys to move the cursor around the editing area

↑ - up one line

↓ - down one line

← - one character to the left

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 → - one character to the right

 Click the scroll bars to move around long documents.

 Click the mouse pointer anywhere inside the editing area to move the cursor to that
location.
 If you type more text than fits in the editing area, use the following keys to scroll to the
portions of text that you want.

Home Beginning of line

End End of line

Ctrl + ↑ One paragraph up

Ctrl + ↓ One paragraph down

Page Up One window up

Page Down One window down

Ctrl + Page Up To the top of the page up

Ctrl + Page Down To the top of the page down

Ctrl + Home Beginning of a document

Ctrl + End End of a document

UNDO AND REPEAT COMMANDS OR EDIT ACTION

You can reverse your most recent action by choosing UNDO from the Quick Access Toolbar.
Choose this command anytime you are not satisfied with the result of an action you took.
Quickly click on the UNDO button on the toolbar. There are a few actions that cannot be undone
and in such cases, when you click the UNDO button, it will say “Can‘t Undo”. You can repeat
the last command or editing action by clicking on the REPEAT button on the Quick Access
Toolbar. If you try to repeat when there is nothing to repeat, it says “Can‘t Repeat”.

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FORMATTING DOCUMENTS IN WORD

The way your document looks depends on the type of formatting applied. There are several
options that Word gives the user to shape up the document so that important elements of the
document get the attention they deserve, to enhance the appearance of the document. You can
quickly change how a document looks. You can emphasize text with bold, italic, or underlined
formatting; create lists; and use a style, a tool that helps you format a document.

TO APPLY FORMAT: Click on the format button on the Ribbon before typing the text. If it is
an already typed text, select the text to be formatted and then click on the appropriate format
button on the Ribbon.

TO REMOVE A FORMAT: Select the formatted text, and then click on the format button on the
Ribbon.

CHARACTER FORMATTING: Characters are the letters, numbers, punctuation marks and
symbols that you type as text. Character formatting determines how characters appear on the
screen and in print. Word uses preset, or default formats to determine the font, size and other
formatting of the text you type. You can change the formatting by choosing new formats before
you type. The commands in the Font group on the Home tab allow you to apply these formats.

TO APPLY FONT FORMAT: In the Font group on the Home tab, do the following to apply the
formats:

TO CHANGE THE FONT FACE

1. Click on the arrow at the right corner of the font name box.

2. Select a new font face.

TO CHANGE THE FONT SIZE

1. Click on the arrow at the right corner of the font size box.

2. Select a new font size.

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TO CHANGE THE FONT COLOUR

1. Select text to colour.

2. Click the Font colour button on the Ribbon.

3. Select the font colour of interest and click.

TO INSERT A SPECIAL CHARACTER: There are some characters you do not find on the
keyboard but Word enables you to type such characters by using the Symbol command. You can
use it to insert symbols and special characters in your document.

1. Position the cursor where you want to insert the special character.

2. From the Insert tab, click Symbol in the Symbols group.

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3. Click on more symbols to see all the symbols that are available.

4. Select the character by clicking on it.

5. Click the Insert button on the dialog box.

6. Click Close to return to your document.

For other character formatting commands, place your mouse pointer on the various buttons in the
Font group, on the Home tab and you will see a tip on the description of the command.

PARAGRAPH FORMATTING: Paragraph format refers to a format that you can apply to one
or more selected paragraphs. As with other formatting commands, you can apply a formatting
command before typing, to apply the format to all subsequent paragraphs that you type or, select
already typed paragraphs and apply the format. In the Paragraph group on the Home tab, you
find the commands that you can use to format a paragraph. You can also open the Paragraph

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dialog box by Right clicking on the paragraph, click Paragraph on the pop-up menu, then choose
the formats to be applied.

TO CHANGE PARAGRAPH ALIGNMENT:

1. Select the paragraph to be aligned.

2. In the Paragraph group on the Home tab, click on the alignment button you want to apply.

TO INDENT PARAGRAPH

1. Select the paragraph to be indented.

2. In the Paragraph group on the Home tab, click on the Decrease Indent button to decrease
indentation or click on the Increase Indent button to increase the indentation of the
paragraph.

TO CREATE A NUMBERED OR BULLETED LIST

1. Select the paragraph you want to number or add bullets to.

2. Click the arrow by the number or bullet button in the Paragraph group on the Home tab.

3. Do your specifications on the drop down menu and click on your selection.

TO REMOVE NUMBERING OR BULLETS

1. Select the numbered or bulleted paragraphs.

2. Click on the number or bullet button in the Paragraph group on the Home tab.

TO ADJUST LINE SPACING

1. Select the paragraph you want to adjust the line spacing.

2. Click the arrow by the line spacing button in the Paragraph group on the Home tab.

3. Click line spacing options.

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4. Do your specifications on the dialog box.

5. Click OK.

BORDERS AND SHADING

With this command, you can add lines and boxes to paragraphs of text, graphics, or cells in a
table. You can also shade paragraphs and tables.

TO APPLY BORDERS

1. Select the text you want to apply borders.

2. Click the arrow by the borders and shading command button in the Paragraph group on
the Home tab.

3. Click your choice from the drop-down list or click borders and shading to open the dialog
box for more options.

4. Do your selections.

5. Click OK.

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To apply shading Do same as borders.

TO SETUP COLUMNS FOR THE DOCUMENT

1. Position the cursor where you want to change the number of columns.

2. From the Page Layout tab, click the arrow by the Columns command in the Page Setup
group.

3. Click more columns to open the dialog box.

4. Type your specifications and click OK.

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PAGE FORMATTING: Page formatting refers to formats that when applied, affects the
appearance of the whole page. This includes setting margins, paper size, page numbering,
headers and footers, etc.

To adjust margins, paper size and layout

1. Position the cursor at the point where you want to make the change.

2. From the Page Layout tab, click the arrow by the Page Setup group (the dialog box
launcher).

3. Click on the Margins tab to adjust margin settings, Paper to.

4. Adjust the margin settings and click the OK button.

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TO CHANGE PAGE ORIENTATION.

1. On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, click Orientation

2. Click Portrait or Landscape.

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NUMBERING PAGES

With Word you can number pages quickly and easily using the Page Number command on the
Insert tab. Word updates page numbers automatically so they are always current for your
document.

TO INSERT PAGE NUMBERS

1. On the Insert tab, in the Header & Footer group, click Page Number.

2. Click Top of Page, Bottom of Page, or Page Margins, depending on where you want
page numbers to appear in your document.

Choose a page numbering design from the gallery of designs.

