The bare essentials of Windows 95 / 98 and NT.

When a computer that has Windows 95, 98 or NT installed on its Hard Drive is turned on, the system is usually configured to start the operating system automatically.  In some cases a USER name and Logon is required.  A Logon is simply an individual's password and this can be used to establish a multi-user environment or to identify a user on a Local Area Network (LAN).  If in doubt simply push the Escape key, (ESC), this key is always the top left hand key on the keyboard.  This will escape the logon and the computer will continue opening the operating system.
In most cases, no Logon is required.

When the system finishes starting you will be met with a screen that is called your Wall Paper, it may be a picture, a pattern or a solid colour.  This Wall Paper is fully configurable and can be changed quite easily to suit your personal needs.  Changing the Wall Paper will be covered in subsequent articles or you can read about it in the HELP files.

By far the most important thing to know about any computer operating system is how to find 'Help'.  This article will start now in earnest by looking at HELP.

At any time while in the Windows environment you can activate help by pressing the F1 key, this key is found next to the ESC key and is the second key from the top left hand corner. You will be presented with a 'Window' a pop-up-box with three options presented as Tabs across the top of the page, they are; Contents, Index & Search.  Explore 'Contents', here you will find a wide range of information.  All information is presented as a 'hot link' that is to say it is an underlined or different coloured line of text.  Whenever 'hot link' text is available it can be used to open up other Windows, Windows that contain even more information and other 'hot links'.

At this point is would be wise for us to review using the MOUSE.

The mouse is the primary pointing device in the Windows environment, little more than a piece of plastic that contains a minimum of two buttons and perhaps combinations of three buttons, wheels or even small joy-pads.  The mouse is shaped to fit the average hand, not all mice fit all people and there are different designs.  If a mouse causes discomfort, it pays to shop around for one that fits your hand.

Lay your hand over the mouse, the buttons fall under your index and middle fingers and your thumb lays down the mouses left side.  The mouse is configured by default setting to be used in the right hand, but the buttons can be switched so that they work the other way around and then the mouse is a left handed mouse.  The most important button is the left hand mouse button, but this does not mean that the right hand button has no use; when the right hand mouse button is pressed a menu of options is revealed in every program that runs under Windows.

Move the mouse and on the screen you will notice that an arrow, a pointer,  moves across the screen, this is the bit that does all the work, you simply move the arrow over the area you wish to access and push the left hand button; once to activate and twice to engage.
All Windows documentation assumes that you have installed a mouse and are right handed.
The mouse does a few very useful things, they are:-
Ø Click:  Press and release the left button once.
Ø Double-Click: Quickly press and release the left mouse button twice.
Ø Click with the right mouse button:  Press and release the right mouse button once.  A menu will appear.
Ø Drag: To move items about the Windows environment you can click on the item to be moved and while holding the left mouse button down drag the item to its destination.  This applies to text as well as icons and programs, even files.  This will be covered in depth in subsequent articles.
 
 

Move the mouse pointer to the bottom left hand corner of the screen, here you will find the work START, this is the beginning of your Windows experience, left click once on START and a menu pops up; move the mouse pointer up the menu and a range of options open up before you.

For the sake of demonstration we will open the pocket calculator that comes as part of Windows.
Click once on START, move the mouse pointer up the menu until you reach Programs, linger but a moment and the menu expands to the right hand side, now move the mouse to Accessories, the menu grows yet again.  Seek out the icon (picture) of the calculator and double click the left button on the icon.  The calculator opens.  From here we all know how to use a calculator.

When finished with a program you will see that in the top right hand corner of the open Window there is a small X, click on it and the program will close, if you have work that needs to be saved you will be prompted by Windows to save before the Window closes.

Click around the menu the rises from the START button, play with the options that are there.  If in doubt when prompted to save changes, say No, you cannot hurt the computer by looking.

All computers need maintenance.  Maintenance can be configured to be automatic and the computer literally looks after its self, or you can do the housework personally.  Many people prefer to be in control of the housework.

There are two commands that you need to know to maintain your computer, they are DEFRAG and SCANDISK.  There are several ways to activate these programs, but one of the easiest is to simply order them to run in the RUN command box that is found above the START button.  Go to START, select RUN and in the white box that pops up type either SCANDISK or DEFRAG, the program will then open and offer you options, always take the options recommended and you can not go wrong.  To say that this is idiot proof would be a challenge to those who desire to prove me wrong, but it is pretty close to it.  Try it, see for yourself how it works, be advised that this does take a little while to complete once it is started.

DEFRAG; sorts the data stored on your Hard Drive Disk (HDD) into a more logical order, this results in less errors and faster operation times.

SCANDISK; seeks out areas on the HDD that are failing, moves the data to a safe area and even repairs damage that occurs through use and error.

Go to RUN, engage these two useful utilities and explore the maintenance cycle on your computer.

If you do have a virus scanner it pays to run it as well, if you don't have a virus scanner it pays to get one and to keep it up to date IF YOU BRING ANYBODY ELSES software or files onto your computer, or link to other computers via the Internet, e-mail or even a Network.  If you don't share files you CAN NOT get a computer virus.

Sooner or later using your computer must come to an end and the computer must be turned off and something else undertaken.  This leaves us with closing the computer down.

Now, this is where Windows is a little bit less than user friendly.  Take the mouse pointer to the START button once again, this time move up the menu to the menu line SHUT DOWN, click on it once and you will be given an option box, select shut down and click on OK, now 'wait' until a display screen tells you that it is safe to turn the computer off and then do so.  The Hard Drive Disk has now been shut down properly and you will not be given any warning messages when you next turn the computer on.

Written by Chris J. Bartle. ©