Applications

These are programs that let you do things on the computer. There are a lot of technical definitions for the difference between applications and programs on the computer, but in practice, the terms are pretty interchangeable.

CD

CDs for computers look exactly like music CDs, in fact music CDs work in your computer too although computer CDs won't work in your music player. They go into the largest slot, which is opened by pressing the furthest button to the right of the drive. CDs go into the drive written side up. Normally known as drive d:

Clipboard

A program that works in the background of your computer, but you rarely see it. It holds all the information you cut or copy until you are ready to paste it. All you really need to use it is to know is that it works.

Cursor

The symbol on the screen that shows where you are in your work. Normally shown as a blinking vertical line.

Default

For anything on your computer there are choices. If you had to make all these choices every day it would drive you mad. So the computer is set up with defaults that make the majority of these choices for you. Then it will do these things unless you tell it otherwise. For example, when you open a new page in word, the default sets the type and size of the font, the margins, the size of your page, the types of toolbars you can see, the background colour of the page and a host of other things.

Desktop

The main screen you use to get to everywhere else. This is the first screen you see once windows has finished loading.

Dialogue Box

Every now and then, grey boxes appear on your screen with error messages, information about something you have just done and other general information. They are called dialogue boxes and must be read and closed down before you can continue. To close them, normally you hit the OK button or answer a question by clicking on the answer with your mouse.

Documents

The information you have put into a program or application. For example, if you open Word and then write a letter, the letter itself is called a document. It becomes confusing when they use the same term for other things that aren't normally called documents, like say pictures. Basically just remember anything you work on inside a program is normally a document.

Sometimes you need to know what type of program opens what kind of document. The way you can tell is by the three letters at the end of the document's name. Here is a list of the most common.

Ending

Stands for

Program Needed

.txt

.rtf

.doc

.pdf

.xls

.mdb

.bmp

.jpg

.gif

.htm or .html

.mid

.zip

Text-no formatting

Rich text format - basic formatting

A word document

Adobe format

Spreadsheet

Database

Bitmap -picture

Jpeg - picture

Giff-picture

Webpage

Midi - music

Zipped files

Word or notepad

Word or notepad

 Word

Adobe Reader

Excel

Access

Any picture program

Any picture program

Any picture program

Internet Explorer

Media Player

Winzip or similar.

Drives

There are two types of drives, fixed drives (drives that can't be removed easily) which is typically drive c, and movable drives such as floppy discs, CD's, DVD's & external memory. Each different drive can be accessed by double clicking on MY COMPUTER on your Desktop and then double clicking on the drive you want.

Floppy disc 

 Otherwise know as a 3 1/2 " disc. These discs are plastic squares that can hold 1.44 meg of information which is a few small pictures, one full page colour one or about 5000 pages of text. These discs go into the smallest slot in the front of your computer with the small metal circle side down. Normally known as drive a:.

Font

Computer speak for writing or text.

Hard Drive

Stored inside the computer, this is where most of the information is stored on your computer. Normally known as drive c:

Icons

Normally found on your desktop, these are the pictures used to represent programs or pieces of information on your computer. Clicking on them allows you to open programs and documents.

Menus

Menus are the words normally found across the top of applications. In windows programs, they start with FILE then have headings like EDIT VIEW & HELP. Anything you want to do while in the program can be done using the commands under these headings. To access them, slide the mouse over the word until it gets a small box around it & then click. In more recent programs, you sometimes need to keep your mouse over the double arrow symbol at the bottom of the menu group for a second or two, to get all the options available. Some menus offer two or three options and then those options offer extra options. To access these, go to the first item, then slide directly across to get the next one. This can be tricky, so don't worry if you need a couple of tries to get the right one. If you end up in the right place, hit the Esc key on the top left of the keyboard until all the menus close and then try again.

Monitor 

The TV like screen where you can see what is going on in the computer: mostly.

Mouse wheel

Some mouses have a small wheel at the top of the mouse between the left and right mouse buttons. Otherwise known as a scroll wheel, it allows you to scroll down a page without taking your hand off the mouse. In order to work, you must click into the area you want to scroll.