To format the page numbers

1. Double-click the header or footer of one of your document pages. 2.

Under Header & Footer Tools, on the Design tab, in the Header & Footer group, click
Page Number, and then click Format Page Numbers.

3. In the Number format box, click a numbering style, and then click OK.

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TO REMOVE PAGE NUMBERS

1. On the Insert tab, in the Header & Footer group, click Page Number.

2. Click Remove Page Numbers.

NOTE: If you created different first-page or odd and even headers or footers, or if you have
sections that aren't linked, be sure to remove the page numbers from each different header or
footer.

HEADER AND FOOTERS

A header or footer is a descriptive text to be printed at the top or bottom of every page in your
document. You can insert predesigned headers or footers in your document and easily change the
header and footer designs. Or you can create your own header or footer with a logo and custom
look, and save the new header or footer to the gallery.

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TO INSERT A HEADER OR FOOTER

1. On the Insert tab, in the Header & Footer group, click Header or Footer.

2. Click the header or footer design that you want.

The header or footer is inserted on every page of the document.

NOTE: If necessary, you can format text in the header or footer by selecting the text and using
the formatting options on the Mini toolbar.

TO EDIT A HEADER OR FOOTER

On the Insert tab, in the Header & Footer group, click Header or Footer.

1. Click Edit Header or Edit Footer.

2. Insert text or graphics.

3. To save the header or footer that you created to the gallery of header or footer options,
select the text or graphics in the header or footer, and then click Save Selection as New
Header or Save Selection as New Footer.

TO CHANGE HEADERS OR FOOTERS

1. On the Insert tab, in the Header & Footer group, click Header or Footer.

2. Click a header or footer design from the gallery.

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 The header or footer design changes for the entire document.

TO REMOVE THE HEADERS OR FOOTERS

1. Click anywhere in the document.

2. On the Insert tab, in the Header & Footer group, click Header or Footer.

3. Click Remove Header or Remove Footer.

The header or footers are removed from the entire document.

ADDING TABLES TO YOUR DOCUMENT

Using tabs can do most column works, but a more powerful and flexible method is the use of
tables. A table is a collection of data organised in rows and columns of boxes called cells. A cell
is a single table entry. In Word, you can insert a table by choosing from a selection of
preformatted tables — complete with sample data — or by selecting the number of rows and
columns that you want. You can insert a table into a document, or you can insert one table into
another table to create a more complex table.

TO INSERT TABLE

You can use the Insert Table command to choose the table dimensions and format before you
insert the table into a document.

1. Click where you want to insert a table.

2. On the Insert tab, in the Tables group, click Table, and then click Insert Table.

3. Under Table size, enter the number of columns and rows.

4. Under AutoFit behaviour, choose options to adjust the table size.

5. Click OK.

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To add a cell, row, column or apply other formats to a table You must create a table first, and
have your insertion point in the table before you can apply these formats. Once you are within a
table, two more tabs – the Design and Layout tabs, will be added to the Ribbon. In these tabs,
you will find all the features and formats that you would need to apply to your table.

PRINTING WORD DOCUMENTS

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Before you print, it is a good idea to check your document using the Print Preview command on
the drop down list of the Print option on the Office button. In print preview, you see the
document the way it will come out when printed. This allows you to make changes before you
print.

The following are the buttons and other options in the Print dialog box:

 Name In the list, click a printer you have installed and want to use.
 Status For the selected printer, tells the status of the printer, such as idle, busy, or the
number of files before your print job.
 Type For the selected printer, tells the type of printer you selected, such as laser.
 Where For the selected printer, tells the location of the printer or which port the printer is
connected to.

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 Comment For the selected printer, tells any additional information you might need to
know about the printer.
 Properties Click this button when you want to change the properties, such as paper type,
for the printer that you are using.
 Find Printer Click this button to find a printer that you have access to.
 Print to file Select this check box to create a file from the document instead of routing it
directly to a printer. The file is saved with print formatting, such as font selection and
colour specification in a .prn file that can be printed to another printer.
 Number of copies In this list, click the number of copies that you want printed.
 Collate Select this check box if you want your print job to be kept in the order that you
created in your document when printed. This check box is available if you are printing
multiple copies.
 Pages per sheet In this list, click the number of pages that will appear on one printed
page.
 Scale to paper size In this list; click the paper size that you want your document to print
on.
 All Click this option if you want to print all pages in your file.
 Current page Click this option if you only want to print the page that your cursor is
currently on.
 Pages Click this option and add the page numbers or page ranges in the box.
 Print what In this list, click the elements that you want printed.
 Print In this list, click if you want to print all pages, odd pages, or even pages.
 Options Click this button to go to more printing options in the Display category in the
Word Options dialog box.
 OK Click this button to send your document to the printer.
 Cancel Click this button to go back to your document without printing it.

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 CHAPTER THREE

MICROSOFT EXCEL

INTRODUCTION

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet used for processing numerical data. A spreadsheet is essentially
a two dimensional array of cells with the associated commands for performing different types of
numerical computations and data analysis. It is divided into rows and columns, and at each row-
column intersection is a cell. Each cell may contain text for documentations, numerical values
from data, or a formula dependant on values in other cells. Whenever the value of a cell is
changed, the contents of the cells with formulas depending on it can be changed automatically.
With Excel, you can create numerically based proposals, business plans, business forms,
accounting worksheets, and virtually any other document that contains calculated numbers.

STARTING EXCEL

There are several ways of starting Excel, but we shall consider two major ways.

STEP 1:

Double click on the MS-Excel icon on your desktop.

NB: You only do this if the shortcut icon is created on your desktop.

STEP 2:

1. Click on the Start menu

2. Click Programs

3. Click on MS-Excel.

NB: this will work if Excel is placed on programs.

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Excel Screen

In Excel 2007, how a window displays depends on the size of your window, the size of your
monitor, and the resolution to which your monitor is set. Resolution determines how much
information your computer monitor can display. If you use a low resolution, less information fits
on your screen, but the size of your text and images are larger. If you use a high resolution, more
information fits on your screen, but the size of the text and images are smaller. Also, settings in
Excel 2007, Windows Vista, and Windows XP allow you to change the colour and style of your
windows.

The Excel screen is made up of the following:

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The Microsoft Office Button

In the upper-left corner of the Excel 2007 window is the Microsoft Office button. When you
click the button, a menu appears. You can use the menu to create a new file, open an existing
file, save a file, and perform many other tasks.

The Quick Access Toolbar

Next to the Microsoft Office button is the Quick Access toolbar. The Quick Access toolbar gives
you with access to commands you frequently use. By default, Save, Undo, and Redo appear on
the Quick Access toolbar. You can use Save to save your file, Undo to roll back an action you
have taken, and Redo to reapply an action you have rolled back.

