PCC Training Track – Lesson 2

Operating System & File

Management

Operating System & File Management

Objectives Understand the desktop and its icons Understand the Windows start menu Understand how to manage files and folders Understand the use of common file

management tools in MS Windows Understand profiles and user management

Understand the desktop and its icons

Launch a program from the desktop Create shortcuts for a file, folder or program on the desktop Organize the files saved to the desktop Empty the Recycle bin & understand the reason for doing

this Be able to recover files and folders from Recycle Bin Adjust speaker volume or mute speaker sound Know the patron log-on procedure & time limits

Launch a program from the desktop

Launch a program from the desktop

• Double-click on an icon (picture representing a program or file) on the desktop to launch the program

• Click once on an icon, then press the Enter key to open for folks who have problems with double-clicking

• Right-click an icon, choose Open from the context menu

Create shortcuts for a file, folder or program on the desktop

• Icons are also “shortcuts” to files, folders and programs stored on the computer – they provide clues to what the item is (what file type, if it is a program, file or folder, etc.)

• The desktops in the PCC are static – do not add icons to those machines

• To add an icon on your computer, right-click the file/folder/program and choose “send to Desktop” to create a shortcut.

Organize the files saved to the desktop

• On PCC machines – reboot – it requires right-clicking and that is not available on those computers

• On your staff machine – right-click in a clear area of the desktop (without any icons) and choose “Arrange Icons By Name/Size/Type/Modified”

Empty the Recycle bin & understand the reason for doing

this

• No recycle bin on the PCC machines

• On staff machines – right-click the bin icon and choose “empty recycle bin”

Why?

• To free up hard drive space

• Windows doesn’t permanently delete – there is a “safety net” in the recycle bin so you can recover items mistakenly deleted

Be able to recover files and folders from Recycle Bin

Staff Machines Only

• Right-click the bin, click “Open”

• Select the items to recover (ctrl+click each icon to select multiple items)

• Click “Restore This Item” or “Restore Selected Items” from the Recycle Bin Tasks box on the top left

• They will reappear in their original location

Be able to recover files and folders from Recycle Bin

*Field Trip!*

• Right-click the Recycle Bin on your desktop

• Empty it

Or

• Recover an item from it, then empty it

Adjust speaker volume or mute speaker sound

• The volume icon is in the System Tray – the area at the bottom right of the desktop, near the clock

• Right-click to adjust volume (easiest – not possible on PCC machines)

• Double-click to open and adjust “Volume Control” (only option on PCC machines)

Know the patron log-on procedure & time limits

Log-on Procedure

• Move mouse to bring up log-on box

• Click green word “Available” (on PCC 30 & 38, it’s just a green underline, no word appears)

• Enter library card number and PIN in the boxes

• Accept the Library’s Acceptable Use Statement

Time Limits

• 2 hours per day

Understand the Windows start menu

• Know how to access the start menu

• Know what to find in the start menu

• Launch a program from the start menu

Know how to access the start menu

• Start menu is at the bottom left of the desktop

• Click once to open it

Know what to find in the start menu

• All Programs Menu – all installed programs are found here

• Quick bar – most used programs are found above the Programs menu (above that are the Internet icons)

• Utility bar – My Documents, My Computer, My Pictures, My Music, etc. – fast links to personal files

• Control Panel links (links to printers, etc.)

• Run menu (access to the command line)

Launch a program from the start menu

• Click on the Start Menu

• Hover over the All Programs Menu (click to “lock” the menu open)

• Find the program to open

• Click the name of the program

*Field Trip!*

• Go to a PCC machine, examine the programs in the All Programs menu, open one.

Understand how to manage files and folders

• Know the difference between programs, files and folders

• Perform basic file & folder functions (open, close, delete, rename, copy/cut/paste – or drag & drop)

• Recognize common file extensions and their associated applications

• Know the patrons options for saving files both temporarily & permanently

• Be familiar with the restrictions of PCC computing security & know what gets deleted at the end of a session.

Know the difference between programs, files and folders

• Programs – executable files; they “do” something such as display text (MS Word), render web pages (Internet Explorer) or pass time (Solitaire)

• Files – data; require a program to display, edit, or generally work with them

• Folders – containers; hold both files and programs to allow for organization.

Perform basic file & folder functions (open, close, delete, rename, copy/cut/paste – or drag

& drop)

• Open – double-click or select (single click) and press Enter

• Close – use the X at the top right corner of the file or folder’s display window to close

• Delete – select (single-click) the file/folder and press the Delete key on the keyboard or right-click the item and choose the Delete command

• Rename – right-click on the item and choose “Rename”, type in the new name (pay attention to file extensions for files, don’t change them!)

