Operation of computer system

A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a

sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed
readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem.

Conventionally a computer consists of some form of memory for data storage, at least one element
that carries out arithmetic and logic operations, and a sequencing and control element that can
change the order of operations based on the information that is stored. Peripheral devices allow
information to be entered from external source, and allow the results of operations to be sent out.

What are Input / devices?

Input devices are components that you use to feed information to the computer system.
Input devices are hardware items such as; Keyboard, Mouse, Scanner, Microphone, Trackballs,
Joysticks, Digitizer, etc.

Output devices are components that retrieve information from the computer. Output
devices are hardware items such as; Monitors Printers, Speakers, Terminals, Facsimile, etc.

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No matter how powerful the components inside your computer are, you need a way to interact with
them. This interaction is called input/output (I/O). The most common types of I/O in PCs are:

 Monitor - The monitor is the primary device for displaying information from the computer.
 Keyboard - The keyboard is the primary device for entering information into the computer.
 Mouse - The mouse is the primary device for navigating and interacting with the computer.
 Removable storage - Removable storage devices allow you to add new information to your
computer very easily, as well as save information that you want to carry to a different
location. There are several types of removable storage:

o CD-ROM - CD-ROM (compact disc, read-only memory) is a popular form of

distribution of commercial software. Many systems now offer CD-R (recordable)
and CD-RW (rewritable), which can also record. CD-RW discs can be erased and
rewritten many times.

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 o Flash memory - Based on a type of ROM called electrically erasable programmable
read-only memory (EEPROM), Flash memory provides fast, permanent storage.
CompactFlash, SmartMedia and PCMCIA cards are all types of Flash memory.
o DVD-ROM - DVD-ROM (digital versatile disc, read-only memory) is similar to CD-
ROM but is capable of holding much more information.

Computer peripherals
 Computer peripheral is external devices which are attached to the external part of the
computer or
 Any device connected internally or externally to a computer and used in the transfer of
data.
 Entering and displaying information is carried out on a wide variety of accessory devices
called peripherals, also known as input/output (I/O) devices
 Any input, output or storage device connected externally or internally to the computer's
CPU, such as a monitor, keyboard, printer, disk, tape, graphics tablet, scanner, joy stick,
paddle or mouse.

Device driver
Device driver is a small program that tells the computer how to communicate with input/output
(peripheral) devices. Every peripheral device needs device driver to communicate with the
computer system.

Common hardware peripherals

The computer hardware parts are basically categorized in to four:

 Input
 Output
 Storage and
 Processor

And generally those parts may be

 Internal hardware (power supply, RAM, internal speaker, COMSetc) and

 External hardware (like keyboard, mouse, external speaker etc)

I. Keyboard
The computer key board is used to input, or enter, letters, numbers, symbols, punctuations and
commands into the computer. The standard keyboard layout is sometimes called QWERTY layout
and it is the most common layout.

Types of Keyboard

101-Key Enhanced Keyboards

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 102-Key Enhanced Keyboards

104-Key Windows Keyboard (full size)

Keyboard connectors

1. PS/2 (is 6-pin mini-Din)

PS/2 keyboard port PS/2 keyboard connector

2. AT/XT connector (5 pin Din)

AT port AT connector

3. USB connector

USB connector

USB port

II. Mouse
A mouse is a hardware input device that used and control the cursor movement

Tasks done by mouse are:

selecting, moving, drag and dropping, clicking, double clicking

Types of mouse

1. Opt mechanical mouse

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 The optical-mechanical or Opt mechanical mouse consists of a ball that rolls one of two wheels
inside the mouse.

2. Optical mouse

Computer mouse that utilizes light-emitting diodes (LED) or laser as a method of tracking
movement.

Mouse connectors

1. Ps/2 portthe same as keyboard ps/2 port with green color 1. 2. 2.

. 3. 4.
2. USB port
3. Ps/2 connector
4. USB connector

III Scanner
Is a device that can scan or digitize images on paper and convert them to data that the
computer can use. They can then be stored in a file, displayed on the screen, added to
documents, or manipulated.