Programs

These are the things you open that let you do things on the computer. There are a lot of technical definitions for the difference between applications and programs on the computer, but in practice, the terms are pretty interchangeable.

Shortcuts

Shortcuts let you go straight to where you want to go in your computer without having to go through the Start button or explorer.

START button.

Normally found at the bottom left hand corner of your screen, this button once clicked on with your mouse, gives you access to all the programs on the computer, the setting to check when things go wrong, the most recent documents you have been working on, and is, ironically, how you tell your computer you are finished and to close it down.

Taskbar

The area (normally at the bottom of the screen) that holds the Start button and clock. It let's you see what programs you have open and bring them back up into your workspace by clicking on their icon.

Tool bars

Normally found at the top of the page, toolbars hold Icons that let you do the everyday things in one step like printing, copying and pasting.

Backspace key

Pressing this key once deletes whatever is highlighted, or removes whatever is one space to the left of the cursor. Holding it down will make the cursor move faster. Be careful, the longer you hold it down, the faster it goes and you can overshoot very easily.

Closing applications

Going to FILE, then CLOSE in the menu, or clicking on the top x at the top right-hand side of your work page closes a program or application.

Closing documents

Going to FILE, then CLOSE in the menu, or clicking on the bottom x at the top right-hand side of your work page closes a document.

Copy

This command places the highlighted material onto the clipboard so that it can be copied elsewhere. You can move a single word, a paragraph, or with the command EDIT then SELECT ALL, the whole document.

You can copy by going EDIT then COPY in the menu, holding down the Control key (the one marked Ctrl on the bottom left of your keyboard) and pressing the letter c or by hitting the icon on your toolbar that looks like two pages sitting next to the scissors.

Ctrl, Alt, Delete

Holding these keys down at the same time reboots or restarts your computer again if it's frozen. On more recent computers, hitting it once lets you close just one program at a time, hitting it twice reboots. This is otherwise known as doing a soft boot. Hitting the reset button on those computers that have them also reboots. You will loose any unsaved information though.

Cut

This command places the highlighted material onto the clipboard so that it can be copied elsewhere and removes it from where it is. This is what makes it different from copy. You can move a single word, a paragraph, or with the command EDIT then SELECT ALL, the whole document.

You can cut by going EDIT then CUT in the menu, holding down the Control key (the one marked Ctrl on the bottom left of your keyboard) and pressing the letter x or by hitting the icon on your toolbar that looks like a pair of scissors.

Delete key

Pressing this key once deletes whatever is highlighted, or removes whatever is one space to the right of the cursor. Holding it down will make the cursor move faster. Be careful, the longer you hold it down, the faster it goes and you can overshoot very easily

Enter key

On old type writers, when you hit the end of a line, you had to hit that silver bar to send it back to the left and take it down to the next line. The enter key does the same thing for you on your computer. Normally shaped like a backwards L, it is on the right hand side of the main part of your keyboard.  You don't need to do it at the end of every line as the computer will automatically wrap words around as you type, but it is necessary to end a paragraph or to put a blank line in your work.

The enter key also is asked for to input information as in hit enter to continue.

Escape Key

At the tope left of your keyboard is the Escape key. Labelled Esc, it lets you get out of most mistakes. If a menu bars appears for example, hit Esc to get rid of it again.

Formatting 

All formatting is done the same way: first highlight the area you want to change, then chose the appropriate action. Then click away. Different applications have different options, but for just about all of them you can:

Most applications have a FORMAT option on the menu that allows you to change several things at once.

Frozen

Sometimes your computer will just stop working, then we say it has crashed, fallen over or frozen. It does this because, in order for the computer to run a few things at once (which it is doing even if you only have one program open) it has to cut some corners. Sometimes it meets one of the other programs coming the other way. Then it gets confused and just sits there. You can tell if this has happened by wiggling the mouse. If the mouse on the screen doesn't move, you know its dead and you have to hit Ctrl Alt Delete.

