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Computers

Windows XP

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Microsoft does not support Windows XP anymore, so you should not use XP to connect to the internet. Do not use web browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Chrome. Do not google anything, do not facebook anymore. If you're using Windows XP, then stay off the web because you are especially vulnerable to hackers and viruses.

Operating System

Everything is on the desktop, a lot of things are in the start menu, a few things are on the task bar, and everything else is in a window. Windows have frames and panes, and windows have menus and widgets.

Widgets. Windows have buttons and links and lots of other widgets like checkboxes, radio buttons, lists, sliders, input fields, scroll bars, and cancel buttons.
Menus. Most windows have menu strips with menu items, and menu items are drop-down menus. Some windows have tabs. The desktop, the task bar, files, and lots of other things have context menus.
 
Panes. Some windows, like programs like Notepad and Paint, have single panes. Other windows, like folders like my pictures and the search results, have multiple panes. Sometimes you can change the panes.
Frames. Window frames have a lot of functionality. Move a window around the desktop, change the size of a window, hide a window, make a window as big as the desktop, and close a window.
 
Windows. Programs and folders run in windows. A dialog is a special kind of window that asks a question and waits for an answer. A box is a special kind of dialog that asks a simple question that has a simple answer. A pop-up is ...

This is the control panel. Select your region and languages. Make it easier to use your computer. Name and describe your computer. Change your account or create a new account. Plug in hardware like keyboards, mice, and printers. Turn the volume up and down. Connect to the network and the internet. Protect your computer with the security center. Remove progams from your computer.

Add or Remove Programs. You will probably never use the control panel to add a program, but you have to use the control panel to remove a program. The only reason you should ever really remove a program, though, is if your hard drive ...
Security Center. A firewall tries to block hackers and viruses from ever reaching your computer. Automatic updates help protect your computer from hackers and viruses. Virus protection scans your computer for viruses and ...
Network and Internet Connections. Microsoft does not support Windows XP anymore so you should not connect to the internet because your computer is especially vulnerable to hackers and viruses. I am not going to connect to the ...
 
Speech Properties. Windows XP can read the text on your screen and say it out loud. It's not perfect, it won't always pronounce everything correctly, but it's good enough that you will almost always understand it.
Sounds and Audio Devices. Turn the volume up and down, or mute it. You can change all the sounds that Windows makes, but I do not want to do that. You can change the playback device and the recording device, but I don't have ...
Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices. Play sounds through your computer's built-in speakers or plug in your own speakers. Record yourself with your computer's built-in microphone or plug in your own microphone. Listen to your computer's ...
 
Phone and Modem Options. The very first modems were dial-up modems that connected to the internet by calling service providers like CompuServe and America Online through your phone line. Dial-up is slow and no one else can ...
Scanners and Cameras. If you have a scanner, then you can scan documents and pictures into your computer. If you have a digital camera, then you can import pictures into your computer. I don't have a scanner or a camera.
Printers and Faxes. If you have a printer, then you can print hard-copies of documents and pictures on your computer. You don't need a fax machine anymore because you can send and recieve faxes through your computer. I don't have ...
Game Controllers. If you're playing video games on your computer, you might just use the keyboard and the mouse, or you might play with joysticks, d-pads, analog sticks, steering wheels, flight simulator controllers, or any other ...
Mouse Properties. The mouse properties are the mouse properties and the touchpad properties. How slow or fast do you want the pointer to move? Should typing hide the pointer? What do you want the buttons to do? How much should the ...
Keyboard Properties. When you hold down a key on the keyboard, how slow or fast do you want it to repeat? How much do you want the cursor to blink?
Printers and Other Hardware. Type on the keyboard, point with a mouse or a touchpad, play with video game controllers, print hard copies on printers and send faxes, get pictures from scanners and cameras, and connect to the internet ...
 
Create a New Account. I'm the only person who uses my computer so I only have one account on my computer, but you can have multiple accounts, for example, if more than one person uses your computer, then each person can ...
Change an Account. You can change your account name and your account picture whenever you want. You should create a password for your account so other people can't use your computer while you're not there, and you should ...
User Accounts. Your account has your name and your picture, and your account is protected by your password. Each account has its own desktop, its own start menu, its own task bar, and its own folders like your documents and your pictures.
 
System Properties. What's your computer's name? What operating system are you using, which edition, which version, and which service pack? What hardware do you have, like what computer, what processor, and how much memory?
Performance and Maintenance. There is some maintenance that you can do to get the best performance out of your computer, like defragmenting your hard drive, but you don't have to do anything like that on a new computer, so ...
 
