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AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WINDOWS 10 COMPUTER

OPERATING SYSTEM

COMPILED BY HOWIE BAUM

 WHAT IS WINDOWS ?

 Windows is an operating system designed by Microsoft.

 The operating system is what allows you to use a

computer.

 Windows 10 (and now 11) comes preloaded on most

new personal computers (PCs), which helps make it the most
popular operating system in the world.

 It manages the computer’s hardware and software

resources and provides common services for computer
programs so you can use your computer easily.

 For example, you can use Windows to browse the

Internet, check your email, edit digital photos, listen
to music, play games, and do much more.

Watch the video below to learn more about operating

systems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkGCLIQx1MI
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 THIS PRESENTATION COVERS THE FOLLOWING
SUBJECTS ABOUT WINDOWS 10

• How to use the new Start menu and the Taskbar.

• Understand notifications and the Action center.

• Microsoft Edge - Windows new web browser.

• Understanding Windows 10 settings

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Getting started:

If the computer was off and then turned on, the first screen you will see is called the
Lockscreen.

If the computer was in “sleep” mode, move the mouse or press any key and you will open
the Windows desktop screen.

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THE DESKTOP - Once your computer has
finished starting up, the first thing you'll see is
the desktop.

Think of the desktop as the main

workspace for your computer. From here,
you can view and manage your files, open
applications, access the Internet, and much
more.

The desktop in Window 10 includes:

 The Start (sometimes called the Windows)

button, in the lower left-hand corner

 A taskbar along the bottom of the screen

 Various small images, called icons, usually

arranged in the left side of your screen.

These are shortcuts that let you open any

program you want and are shown with a
small arrows on each one
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 THE DESKTOP SCREEN OF WINDOWS 10

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 THE START MENU
When you click on the Start (sometimes
called the Microsoft) button at the bottom
left of the screen or the one on the left side
of the keyboard, you get two panels side by
side.

The left column shows a vertical list of

applications (apps) (sometimes called
programs) that are in alphabetical order, with
the recently used ones, at the top.

The right area is called the Start menu and is

a selection of live and fixed tiles that you can
customize, re-size, and reorganize.

NOTE: Microsoft originally thought that

the tile concept would be a good way to
click on programs that people use
regularly but once persons put the icon for
the program in their Task Bar at the
bottom, it is a lot easier to open the
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program from there.
Click on the Start button and look
in the list on the left side, for the
Calculator, which is under the letter
C.

Click on the Calculator, to open it.

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 Open the Calculator and try moving
it’s screen up and down

If you left-click in a blank area on the Title bar of a partial screen Window, you can move it (Drag it) around.
If you move it to the top or bottom of the screen, it will automatically expand into a full screen.

Drag it away from the top or bottom, and it becomes a partial screen again, which you can move to where
you want it. !!

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 Closing a Window

• The close button is the red box with the white “x” in it.
• To close a window, click on this button.

•Note: If you haven’t saved your document, a small window will pop up, telling you that you need to
do this.

• To re-open an icon of the program from the taskbar, left click the icon again, using the left mouse
button.
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A FUN TEST: How can you close the program page below, if you can’t see the X, to close it?

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 HOW TO FIND AND
OPEN A PROGRAM

There are 2 ways to find

and open a program in
Windows 10.

1) The first and easiest

way is to type the name of
the program such as
WordPad into the white,
Search window.
WordPad

This will bring up the

WordPad program, so you
can use it.

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 SEARCH WINDOW

Many laptop Windows 10 desktop

screens have the white “Search”
rectangle at the lower left of the
screen.

The library computers don’t have

this, so to find a Search window,
Right-click on the Start or
Windows icon and you will
get the menu at the right.

Click on the word “Search” in the

lower part of it and the white
search window will be shown.

Point to the rectangle and type in

the word WordPad and press the
“Enter” key.
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WordPad
2) The other way to find a program is to look in the Start menu. In a future class, we will review the
Word Processing program, called WordPad, which can be found in a folder called Windows
Accessories, that is way down the list of programs.

To make it easy to go to any section that starts with a certain letter, click in between any of the
letters and an alphabet will come up.

Click on the letter of the folder you want, and it will bring up the items starting with that letter:

Example: If you want to open the Windows Accessories folder, click on the W.

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When the items under the “W” letter come up, click on Windows Accessories and then on WordPad
A LIST OF APPS (PROGRAMS)
THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST TO
YOU
• Calculator

• Outlook E-mail program

• Photos – you can edit them

• Weather

• Under the Windows

Accessories folder:

• Paint

• WordPad

• Windows Ease of Access folder

(items to help persons with a
disability)
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• Word program (word processing)
 IMPORTANT PLACES

The bottom of the left side of the

Desktop page is devoted to listing
important controls or locations of files
in the computer:

Your name or photo

Documents

Pictures

Power - Choices are Sleep, Shut Down,

or Restart

(This where you want to close down

your computer, instead of pressing the
Power
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The Windows 10 Taskbar sits at the bottom of the screen giving the user access to the
Start Menu, as well as the icons of frequently used applications.

On the right-side, the Taskbar features the Notification Area which informs the user
of different things like the state of the Internet connection, or the charge of a laptop
battery.

The icons in the middle of the Taskbar are “pinned” applications, which is a way to have
a quick access to applications you use frequently.

“Pinned” applications will stay in the Taskbar until you “unpin” them.
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Note: This method is for you to use on your home
computer, because it can’t be done on Library computers.

How to Pin an Application to

the Taskbar

Step 1 − Search for the

application you want to pin in the
apps list, on the left side.

Step 2 − Right-click on the

application.

Step 2A − To pin an item to the

taskbar, select the “More” option.

