ECDL Module 2:

Using the Computer and Managing Files

Springer-Verlag London Ltd.

 *** ®
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prepare for a European Computer Driving Licence Examination. Neither the European
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References to the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) include the

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 •••••••••

ECDL Module 2:
Using_the Comltuter
and Managing Files
ECDL - the European PC standard

BCS
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

The Publisher and the BCS would like to publicly acknowledge the vital support of the ECDL
Foundation in validating and approving this book for the purpose of studying for the
European-wide ECDL qualification .

© Copyright 2000 The Springer-Verlag London

Originally published by Springer London in 2000
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ISBN 978-1-85233-443-7

British Library Cataloguing in Publicat ion Data

Penfold , David
ECDL module 2: using the computer and managing files : ECDL - the European PC
standard. - (European computer driving licence)
1. Microcomputers
1. Title
004.1'6
ISBN 978-1-85233-443-7 ISBN 978-1-4471-0491-9 (eBook)
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 •••••••••
Preface

Preface
This book is intended to help you successfully complete the test for
Module 2 of the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL). However
before we start working through the actual content of the guide you
may find it useful to know a little bit more about the ECDL in general
and where this particular Module fits into the overall framework.

What Is The ECDL?

The European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) is a European-wide
qualification that enables people to demonstrate their competence in
computer skills. It certifies the candidate's knowledge and competence
in personal computer usage at a basic level and is based upon a single
agreed syllabus.

This syllabus covers a range of specific knowledge areas and skill sets,
which are broken down into seven modules. Each of the modules
must be passed before the ECDL certificate can be awarded, though
they may be taken in any order but must be completed within a three
year period.

Testing of candidates is at audited testing centres, and successful

completion of the test will demonstrate the holder's basic knowledge
and competence in using a personal computer and common computer
applications.

The implementation of the ECDL in the UK is being managed by the

British Computer Society. It is growing at a tremendous rate and is set
to become the most widely recognised qualification in the field of
work-related computer use.

The ECDL Modules

The seven modules which make up the ECDL certificate are described
briefly below:

Module 1: Basic Concepts of Information Technology covers the

physical make-up of a personal computer and some of the basic
concepts of Information Technology such as data storage and memory,
and the uses of information networks within computing. It also looks
at the application of computer software in society and the use of IT
systems in everyday situations. Some basic security and legal issues are
also addressed.

3
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files covers the

basic functions of a personal computer and its operating system. In
particular it looks at operating effectively within the desktop
environment, managing and organising files and directories, and
working with desktop icons.
Module 3: Word Processing covers the use of a word processing
application on a personal computer. It looks at the basic operations
associated with creating, formatting and finishing a word processing
document ready for distribution. It also addresses some of the more
advanced features such as creating standard tables, using pictures and
images within a document, importing objects and using mail merge
tools.
Module 4: Spreadsheets covers the basic concepts of spreadsheets
and the ability to use a spreadsheet application on a personal
computer. Included are the basic operations for developing, formatting
and using a spreadsheet, together with the use of basic formulas and
functions to carry out standard mathematical and logical operations.
Importing objects and creating graphs and charts are also covered.
Module 5: Database covers the basic concepts of databases and the
ability to use a database on a personal computer. It addresses the
design and planning of a simple database, and the retrieval of
information from a database through the use of query, select and sort
tools.
Module 6: Presentation covers the use of presentation tools on a
personal computer, in particular creating, formatting and preparing
presentations. The requirement to create a variety of presentations for
different audiences and situations is also addressed.
Module 7: Information and Communication is divided into two
main sections, the first of which covers basic Web search tasks using a
Web browser and search engine tools. The second section addresses
the use of electronic mail software to send and receive messages, to
attach documents, · and to organise and manage message folders and
directories.

This guide focuses upon Module 2.

How To Use This Guide

The purpose of this guide is to take you through all of the knowledge
areas and skill sets specified in the syllabus for Module 2. The use of
clear, non technical explanations and self paced exercises will provide
you with an understanding of the key elements of the syllabus and
give you a solid foundation for moving on to take the ECDL test
relating to this Module. All exercises contained within this guide are

.. .
based upon the Windows 98 operating system and Office 97 software .