1. Fire wire
FireWire, also known as IEEE 1394, moves data at incredibly high speeds, making it the
perfect connection for highly specialized applications, such as streaming video from a digital
video camera onto a hard drive. Like USB, FireWire devices are hot-swappable.

A rapid transfer method introduced in 1996

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 2. USB
Universal serial bus (USB) provides the most common general-purpose connection for PCs. You’ll
find USB versions of many different devices, such as mice, keyboards, scanners, cameras, and
printers.

USB has a number of features that make it particularly popular on PCs. First, USB devices are hot-
swappable, which means you can insert or remove them without restarting your PC. Al-Most every
other type of connector requires you to turn the system off, insert or remove the connector, and
then turn the system back on. Hot-swapping completely eliminates this process.Second, many USB
devices get their electrical power through the USB connection, so they don’t need batteries or a
plug for an electrical outlet. You can even recharge some devices, such as cellular telephones, by
plugging them into a USB port.

Types of USB

Type B Type Mini B

Type A

IV Monitor

The monitor, which connects to the video card, is the computer’s primary output device. It is
sometimes referred to as a display, Screen, Visual display Terminal or video.

Like television, the size of the monitor is measured diagonally across the screen. The most
popular size for monitors are 14”, 15”, 17’’, and 21”

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 Monitors are of two types,

 cathode ray tube (CRT) and

 Liquid crystal display (LCD).

Pixels and the Monitor Resolution

The images on the monitor are made up of many dots called picture elements or pixels. The
number of pixels that can be displayed on the screen at one time is called the resolution of the
screen. The resolution consists of two numbers, the number of pixels going from left to right
and the number of pixels going from top to bottom. The aspect ratio of most monitors is 4:3.
This means that for every four pixels going across the screen, there are three pixels going down.
The horizontal number of pixels divided by the vertical number of pixels is 1.33; therefore, if
there are 480 pixels vertically, the number of pixels going across would be 480* 1.33= 640
pixels.

Another term relating to the resolution of the monitor is the monitor’s dot pitch. Dot pitch is
the distance between the pixels. Typically values range from .25mm to .41 mm

Questions

1. If a VGA monitor has a resolution of 640 * 480, how many pixels does it have?
2. Is a monitor with a higher resolution better than a monitor with a lower resolution?
Answers

1. 640*480 = 307,200
2. Yes
Monitor connector

It is called VGA connector

V Printers
Printer is an output device which used to print document from the computer. There are two
major categories of printers:

 Impact printers and

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  Non-impact printers.
Impact printers transfer ink onto the paper by pressing or striking against a ribbon.

Examples of impact printers are dot matrix and daisy-wheel printers.

Non-impact printers print by means other than striking a ribbon against a paper.

Examples of non-impact printers include ink printers, laser printers and thermal printers.

Dot-Matrix printers
It is an impact printer that creates character and images by striking tiny pins against an ink
ribbon. These printers are inexpensive and relatively fast but they are noisy and they do not
produce high quality output.

Ink Jet printers

These printers spray tiny streams of ink from holes in the print mechanism onto the paper. The
spray makes up a dot pattern that represents the character or image to be printed. Ink-jet
printers are excellent to print graphs, charts, drawings and diagram s.

Laser printers
Laser printers are the best and the most expensive printer. They are fast in printing and have
high quality print output. Laser printers work similarly to a copying machine by converting
data from the computer into a beam of light is focused on a photoconductor drum, forming the
images to be printed. The photoconductor attracts particles of toner that are fuse by heat and
pressure onto paper to produce an image.

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Hp LaserJet 2300

Printer ports
 Parallel port

Parallel port

Parallel connector

 USB
 fire Wire
Some printers can also be connected directly to the network and accessed through a network
card.

Note: Each printer has does not have the same characteristics t(different model )

Expansion slots and cards

Expansion slots are located on the motherboard, and openings on the back of the

Computer allows the ports on the cards that go in the slots to be accessed. The most common slot
cards are listed below:

ISA

Short for Industry Standard Architecture, ISA was introduced by IBM and was originally an 8-
bit computer bus that was later expanded to a 16-bit bus in 1984. When this bus was originally

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 released it was a proprietary bus, which allowed only IBM to create peripherals and the actual
interface. However, in the early 1980’s other manufacturers were creating the bus.