The Title Bar

Next to the Quick Access toolbar is the Title bar. On the Title bar, Microsoft Excel displays the
name of the workbook you are currently using. At the top of the Excel window, you should see
"Microsoft Excel - Book1" or a similar name.

The Ribbon

32
You use commands to tell Microsoft Excel what to do. In Microsoft Excel 2007, you use the
Ribbon to issue commands. The Ribbon is located near the top of the Excel window, below the
Quick Access toolbar. At the top of the Ribbon are several tabs; clicking a tab displays several
related command groups. Within each group are related command buttons. You click buttons to
issue commands or to access menus and dialog boxes. You may also find a dialog box launcher
in the bottom-right corner of a group. When you click the dialog box launcher, a dialog box
makes additional commands available.

Worksheets

Microsoft Excel consists of worksheets. Each worksheet contains columns and rows. The
columns are lettered A to Z and then continuing with AA, AB, AC and so on; the rows are
numbered 1 to 1,048,576. The number of columns and rows you can have in a worksheet is

33
limited by your computer memory and your system resources. The combination of a column
coordinate and a row coordinate make up a cell address. For example, the cell located in the
upper-left corner of the worksheet is cell A1, meaning column A, row 1. Cell E10 is located
under column E on row 10. You enter your data into the cells on the worksheet.

The Formula Bar

If the Formula bar is turned on, the cell address of the cell you are in displays in the Name box
which is located on the left side of the Formula bar. Cell entries display on the right side of the
Formula bar. If you do not see the Formula bar in your window, perform the following steps:

1. Choose the View tab.

2. Click Formula Bar in the Show/Hide group. The Formula bar appears.

Note: The current cell address displays on the left side of the Formula bar.

The Status Bar

The Status bar appears at the very bottom of the Excel window and provides such information as
the sum, average, minimum, and maximum value of selected numbers. You can change what

34
displays on the Status bar by right-clicking on the Status bar and selecting the options you want
from the Customize Status Bar menu. You click a menu item to select it. You click it again to
deselect it. A check mark next to an item means the item is selected.

Other parts of the screen include the following:

PART DESCRIPTION

Menu bar A list of menu names displayed below the title bar of an application.

Name box A box to the left of the screen below the tool bar. It contains the
address of the currently selected cell.

Minimize button The small box with a single dash, located

Maximize button The small box with a single square, located at the right end of the
title bar.

Restore button The small box with a double square at the right end of the title bar,
that when clicked, restore an application or workbook into a
sizeable window.

Scroll bar A grey horizontal or vertical bar that enables you to scroll the
screen horizontally or vertically using the mouse.

Split bar A dark bar at the end of a scroll bar that you drag to a new
location along the scroll bar to split a window into two views of
the same workbook.

Columns The alphabets at the top boarder, [A,B,C,D.......IV] make up the

columns. The columns that are alphabetic are 256 in number [A to
IV].

Rows At the left border are numbers [ranging from 1 to 65536] that make
up the Rows. Unlike the Columns, the Rows are about 65000 and
above.

35
Cell Pointer The rectangular highlight we see on the worksheet is called the
Cell Pointer.

Cell A cell is the intersection of a row and column.

UNDERSTANDING WORKBOOKS AND WORKSHEETS

Excel enables you to create and edit workbooks. A workbook contains one or more worksheets
[sometimes called spreadsheets or just sheets.] A worksheet is a collection of rows and columns
that holds text and numbers. Anytime you create, open or save an Excel File, you are working
with a workbook. Each workbook contains 3 worksheets named sheet 1, sheet 2 and sheet 3
which can be expanded up to 255 sheets. The maximum number of worksheets will depend on
the capacity of the computer.

MOVE AROUND A WORKSHEET

By using the arrow keys, you can move around your worksheet. You can use the down arrow key
to move downward one cell at a time. You can use the up arrow key to move upward one cell at
a time. You can use the Tab key to move across the page to the right, one cell at a time. You can
hold down the Shift key and then press the Tab key to move to the left, one cell at a time. You
can use the right and left arrow keys to move right or left one cell at a time. The Page Up and
Page Down keys move up and down one page at a time. If you hold down the Ctrl key and then
press the Home key, you move to the beginning of the worksheet.

ENTERING WORKSHEET DATA

Often, entering worksheet data requires nothing more than moving the cell pointer to the correct
cell and typing the data. The various kinds of data behave differently when entered, so you
should understand how Excel accepts assorted data. Excel can work with the following kinds of
data.

 Labels Text values such as names and addresses.

 Numbers Numeric values such as 34, -291,545.67874 and O.
 Formulas Expressions that compute numeric results [some formulas work with text
values as well.
36
  Special formats Data and time values.

To enter data in the worksheet follow these steps:

1. Select the cell in which you want to enter data [click on the cell]

2. Type the entry: The entry appears in the formula bar as you type

3. Enter what you have typed by clicking the Enter box in the formula bar or by pressing
Enter.

ENTERING NUMBERS

Excel accepts numeric values of all kinds. You can type positive numbers, negative numbers,
numbers with decimal points, zero-leading numbers, numbers with dollar sings, percent signs,
and even scientific notation [shortcut for writing extremely large and extremely small numbers.]
To enter a number you select the cell, type the number, and then press Enter or click the Enter
box in the formula bar. Excel may display newly entered numbers as 1.58E+9 [scientific
notation], or a ####### as you create a worksheet. A cell filled with a # sign indicates that the
column is not wide enough to display the number correctly. In this case, you need to widen the
column.

EDITING CELL ENTRIES

1. Select cell containing the data you want to edit by clicking in the cell.

2. Click the formula bar and edit the cell contents.

UNDOING AND REDOING CHANGES

Undo is a command that, when applied causes the system to either bring back or cancel the last
command that was carried out while Redo repeats the last command. Not all commands can be
undone or repeated. To do either of the two, click on Edit menu and then click on either Undo or
Redo.

CLEARING CELLS

37
1. Select the ell or range of cells you want to clear.

2. Press the delete or backspace key.

OR

Click the right mouse button and choose Clear Cells.

INSERT AND DELETE COLUMNS AND ROWS

You can insert and delete columns and rows. When you delete a column, you delete everything
in the column from the top of the worksheet to the bottom of the worksheet. When you delete a
row, you delete the entire row from left to right. Inserting a column or row inserts a completely
new column or row. To delete columns F and G:

1. Click the column F indicator and drag to column G.

2. Click the down arrow next to Delete in the Cells group. A menu appears.

3. Click Delete Sheet Columns. Excel deletes the columns you selected.

4. Click anywhere on the worksheet to remove your selection.

To delete rows 7 through 12:

38
1. Click the row 7 indicator and drag to row 12.

