BASIC COMPUTER OPERATION TRAINING TRAINING CONDUCTED BY L. DOUG HARRIS WELCOME TO

THROUGHOUT THIS BASIC COMPUTER PRESENTATION, ANALOGIES WILL BE USED TO ASSIST YOU IN HAVING A RELATIVELY WELL-KNOWN BASIS TO COMPARE WHEN REFERRING TO COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY. THAT ANALOGY IS YOUR CAR OR TRUCK SYSTEMS!

TO GET STARTED, YOU SIGN UP WITH ‘FRONTIER’ AND THEY WILL GIVE YOU FREE TELEPHONE LINE SPLITTERS LIKE THE ABOVE. COMPONENTS NEEDED FOR INTERNET CONNECTION (DSL= DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE) FRONT OF MODEM/ROUTER COMBO REAR OF MODEM/ROUTER COMBO

IN SIMPLE TERMINOLOGY, JUST HOW DOES A COMPUTER WORK? ANSWER: A SIGNAL IS ORIGINALLY RECEIVED BY AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE OVER SOME FORM OF CABLE (COAX OR ETHERNET) BEING TRANSMITTED IN BINARY CODE (ONES AND ZEROS) THAT IS READ BY A MOTHERBOARD (A MICROPROCESSOR THAT CAN MAKE COMPLEX CALCULATIONS IN “A BLINK OF AN EYE”). RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM) TAKES THIS SIGNAL AND PLACES SAME IN THE CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU) WHERE IT CAN BE VIEWED, MANIPULATED OR STORED IN THE HARD DRIVE FOR FURTHER USE.

A COMPUTER IS MADE UP OF TWO ITEMS: THE PHYSICAL HARDWARE AND THE OPERATING SOFTWARE. HARDWARE: DOES THE PHYSICAL WORK THAT COMPUTERS (AND ITS COMPONENTS) ARE KNOWN FOR. EXAMPLES OF COMPUTER HARDWARE ARE: MOUSEKEYBOARDMONITORPRINTERMODEM/ROUTERFAX/SCANNER VIDEO CARDS/BOARDS SOFTWARE: BASICALLY TELLS THE COMPUTER HARDWARE WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO DO IT. EXAMPLES OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE ARE: OPERATING SYSTEMS LIKE MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA, XP, 7 SEARCH ENGINES LIKE GOOGLE, YAHOO, AOL PRODUCTION LIKE WORD, EXCEL, POWERPOINT ENTERTAINMENT LIKE COMPUTER GAMES EDUCATIONAL/TEACHING COMPONENT DRIVER SOFTWARE INTERNET WEB BROWSER LIKE INTERNET EXPLORER, CHROME, FIREFOX, OPERA

THERE ARE MORE COMPUTER MODELS AND COMPUTER CONFIGERATIONS THAN THERE ARE MODELS OF CARS AND TRUCKS (WITH ALL THEIR ACCESSORY COMBINATIONS)! HOWEVER, WE WILL GO THROUGH SOME BASIC PHYSICAL PARAMETERS, BOTH EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL (AND THEIR USAGE) THAT MOST COMPUTERS WILL HAVE AVAILABLE.

BASIC COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY THERE ARE TWO MAJOR TYPES OF COMPUTERS (HARDWARE): THE PC OR PERSONAL COMPUTER Aka DESKTOP THE LAPTOP (ALSO A PERSONAL COMPUTER, BUT A SMALLER, HIGHLY COMPACT PROFILE) (THE TERM ‘DESKTOP’ HAS A DUAL MEANING THAT YOU WILL SEE ON THE NEXT SLIDE)

BASIC COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY AFTER INITIAL BOOT-UP OF YOUR COMPUTER, YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY TAKEN TO THE FIRST SCREEN ALSO KNOWN AS YOUR “DESKTOP”