Many computers today no longer included the ISA slots and instead are using
morePCI and AGP slots. Below is a graphic of what an ISA expansion card may look like as
well as the slot it connects into on the motherboard.

PCI

Short for Peripheral Component Interconnect, PCI was introduced by Intel in1992, revised
in 1993 to version 2.0, and later revised in 1995 to PCI 2.1 and is as an expansion to the ISA bus.
Below is a graphic illustration of the PCI slot on motherboard.

The PCI bus is a 32-bit computer bus that is also available as a 64-bit bus and is the most
commonly found and used computer bus in computers today.

AGP

Short for Accelerated Graphics Port, AGP is an advanced port designed for Video cards and 3D
accelerators. Below is an illustration of what the AGP slot may look like on your motherboard.

The AGP channel is 32-bits wide and runs at 66 MHz

PCI Express

PCI Express is designed to replace PCI and AGP and is available in several different formats: x1,
x2, x4, x8, x12, x16 and x32. Below are some graphic illustrations of what the PCI Express would

look like on the motherboard.

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LO3: Connecting hardware peripherals

Expansion Cards
Expansion cards Are circuit boards which are inserted on expansion slots on the motherboard. It is
used to make the PC more expandable.

Common Expansion cards installation

1. The video card

Is the component that takes the visual output of the computer and sends it to the monitor. It tells
the monitor which pixels to light up, what color the pixels should be and what intensity they should
have. Video cards contain video memory, memory found on video cards used to hold information to
be displayed on the monitor.

2. Sound card
Sound card allow the computer to record sound from a microphone, manipulate sound files, and
output sound through a set of speakers. Sound card amplifies and digitizes the signals: that is, it
converts the signals into data that the computer can understand

3. Sound card ports

Almost all sound cards use standard color codes for input/output connector jacks.
In many cards, the microphone connector will be pink, the line out or headphone will be lime green,
and the stereo line in will be light blue. Additional jacks may be present on newer soundcards for
rear and mid surround speakers.

There is a wildly accepted color standard for computer sound card input and output jacks, but
connector colors may vary between different brands. If you think you have a nonstandard card,
consult your soundcard’s manual or the manufacturer’s web site before making any connections.

4. Modems
A modem (modulator-demodulator) is a device that enables a computer to transmit data over
telephone lines. Since computer information is stored and processed digitally and telephone lines
transmit data using analog waves, the modem converts digital signals to analog signals (modulates)
and analog signals to digital signals (demodulates).

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Modem can be either internal or external. The internal modem is an expansion card that is plugged
into an expansion slot: the external modem can be attached to the computer using a serial port. In
either case, the modem has at least one RJ-11 connector for the twisted-pair cable that connects the
modem and the wall telephone jack. Some include a second RJ-11 jack to connect a phone

Common PC ports

1. Parallel port(a parallel port consists of multiple wires over which bits are transferred in
parallel, i.e., simultaneously)

 2 rows, 25-pin female

 Also known as LPT1, LPT2 or LPT3

 Primarily used to connect Printers

2. Serial port(A serial port is an interface on a computer system with which information is
transferred in or out one bit at a time)

• Two forms
– 2 row 25-pin male
– 2 row 9 pin male
• Also known as COM1, COM2, COM3 OR COM4
• Primarily used to connect external modems, and mice

3. VGA (Video Graphics Array) port

• 3 row 15 pin female

• Used to connect Monitors

4. Game port

• 2-row 15-pin female

• To connect joysticks
• If it is on sound card it is probably MIDI port

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Note: MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) port is used to
connect musical instruments like guitar, piano and drum with the
computer system

5. USB (universal serial bus)

• Used to connect up to 127 external PC peripherals

• Most devices can use it. Like keyboard, mouse, printer, scanner etc

6. PS/2 mouse and Keyboard port

• 6 pin mini DIN (DeutschesInstitutfürNormung)