Help

Most programs have a help file that gives the most commonly ask questions and their answers. That is accessed by going to HELP on the menu, hitting the little question mark ? on the tool bar or hitting the F1 key on the top left of your keyboard.

Highlighting

This allows you to tell the computer what you want to work with. If the item is one thing, like a picture, then one click will highlight or select it. Otherwise clicking to the side of the text or item you want to work with, holding the mouse button down and running it over the text will do it.

When highlighted, the item will change colour to let you know if you got everything you wanted. You can then let go of the mouse button and the highlighting will stay there until you click again.

Sometimes it is hard to get exactly the spot you want with the mouse. Then you can use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the cursor more accurately. Holding down the shift key while you hit the arrow keys, is just like holding down your mouse button.

Sometimes you will highlight things by accident. If this happens, just click somewhere else on the page to get rid of it.

Mouse - Double clicking

To double click, click your left mouse button twice in rapid succession. If you are not sure if you need to double click or single click, just do one, if it doesn't work, hit it twice.

Mouse - Finding

Sometimes it is hard to find where your mouse is on the screen. To find it, move the mouse across the mouse pad and roll it up and down. The movement will normally catch your eye. Doing this is also a good way to see if your computer is frozen. If it has not done anything for a while, move the mouse and see if anything moves, if it doesn't, it is probably frozen.

Mouse - Left click

When you are asked to click, it means to hit the left button on your mouse. Click and hold, means to click the button and rather than letting your finger come up off the button, keep it down. Click and drag means to click, hold the button down and then move the mouse with the button down. When in doubt, always left click, as this is the button that tells the computer to do something.

If nothing happens try clicking again or double clicking.  If you find the area just turns blue and nothing happens, click away, then try again on the picture.

Mouse - Right Click

Sometimes you are asked to right click. This means to hold the right button down on your mouse. (If you are left handed, you can swap these buttons over, put it’s a pain, so its best to just get used to doing it the right handed way. We have to do it for everything else anyway.)

As a rule, a right click let's you see the options available to you, and a left click lets you do them. In most places on the screen, a right click will bring up any menus that are applicable to that piece of work.

Mouse - Wheel

The mouse wheel is the little wheel between the left & right buttons. By clicking on a page, you can then scroll up and down that page without having to use the scroll bars.

Mouse-overs

By moving the mouse slowly over the toolbars, you can get little tags to pop up that tells you what they do. Sometimes it takes a little bit of wiggling to work.

Paste

This takes any information on the clipboard and puts it where the cursor is. It can be done by hitting EDIT then PASTE, typing Ctrl V on your keyboard or clicking on the picture that is supposed to be a clipboard with a piece of paper on it. It sits next to the copy icon.

Printing

Printing can either be done as one step by hitting Ctrl p on your keyboard or hitting the print icon (supposed to look like a printer it’s a silver box with a white piece coming out the top). This just uses the default settings. If you want to print two copies, or only one page of a document, then you need to go to FILE then PRINT on your menu.

Save

Saving can either be done as one step by hitting Ctrl s on your keyboard or hitting the save icon (supposed to look like a floppy disc, it's a square with a lighter square in the top). This just uses the default settings. If you want to save t he document to a different place, or in a different format, then you need to go to FILE then  SAVE on your menu.

For instance to save to a floppy disc, you need to go FILE then SAVE AS and change the box labelled Save in to a: drive by clicking in the box and clicking on the letter a.

The first time you save, the computer will ask you where you want to save it & what you want to call it. From then on, whenever you hit save, it will save it there unless you SAVE AS.

REMEMBER - save regularly.

Scrolling

Scrolling lets you move around the screen when the page you are on is bigger than the monitor. On the right and bottom of the page, there will be long bars with darker rectangles (scroll bars) in them and arrows at the ends. To move where you are in the page, use your mouse to click and hold the scroll bar. Then you can move it up and down or across. For those with a mouse wheel this is often easier. You can also use the arrow keys on your keyboard. One touch moves the cursor one spot, holding it down will make the cursor move faster. Be careful, the longer you hold it down, the faster it goes and you can overshoot very easily.