4
.•• •.
• •
• BCDL ·
 •••••••••
Preface

Each chapter has a well defined set of objectives that relate directly to
the syllabus for the ECDL Module 2. Because the guide is stmctured in
a logical sequence you are advised to work through the chapters one
at a time from the beginning. Throughout each chapter there are
various review questions so that you can determine whether you have
understood the principles involved correctly prior to moving on to the
next step.

Conventions Used In This Guide

Throughout this guide you will come across notes alongside a number
of icons. They are all designed to provide you with specific
information related to the section of the book you are currently
working through. The icons and the particular types of information
they relate to are as follows:

I Ali_a ••' .........................................., ........

c.uIIa .. A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cllded
. . . . . pertIcuIar action, , ................ -..c., .......
•• n .. -w ...... to avoid ..., pili.'•

............ A ............ I h
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , .......... c ...
...... canc.pI.

................
.... eua. .... cuID ........... tor .............. c der
~

As you are working through the various exercises contained within this
guide, you will be asked to carry out a variety of actions:

• Where we refer to commands or items that you are required to

select from the PC screen, then we indicate these in bold, for
example: Click on the Yes button .
• Where you are asked to key text in to the PC, then we indicate this
in italics, for example: Type in the words 'Saving my work'.

You should now be in a position to use this guide, so lets get started.
Good luck!

5
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

Contents
1. Introduction . . .. . . . ... .. .. .. . .... ... . . . .. .. ... 8
1.1. Introduction . .... .. ... .. ... ... ... .. . .. . ... . 9
1.2. A Little Bit of History . .. .. . ... . . . . ... ... . . . . . 9
1.3. Filing and File Structures .. . .... . . . .... .. ..... 10
1.4. Windows and Icons ... . ..... . .. .. ..... . ... .. 12
1.5. Outline of the Guide . . . . .. .. . .. .... .. .. . . . . . 12

2. First Steps with the Computer .. . ... .. . ... ... .. 15

2.1. Introduction ... ... . .. . . . .. . . ....... .. .. .. . . 16
2.2. How To Start the Computer, How To Restart It
and How To Shut It Down Properly . . .. . .. ... . . . .16
2.3. The Windows 98 User Interface Options . . . . .... .19
2.4. The Desktop .. . .. ..... . ... . ....... . ...... .23
2.5. How to Look at Basic System Information . . .. . .. .26
2.6. How to Look at Basic Desktop Information . ... .. .28
2.7. Finding Information about your Disks . . . .. . . .... .35
2.8. Formatting a Diskette (Floppy Disk) . .. . .. .. . . ... 37
2.9. How To Use Help Functions . . .. .... . . . ... . . . .. 39
2.10. In Case of Difficulty .. . . .... . ..... ... .. . ... . .41

3. Working with Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 .. . . ... .

3.1. What are Icons? . . .. .. ... ... . . . .. . .. ... ... .45
3.2. Selecting and Moving Icons .. .. . . .. . . . . .... . .45
3.3. Changing the Size of Icons and the
Spacing Between Them . ................ . .. .46
3.4. Changing Icons . .. .... . . . . . .... . .. . . . .. ... .48
3.5. Basic Types of Icon . ..... . ......... . . . .. ... .49
3.6. Creating a Desktop Shortcut Icon ... . .......... 50

4. Working with Windows . .. ... . ... .. .... .. ... . . .56

4.1. Introduction .. ... . . . .... . . . . . .. .. .. . . ...... 57
4.2. What is a Window? . .. . . . .... . ... ... .. .. . . .. 57
4.3. The Parts of a Desktop Window . .. .. .. .... . . ... 57
4.4. Moving and Resizing Windows .. . .. .. .. . . . . ... 63
4.5. App lications Windows ... .. ... .. .. ... . .. . . . . .64
4.6. Moving Between Windows and
Between Applications . ... ...... .. .. . ..... . .. 67

5. File and Directory Structures .... . .. .. . . . . . . ... 72

5.1. Directory Structures . .. ... .... .. . .... . ... ... .73
5.2. The Structure of Files . . . . .... ... . .... . .. . .. .. 74
... •
6
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• ECDL ·
 Contents

•••••••••
5.3. How To Create Directories and Sub-Directories .... 74
5.4. Examining a Directory/Folder .................. 78
5.5. Common Types of File .......................80
5.6. File Attributes .............................83
5.7. Renaming Files and Directories ................ 84