2. Click the down arrow next to Delete in the Cells group. A menu appears.

3. Click Delete Sheet Rows. Excel deletes the rows you selected.

4. Click anywhere on the worksheet to remove your selection.

To insert a column:

1. Click on A to select column A.

2. Click the down arrow next to Insert in the Cells group. A menu appears.

3. Click Insert Sheet Columns. Excel inserts a new column.

4. Click anywhere on the worksheet to remove your selection.

To insert rows:

1. Click on 1 and then drag down to 2 to select rows 1 and 2.

2. Click the down arrow next to Insert in the Cells group. A menu appears.

3. Click Insert Sheet Rows. Excel inserts two new rows.

39
4. Click anywhere on the worksheet to remove your selection.

Your worksheet should look like the one shown here.

USING FORMULAS

The use of Formulas has made Excel the powerful time-saving planning, budgeting, and general-
purpose financial tool that it is today. Without formulas, Excel would have been a little more
than a word processor for tables of information. You can use formulas to do simple calculations
involving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, as well as carry out very complex
financial, statistical or scientific calculations. All Excel formulas begin with an equal sign [=]
and can include numeric and text values [constants], arithmetic operators, comparison operators,
comparison operators, text operators, functions, parenthesis, cell references and names. Formulas
refer to the content of a cell by the cell’s reference, such as A4. In formulas, you can use
mathematical operators such as + or – and also in-built formulas called functions, like SUM or
PMT. A simple formula may appear in the formula bar under the menu as follows: = A4+C6 this
formula adds the contents of cell A4 and contents of cell C6.

ENTERING FORMULAS

1. Select the cell to contain the formula

2. Type an equal sign [=]

40
3. Type a value, cell reference, mathematical operator or function that describes the formula

4. Press enter to compute the formula

USING OPERATORS IN FORMULAS

Operators are symbols that request Excel to perform certain operations. Excel uses four types of
operators – arithmetic, text, comparative and reference.

Arithmetic

+ Addition

- Subtraction or Negation

X Multiplication

/ Division

% Percentage

^ Exponentiation

Text

&

Comparative

= Equal

< Less Than

> Greater Than

<= Less than or equal to

>= Greater than or equal to

41
<> Not equal to

FUNCTIONS

By using functions, you can quickly and easily make many useful calculations, such as finding
an average, the highest number, the lowest number, and a count of the number of items in a list.
Microsoft Excel has many functions that you can use.

USING REFERENCE OPERATORS

To use functions, you need to understand reference operators. Reference operators refer to a cell
or a group of cells. There are two types of reference operators: range and union.

A range reference refers to all the cells between and including the reference. A range reference
consists of two cell addresses separated by a colon. The reference A1:A3 includes cells A1, A2,
and A3. The reference A1:C3 includes cells A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, C1, C2, and C3. A union
reference includes two or more references. A union reference consists of two or more numbers,
range references, or cell addresses separated by a comma. The reference A7, B8:B10, C9, 10
refers to cells A7, B8 to B10, C9 and the number 10.

UNDERSTANDING FUNCTIONS

Functions are prewritten formulas. Functions differ from regular formulas in that you supply the
value but not the operators, such as +, -, *, or /. For example, you can use the SUM function to
add. When using a function, remember the following: Use an equal sign to begin a formula.
Specify the function name. Enclose arguments within parentheses. Arguments are values on
which you want to perform the calculation. For example, arguments specify the numbers or cells
you want to add. Use a comma to separate arguments. Here is an example of a function: = SUM
(2, 13, A1, B2:C7) in this function: The equal sign begins the function. SUM is the name of the
function. 2, 13, A1, and B2:C7 are the arguments. Parentheses enclose the arguments. Commas
separate the arguments. After you type the first letter of a function name, the AutoComplete list
appears. You can double-click on an item in the AutoComplete list to complete your entry
quickly. Excel will complete the function name and enter the first parenthesis.

ENTERING TEXT AND DATES IN FORMULAS

42
Enter text, dates and times in formulas by including the data in quotation marks. For example:

=The Total Budget is =N= & TOTAL-BUDGET

Displays The Total Budget is =N=1,200,000

[If the number 1,200,000 is in the cell named TOTAL-BUDGET].

Perform explicit date [dates that are not in cells] computations as follows:

= “5/14/94”‖ – “5/14/92”‖

This formula gives the number of days between the two dates.

NAMING CELLS

A group of cells that are frequently referenced can be named for simplicity. You can for
example, give an area to be totaled the name Sales Total. When the time comes to create names,
you must remember a few rules. Names must start with a letter or an underscore, but you can use
any character after the initial letter except a space or hyphen. Do not use a space in a name; use
an underscore [_] instead or a period [.].

DEFINING NAMES WITH THE INSERT NAME DEFINE COMMAND

To name a cell, range of cells or multiple ranges.

1. Select the cell, range or multiple ranges you want to name

2. Click the name box and type in the name

3. Press enter from the keyboard

OR

1. Select the cell, range or multiple ranges you want to name

2. From the Insert menu, click name

43
3. Select and click define

4. Type the name in the displayed box and click the OK button.

CHANGING OR DELETING NAMES

To change a name or cells that the name references follow these steps:

1. Choose the Insert Name Define command, which is the same command you use to name
a cell or range of cells. The Define dialog box appears.

2. Select from the list box the name you want to change.

3. Select the Names in Workbook box the name you want to change

4. Edit the name or cell reference in the appropriate text book.

5. Choose Ok

6. To delete a name, select the name and choose delete.

MOVING AND COPYING CELLS

There are two ways of moving and copying cells. You can perform these operations by either
dragging or issuing commands.

Moving by Dragging; if you have a mouse, the easiest and most intuitive way to move a cell or
range is to drag the cell or range to the new location and drop it. Excel moves the ell contents
and formats. To drag cell to a new location, perform the following steps:

1. Select the cell or range you want to move.

2. Move the mouse pointer over the selection border. The pointer changes to an arrow.

3. Drag the pointer and the gray outline of the selection to the new location; Drag past the
edge of a window to make the window scroll.

44
4. Release the mouse button when the gray outline is where you want to place the selected
range.

Moving with commands

1. Select the cell or range you want to move

2. Click the Cut button on the Clipboard group from the Home tab. The cells you selected
appear surrounded by a marquee, a moving dash line.