Shutting down

To shut down a computer, go to the Start button, (yes I know that sounds dumb) click on it and chose shutdown. It will offer you a few options chose shut down. If you are only going away for a short while, chose Stand by and you only have to wriggle your mouse to get everything back.

Toolbars - Disappearing

Go to VIEW then TOOLBARS and click on the items until the one you want appears back on the page. You may have to move it where you want it by clicking in the dark coloured area at the top, holding the mouse button down and dragging the toolbar where you want it before letting go of the mouse button.

Toolbars you don't want anymore can be removed by going to VIEW then TOOLBARS and click on the items until the one you don't want. Or hitting the cross on the top right hand corner if it is visible.

Toolbars - Moving

Move your mouse over the moved item until at one corner or edge, the mouse symbol on the screen changes to either a four headed arrow, or two vertical lines with arrows pointing out from the sides. Then click your left mouse button, hold it down and move your mouse to back where you want the toolbar. It may take a couple of tries, as it can be fiddly. Just be persistent.

Date

To insert the current date or time into your document, click where you want it to go and then go to INSERT then DATE & TIME in your menu and chose the correct format for what you want by clicking on it. Clicking on the box marked Update Automatically, means that whenever you open that document, it will automatically put today's date in. Then hit OK.

Tables

Tables allow you to sort information on your page. This information, for example, is in a table. Each small box inside the table is called a cell. Columns run up and down the page & rows run across.

To insert a table, go to TABLE then INSERT and TABLE on your menu bar, or click on the grid with a pencil on it on your toolbar to draw your table. This is the option I recommend.

First position your mouse (it will now look like a pencil) on your page where you want the table to start. Then click hold and drag it down until you have a decent sized box. Then you can draw lines inside the box to give you columns and rows.

If you make a mistake, there is an eraser next to the pencil on the toolbar that if you hold over the line you wish to remove and then click and drag over it, will remove that one line.

To make the edges of the box different formats, change them with the down arrows next to the boxes beside the eraser.

The first changes the type of line, the next the width of the line, the next the colour of the line.

If you wish to have a line there, but make it invisible, chose No Border from the line style box.

After those icons, there are buttons for changing the style of the table. (Clicking on the small square with a four-headed arrow in it that appears at the top left hand corner of the table if you run your mouse over the outside edge, will format the whole table at once.)

The bucket allows you to choose the colour of the background behind the writing, no fill gives you the same colour as the page.

To format the table after drawing it, you can also right click on highlighted cells to add a few format changes at once. Just click on the option to bring up all the things you can do. The first options I have listed here are all under Borders and Shading.

The next icon with the grid allows you to add extra columns or rows and make the table fit the contents or the page.

The next one allows you to merge two cells together. First highlight the cells you want by clicking holding & dragging across the cells. Then hit the button.

The next allows you to split cells in half.

The next is the alignment of the text inside the cell. Click on the down arrow to get all the options.

The next makes all highlighted rows the same size. The one next to that makes all the highlighted columns the same. The fast way to highlight an entire column is to go to the very top of the table and move the mouse over the top of the table. A black arrow will appear pointing down the column, click hold and drag to select multiple columns, or just click to select one.

The next icon allows you to select common formatting patterns rather than do it all yourself.

The next changes the direction the text is flowing. Pressing it once will have it going from top to bottom in the cell, press it again to go from bottom to top.

The next two sort the table into alphabetical order.

The last one add highlighted cells together and gives you a total in the cell you were in when you clicked on it.

Templates

If you are frequently doing the same letter, invoice or something similar, where you only need to change one or two things each time, it is often easier to set up all the things that don't change on a template. Then you can just make one or two changes and have a new document ready to print out. 

To make a template, set out the document as normal and then go to FILE, then SAVE AS. In the box labelled Save as type, hit the little downward facing arrow and click on the Template option.

Once the template is saves, you can use it by opening the program, going to FILE then NEW and opening the template from there.