6. Selecting, Copying, Moving and Deleting

Files and Directories ..........................86
6.1. Introduction ............................... 87
6.2. Selecting Files ............................. 87
6.3. Copying and Moving Files ....................88
6.4. The Clipboard, Copy, Cut and Paste ............ 90
6.5. Deleting Files and Directories ................. 92
6.6. Copying Files to a Diskette as Backup .......... 93

7. Searching for Files and Directories ............. 95

7.1. Introduction ...............................96
7.2. Using Find ................................96
7.3. A Simple Search ........................... 97
7.4. Text Strings ............................... 99
7.5. Date Options .............................. 100
7.6. Advanced Options ......................... 101
7.7. Saving Searches ........................... 102
7.8. New Search .............................. 102

8. Editing Text Files ........................... .. 103

8.1. Introduction ............................... 104
8.2. Opening a File in Notepad and WordPad ........ 104
8.3. Using Notepad to Edit and Create Files .......... 105
8.4. Using Word Pad to Edit and Create Files ......... 107
8.5. Closing Notepad or WordPad ................. 109

9. Printing ................................... ... 111

9.1. Introduction ............................... 112
9.2. Printing from a Desktop Window ............... 112
9.3. Printing from Within an Application ............. 112
9.4. Changing the Default Printer .................. 113
9.5. Viewing the Progress of Printing ............... 114

7
 Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

II1troduction
In this chapter we will

Give a little history of the Pc.

Give a brief outline of how file structures work.
Give a brief introduction to the u e of windows and
icons.
Explain the structure of the rest of the book.

... •
8
D. Penfold, ECDL Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files
.•• •.
•
• SCOL·

© Springer-Verlag London 2000

 Introduction
----------------(0 ••••••••
1.1. Introd uction
The first module of the ECDL is all about information technology in
general. In this module we look at how to use the computer, in this
case what is referred to as the PC, and how to manage your files.

1.2. A Little Bit of History

PC stands for personal computer and what we generally call PCs today
are based on the PC first developed by IBM in about 1980. Before long
other companies began to manufacture and sell similar machines,
generally built around an Intel processor and first called clones, but
more recently referred to as IBM-compatible computers. These are the
computers that the majority of people and businesses use on their
desktops, although there are other systems, most notably the Apple
Macintosh, which is also a personal computer, although, perhaps rather
confusingly, not usually referred to as a Pc. The Mac, as it is generally
known, has a very loyal following and is widely used in the graphic
arts industries.

When IBM started to develop the PC, they selected a small software
company called Microsoft to design the operating system, which, put
simply, is the software that allows the user to interact with the
processor using a series of commands in something like natural
language. They called this operating system PC-DOS (DOS = disk
operating system). Subsequently, IBM and Microsoft parted ways and
the operating system was then called MS-DOS (and often just DOS).
DOS went through a number of versions, but it remained what is
called a command-line interface, so that to carry out any operation,
you have to type a command followed by the return key. An example
of a DOS screen is shown in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1 DOS screen with command-line interface.

9
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

Then in the mid-1980s, Apple developed the Mac, which had what is
called a graphical user interface, using windows, icons and a mouse.
How much this influenced Microsoft was the subject of several court
cases, but, at about the same time Microsoft developed the first version
of Windows, which has itself gone through a number of versions, the
latest of which is Windows 2000. However, as Windows 2000 is very
new, this guide focuses upon Windows 98, which, along with
Windows 95, is still widely used. In general, Windows 95 is very
similar to Windows 98, but where there are significant differences, they
will be pointed out. Note that, although people still write programs for
which you need to use DOS, all the major commercial software is now
written for Windows consequently for all the software discussed in this
and subsequent modules, you only need to know about Windows.
Windows 95 and later versions are operating systems in their own
right, whereas earlier versions, of which Windows 3.1 was tile last,
were effectively programs run from DOS, so it was important to
understand the relationship between the two. Here we mention DOS
for completeness. Although you can open a DOS window in Windows
98, you can access all the information you need to know from within
Windows.

Finally, you may also hear of operating systems called Unix and Linux.
These can be run on PCs, but are beyond the scope of ECDL.