• The green is for mouse and the purple for keyboard

7. BNC (Bayonet Neill Concelman) port

• Also called coaxial cable port

• Used to connect to a network using a coaxial cable

8. RJ-45 port

 Also called 10BaseT network port

 Used to connect to a network using a UTP cable

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 9. RJ-11

 RJ-11 ports found in modem and used to connect telephone line

Operating System- Windows

Ms-Windows operating system

Nowadays there is great variety of operating systems, such as Windows 98, Windows NT,
Linux, etc. We are going to work with WindowsXP operating system. The operating system
is indispensable for the computer; without it the computer could not work. The main
function of any operating system is being an intermediary between us and the physical
parts of the computer (screen, keyboard, hard disk, printer,...), making it easier to handle.
For example, there is no need for us to know exactly in what part of the hard disk we have
saved a certain document we created, the operating systems takes care of it Microsoft
Windows XP with general layout of the Desktop including Start Button, Quick Launch
area, Active Programs and System Tray. icons.

Once Windows XP has initialized, the following screen will appear. It is possible that it is
not the same as the one on your computer because Windows allows us to customize the
background.

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On the desktop we have icons that allow us to open the corresponding program.

For example, by clicking on the icon Internet Explorer will open up.

The operating system

Next we explain what an operating system is and what it is for.

Nowadays there is great variety of operating systems, such as Windows 98, Windows NT,
Linux, etc.

We are going to work with WindowsXP Home Edition operating system.

The operating system is indispensable for the computer; without it the computer could
not work.

The main function of any operating system is being an intermediary between us and the
physical parts of the computer (screen, keyboard, hard disk, printer,...), making it easier
to handle.

For example, there is no need for us to know exactly in what part of the hard disk we

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have saved a certain document we created, the operating systems takes care of it.

The Windows

All the windows have the same structure; don't worry if you are not familiarized with it
because we will explain it next

The window below is the one that opens when you click on My Computer.

The structure of this window is very similar to the others.

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.

All the windows are formed by:

The title bar contains the name of the program you are working with (Notepad) and in
some cases the name of the opened document (aulaclic) also appears. In the top right
corner we can find the minimize, maximize/restore, and close buttons.

The minimize button shrinks the window it turns it into a button located in the
WindowsXP task bar.

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The maximize amplifies the size of the window to the whole screen.

The restore button restores the window to its original state.

The close button closes the window. If we' ve modified the document, we are asked if
we want to save the changes before closing.

The menu bar has the program functions organized in

menus. For example, when we click on File, the different
operations that can be performed with files are displayed. All
the operations that the program allows us to do are located
within the different menus of this bar.

To open a menu with the keyboard, you need to press the Alt
key plus the underlined letter of the menu you want to open.
For example Alt+F opens the menu File. In no letter is
underlined, press Alt key.

If on a menu an option appears with a small arrow pointing to

the right it means that that option contains other options. If
you want to open the menu related to that option, you only
need to maintain the option highlighted for a few seconds and
the menu will appear.

If on a menu you find an option that contains three dots, (for

example Sharing and Security...) it means that the option needs
more information to be executed; normally a dialog box will
open in which you can place that information.

If you find an option that is grey or lighter colored it means

that it is not possible to select it at that moment. On this
example Copy is lighter colored than Paste.

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 The tool bar contains icons to immediatelly execute some of the most often used
commands. These commands can also be executed from the menu bar.

The scroll bars allow us to move through out the page in a quick and simple manner.
Simply drag the bar with the mouse or click on the arrows. There are bars to move along
the width of the page and bars to move along the height of the page. The little square
with dots on the right is used to change the size of the window. Simply click and drag.

The status bar is used to give the user certain information.This information varies
depending on the window that is opened at the time.

In this case it tells us that we have 3.75 GB free space on the disk, and that the total size
of the disk is 19.5 GB.

Creating User Account / Password

Creating User Account

Unlike older versions of Windows, Windows XP Professional doesn't allow you to skip
logging in to the computer. You will need a Windows XP user account (a user name and
password).