LET’S PUT THE AFOREMENTIONED COMPUTER PARAGRAPH IN AUTOMOTIVE VERBIAGE: THE VEHICLE OWNER GOES TO THE GAS STATION AND PUMPS FUEL FROM THE PUMP (RECEIVES A SIGNAL VIA ISP) VIA A HOSE (VIA A COAXIAL OR ETHERNET CABLE) INTO THE VEHICLE GAS TANK FOR STOWAGE (SENT TO THE CPU). THE VEHICLE’S ONBOARD FUEL PUMP (INSIDE THE GAS TANK) PUSHES THE FUEL OUT OF THE TANK (RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY PROCESS DATA) (VIA A FUEL LINE) IN SUFFICIENT PRESSURE TO ENTER THE FUEL INJECTOR PROVIDING JUST ENOUGH FUEL FOR THE SPARK PLUG TO IGNITE (MICROPROCESSOR COMPLETES COMPLEX CALCULATIONS) THEREBY CREATING HORSEPOWER IN A DEGREE DETERMINED BY THE TRANSMISSION GEAR AND LEVEL OF PRESSURE ON THE GAS PEDAL (ALLOWING THE VIEWER TO VIEW THE PAGE).

VGA = Video Graphics Array ( cable interface with exterior monitor) HDMI = High Definition Multimedia Interface (both HIGH SPEED audio and video in one cable) RJ-45 = Standard 8-pin Ethernet cable USB = Universal Serial Bus MICROPHONE IN HEADPHONE OUT X 2 Optical Drive = CD, DVD or Blue Ray device USB = Universal Serial Bus

WHO SAID A MOUSE WAS DIFFICULT TO USE?

COMPUTER HARDWARE MOUSE FUNCTION THE COMPUTER MOUSE GOES FROM THE BASIC…. TO THE EXTREME AND EVERYTHING IN-BETWEEN (BOTH WITH WIRES AND WIRELESS)! THE MOUSE DIRECTS THE CURSER TO TELL THE CPU WHERE AND WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.

COMPONENTS OF A MOUSE A STANDARD ROLLER-BALL MOUSE WITH WIRE CONNECTION OPTICAL OR LASER MOUSE WIRELESS CONNECTION TOP BOTTOM

YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH A VAST WORLD OF TASKS BY EITHER “LEFT CLICKING” OR “RIGHT CLICKING” THE UPPER PORTION OF THE COMPUTER MOUSE. IN MOST CASES YOU MUST “DOUBLE CLICK” TO ACTIVATE MOUSE OPERATION. COMPUTER MOUSE USAGE

THE COMPUTER KEYBOARD

BASIC ON-SCREEN KEYBOARD MICROSOFT OFFERS AN EXTENSIVE LIST OF KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS AT THE WEB ADDRESS OF:

ASSUMING THE COMPUTER IS CONNECTED VIA CABLE TO WIFI (WIRELESS FIDELITY: A LOCAL NETWORK THAT USES HIGH FREQUENCY RADIO SIGNALS TO TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE DATA OVER SHORT DISTANCES TYPICALLY LESS THAN 300 FEET); WE WILL NOW CONNECT TO THE INTERNET. (AN AUTOMOTIVE DOOR OPENER FOB AND GARAGE DOOR OPENER WOULD ALSO BE EXAMPLES OF WIFI ITEMS.) THE MOST USED METHOD TO CONNECT TO THE INTERNET IS VIA SOFTWARE KNOWN AS INTERNET EXPLORER BY MICROSOFT THAT CARRIES THIS ICON: WHEN YOU SELECT THIS ICON WITH YOUR POINTING DEVICE KNOWN AS A “MOUSE” YOU WILL BE TAKEN TO THE INTERNET, TO YOUR PREVIOUSLY SELECTED “HOME PAGE”.

HOME PAGE ISP (INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER) SURF INTERNET (RAM) UTILIZATION OF RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM) (INTERNET EXPLORER ICON) MODEM

BASIC COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY ICONS = A PICTOGRAM USED FOR COMPUTER NAVIGATION THERE ARE 1,000’S OF ICONS AVAILABLE FOR SPECIFIC COMPUTER ACTIONS ICONS SHOWN ON DESKTOP ICONS SHOWN ON MICROSOFT OFFICE SOFTWARE ICONS SHOWN ON MICROSOFT POWERPOINT SOFTWARE

HUNDREDS OF ICONS CAN BE DOWNLOADED OFF THE INTERNET.

