Computer Basics
Basic Computer Skills
This Tutorial is aimed at equipping you with the basic computer skills to operate your computer.
Work through the tutorials and become comfortable with turning the computer on and off and opening up
programs of interest.
Skill Sections
Turn Computer On/Off
Using the Mouse and Keyboard
Open and Close different Software Programs
Locate a Saved File and Copy and Paste to a New Location
Turning the Computer On and Off
To turn the computer on make sure that it is all plugged in correctly. On the back of the computer a power lead should be plugged into
the power supply. This is usually a big lead called a kettle lead. A mouse and a keyboard should be plugged in. The mouse should plug into
the green port and the keyboard to the purple port. These are usually located on the back of the computer below the power supply
and are about 1cm in diameter.
Once you have determined that these are plugged in you can turn on the computer by pressing the power button. This will be located on the
front of the computer and is usually the larger button. Press this button to turn the computer on. the computer will then load it self up
and you should be faced with a log on screen for Windows. The picture below displays this for Windows XP:
You can now type in your Administrator password. If you do not have one then simply click the Administrator icon and windows should then load up.
You should now see the Windows Desktop. In Windows XP this looks like this:
To Turn the computer off click on the start menu on the bottom left of the desktop and select Turn Off Computer. This will then bring up a dialogue box which you can
select shut down from. This will then turn the computer off safely without damaging Windows and files on the computer. Failur to turn the computer off in this
way may result in damage to the hard drive. The image below displays this procedure for Windows XP:
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Using the Mouse and Keyboard
The mouse is responsible for giving you control over the computer. The mouse works on a point and click theme, you move the mouse
to the desired location (point) and then click the left mouse button twice to open a program or once to highlight (click).
When you decide you want to execute a program click the left mouse button twice in quick succession and this is known as a double click.
This is used to open up programs such a Microsoft Word.
To highlight text you click and hold the left mouse button down and drag across the text you want to highlight. Doing this then gives you the
ability to copy text and paste it into a word document. To copy text there are two options. You
can press CTRL + C on the keyboard and then press CTRL + V to paste it
into a Word Document.
NOTE:
The "+" sign means using more than
one key at once i.e. Ctrl and the C buttons should be pressed together.
The second option is to click the right button on the mouse and select copy from the menu that appears. Then go to the Word Document
Right Click and Press the Paste button from the menu that appears.
The right click function also offers many other functions that you may become familiar with the more you use the mouse and the computer. There are functions
such as delete, undo and redo. These functions will be explained in the
Word Processing Tutorial.
To use the Keyboard place the thumbs of both your hands on the Space Bar. Put the first finger on the "F" fir the Left Hand and the "J" for the
Right Hand. All other fingers shouldthen be placed on the keys horizontal to this going away from the center of the Keyboard.
When you begin to type do not hold the keys down as this will produce multiple entries of the same letter. You can practice typing at:
http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/
The Keyboard offers many functions that can be used as short cuts. These can be useful
to know as they make typing and operating the computer much faster. The table below outlines a few keyboard shortcuts.
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CTRL+C: Copy |
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CTRL+X: Cut |
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CTRL+V: Paste |
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CTRL+Z: Undo |
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CTRL+B: Bold |
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CTRL+U:
Underline |
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CTRL+I: Italic |
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More shortcuts can be found at
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126449
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Open and Close different Software Programs
To open a particular program press the start button on the bottom left of the screen. The image below shows the menu that appears in
Windows XP:
The column on the left shows the most popular programs used so makes it quicker for you to access your favourite programs. To open these click the
corresponding icon once and the program will open.
For other programs click the ALL PROGRAMS Button and a list will appear in which you can select the program you want. To Access Microsoft Word Click
ALL Programs >> Microsoft Office >> Microsoft
Word.
Once in the program you can type your word document and then save it. To close the
Program either click the Red Cross in the top right corner or
click File in the top left corner followed by Exit. These two methods exit the current program.
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Locate a Saved File and Copy and Paste to a New Location
To Locate a Saved File use the Search Function on the Start menu. Click the Start button as before and then select the Search button.
This feature allows you to scan your drives for the file/folderthat you are looking for.
To begin
1. Type in the name of the file you want
2. Now select the Category of File or leave as All FILES
3. Then select the Drives to Search
4. Then Click Search
The Results are Displayed in a Window to the Left of the Search showing where the file is. You can now either open it or can select it to move its location.
To move the File/Folder to a New Location go to the directory where the file is located and right click on the file you want. Select Copy
Once this is done browse to the New Location where you want the file and select Paste. The file is now moved to this location. You can also do this with the "Cut and Paste" Function
This Method is useful for when you want to backup data, post it on to the network under "Shared Documents" or copy the file to a CD or Floppy Disk.
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You have now completed the Basic Computer Skills Tutorial. We hope this has given you a basic knowledge of how to use the computer. Please view our other Tutorials to learn
more.
Other Tutorials
Word Processing Skills
Web Skills
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