A Windows account will only work on the computer it is created on. If you want to use a
different computer, you will have to set up a Windows account on that computer.

There are two types of Windows XP user accounts. Computer Administrators can change
all computer settings (for example, installing software and creating new user accounts).
Limited users can only modify the passwords for their own user accounts.

If you have a Windows XP computer in your office and you are the computer's primary

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user: UIS will create the Windows account on your computer before you get it. You will
only need to create accounts if other people in your office want to use your computer.

If you want to use another person's Windows XP computer: Someone with a Computer
Administrator account on the computer will have to create an account for you.

Setting Up a Windows XP User Account

1. Click the Start button, then click Control Panel.

2. Click User Accounts.

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3. Click Create a New Account.

4. To name your user account, type in your Novell user name. Click the Next button.

5. There are two types of Windows XP user accounts:

 Computer administrators can change all computer settings (for example,
installing software and creating new user accounts).
 Limited users can only modify the passwords for their own user accounts.

To pick an account type, click either Computer Administrator or Limited. Click

the Create Account button.

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 6. You will be sent back to the User Accounts window where your new account will
appear.

To create a user password

Passwords add a level of security to your computer. When sharing a computer with others,
your customized settings, computer programs, and system resources are more secure when
you assign a password to your logon name or user account name.

The steps to perform this task differ depending on whether your computer is a member of
a network domain or is part of a workgroup (or is a stand-alone computer).

My computer is on a domain

You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in

order to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network
policy settings may also prevent you from completing this procedure.

1Open User Accounts in Control Panel.

.
2On the Users tab, click the name of the user for whom you want to create a password,
.and then click Reset Password.
3In New password and Confirm new password, type the password, and then click OK.
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 .

Note

•You can create passwords only for local computer accounts, such as guest, administrator,
or accounts you create for your computer.

My computer is not on a domain

The steps to perform this task differ depending on the type of user account you have.

If you have a computer administrator account on the computer

1Open User Accounts in Control Panel.

.
2Click your account name.
.
3Click Create a password.
.
4In Type a new password and Type the new password again to confirm, type the password
.for your account.

You can also enter descriptive or meaningful text in Type a word or phrase to use as a
password hint to help you remember your password.
5Click Create Password.
.

If you have a limited account on the computer

1Open User Accounts in Control Panel.

.
2Click Create a password.
.
3In Type a new password and Type the new password again to confirm, type your
.password.

You can also enter descriptive or meaningful text in Type a word or phrase to use as a
password hint to help you remember your password.
4Click Create Password.
.

Note

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 •When you create a password hint, anyone who uses the computer will be able to see the
hint on the Welcome screen.
•A user with a computer administrator account can create and change passwords for all
users on the computer. Users with limited accounts can only create and change their own
passwords, as well as create their own password hints.
•If a user with a computer administrator account changes the password for another user,
that user will lose all EFS-encrypted files, personal certificates, and stored passwords for
Web sites or network resources.

Windows Help

Windows Help

The help that Windows XP incorporates is designed to solve some of the questions regarding
the use of a Windows XP component or tool.

Windows help is composed of a series of pages that are similar in navigation as the pages on
a web site. It also incorporates the typical backward and forward arrows that are a
characteristic of the web navigators. You also have tools to search information about a
particular theme from key words and key phrases.

Remember that the first help that Windows offers is in the form of small windows with a
yellow background (tooltips) that appear by placing the pointer for a few seconds over the
majority of the icons on Windows.

For tooltip to appear we need to place the cursor on top of an icon and leave it there for a
few seconds without moving. This help is usefull when we do not remember what an icon is
for; the tooltip gives us a good hint.

The main way to obtain help is facilitated by the help center and technical support. As we
will show you, it is important to mention that the screen will vary depending on where you
look for help.

The first window that we will now see is the one that appears when help is asked for through
the start menu, but there are many places where you can get help by clicking Help. For
example form the control panel, calculator, WordPad, etc.

In some cases, for example on the Control Panel, the Help center and technical support will

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open offering you help related to where you opened it. Sometimes a window specific to the
area where you asked for help will open offering you the necessary guidance.