MORE ICON EXAMPLES

WHAT IS A ‘URL’ AND HOW IS IT USED? URL = UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR BEING A TERM SYNONYMOUS WITH “WEB ADDRESS” UTILIZING THE ‘HTTP’ AND ‘HTTPS’ PROTOCOL A URL DOMAIN EXAMPLE: (TO OBTAIN AN ANSWER ON ANY COMPUTER QUESTION, I WOULD SUGGEST A WEB SITE: MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT CONFUSE DOMAIN NAME EXTENSIONS WITH FILE NAME EXTENSIONS. THE MOST COMMON DOMAIN NAME EXTENSIONS ARE.COM,.NET,.ORG,.GOV,.BIZ AND.TV.

THIS DATABASE IS A LISTING OF FILE NAME EXTENSIONS AND THEIR FILE TYPE IDENTIFICATION. YOU WILL NOTICE THE DOMAIN NAME EXTENSIONS ARE NOT A PART OF THIS LIST. FILE NAME EXTENSIONS AND ASSOCIATED IDENTIFICATION

WHEN IS IT S-A-F-E TO FILL OUT FORMS WITH CONFIDENTIAL PERSONAL INFORMATION? HTTP = HYPER TEXT TRANSFER PROTOCOL – OR OPEN COMMUNICATION BETWEEN WEB SERVERS AND WEB USERS (YOU). ANYONE CAN INTERCEPT INFORMATION SHARED ON AN OPEN URL CONNECTION; THEREFORE IS DECLARED UNSAFE FOR PERSONAL INFORMATION. HTTPS = HYPER TEXT TRANSFER PROTOCOL SECURE – OR WITH SECURE SOCKETS LAYER (SSL) LIMITING AVAILABLE INFORMATION TO ONLY YOU AND THE OWNER OF THE OTHER END OF THE CONVERSATION. THE “HTTPS” WOULD BE THE O-N-L-Y TIME YOU SUBMIT PERSONAL INFORMATION OVER THE INTERNET INCLUDING BIRTHDATE, SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER, CREDIT CARD AND BANKING! YOUR ID CAN BE EASILY TAKEN FROM YOU WITH THIS INFORMATION. WARNING!

YOU SHOULD N-E-V-E-R FILL OUT A PERSONAL INFORMATION FORM LIKE THIS ONE NO MATTER WHO ASKS!

SNAPSHOT OF THIS COMPUTER’S HOME PAGE CHOOSING “GOOGLE”

SNAPSHOT SAMPLE “FRONTIERNET. NET” HOME PAGE

SNAPSHOT SAMPLE “YAHOO” HOME PAGE

SNAPSHOT SAMPLE MICROSOFT “BING” HOME PAGE

SNAPSHOT SAMPLE “AOL” HOME PAGE

IF I WANTED TO CHANGE MY HOMEPAGE, HOW WOULD I GO ABOUT IT? ON THE TOP URL BAR OF YOUR HOME PAGE YOU WILL SEE AN ICON SHOWN BY THE YELLOW ARROW ON THE FAR RIGHT. SELECT OR ‘CLICK’ ON IT AND YOU WILL SEE……..

THE DROP-DOWN BOX LIST FROM WHICH YOU SELECT “INTERNET OPTIONS” AND A NEW BOX WILL APPEAR:

TYPE IN YOUR DESIRED WEB PAGE (WHERE SHOWN BY RED OVAL) TO USE AS YOUR “HOME PAGE” AND FIRST SELECT “APPLY” BELOW, THEN SELECT “OK”. YOUR NEW “HOME PAGE” WILL NOW APPEAR.

JUST HOW MANY ‘HOME PAGES’ OR MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS ‘SEARCH ENGINES’ ARE AVAILABLE? ANS: IN THE HUNDREDS…THE FOLLOWING PAGES SHOW ABOUT 250

LARGE FILE TRANSFER SOFTWARE

CONTINUOUS INTERNET SURFING WILL GENERATE A NEED FOR A COMPUTER “TUNE-UP” (AS DOES YOUR AUTOMOBILE IN ITS CONTINUOUS USE). FOLLOW THIS SIMPLE PROCEDURE TO INSURE YOUR RAM IS CAPABLE TO OFFER IT’S PEAK PERFORMANCE:

FOLLOW THE SAME STEPS AS PREVIOULY SHOWN TO GET TO THIS “INTERNET OPTIONS” PAGE. THIS TIME WE ARE GOING TO FOCUS ON THE “BROWSING HISTORY” IN THE RED OVAL. INSURE THE BOX HAS A CHECK INSIDE AND SELECT THE ‘DELETE’ BUTTON…..