Accessibility Options. Make it easier to type on the keyboard. Visualize sounds and speech with effects and captions. Make the display easier to read, and make it easier to see the cursor. Use the number pad on the keyboard instead of ...
Accessibility Options. If you need help typing, hearing or reading, seeing, or pointing, there are accessibility options for the keyboard, sounds and text, the display, and the mouse.
 
Regional and Language Options. What region are you in and how do you format numbers, currency, dates, and times? What languages do you want to use and how do you want to enter text in different languages?
Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options. What time zone are you in and what is the date and what is the time? What region are you in and how do you format numbers, currency, dates, and times? What languages do you want to use ...
 
Control Panel. The control panel is your region and languages, accessibility options, system properties like your computer's name, user accounts, hardware like keyboards, mice, and printers, the volume, network and internet connections, ...

Name your computer, create your account, change the background to your favorite picture and change the colors to your favorite colors. The operating system is the desktop, the start menu, the task bar, the control panel, and everything else.

Task Tray. The right side of the task bar is the task tray, it's the notification area and the clock. The notification area has the power meter, the volume, internet connections, and safely remove hardware like USB drives.
 
Quick Launch. Open your favorite programs and folders from the task bar.
Desktop. Open your documents, your pictures, your computer, the recycle bin, and Internet Explorer from the task bar.
Links. Open your favorite websites from the task bar.
Windows Media Player. You're supposed to be able to put Windows Media Player on the task bar, but it doesn't work.
Address Bar. Open programs, folders, and files by typing into the task bar. The address bar is the same as the run box, except it's on the task bar.
Tool Bars. The task bar has an address bar, Windows Media Player, links to your favorite websites, the desktop, and quick launches to your favorite programs and folders.
 
Advanced. Open the all programs menu by pointing or clicking, open start menu folders as folders or as menus, and open recently opened documents and clear the list.
General. Choose between large and small icons, change the number of recent programs and clear the list, and show or hide Internet Explorer and Outlook Express.
Customize Start Menu. Customize the way the start menu looks, like large or small icons, and customize the way the start menu works, like pointing or clicking at all programs.
 
Cancel. The apply button changes the task bar and start menu properties. The ok button applies changes and closes the task bar and start menu properties. The cancel button cancels changes to the task bar and start menu properties.
Start Menu. Microsoft redesigned the start menu for Windows XP and it's great. You can revert back to the Windows 98 start menu, but I don't want Windows XP to look like Windows 98.
Task Bar. Auto-hide the task bar, keep the task bar on top of other windows, group similar task bar buttons together, show the clock, and hide inactive icons.
Task Bar and Start Menu Properties. The task bar and start menu properties are mostly task bar properties.
 
Organize Windows. When you open a lot of programs at the same time, they may open all over the desktop or they may open on top of each other. Organize all those programs into tiles or cascades, or show the desktop by hiding all the programs.
Lock the Task Bar. Keep the task bar at the bottom of the desktop, or move it to the top or to the left or right sides of the desktop. Change the size of the task bar.
Context Menu. The context menu locks and unlocks the task bar, it organizes windows into tiles and cascades, it shows the desktop, and it shows and hides the tool bars.
 
Buttons. Every time you run a program, it opens a window on the desktop and it adds a button to the task bar. Press the task bar button to hide and show the program window.

Press the start button to open and close the start menu. The start menu is everything on your computer like all your programs, all your folders, and all your files. Get help and support. Search for folders and files, and run programs and websites. Open recent programs and pin your favorite programs. Log off and always turn off the computer by turning off Windows XP.

Turn Off Computer. Do not press the power button to turn off the computer, you have to be careful so you don't lose unsaved changes or cause any other problems. Turn off the computer by turning off Windows XP. Stand by and restart, too.
Log Off. I only have one account on my computer, but you can have multiple accounts, for example, if more than one person uses your computer, then each person can have their own account. Log off of your account so someone else ...
 
Pins. There are some programs that you use all the time, for example, I use Notepad and Paint all the time. Pin your favorite programs to the start menu and arrange them however you want. Press the start button to open pinned programs ...
Recent Programs. If you open a program this time, then you might want to open it again next time, so the start menu keeps a list of all your recent programs. Press the start button to open recent programs instead of clicking through ...
 