Ways to look for help

To access help click Help and technical support from the Start menu.

Windows help incorporates various types of searches depending on your needs.

On the Main Page, as you can see on this image, you have the information organized in
various points that include the areas that most frequently require help.

You can click on each point to obtain help on the subject.

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 Search. If what you are searching for is not on this screen you can use the Search box that
appears on the top part. Type the word that best describes the help you are looking for and
click on the green arrow.

Index. Another way to search for help is to consult the help index. This index is orgranized
alphabetically.

To consult the index click on the icon on the help bar. A screen will open so that

26 | P a g e
you can write the word you are looking for. The index will place itself on that word and you
will be able to choose the subjects that you need.

Technical support.

If you have not been able to solve your problem you can ask other people for help; Windows
provides you with three types of technical support.

1) Ask a friend to help.

Through instant messenger you can get in touch with someone you know and ask for their
help to solve your particualr problem.

2) Get help from Microsoft.

You can ask for help from the technical support team at Microsoft under some contractual
stipulations.

3) Go to a Windows Web site forum.

In these forums the participants ask and answer questions. One can learn a lot by visiting
these forums. No one, however, can guarantee a satisfactory answer in a determined amount
of

 Desktop Environment

This guide will also assist you to attain the learning outcome stated in the cover page.
Specifically, upon completion of this Learning Guide, you will be able to –

 Creating and customizing desktop icons

 Selecting, opening and closing desktop icons to access applications programs.
 Manipulating application windows and desktop returned to original conditions

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 Desktop Environment

The Bars and Start Button

Task Bar. The task bar is what appears on the bottom of the screen. On the bottom left
corner there is the Start button. Next we have the area for shortcuts, then the programs
running, and lastly the notification area.

The Start Button is the button through which we can access the entire breadth of options
that Windows XP offers us. If we browse it, a menu similar to the one below will be
displayed.

Windows Help

The help that Windows XP incorporates is designed to solve some of the questions
regarding the use of a Windows XP component or tool.

Windows help is composed of a series of pages that are similar in navigation as the pages
on a web site. It also incorporates the typical backward and forward arrows that are a
characteristic of the web navigators. You also have tools to search information about a
particular theme from key words and key phrases.

Remember that the first help that Windows offers is in the form of small windows with
a yellow background (tooltips) that appear by placing the pointer for a few seconds over
the majority of the icons on Windows.

For tooltip to appear we need to place the cursor on top of an icon and leave it there for a
few seconds without moving. This help is usefull when we do not remember what an icon
is for; the tooltip gives us a good hint.

The main way to obtain help is facilitated by the help center and technical support. As
we will show you, it is important to mention that the screen will vary depending on where

28 | P a g e
you look for help.

The first window that we will now see is the one that appears when help is asked for
through the start menu, but there are many places where you can get help by clicking
Help. For example form the control panel, calculator, WordPad, etc.

In some cases, for example on the Control Panel, the Help center and technical support
will open offering you help related to where you opened it. Sometimes a window specific
to the area where you asked for help will open offering you the necessary guidance.

Ways to look for help

To access help click Help and technical support from the Start menu.

Windows help incorporates various types of searches depending on your needs.

On the Main Page, as you can see on this image, you have the information organized in
various points that include the areas that most frequently require help.

You can click on each point to obtain help on the subject.

29 | P a g e
 Search. If what you are searching for is not on this screen you can use the Search box
that appears on the top part. Type the word that best describes the help you are looking
for and click on the green arrow.

Index. Another way to search for help is to consult the help index. This index is
orgranized alphabetically.

30 | P a g e
To consult the index click on the icon on the help bar. A screen will open so that
you can write the word you are looking for. The index will place itself on that word and
you will be able to choose the subjects that you need.

Technical support.

If you have not been able to solve your problem you can ask other people for help;
Windows provides you with three types of technical support.

1) Ask a friend to help.

Through instant messenger you can get in touch with someone you know and ask for
their help to solve your particualr problem.

2) Get help from Microsoft.