1.3. Filing and File Structures

There are two common ways of looking at how files are organised in
Windows Cand, in fact, on every common operating system). The
metaphors used are the filing cabinet and the inverted tree. Figure 1.2
shows the filing cabinet, so that you can think of the whole of your
system as the cabinet. Then each disk Cor partition on a disk) is
effectively a drawer and these are labelled. A: is the diskette Cor floppy
disk) drive, C: the main hard drive and D: or E: the CD drive. cB: may
be used for a second diskette drive, often a 5.25-inch drive, and D: is
now often used for a removable drive such as the Iomega Zip drive.)
Within each of these 'drawers' are large files called directories or
folders. Any directory can contain either other directories or individual
files (such as programs or application files, for example word-
processing or spreadsheet files) and effectively you can have as many
levels of directory as you wish. As we shall see, it is wise to use a
logical structure so that it is easier to find your files!

... •
10
... ..
•
• ECDL·
 Introduction
----------------6'0 ••••••••

Figure 1.2 Windows uses cabinet and folder metaphors

for filing.

The other metaphor is an inverted tree (see Figure 1.3). Here your
system level is called the root (and in the Unix operating system, this
is what the top-level directory is indeed called), although perhaps
trunk would have been more apt. Each directory can then be thought
of as a branch and each individual file as a leaf. It really does not
matter which metaphor you use, as long as you understand the idea of
files within directories within other directories and so on.

Figure 1.3 The inverted tree metaphor can be used for filing.

Self Study
Draw a directory structure for your ECDL studies. At the top put ECDL
and then provide a directory or folder for each module. Within each
module, you could perhaps have directories for notes and for
exercises. See if there are any other directories that may be useful.

11
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

1.4. Windows and Icons

When you open a window (and we shall see how to do this), it
represents either a directOIY or an individual file. When you open a
window representing a directory, you will see icons (or possibly the
names of files) within that window which represent either other
directories or individual files (see Figure 1.4). If you try to open an
individual file, one of two things can happen. If the file is a program
(an application, such as Word 97, for example), then the application
will open in its own window. If, however, you try to open a file that is
not a program, then once again one of two things can happen. If the
file is associated with an application (for example, it is a Word 97
word-processing document), then the file will open in the window of
that application. If there is no such association, then you will be asked
what application you want to use. This is really outside the scope of
ECDL, but is useful to know.

Figure 1.4 Icons representing files appear within an

open window.

Icons, thus, represent files or directories, at least when they appear on

what is called the desktop, which is the view of your system that you
get before you open up any applications.

1.5. Outline of the Guide

In Chapter 2, we look the basic use of the computer:

• How to start the computer, how to restart it and how to shut it

down properly.
• The Windows 98 user interface options.
• How to look at basic system information, i.e. to see what your
system consists of.
... •
12
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• ECDL·
 Introduction
--------------"""iO ••••••••

• How to look at basic desktop information, such as screen settings,

the time and date and other options.
• How to format a diskette (floppy disk). Note that formatting a hard
disk is not covered within ECDL.
• How to use Help functions. Your system has extensive help built
into it and being able to use this properly is really important and
often overlooked. If you can find the information you want by using
Help, then using your computer will seem a whole lot easier.
Incidentally, although not covered in ECDL, we shall also note what
to do when the system or an application 'freezes'.

In Chapter 3 we shall look at icons, not only how to select and move
them, but also how to recognise basic types of icon, such as
directories and applications. We shall also learn how to create what is
called a shortcut.

Chapter 4 will be about windows (with a small w). We shall learn:

• How to recognise the different parts of a desktop window.

• How to reduce, enlarge, minimise and close a window.
• How to recognise the aspects that all application windows generally
have in common.
• How to move between windows and between applications.

The next three chapters are about file structures and file handling.
First, in Chapter 5 we shall go into detail about file and directory
structures and then we shall see the following:

• How to create directories and subdirectories.

• How to view the properties of a directory.
• How to recognise different types of icons representing files and how
to view the properties of these files.
• How to rename files and directories.

In Chapter 6 we shall see look at selecting, copying, moving and

deleting files and directories, including making copies to a diskette.

Chapter 7 is about using the Find tool to locate a file or directory. We

shall also see how to use different properties of a file to locate it.

Chapter 8 is concerned with editing text files. Although we shall look

briefly at word processing, this is dealt with in detail in Module 3.
Here we shall look at:

13
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

• Launching an editing program or word processor.