Run. Open programs like Notepad and Paint by typing their names. Open folders like my documents and my pictures by typing their paths. Open files like my first note and my first picture by typing their paths, their names, and ...
Search You're going to write a lot of notes, you're going to draw a lot of pictures, and you're going to create a lot of files. You may have so many different files in so many different places that you might not always remember where ...
 
Help and Support. Windows XP has a help and support center. You can read the user and system guides, you can browse help topics like customizing your computer and printing and faxing, you can browse tasks like keeping your ...
 
Folders. Your files like your notes, your pictures, and your music are organized into folders like your documents folder, your pictures folder, and your music folder. Your computer folder is everything on your computer.
All Programs There are all kinds of programs from productivity like email, word processors, and spreadsheets, all the way to entertainment like CD players, DVD players, and video games. Windows XP comes with a lot of programs ...
 
Start Button. You probably already know the start button, but just in case you're new to Windows and you've never seen it before, this is the start button.

The desktop is the the background, the colors, the font, and the screen saver.. The power options properties save electricity and the laptop battery. The recycle bin has your deleted files in case you ever need them back.

Recycle Bin. When you deleted a file in an old operating system like DOS, it permanently deleted it, so you could never get it back. When you delete a file in Windows XP, it goes into the recycle bin, so if you ever need it again ...
 
Advanced. Always show the battery icon. Folding the laptop should stand by. Stand by should lock the computer so other people can't use it while you're not there. The power button should turn off the computer.
Power Meter. The power meter is your battery life. The power meter should be in the bottom right corner of the desktop, but you can always check it in the power options properties, too.
Alarms. Windows warns you when the battery is low. You can change when it warns you and how it warns you, but you probably don't need to do that.
Power Schemes. If it's a desktop computer, you don't have to worry about the power, but you might not want to waste electricity. If it's a laptop computer, you want to save the battery as much as possible. If you're doing something like ...
Power Options Properties. When you're using your computer, you're using electricity or draining the battery. But if you're not using your computer, like if you go to lunch, Windows XP saves electricity and battery life by turning off ...
 
Cancel. The apply button changes the display properties. The ok button applies changes and closes the display properties. The cancel button cancels changes to the display properties.
Themes. Save display properties like the background picture, the background color, the window color, the font size, and the icon size as themes.
Settings. The settings are the screen resolution and the color quality, but don't change those. You can set up another monitor, but I don't have another monitor.
Screen Saver. Screen savers used to protect old CRT monitors from image burns when you left them on for too long, but that doesn't happen to modern LCD flat screens. Now screen savers protect your privacy, like if you go to the restroom ...
Effects. Windows have different effects like transitions, font smoothing, large icons, shadows, dragging, and hot keys. On older machines, you could turn off effects so they didn't slow your computer down. On newer machines, you can ...
Appearance. The desktop, the task bar, the start menu, and the windows are blue, but you can change them to olive green or silver. The font size is the size of the text.
Desktop Items. Windows XP puts Internet Explorer on the desktop whether you want it there or not. Remove Internet Explorer from the desktop.
Desktop. Change the background to your favorite picture or color, and position and size the background picture on the desktop.
Display Properties. The display properties are the background picture, the background color and the window color, the font size and the icon size, and the screen saver.

If you just got a new computer, these are a few things you should do on your new computer. If you don't know much about Windows, these are a few things you should know about Windows.

Turn Off Computer. Do not press the power button to turn off your new computer, you have to be careful so you don't lose unsaved changes or cause any other roblems. Turn off your new computer by turning off Windows XP.
Shortcuts. There are a lot of programs on your computer that you will never use, and there are a lot of shortcuts to those programs that you will never need. Delete the shortcuts.
Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer is a web browser so you can visit any website on the World Wide Web. Internet Explorer may be the worst web browser ever, but it's a new computer, so it's all I have right now. I'm going to ...
Internet. Microsoft does not support Windows XP anymore so you should not connect to the internet because your computer is especially vulnerable to hackers and viruses. If you have to connect to the internet on Windows XP, then ...
Start Button. You probably already know the start button, but just in case you're new to Windows and you've never seen it before, this is the start button.
McAfee Product Setup. Virus protection is really important, but you don't have to pay for McAfee just because it's preinstalled on your computer. There are a lot of antivirus programs out there and you don't have to decide which one ...
Setup. The first time you turn on your new computer, Windows asks you to name your new computer and to create your new account. You should enable automatic updates, but you don't have to register anything with Microsoft.

This completes Windows XP.

Computers