3. Select the cell at the upper-left corner of where you want the pasted cells.

4. Click the Paste button on the Clipboard group from the Home tab.

Copying by Dragging

1. Select the cell or range you want to move

2. Hold down the CTRL key and move the mouse pointer over an edge of the selection. The
pointer changes to an arrow with a + [plus sign]

3. Continue holding down the CTRL and drag the edge of the selection to where you want
the data to be copied. The location where the data is to be copied appears as a wide gray
border. The location

4. Continue holding the CTRL key as you release the mouse button.

5. Release the CTRL key.

Copying by commands

1. Select the cells you want to copy

2. Click the Cut button on the Clipboard group from the Home tab.

3. Select a cell in which to make the copy.

4. Click the Paste button on the Clipboard group from the Home tab.

45
FILLING OR COPYING CELL CONTENTS

You can save a great deal of data entry time with Excel’s copy and fill commands and the many
shortcuts that copy or fill. Rather than typing each formula in a worksheet, you can type a few
formulas and copy or fill them into other cells.

Using the Fill Handle

To fill adjacent cells, perform the following steps:

1. Select the cell or range that contains the data or formula

2. Drag the fill handle so that the wide gray border encloses all cells to fill

3. Release the mouse button

46
 CHAPTER FOUR

FILE MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION

The term computer file management refers to the manipulation of documents and data in files on
a computer. Specifically, one may create a new file or edit an existing file and save it; open or
load a pre-existing file into memory; or close a file without saving it. Additionally, one may
group related files in directories. These tasks are accomplished in different ways in different
operating systems and depend on the user interface design and, to some extent, the storage
medium being used.

File is a collection of related data items stored within the computer system given name (the

File name). A file name in windows can be up to 225 characters long including blank spaces.

The only characters that cannot form file names are; / \ * ? < >.

To copy a file

1. Click on the folder holding the file to open it.

2. Click on the filename to be copied. If the files are more than one, then hold down the Ctrl
key and click the files one after the other (they become highlighted automatically).

3. Right click on the selected item.

4. Click copy on the menu that pops out.

5. Right click on the destination folder

6. Click paste on the menu that pops out.

To move a file

1. Click on the folder holding the file to open it.

47
2. Click on the filename to be moved. If the files are more than one, then hold down the Ctrl
key and click the files one after the other (they become highlighted automatically).

3. Right click on the selected item.

4. Click cut on the menu that pops out.

5. Right click on the destination folder

6. Click paste on the menu that pops out.

To delete a file

1. Click on the folder holding the file to open it.

2. Click on the filename to be deleted. If the files are more than one, then hold down the
Ctrl key and click the files one after the other (they become highlighted automatically).

3. Right click on the selected item.

4. Click Delete on the menu that pops out.

5. Click yes to confirm deletion.

Deleted files are put in the Recycle Bin, a holding place for files that are no longer required. The
files are not actually removed from the hard disk until you ‘empty’ the Recycle bin. This means
you can retrieve files deleted in error, if you have not already removed them from the Recycle
bin. However, this also means that if you want to free up the disk space you must empty the
recycle bin periodically.

To rename a file

1. Click on the folder holding the file to open it.

2. Right click on the file to be renamed.

3. Click Rename on the menu that pops out.

48
4. Type in the new filename in the box.

5. Press the Enter key on the keyboard.

DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (D.B.M.S)

A database management system is a suite of programs (or software) that manages all

access to the database. Serves as an interface between users and database.

COMPONENTS OF A DATABASE SYSTEM

 Hardware components; Is made up of the secondary storage device where the database is
physically stored together with other I/O devices such as disk drives, device controllers,
I/O channels e.t.c.
 Software components; The D.B.M.S are programs which act as interface between the
physical database and the users of the system. All request from users concerning access
to the database are handled by the D.B.M.S. the D.B.M.S has facilities for creating files,
inserting data, retrieving data, updating files e.t.c the D.B.M.S prevent the database users
from contending with hardware level details.
 Users; Consist of application programmer, the end user and the database administrator.
 Application programmer; Is charged with the responsibility of writing application
programs that use the database. In a larger system, an application program often must be
written in a conventional programming language such as PASCAL, FORTRAN, or
BASIC.
 End-users; Is reserved for users who may access the database through application
programs or by means of online application programs either built-in or installation
written provided as an integral part of the system for interactive purpose.
 Database Administration (D.B.A); is a person or team charged with the responsibility of
centrally handling issues relating to the design and use of the database.

49
ADVANTAGES OF DATABASE SYSTEM.

 Data Sharing; Different users can access (or share) the same pieces of information in the
database, which is perceived by users in a variety of ways.
 Redundancy minimization; In non-database systems, businesses have a variety of files,
which permits the same data to be stored in the files. Database systems, allows data to be
stored in just a single place in order to reduce the amount of duplicate data in the system.
 Files Integration; Several data files can be merged. For instance, a database might
contain both a “Purchase order” file with attributes: order number, supplier number, order
date, delivery date and a “Supplier file”, representing suppliers involved in the purchase
orders.
 Security centralization; File that are scattered are more difficult to protect. When you
store (or keep) data in one place, you are likely to have better control over access to it.
 Data Integrity assurance; Integrity has to do with the correctness of data in the database.
Accuracy and consistency can be assured since only D.B.A can authorize update and
define integrity checks.
 Standards of maintenance; Centralized control of the database allows standards to be
observed in the representation of the data. In fact, data have to conform to specific
formats.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FILE SYSTEM AND DATABASE MANAGEMENT

SYSTEM

(1) The D.B.M.S is used to manage information on a logical level, whereas the file system is
used to manage information on a physical level

(2) The logical level is a higher level representing information, whereas the physical level is
a lower level for representing information

(3) The logical level represents an abstraction of how information is actually stored whereas
the physical level represents the manner in which information is stored internally in a
computer system.

50
FILES AND FILE NAMES

To make it easier to work with large amounts of information, disk Operating System (D.O.S)

groups related data into collections called “FILES”. Just as we do when we put our paper work

into folders. The name of each file must be unique (at least within the same directory) and,

within certain limits, we can assign any name we wish. It is a wise practice. However, to

choose filenames which will help us identify the contents of files even long after we have

created them. This practice could save you a lot of time trying to locate a file many months

after it has been created.