Perform basic file & folder functions (open, close, delete, rename, copy/cut/paste – or drag

& drop)

• Copy – Select (single-click) and press Ctrl-C or right-click and choose Copy command

• Cut – Select and press Ctrl-X or right-click and choose Cut command

• Paste – Press Ctrl-V or right-click in the target area and choose the Paste command (after cutting or copying only)

• Drag & Drop – click on the item, drag the item with the mouse (without releasing the mouse button), release the button when you reach the target area

• *Field Trip!* – Play a game of solitaire, practicing your file opening and dragging and dropping skills

Recognize common file extensions and their associated

applicationsMicrosoft Office Suite•.doc – Word 2003 & before

•.xls – Excel 2003 & before

•.pub – Publisher 2003 & before

•.ppt – PowerPoint 2003 & before

•.mdb – Access 2003 & before

•Add an x to these extensions (.docx, .pptx, etc.) and you have a Office 2007 file. All PCC machines have the 2007 file readers installed

Other•.txt – text file, can be opened with Notepad or Word

•.pdf – Portable Document Format, can be opened with Acrobat Reader

•.jpg and .gif – image file, can be opened with any browser or graphics program

•.wps – Word Perfect file, only old versions can be opened in the PCC

•.exe – executable file, indicates a program

Recognize common file extensions and their associated

applications

• .rtf – Rich Text File; useful for any word processing program – Word, Word Perfect, Wordpad – they all use it

• Filext – enter an extension and get back the program that uses it – excellent for finding what program is needed for a particular file

Know the patrons options for saving files both temporarily &

permanently

• Some PCC machines allow temporary saving of files to the desktop – some don’t.

• For those machines that don’t, a MRRL USB flash drive can be lent out for temporary use

• Permanent file storage must be on a patron’s USB flash drive, CD-R or –RW or a floppy disk

Be familiar with the restrictions of PCC computing security & know what gets

deleted at the end of a session.

PCC Security:

• No right-clicking is allowed

• No installation of software is allowed

• No saving of data for more than 2 hours is allowed

• All machines reboot at the end of a session – at reboot, all data from the patron’s session (browser history, passwords, files saved to the desktop, etc.) is erased

Understand the use of common file management tools in MS

Windows

• Find folders and files in My Computer or Windows Explorer

• Be aware of the different views of files and folders in My Computer or Windows Explorer

Find folders and files in My Computer or Windows Explorer

• Click Start My Computer

• Drive C: is the computer’s hard drive, click on that drive

• Use “Search for files and folders” in the System Tasks box at the top left to search

• Drill down through the file system to find a file that is in a known location.

• Can be used to open files on external storage in Drive F, G or H on PCC machines

• PCC machines cannot access Drive C:

Find folders and files in My Computer or Windows Explorer

• Not useful on PCC machines, use only on staff machines

• Click Start All Programs Accessories Windows Explorer

• Defaults to opening My Documents

• Search (same as in My Computer) or drill down to open the file/folder

• Adds “folder pane” which lets you get out of My Documents easily and go to a different folder

Be aware of the different views of files and folders in My Computer

or Windows Explorer

•Thumbnails – shows details of images, what is inside of folders, each file/folder gets a square of space•Tiles – largish icons for each file/folder/program arranged in a grid•Icons – smallish icons for each file/folder/program arranged in rows•List – no icons, just a vertical list of file/folder/program names•Details – list view + detailed information about each file/folder/program listed (name, size, type, date modified)

Click the black down arrow next to the Views menu item (circled in red on the picture) and change to one of the following views of the files, folders and programs in both My Computer and Windows Explorer

Understand profiles and user management

• Be knowledgeable about profiles set up on the public computers

• Be able to switch between profiles

• Know how to use the public access computing station time and reservation management program

Be knowledgeable about profiles set up on the public computers

• Profile = data, preferences and configuration options for a computer that can be stored locally (on the computer) or on a network

• All profile – the default PCC profile, automatically logs in when the computer is turned on, very limited access to the computer’s resources (security restricted)

• Exec profile – the administrative profile for the PCC, full administrative rights (installing programs, etc.)

Be able to switch between profiles

• Not done in our PCC

• Requires logging out and then logging in with a different username and password on staff machines

Know how to use the public access computing station time and

reservation management program

• Become very familiar with the Envisionware PC Reservation page on the staffweb wiki

• Know how to Create A Guest Pass

• Create A Pin in Millennium

• End A Session

• Use the Waiting List/Reservation Station

• Use the Management Console to control the PCs

• Information on the wiki *will* be on the test…

OS & File Management Quiz

Go to http://www.classmarker.com/my_tests.php

And take the quiz for the Operating System and File Management Section of this course. Your responses will be mailed to Robin. Finish the other courses in this track to get your PCC Tech Certificate.