“Doin’ Things” with Programs

or

“WINDOWS” 101

What is a program?

• A program is a sequence of computer instructions that perform a task.

• Programs are stored in the “Program Files” and have the filename extension .exe. or .com.

A Program also….

• displays information in one or more window panes.

• can be run simultaneously with other programs.

Types of programs

• A “Systems” program does computer oriented work. ie: running printer drivers, disk scanners, operating systems (ie: Windows XP)

• An “Application” program does real-world work. ie: word processing, spreadsheets, databases

• A “Utility” program is a small, simple, useful program. ie: Calculator, Notebook

Programs can be started by...

• clicking its icon on desktop.

• choosing it from a Start Menu.

• using the Windows Key.

• clicking program filenames.

• clicking on document filenames or file icons.

• From the Run Dialog Box.

• when Windows start.

A Window…

• is a rectangular area on the screen which displays information from a running program.

• can be Minimized, Restored, or Maximized.

What does Windows do for you?

• Allows you to run programs that helps you “do things”.

• Multitasking, run programs at the same time and allows you to switch between them.

• Allows you to interface between programs.

Switching Programs with multiple programs running

• Click button for the Window on the taskbar

• Click on desired Window

• Press ALT-TAB or ALT-SHIFT-TAB

Parts of a Window• System Menu button

• Title bar

• Minimize button

• Maximum or Restore button

• Close button

• Menu bar

• Tool bar

• Status bar

• Scroll bar

• Windows borders

Controlling the size and shape of a Window

• Restore-Resizes the window to its previous size

• Maximize-whole screen

• Minimize-windows button on taskbar

Moving a Window

• Click and drag the Title Bar to the desired location.

Note: A window can not be moved while it is Maximized

Changing the size and shape of a Window

• Window must be in Restored- Down status to change size and shape

• Click and drag Window border to change size and shape of window, ie: side, top, bottom, or corner

Commands

• Almost every Windows program enables you to issue commands to control what the program does.

• For example, …….

Microsoft Word allows you to..

• Create a new document

• Save the document

• Print the document

• Exit the program

• (along with many others)

Giving Commands

• Most programs provide several ways to issue commands. (ie: commands from the menu and clicking on icons on the tool bar.

Choosing Commands from the Menu Bar

• Click on command to get dropdown menu

• Close dropdown menu by clicking anywhere outside the dropdown box.

Choosing commands from the Tool Bar

• Click on icon

Symbols on Menus• Commands with right pointing

triangle on their right means more menu selections are needed to complete command

• Commands with three dots will open a dialog box (will talk about this later)

• Check mark means command is turned “ON” (view)

Symbols on Menus

• A large dot to the left of a list of selection indicates the selection is active.

• Some commands are on the Tool Bar performs the same command in the dropdown menu (file>print)

Other Commands

• Note: Commands that appear gray are not currently available (edit)

• Some commands have keyboard shortcuts, ie: CTRL-O = File>open

Choosing Menu Commands with the

Keyboard• Commands with underlined first

letter (ie: New) can be given by pressing the letter “N”

• If the first letter is not underlined, press ALT and press the underlined letter

Clicking Buttons on the Tool Bar

• Clicking a Tool Bar button issues a command , usually a command that you also could have issued from the Menu Bar (print=file>print)

• Some programs allows you to click and drag the Tool Bar to other areas of the Window

Choosing Commands from Shortcut Menus

• Right click on a blank space near object to open shortcut menu.

• Use keyboard to open shortcut menu by keying “Shift-F10”.

Choosing Settings on Dialog Boxes

• A Dialog Box is a special kind of window that enables you to change settings or give commands in a program.

• ie: Open File opens specific file

• Exit buttons, ie: OK, Close, Cancel

Settings in Dialog Boxes

•Text box (spell check)

•List box (format>font)

•Check box (format>font)

•Radio button (format>font)

•Pull down menu (format>font)

•Menu bar (save as)

•Tool bar (save as)

•Command button (save as)

Navigating around a Dialog Box (format>font)

• Click setting you want

• Press “TAB” key to shift to another setting

• Press “SHIFT-TAB key to select previous setting selection

Navigating around a Dialog Box (format>font)

• Dialog Box with tabs, click tabs or pressing CTRL-TAB or CTRL-SHIFT-TAB.

Open, Save As, and Browse Dialog Boxes….

• provide a way of specifying a disk drive, a folder, and a file to work with.

• have a column of icons down the left side and a special tool bar

Open, Save As, and Browse Dialog Boxes

• Places Bar

• Look In or Save In pull-down menu

• Folder Tree

• Go To Last Folder Visited button

• Up One Level button

• Create New Folder button

• View Menu button

• Files Of Type box

Closing Programs

• Click the Close button

• Choose File>Exit or File>Close

• Key CRTL-ALT-DEL, Click the program name in the window and click the End Task button (Note: if you were editing the file, you will loose all work that was not saved)