A filename must start with an alphabet but may contain numbers and same symbols. It should
however not contain more than eight characters. We can add an extension to a filename, this
extension will normally be separated from the filename period(.). Sometimes we just use the
extension as an opportunity to help throw more light at classifying information. Thus we can
have .FEB for files relating to the month of February or .PD for bills that are paid. However,
certain conventions regarding filename extensions have evolved from common practice so that a
file’s purpose can be quickly and easily identified, those conventions are completely informal,
but it is a good idea to be aware of them so that we will not use them inappropriately. Here are
some extensions that may come our way;

.EXE and .COM The programs that “do” things

.BAT batch files

.BAK Test file backup copies

.DOC Word processing documents

.DAT General date files

.TMP Temporary work files

51
It is important to remember that blank spaces and certain punctuation marks are not allowed as
part of file names in D.O.S. Windows operating system may however allow blank spaces as parts
of filenames. Examples of such characters that are not allowed include. ^ , [ ], :, < >, +, =

Finally, D.O.S will not allow us use the following as filenames or extensions, since they are
words reserved for specific purposes: EXE, CON, USER, AUX, COMMA

EXERCISE ON FILE NAMES

Study the following filenames, decide if the name would be valid filename and circle “YES or
NO”.

(1) YES or NO Letter.001

(2) YES or NO Important.Doc

(3) YES or NO Imp Ltr.Doc

(4) YES or NO ACT1

(5) YES or NO @#78@

(6) YES or NO Invoice. July

(7) YES or NO Chapter.2-3

(8) YES or NO “Goofy”.Doc

(9) YES or NO Ladies.Aux

(10) YES or NO Z

ANSWERS

(1) YES. You may use numbers in either the filename or extension

(2) NO. There are too many characters in the filename: no more than eight are allowed.

52
(3) NO. Spaces are not allowed in filenames

(4) YES. Extensions are completely optional

(5) YES. However, senseless or obscure names like this one will make it difficult to

remember the contents of a file. Make filenames as descriptive as possible.

(6) NO. Too many characters in the extension; up to three are allowed.

(7) YES. A dash is an acceptable character

(8) No. Quotation marks are not acceptable in filenames or extensions.

(9) No. Aux is reserved by D.O.S

(10) YES. A single character, while perhaps not very descriptive, is perfectly valid.

53
 CHAPTER FIVE

THE INTERNET

INTRODUCTION

The internet represents the transformation and evolution of the information age. It has emerged
as a powerful tool for communication and sharing information that is making a major impact on
people all over the globe in other words, the Internet is an information super-highway that has
compressed the world into a cyber-colony. This, in turn, has revolutionized the way people
interact switch each other from a distance, as also the way business is transacted globally. The
most commonly used Internet technology in the World Wide Web [WWW]. World Wide Web is
the fastest method for communicating in the world. You can use browser software, such as
Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, to navigate the WWW.

The internet is a computer network made up of thousands of network worldwide. No one knows
exactly how many computers are connected to the internet. It is certain, however, that they
number in millions and are increasingly at a rapid rate. No one person or group of persons is in
charge of the internet. There are organizations however, which develop technical aspects of this
network and set standards for creating applications on it, but no governing body is in control.
The internet backbone or superhighway, through which internet traffic flows, is owned by
private companies. All computers on the internet communicate with one another using the
Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol Suite [TCP/IP]. Computers on the internet use
client/server architecture, this means that the remote server machine provides files and services
to the user’s local client machine. Software can be installed on a client computer to take
advantage of the latest access technology. An internet user has access to a wide variety of
services as electronic mail [E-mail], file transfer, vast information resources, interest group
membership, interactive collaboration, multimedia displays, real-time broadcasting, shopping
opportunities, breaking news, teleconferencing and much more. The internet consists primarily
of a variety of access protocols. Many of these protocols feature programs that allow users to
search for and retrieve material made available by the protocol.

54
N.B: Protocol is a set of rules that control the way data is sent between computers. While Data
are information stored by a computer.

FEATURES OF THE INTERNET

The Internet is an inter-connection between several computers of different types belonging to

various networks all over the globe. In other words, it is a worldwide network of computer
networks. Using the Internet, you can send or receive data within a few seconds, purchase goods
online, read online newspaper and magazines, explore a particular topic, download software, get
the best rate for airline ticket, and so on. The Internet technology that is currently drawing the
most attention is the World Wide Web [WWW]. WWW is a series of servers that are
interconnected through hypertext. Hypertext is a method of presenting information in which
certain text when clicked, displays more information on that particular topic.

THE WORLD WIDE WEB [WWW]

The Internet provides access to various information sources and services all over the world. On
receiving a request from your computer, called a client, remote computers providing information,
called servers, send data back to your computer. World Wide Web or the Web is the most
common and useful implementation of clients and servers. Information on the Web is organized
into Web pages. Web pages comprise of text, pictures, buttons, and links to various types of
files, such as audio, video, and downloadable files. Links, also known as hyperlinks, are
specially marked texts’ on Web pages. These hyperlinks link to the addresses of other pages
through hypertext items, such as buttons and images, on the Web page. Web pages are collected
into Web sites, which usually consists of multiple pages of information wherein each page has a
unique address of its own.

BENEFITS OF THE INTERNET

The Internet provides you with various benefits. Some of the benefits of using the Internet are:

 Information sharing

 E-Commerce

55
  Help and News Services

 Shareware software

 Central repository of data

 Distance Learning

 Advertisement billboard

 Direct communication.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCESSING TO THE INTERNET

To be able to connect to the Internet, you need to set various hardware and software
components. You need the following hardware to access the Internet.

 A computer with a spare expansion slot for connecting an internal modern or a serial port
for connecting an external modern.

 A modern preferably with 33.6 or 56Kbps speed. A modern is a device that sends and
receives data via the Internet.

 Connecting cables with jacks and sockets to connect your modern with the computer and
telephone connection.

The software requirements for accessing the Internet include the following:

 Windows 95 [or higher] is preferable because it’s much more stable than earlier
Windows versions and has inbuilt components supporting Internet connectivity.

 A Web browser is required for setting up a TCP/IP connection. Web browser is software
that helps you navigate the WWW. Some examples of Web browsers are Netscape
Navigator, Internet Explorer, and Mosaic.

56
Certain other requirements for accessing the Internet are:

 A telephone connection to connect to the Internet, using a modern to dial into a network
server.
 A shell or TCP/IP account with an Internet Service Provider [ISP]. Shell Account and
TCP/IP are two types of Internet connections. Shell account is a text based user interface,
whereas TCP/IP is a Graphic User Interface [GUI]. Shell account is faster but is
monotonous and difficult to work with whereas TCP/IP is slower but is much more user
friendly.

 A dial-up connection from an Internet Service Provider. Internet Service Provider [ISP] is
a company that provides access to the Internet. Internet Service Provider provides you
with a software package, username, password, and access phone number for a monthly
fee, using which you can log on to the Internet and browse the World Wide Web and
USENET, and send and receive e-mails.

