1. Prof. Yitzchak Rosenthal
WINDOWS BASICS
Prof. Yitzchak Rosenthal

2. Mouse terminology Cursor: Left Click: Right Click Click Double Click
Picture on screen that moves when you move the mouse. Used to point to items on the screen.
Left Click:
click once on the left mouse button
Right Click
click once on the right mouse button
Click
(same as Left Click)
Double Click
click twice (quickly) on the left mouse button
Drag
click on the left mouse button (don't let go) while moving the mouse.

3. Desktop terminology desktop icon taskbar system tray start menu
the whole screen
icon
a small picture
taskbar
the bar on the bottom of the desktop
system tray
the rightmost area of the taskbar
start menu
click on the word "start" on the leftmost area of the taskbar to access this menu. The "start menu" contains a list of the programs that are installed on the computer.
sub menu
a menu within a menu
taskbar icon
an icon that is on the taskbar
context sensitive menu
menu that pops up when you "right click" on an item. Different menus will pop up depending on where you right-click.

4. Program terminology
program
execute / run

5. Window terminology
Window = the rectangle on the screen that contains the display of a running program
Title bar = bar on top of a window. Contains the "name" of the window.
Active window = the window that is currently “attached” to the keyboard. This window is on “top” of the other windows and has a dark blue title bar.

6. opening/closing/moving/resizing windows
close button
minimize button
maximize button = double click title bar
restore button = double click title bar
resize
drag window

7. Window terminology Portions of a window menu pane: portion of a window
separator bar: a line between two panes of a window, can usually drag the bar to resize the panes
scroll bar: 3 different ways to control:
click in empty area
drag "elevator" button
click on arrows on ends of scrollbar
toolbars
toolbar button
tool tip: move cursor over toolbar button and wait 1 second to see a short description of what the button does. Tip disappears after a couple of seconds.
Many programs allow you to choose which tollbars are visible with the "view | toolbars" menu choice
drag a toolbar to "dock" it to a different location

8. Windows dialog boxes and controls
dialog box: A small window that is launched by a program. Used to interact with the user.
modal dialog box: A dialog box that will not let you work with the application unless you respond to it.
Windows Controls: different types of controls
textbox
radio button
check box
dropdown list
select list
etc.

9. Context Sensitive Menus
Right clicking usually displays a “context sensitive” menu
This means that the menu choices will be different depending on where you clicked
Example
Right click on empty area of desktop to see one context sensitive menu.
Right click on empty area of taskbar to see a different set of menu choices.

10. Multiple Document Interface (MDI)
Some programs allow you to open up several windows (child windows) inside the main window (parent window). You can minimize/maximize/close/resize each child window independently inside the parent window.
The Parent window has the standard Minimize/Maximize/Restore butons
Each child window also has its own Minimize/Maximize/Restore buttons
Window menu has choices to
arrange the child windows or
to select a specific child window

11. Selecting Items

12. Selecting Most programs allow you to select items by either
File selected in Windows Explorer (click on filename)
Most programs allow you to select items by either
clicking with the mouse on an item
or clicking and dragging the mouse around some items.
Selected items are often highlighted in blue (or other colors – see word example)
Text selected in Word (click and drag)
Cells selected in Excel (click and drag)

13. Selecting Multiple Items at Once
If you select multiple items you can work with them as a group.
For example you select multiple files in Windows Explorer and then drag the entire group of files to a different folder.
Two ways to select multiple files:
Shift + click : Selects a contiguous range of items
Ctrl + click : Selects multiple individual items
(Examples on next two slides)

14. Selecting With Shift-Click
Selects a contiguous range of items
Step 1
click on first item (don’t press shift)
Step 2
hold down shift and click on last item at same time.

15. Selecting With Ctrl-Click
Selects multiple non-contiguous items.
Step 1
click on first item (don’t press Ctrl)
Step 2
Click on every other item while at the same time pressing Ctrl.

16. Selecting with Ctrl-Click: Excel Example
Select multiple non-contiguous ranges in Excel with Ctrl + click and drag
Step 1
click on first cell in first range and drag (don’t press Ctrl)
Step 2
While pressing Ctrl click and drag for every other range
Whatever you do now will be done to all the selected cells (e.g. change the color for all these cells)

17. Clipboard terminology
area in computer memory that stores information copied from a program
How to use the clipboard
Select information to copy to clipboard
Then do one of the following
copy: either choose "edit | copy" menu or press ctrl-c
cut : either choose "edit | cut" menu or press ctrl-x
Choose location where you want to put the information (in the same or in a different program)
paste: either choose "edit | paste" or press ctrl-v
paste special: choose "edit | paste special" - not in all programs
allows you to paste information from the clipboard in a different format

18. Common hot keys Hot Key Common Hot Keys
a "hot key" is a key sequence that you press on the keyboard to make windows or a program do something.
This involves pressing either the "Alt", "Ctrl" or "Shift" key at the same time as pressing another key on the keyboard.
Some hot key sequences involve pressing 3 keys at the same time.
Common Hot Keys
alt-tab = switch windows (next)
shift-alt-tab = switch windows (previous)
ctrl-c = copy current selection to clipboard
ctrl-x = “cut” (or delete) current selection and put contents on clipboard
ctrl-v = paste clipboard contents into active program
ctrl-esc = show start menu
alt-(underlined letter in menu) = choose menu
PrtScr = copy a picture of the desktop to the clipboard
Ctrl-PrtScr = copy a picture of the active window to the clipboard