….TAKING YOU TO THE PAGE TO THE LEFT ENTITLED “DELETE BROWSING HISTORY”. YOU HAVE SOME DECISIONS TO MAKE REGARDING WHAT YOU WISH TO SAVE ON THE HARDDRIVE AND WHAT YOU WISH DELETED. CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX(ES) AND SELECT THE ‘DELETE’ BOTTOM ON THE BOTTOM.

YOU HAVE JUST COMPLETED ABOUT AN 85% TUNE-UP. NOW, LET’S COMPLETE THE REMAINING 15%. LOOK DOWN AT THE BOTTOM LEFT OF YOUR SCREEN AND YOU WILL OBSERVE THIS “START” ICON: WHEN YOU CLICK, A BOX WILL POP UP WHEREIN YOU WILL BE ABLE TO TYPE INTO THE BOX %TEMP% (IN SOME OPERATING SYSTEMS CASES YOU MUST SELECT ‘SEARCH’ OR ‘RUN’ TO TYPE IN THE %TEMP%) CLICK ON THE WORD “TEMP” AND YOU WILL OBSERVE A LIST OF ITEMS NEEDING DELETED COMPLETING YOUR ‘TUNE-UP’. FINISHING THE ‘CLEAN-UP”

A SHORTCUT TO DELETE ALL ITEMS IN ANY LIST IS TO ACCOMPLISH THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURE: 1.) SELECT OR “CLICK ON” THE FIRST ITEM IN THE LIST (HIGHLIGHTING SAME (MOST OF THE TIME CHANGING THE BACKGROUND COLOR TO BLUE)) 2.) WITHOUT CHANGING THE HIGHLIGHTING COLOR, SCROLL DOWN TO THE LAST ITEM IN THE LIST AND CAREFULLY SELECT THE LAST ITEM WHILE PRESSING THE “SHIFT KEY” WHICH WILL EFFECTIVELY HIGHLIGHT THE ENTIRE LIST. 3.) WITH YOUR ‘CURSER’ SOMEWHERE INSIDE THE HIGHLIGHTED AREA, “RIGHT CLICK” AND SELECT THE WORD “DELETE” 4. TO COMPLETELY CLEAR OUT THE ITEMS FROM YOUR COMPUTER, GO TO YOUR ‘DESKTOP’…..SELECT THE ICON LABELED “TRASH” AND EMPTY SAME.

WHAT IS COMPUTER DEFRAGMENTATION? LET’S ASSUME THAT YOU SAVED (STORED) A LARGE FILE ONTO YOUR COMPUTER HARD DRIVE….AND THE FILE WAS TOO LARGE TO FIT INTO ONE SLOT, SO THE COMPUTER CHOOSES SEVERAL SLOTS TO ACCOMPLISH THE SAVE.

WHAT IS COMPUTER DEFRAGMENTATION? WHEN THE FILE IS RETRIEVED, FOR THE COMPUTER TO OBTAIN THE TOTAL FILE WOULD REQUIRE MORE TIME….SO DEFRAGMENTATION IS SIMPLY STORING THE TOTAL FILE CLOSER TOGETHER TO ASSIST IN SPEEDING UP RETRIEVAL.

JUST HOW DO I GET TO THE AREA OF ACCOMPLISHING DEFRAGMENTATION OF MY HARD DRIVE?

DEFRAG LOCATION IN MICROSOFT OS 7 TYPE IN DISK CLEANUP OR DISK DEFRAGMENTATION IN AFOREMENTIONED ‘SEARCH’ OR ‘RUN’ BOX.

IF MY COMPUTER ‘LOCKS UP’ OR FAILS IN RESPONDING TO ANY ATTEMPT TO GO ANYWHERE, WHAT DO I DO THEN?

PRESS THE ABOVE THREE KEYS (CTRL, ALT, DELETE) ON THE KEYBOARD AT THE SAME TIME (HOLDING DOWN UNTIL A NEW SCREEN APPEARS) AND…

THE ABOVE ‘WINDOWS TASK MANAGER’ BOX WILL APPEAR WHEREBY YOU CAN SELECT EACH ITEM (SHOWN BY YELLOW ARROW) AND ‘DELETE’