PAGES OF THE WEB

The World Wide Web (www) consist of files called pages or web pages, containing Information
and links to resources throughout the internet. Web pages can be created by user activity, if you
visit a web search engine and enter keywords on the topic of your choice, a page will be created
containing the results of your search. In fact, an increasing amount of information found on the
web today is served from databases, creating temporary web pages.

ACCESS TO WEB PAGES MAY BE ACCOMPLISHED BY

 Entering an internet address and retrieving a page directly.

 Browsing through pages and selecting links to move from one page to another.
 Searching through subject directories linked to organized collections of web pages.
 Entering a search statement at a search engine to retrieve pages on the topic of your
choice.

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RETRIEVING DOCUMENTS ON THE WEB: THE URL

URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. The URL specifies the internet address of a file
stored on a host computer connected to the internet. Every file on the internet, no matter what its
access protocol, has a unique URL.

URL are translated into numeric addresses using the internet Domain Name System (DNS). The
numeric address is actually the “real” URL, since numeric strings are difficult for humans to use,
alphanumeric addresses are employed by end users. Once the translation is made, the web server
can send the requested page to the user’s web browser.

ANATOMY OF A URL

Example 1

The format of a URL is as follows:

Protocol://host/path/filename

For example; a URL for the house of representative committee on agriculture might look like;

http://www.house.gov/agriculture/schedule.htm

STRUCTURE OF THE URL

 Protocol: http
 Host computer name : www
 Second –level domain name: house
 Top-level domain name: gov
 Directory name: agriculture
 Filename: Schedule.htm

Note how much information about the content of the file is present in this well-constructed URL.

Example 2:

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 ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/picasso. Which is a file at an ftp site?

The following are some of the Top-level Domain (TLDS):

.COM Commercial enterprise

.EDU Educational institution

.GOV Government entity

.NET Network access provider

.ORG Usually non-profit organization

HOW TO ACCESS THE WORLD WIDE WEB: WEB BROWSERS

To access the World Wide Web, you must use a web browser. A browser is a software program
that allows users to access and navigate the World Wide Web. Netscape navigator and Microsoft
Internet Explorer (IE) are graphical browsers for retrieving text, images, audio, and video.
Navigation is accomplished by pointing and clicking with a mouse on highlighted words and
graphics.

BROWSERS

The term is short for web browser, a software application that resides on a computer and is used
to locate and display web pages. Browsers allow you to click on hypertext links to retrieves
information via the web, and offer additional features for navigating and managing the web.

HOW TO NAVIGATE THE WEB USING INTERNET EXPLORER

Click on links or buttons within a document in the document window. Links are the highlighted
area of hypertext in the document itself, they will retrieve other documents. To click on a link,
move the mouse over the highlighted area and click once BACK (the first toolbar button) returns
to the previous document. Use the FORWARD toolbar button only after you’ve already backed
up to a previous document. It will return you to the document you were viewing before you
choose to go back. GO shows you a list of sites you have recently visited, using them may be

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faster than clicking BACK several times. HOME (a little house toolbar button) returns to the
home page. If you have the URL ( Uniform Resource Locator) of a specific document you want
to see, type the URL into the white location or address box, and press the ENTER KEY (You
will need to highlight and delete the text in that box before you can type in a new URL). A URL
is the internet address of a specific document.

HOW DOES THE SEARCH ENGINE WORK?

Search engines for the general web do not really search the World Wide Web directly. Each one
searches a database of the full text of web pages selected from the billions of web pages out there
residing on servers. When you search the web using a search engine, you are always searching a
somewhat stale copy of the real web page. When you click on links provided in a search engine’s
search results, you retrieve from the server the current version of the page. Search engine
databases are selected and built by computer robot programs called “Spiders”. Although it is
said they crawl the web in their hunt for pages to include, in truth they stay in one place. They
find the pages for potential inclusion by following the links in the pages they already have in
their database. They cannot think or type a URL or use judgement to decide to go look
something up and see what’s on the web about it. If a web page is never linked from any other
page, search engine spiders cannot find it. The only way a brand new page – one that no other
page has ever linked to so that it can get into a search engine is for its URL to be sent by some
human to the search engine companies as a request that the new page be included. All search
engine companies offer ways to do this. After spiders find pages, they pass them on to another
computer program for “Indexing”. This program identifies the text, links, and other content in
the page and stores it in the search engine database files so that the database can be searched by
key word and whatever more advanced approaches are offered, and the page will be found if
your search matches its content. Some types of pages and links are excluded from most search
engines by policy, others are excluded because search engine spiders cannot access them. Pages
that are excluded are referred to as the “Invisible web”.

In addition to downloading files, you might want to search the Internet to find information on a
specific subject, such as photography or cooking. As millions of sites are available on the Web

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worldwide and everyday new sites are added to the Web, you need to use search engines to
search the required content on the Web. A search engine is an application on the Web that
locates sites based on keywords or concepts. These search engines accept keywords or concepts
and return a Web page containing a list of the best matches they can find for the required
keywords. These matches are hyperlinked to the pages, thereby, enabling you to click a link to
open up a Website. You can choose the keywords that closely define what you are looking for.
Mostly, the search engines list the sites matching the keywords at the top of the results. Search
engines can provide you with too many results if your keywords are commonly used terms. To
limit the result, you can use special symbols in your search query. You can also prefix a plus sign
for the required words and a minus sign for words that are not needed, while searching for some
content. If you want to specify multiple keywords, use the plus sign to combine keywords and
place them within double quotes. For instance, to find information on wildlife photography, you
can specify the search query as “wildlife+ photography”, within double quotes.

INTERNET AND WEB TERMS

FAVORITES Ways in IE to store in your computer direct links to sites you

wish to return to

BROWSE To follow links in a page, to shop around in a page, exploring

what’s there, a bit like window shopping. The opposite of
browsing a page is searching it

BROWSERS Browsers are programs that enable you to view WWW

documents. They “translate” HTML encoded files into the text,
images, sounds, and other features you see. Netscape, Microsoft
Internet Explorer, Mosaic, are examples of browsers that enable
you to view text and images and many other WWW features.
They are software that must be installed on your computer.

CACHE A cache temporarily stores web pages you have visited in your
computer.

COOKIE A message from a WEB SERVER computer, sent to and stored

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 by your browser on your computer.

FTP File Transfer Protocol, ability to transfer rapidly entire files

from one computer to another intact for viewing or other
purposes.

HOST Computer that provides web-documents to clients or users.

PDF Portable Document Format, a file format developed by Adobe

systems that is used to capture almost any kind of document
with the formatting in the original.