Step 3 − Select the “Pin to

taskbar” option.

This will attach or “pin” the

application icon, down into your
Windows Taskbar.
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 ANOTHER ITEM FOR YOUR USE AT HOME

AN EASY WAY TO PUT AN ICON INTO THE TASKBAR

If you have an icon for a program on your Desktop, you can also put it into the taskbar, to make it easier to select.

As an example, I right-clicked on the icon for the Nero Express program, that I use to record music onto CD’s.

From the small list of items that showed in a box, I left-clicked on “Pin to taskbar” !

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 EXTRA INFO ABOUT THE WINDOWS TASKBAR

NOTE: As mentioned, if
you aren’t sure what an
icon stands for, “hover”
your mouse over it and it
will tell you what it is.

The other good part of

doing this is that it will
also tell you the Shortcut
for it.

There are several ways to use, find, or move items in the Taskbar.
1) If you want to find out what an icon stands for, point your cursor on it for a few
seconds and it will either give you a name of what it is or if it is active, a small
For a summary image of the screen will show above the icon, telling what it is.

about the Windows 2) If you want to move any program icon to the right or left, just point to it with
Desktop, go to your mouse or trackpad, hold you finger down and slide your finger or the mouse,
to the right or left.
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e.com/watch?v=G When you have put it where you want it, let your mouse button go and it will stay
there, until it is changed again.
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line
3) If you have programs open or active, there will be a green line
(2 minutes) underneath the icon.
File Explorer is the file management application used by
Windows operating systems to browse, manage, and find folders
and files.

It provides a graphical (picture) interface for the user to navigate and

access the files stored in the computer.

To access and open File Explorer, click on the yellow folder icon in the
Taskbar.

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 Unless “This PC” is already highlighted, click on it and you will see this screen that has the
4 types of folders, where your work will be saved to.

It also has the very helpful ribbon at the top, with the 2 “Computer” and “View” tabs at the top

THE 4 TYPES OF
FOLDERS

1. DOCUMENTS
(FOR TEXT)

2. PICTURES

3. MUSIC

4. VIDEOS

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 My Documents

MY DOCUMENTS
If you don’t “tell” the computer to do otherwise, it “looks” at the extension of the
item and saves it to:

• Text documents to the Documents folder

• Music files to the Music folder

• Pictures to the Pictures folder

• Videos to the Video folder

 FLASH DRIVES IMPORTANT: If you find a flash
A flash drive is a small, removable hard drive that plugs into drive in a public area, don’t use it !
a USB port on your computer.

You can purchase a flash drive for less than $20 at just about
any retail store with an electronics department, and even at
some grocery stores and pharmacies.

Flash drives are a convenient way to bring your files with

you and open them on a different computer.

You could also use a flash drive to back up (save) important

documents and other files.

They come in the same outer size but can be purchased with
memory ranging from 64 Megabytes (64 million bytes) to 256
Gigabytes (256 Billion bytes) and more.

The 256 Gigabyte flash drive in my hand will hold a stack

of typed pages that are 67,072 feet high (12.7 miles It can also hold 3,760 photos,
high), as compared to Mt. Everest, which is 5.5 miles high
9/5/2023 83,333 songs, or 1,344 videos
30 !!
 The NOTIFICATION AREA, is on the right-side of the Windows Taskbar. To see
the items in it, click on the upward pointing “v” and it will bring up the small
window.

It shows the icon of a flash drive, if it is in the slot for it in your computer, as well as any
notifications or alerts, about your computer.

Below it, on the right side of the taskbar, you can see your Wi-fi Internet connection,
or the battery level of a laptop.

If you play music

on your computer,
you can control
the volume by
clicking on the
“speaker” icon,
and then move
the dot on the
horizontal line, to
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 Checking the Time and Date
• The time on your computer
clock is very accurate as it is
synchronized with a time
server computer.

• You can always look at the

bottom right corner, to see
the exact time and date.

• If you point (hover) the

cursor over the time or date,
it will tell you what day of
the week it is.

• If you click on it, the time,

day, and a month calendar
will show.
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 HOW TO MOVE THE SIDES AND CORNERS OF A WINDOW

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SHOWING THE DESKTOP - If you have one or more windows open at the same time, it can be
difficult to see the desktop, in case you want to click on something there.

When this happens, you can click the thin stripe at the bottom-right corner of the taskbar, to
minimize all open windows. Just click it again to restore the minimized windows.

You can also use a shortcut by holding down the “Windows” key, and the “d” key.

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THE MICROSOFT EDGE INTERNET BROWSER

Edge Replaces Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer is no longer the default browser

In its place is a modern browser named Edge. It should be more standards-compliant and
perform better.

If you’ve been using Internet Explorer, this is the browser you’ll be using instead. If you’re
using Chrome or Firefox, you can install that and continue browsing normally.

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1) The image below is the start screen for Microsoft Edge, Internet Browser. If you know the web
address of a company or organization you want to connect to, type it in the top thinner white
area.

You can also just put in the name of the company or organization (Amazon, Etsy, Ebay, etc.) and it
will usually take you there.

2) If you want to search for information about a certain subject or go to a website, type the name of what
you are looking for in the larger white window shown below.
Note: When you start typing
in either window, the “Search”
text will disappear.

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As shown below, using the Google browser page as an example, you will see the same 2 types of
white areas, to enter information into, on here, Firefox, or any of the other Internet Browsers, that you
use.

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DELETE: - If you press the delete key to delete a document or a folder, it will be put into the
“Recycle Bin” and you can get it back whenever you want, by going into the Recycle Bin, look for
your file and then click on “Restore”.

SHIFT-DELETE:

If you are sure that you want to permanently delete it, hold the Shift key down while
you press the delete button and then it will be removed.
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