Text Box

Sometimes you want text in unusual places that you can't quite manage with normal typing. The easiest way to make the text go exactly where you want it is to use a text box. Go to INSERT then TEXT BOX on your menu or there is a white page with lines and a big A on it on your drawing toolbar. (Normally down the bottom of the page near the middle). Centre the cross hairs where you want the upper left hand corner of the box, and then click and hold and drag it down to where you want the bottom of the box. Then let go. A box will appear with a cursor in it, just type normally.

To move the text box, move your mouse over the box until it turns into a four-headed arrow, then click hold and drag the box to where you want it to go. Once it is in position, let the mouse button go.

To make the box larger or smaller, click once on the box to cause the edges to have shaded dots around them. Then move the mouse over the box's edges where the little squares are until you get a double-headed arrow. Moving out your mouse outwards will enlarge the box, bringing it in towards the middle of the box will make it smaller.

To get rid of the line around the box, or to make it different colours etc, move the mouse over the box and right click. Then choose Format Text box by clicking on the words.  Fill is the inside of the box, & Line is the line around the outside edge. Click on the various arrows beside the words to see what options you have available. The tabs at the top allow you to bring the text box on to of pictures, closer to them and many other things. Feel free to experiment.

Adding an address

To add a new address to your address book, you can do it a few ways.

If you have the address in an email, highlight it, copy, open your address book (shown as either the word or a picture of a book on your toolbar) hit new contact, and paste the address in.

If you only have it written down, open your address book, hit new contact and type it in taking care not to have any spaces and remembering that the address won't work if you mix up capital letters and lower case. It is very easy to type it incorrectly, so check it thoroughly. One wrong dot, and it won't work.

If you are writing an email and you realise you don't have an address, simply hit the word TO: and it will take you into your address book so you can add it in.

Attaching files

If you want to send someone a document from your computer, write an email as you normally would, but before you hit send, hit the symbol shaped like a paperclip, This will let you find the file you want to send. Highlight it and then hit the Insert button. Then hit send.

Deleting e-mails

In your inbox, highlight the email you want to get rid of and either hit the delete key on your keyboard, or hit the large x on your toolbar.

Forward

To send an interesting email on to someone else, hit forward, type in the address of the person you want to send it to and hit send.

Opening Attachments

To open an attachment, first you need to completely open the e-mail itself. Do this by double clicking on it in your top window.

When it's open, the attachment will appear as a picture in the attachment line in the header (the top bit of the e-mail). Double click on the picture. The will automatically open the attachment, but it may take a minute or two. Be very careful when you open attachments, they are the normal hiding places of viruses.

Reply

Hitting the word reply on your toolbar, will automatically fill in the person's address, fill in the subject line and put the item that you are replying to at the bottom of the e-mail. All you have to do is to type what you want to say and hit send normally at the top left of your toolbar.

Send/receive

Hit this button to check to see if you have new e-mails and to send ones already written.

Writing an email

If you are starting from scratch with an email, hit the word New on your toolbar, then fill in the name, click into the box next to the Subject an type what the email is about normally only a couple of words is best, then click into the main box and type what you want to say. Then hit Send on the top left of your toolbar.

Browsing the web - address line

If you already have the address for the site, open your web browser (if you have Internet Explorer Browser it will be on your desktop or taskbar as a blue e.) Then click into the box next to the word address and just type it in taking care not to have any spaces and remembering that the address won't work if you mix up capital letters and lower case. It is very easy to type it incorrectly, so check it thoroughly. One wrong dot, and it won't work.

Browsing the web - search engines

If you don't know the address, then you can look it up in the internet's version of the internet, search engines. There are many engines on the web, but three I recommend are:

-          for general items, Yahoo at www.yahoo.com.au

-          for business, AltaVista at www.altavista.com.au

-          for questions about how things work, Ask Jeeves at www.askjeeves.com.

They work by typing the thing you are looking for into the box next to the word search and then hitting enter. A list of web pages will then come up and you can click on each one in turn to see if it has the information you want. To get back to the search engine, you hit the button labelled BACK on your toolbar.