SPIDERS Computer robot programs, referred to sometimes as

“CRAWLERS” or “KNOWLEDGE-BOTS” or
“KNOWBOTS” that are used by search engine to roam the
world wide web via the internet, visit sites and databases, and
keep the search engine database of web pages up to date.

URL Uniform Resource Locator. The unique address of any web

document.

INTERNET SECURITY

Internet security is a branch of computer security specifically related to the Internet, often
involving browser security but also network security on a more general level as it applies to other
applications or operating systems on a whole. Its objective is to establish rules and measures to
use against attacks over the Internet. The Internet represents an insecure channel for exchanging
information leading to a high risk of intrusion or fraud, such as phishing, different methods have
been used to protect the transfer of data, including encryption.

TYPES OF SECURITY

Network layer security;

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TCP/IP can be made secure with the help of cryptographic methods and protocols that have been
developed for securing communications on the Internet. These protocols include SSL and TLS
for web traffic, PGP for email, and IPsec for the network layer security.

Security token;

Some online sites offer customers the ability to use a six-digit code which randomly changes
every 30-60 seconds on a security token. The key on the security token have mathematical
computations built-in and manipulate numbers based on the current time built into the device.
This means that every thirty seconds there's only a certain possible array of numbers which
would be correct to validate access to the online account. The website that the user is logging
into would be made aware of that devices' serial number and therefore would know the
computation and correct time built into the device to verify that the number given is indeed one
of the handful of six-digit numbers that would work in that given 30-60 second cycle. After the
30-60 seconds the device will present a new random six-digit number which can log into the
website.

Electronic mail security (E-mail);

Email messages are composed, delivered, and stored in a multiple step process, which starts with
the message's composition. When the user finishes composing the message and sends it, the
message is transformed into a standard format: an RFC 2822 formatted message. Afterwards, the
message can be transmitted. Using a network connection, the mail client, referred to as a mail
user agent (MUA), connects to a mail transfer agent (MTA) operating on the mail server. The
mail client then provides the sender’s identity to the server. Next, using the mail server
commands, the client sends the recipient list to the mail server. The client then supplies the
message. Once the mail server receives and processes the message, several events occur:
recipient server identification, connection establishment, and message transmission. Using
Domain Name System (DNS) services, the sender’s mail server determines the mail server(s) for
the recipient(s). Then, the server opens up a connection(s) to the recipient mail server(s) and
sends the message employing a process similar to that used by the originating client, delivering
the message to the recipient(s).

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Firewalls;

A firewall controls access between networks. It generally consists of gateways and filters which
vary from one firewall to another. Firewalls also screen network traffic and are able to block
traffic that is dangerous. Firewalls act as the intermediate server between SMTP and HTTP
connections.

TYPES OF FIREWALLS

Packet filters: Packet filters are one of several different types of firewalls that process network
traffic on a packet-by-packet basis. Their main job is to filter traffic from a remote IP host, so a
router is needed to connect the internal network to the Internet. The router is known as a
screening router, which screens packets leaving and entering the network.

Circuit-level gateways: The circuit-level gateway is a proxy server that statically defines what
traffic will be allowed. Circuit proxy’s always forward packets containing a given port number,
provided the port number is permitted by the rules set. This gateway operates at the network
level of an OSI model. The main advantage of a proxy server is its ability to provide Network
Address Translation (NAT), which can hide the user's IP address from the Internet, effectively
protecting all internal information from the Internet.

Application-level gateways: An application-level gateway is a proxy server operating at the

TCP/IP application level. A packet is forwarded only if a connection is established using a
known protocol. Application-level gateways are notable for analyzing entire messages rather
than individual packets of data when the data are being sent or received..

MALICIOUS SOFTWARE AND ANTIVIRUS

Malware

Commonly, a computer user can be tricked or forced into downloading software onto a computer
that is of malicious intent. Such programs are known as malware and come in many forms, such
as viruses, Trojan horses, spyware, and worms. Malicious software is sometimes used to form
botnets.

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Viruses

Viruses are programs that can replicate their structures or effects by infecting other files or
structures on a computer. The common use of a virus is to take over a computer to steal data.

Trojan horse

A Trojan horse (commonly known as a Trojan) is a general term for malicious software that
pretends to be harmless so that a user willingly allows it to be downloaded onto the computer.

Spyware

The term spyware refers to programs that surreptitiously monitor activity on a computer system
and report that information to others without the user's consent.

Worms

Worms are programs that can replicate themselves throughout a computer network, performing
malicious tasks throughout.

Botnet

A botnet is a network of "zombie" computers that have been taken over by a "bot" that performs
large-scale malicious acts for the creator of the botnet.

Antivirus

Antivirus programs and Internet security programs are useful in protecting a computer or
programmable device from malware. Such programs are used to detect and usually eliminate
viruses; however, it is now common to see security suites, containing also firewalls, anti-
spyware, and theft protection, and so on to more thoroughly protect users.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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Social media includes web-based and mobile based technologies which are used to turn
communication into interactive dialogue among organizations, communities, and individuals.
Andreas Kaplan and Michael Heinlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based
applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that
allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content." Social media is ubiquitously
accessible, and enabled by scalable communication techniques.

CLASSIFICATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media technologies take on many different forms including magazines, Internet forums,
weblogs, social blogs, microblogging, wikis, podcasts, photographs or pictures, video, rating and
social bookmarking. By applying a set of theories in the field of media research (social presence,
media richness) and social processes (self-presentation, self-disclosure) Kaplan and Heinlein
created a classification scheme for different social media types in their Business Horizons article
published in 2010. According to Kaplan and Heinlein there are six different types of social
media: collaborative projects (e.g., Wikipedia), blogs and microblogs (e.g., Twitter), content
communities (e.g., YouTube), social networking sites (e.g., Facebook), virtual game worlds (e.g.,
World of Warcraft), and virtual social worlds (e.g. Second Life). Technologies include: blogs,
picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing
and voice over IP, to name a few. Many of these social media services can be integrated via
social network aggregation platforms. Social media network websites include sites like
Facebook, Twitter, Bebo and MySpace.

The honeycomb framework defines how social media services focus on some or all of seven
functional building blocks (identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation,
and groups). These building blocks help understand the engagement needs of the social media
audience. For instance, LinkedIn users care mostly about identity, reputation and relationships,
whereas YouTube’s primary building blocks are sharing, conversations, groups and reputation.
Many companies build their own social containers that attempt to link the seven functional
building blocks around their brands. These are private communities that engage people around a
narrower theme, as in around a particular brand, vocation or hobby, than social media containers
such as Google+ or Facebook.

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