• Opening a file or creating o ne and saving it.
• Closing the file and the application.

Finally, Chapter 9 is about printing, changing the default printer and

viewing the progress of a print job.

The guide concludes with an index.

Summary
In this chapter:

• We have seen some the background to the PC and to Windows.

• We have seen how files are organised.
• We have seen how windows and icons are used.
• We have looked at an outline of the remainder of the guide.

... •
14
... ..
•
• ECDL ·
 First Steps with the Computer
.e •••••••

First Steps witt,

the Computer
In th-s chapter you will learn how to

tart the computer.

Restart the computer.
Shut down the computer.
Utilise the Windows 98 user options.
Adjust the de ktop.
Find sy tem information.
Find basic desktop information.
Find information about your disks.
Format a diskette/floppy disk.
Use Help functions.

D. Penfold, ECDL Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files 15

© Springer-Verlag London 2000
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

2.1. Introduction
This chapter is rather long, so you may find it easier to consider it in
three sessions, the first concerned with starting the computer, finding
out about Windows 98 desktop view options and the desktop itself. In
the second session, you can look at finding and changing system
information, while in the third session you can experiment with Help.

2.2. How to Start the Computer, How to

Restart It and How to Shut It Down
Properly
Obviously, the first thing you need to be able to do is start your
computer and understand what is happening when you do.

We will assume that you have connected everything up correctly or

that someone else has done this for you. If in doubt, consult the
manual or someone with experience. Today, when most pes are sold
as boxes, consulting your supplier may not be a very helpful
approach.

Exercise 2.2
In most, but not all, cases, the various components of the system have
separate switches, so you need to power on the monitor (screen), the
speakers and any other peripherals, for example an external Zip drive, before
you switch on the computer itself. Incidentally, while it is probably a good idea
to switch on a scanner or a printer at the same time, this is not usually
essential, because they will work satisfactorily if you switch them on later. This
is, in fact, usually true of the monitor and speakers as well, but, certainly as
far as the monitor goes, there is little point in switching on the computer if you
cannot see what is happening on the screen!

When you switch on, you will initially see a basic screen display of (usually)
white characters on a black background. What this is telling you is that the
system is running a series of checks on your hardware and the system
software, some of which is stored on Read-only Memory (ROM) chips and the
rest on the hard disk of your computer. You can intervene at this point to make
changes, but this is outside the ECDL syllabus and it is recommended that
you do not do so without expert advice or until you have learnt more about
the system.

If all is well, then eventually you will see a Windows 98 introductory screen,

... •
followed in due course by the Windows 98 desktop. How long this will take -

16
.•• •.
•
• BCDL ·
 First Steps with the Computer
.e •••••••
perhaps as long as a few minutes, but probably less for a new system -
depends on various factors, such as the speed of your processor and how
many programs have been set up to start automatically when you switch on.
The latter can also be changed by you, but again is outside the ECDL
syllabus. Figure 2.1 shows a typical desktop. We will look at this in the next
section, but note that when you first use your computer, you will usually see a
window that offers you the opportunity to find out more about Windows 98. If it
does not appear as shown in Figure 2.1, then you can open it from the Start
button at the bottom left of the screen. Click Start with your left mouse button
and then select Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools and
finally Welcome to Windows. Note that you need to have the Windows 98
CD in your CD drive to access the information available from this screen (or
the information needs to be loaded somewhere on your network if you are
working on a network - ask the helpdesk or the system administrator if you
have a problem) .

Figure 2.1 A typical Windows 98 desktop.

It is a good idea to follow the trails from this introductory window before you
start to use the system. They will overlap to a certain extent with what we talk
about here, but should make matters easier to understand. You will note that
you are given the option to start at your own knowledge level, which is good .
Most people reading this book will want to start at the basic level.

Self Study
Spend some time following through the various trails in Discover
Windows 98, starting at a l evel that is appropriate for yourself.

17
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

To restart your computer or to close it down involves very similar

operations. In either case it is a good idea to close down all the
applications you are running before you move to restart or close
down. If you do not, then there may be various effects:

• You will probably see a series of prompts asking you if you want to
save files you have been working on if they are still open.
• You may see a message saying that an application is still running,
giving you the option of waiting or cutting short its operation and
possibly losing changes.
• Finally, when you start the computer again, you may find that some
of the windows you had open when you closed down have re-
opened automatically, which you may not want.