You can ask for help from the technical support team at Microsoft under some
contractual stipulations.

3) Go to a Windows
Web site forum.

In these forums the

participants ask and
answer questions. One
can learn a lot by
visiting these forums.
No one, however, can
guarantee a
satisfactory answer in
a determined amount
of time.

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 On the top we can find the name of
the current user. In this case it is
aulaClic.

On the middle part there are two

areas:

The left area contains three

separate areas divided by a thin
line.

On the top third we can see

Internet Explorer and Outlook
Express. They are located here
because these are programs
included with WindowsXP. On the
next third we find all the programs
that we have been using lately. In
this example, MSN, Windows
Media Player. This way we have
quicker access to the programs
that we most frequently use.

To gain access to the rest of the

programs we have the green
triangle All programs. By clicking here, we can view all of the programs that are installed
on our computer.

On the right hand area there are icons to access the different parts of WindowsXP that are
most often used: My documents, My Recent Documents, My Pictures, My Music and My
Computer.

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With the Control Panel icon we can configure and customize the appearance of our
computer.

If we have any questions we can use the Help and Support that Windows offers us.

With the Search icon we can find files whose location we are not sure of.

The option Run allows us to directly execute certain commands, for example to execute a
specific program, etc...

At the bottom we have the options Log Off and Turn Off Computer. The first option
allows us to close the current session, and the second option allows us to restart or turn off
our computer.
The shortcuts area.

Contains icons that are used to access a particular program quickly. To place an icon here,
simply drag it from the desktop. These icons are shortcuts that we can create, to execute,
simply click on the icon.

The icon represents the desktop. It is used to minimize the windows that are opened to
access the desktop easier.

The icon represents Internet Explorer. It is used to quickly access Internet.

The icon represents Windows Explorer. It used to quickly access files and folders.

Open programs. In this area we can see the buttons of the programs
that are currently open and two small arrows pointing up and down. If the button is
slightly darker it means that it is the button of the program that we are working with. By
clicking on each button we find ourselves in the respective program.
When there are several programs
opened at the same time they are
grouped under a button. For example, if
we have several windows of Internet
Explorer opened or several programs
with files. By clicking, a window will
choose to open one of them. In this case we choose between the three Internet pages shown.

Further to the right, as in the example above, two black arrows help us to navigate the

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buttons in the event that we are working with many windows and they do not all fit on the
task bar.

The notification area.

This area contains icons that represent the programs that start up automatically when the
computer is turned on as well as other information. In this case about automatic updates
and about the antivirus program.

If a round button appears, this allows us to expand or shrink the area that contains the
icons of these programs. The time also appears here. If you wish to open them simply
double-click on the icon.

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The icons and shortcuts are small images situated on the desktop of Windows
XP.

Just like buttons, icons have the objective of immediately executing a given program.

To start the related application simply double-click with the left mouse button.

How to organize the desktop icons

1) Click on the desktop with the right button

of the mouse.

2) Select on the menu Arrange Icons By.

3) As the menu is displayed you can chose to

organize them by Name, Type , Size, or
Modified (date).

4) You can also activate the option Auto

Arrange, which is in charge of arranging the icons one below the other.

If you wish to customize the way the icons are organized you can simply drag them with
the mouse to where you want them. To do this, the option Auto arrange must be
deactivated.

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How to create a Shortcut

1) Click on the desktop with the right button of

the mouse.

2) Select the option Shortcut on the New menu.

A dialog box will appear so that we can indicate
the program for which we want the shortcut
created.

3) Click on Browse button, to find the program.

4) Select the desired unit and look for the file or

folder you want.

5) After selecting the file or folder click on Ok.

6) Click Next.

7) Type a name for the Shortcut.

8) Click Finish.

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Once we have the shortcut on the desktop we can leave it there or drag it to the quick
access bar on the task bar.

We can also rapidly create a shortcut to the type of document that the window shows us,
for example Bitmap image, Wordpad Document, text document, etc... In order to do this,
simply click on the corresponding option, and in this way a shortcut will be created with
the appropriate icon, for example Wordpad document

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