So, close all the programs you can see on your desktop before you
shut down.

Once you have closed applications in the usual way (and we will look
at the end of this section into how to close down an application that is
not responding), you click on the Start button (in the bottom left
corner of the screen. Then click Shut Down and a window will
appear in the centre of the screen asking what you want to do (see
Figure 2.2) . If you want to shut down the computer, then click the
appropriate button and then watch the screen until either you see a
message telling you that it is safe to switch your computer off or the
system switches your computer off automatically; different systems
work in different ways. You may also have to turn off the monitor and
any peripherals, depending whether they operate from separate power
supplies or not - most do.

Shut Down Windows EJ :I

'What do you wan the COO1Uet' to do?

r- ~hJt~
(' Restart
(' Restart in MS-DOS mode

OK J ... . . ._~_--' ..:...-_!:i_~_.....

Figure 2.2 Message that appears when closing your

..... ..
computer down.

18 • BeDL ·
•• •
 First Steps with the Computer
.a •••••••
If, instead of shutting down, you want to restart your computer, then
again you click the appropriate button and the system will go through
the same shut-down procedure as for shutting down. However, this
time it will then go through the start-up procedure, just as if you had
switched off and switched on again.

Self Study
Restart your computer and watch the screen as it goes through all its
initial tests.

Why should you want to restart? There are two main reasons:

• You have installed new or updated software and it is necessary for

the computer to be restarted for the software to be usable or the
updates to be effective. In fact, this restart may be part of the
installation procedure, although you are always asked whether you
want to restart and asked to confirm .
• An application is not working as it should; this unfortunately still
happens. In such a situation, restarting can often solve the problem,
because essentially you are exiting from the problem situation. At
the end of this section we will look at what to do if an application
'freezes', i.e. does not respond to the mouse or the keyboard.

2.3. The Windows 98 User Interface

Options
Although this is not strictly part of the ECDL syllabus, unless you
understand how to use and possibly change the user interface to what
suits you best, you may not find yourself as comfortable with your
computer as is desirable.

Windows 95, the predecessor to Windows 98, only offered one

interface option or view, referred to as the Classic style. It shows how
fast things change in this area that a style can become a classic in only
a few years; the first version of Windows only appeared about ten
years ago, but the interface changed quite significantly with Windows
95, so it has become 'classic' in only three years! Windows 98 offers
you three options, the Classic view, the Web view, and the Custom
view. You choose which view by using the menu Folder Options
(Figure 2.3), accessed from the Start menu and by then choosing
Settings and then Folder Options:

19
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

(' "'""' .....

VOI.I ~ . . . . ID\IIfn:bM dMtc IIIIIIngt.

-"'~I!"-~

Figure 2.3 Folder Options offers the three interface options .

• The Classic view: We shall look at this first because it is easier to

see what is different in the Web View if you understand the Classic
view. In the Classic view, Directories (see Sections 1 and 5) appear
as shown in Figure 2.4. Applications and application files appear as
an appropriate icon, while sub-directories (sub-folders) appear as an
icon that looks rather like an index card. To select a file or directory,
you click once with the left mouse button. To open the sub-directory
or file or to start an application, you either click again on the
selected icon or you double click on a previously unselected icon.

Figure 2.4 Directories as they appear in the Classic view•

.. . •
20
. .
•
• ECDL·
* * •
 First Steps with the Computer
.a •••••••
• The Web view: Module 7 on Information and Communication
includes sections on the Internet and the World Wide Web (often
referred to as the Web or WWW). Microsoft's web browser is called
Internet Explorer (IE) and Windows 98 is integrated much more
closely with IE than Windows 95 was. For example, on your
Windows desktop (see Figure 2.1) you may see a panel showing
channels that you an access by just clicking on them (if, of course,
you have a connection to the Internet). We shall not be talking
about the Internet or the Web here, but what is important is that the
Web view of your desktop uses the same approach to accessing files
and programs as IE does. What this means is that instead of looking
like Figure 2.4, a window looks like Figure 2.5. Now to select an
icon (and in general the icons tend to be more descriptive), you just
have to move the cursor over it (this is called 'mousing over') and,
to activate or open it, you click just once. This is how you select
and open on a Web page.

Fugure 2.5 Viewing the desktop using the Web view•

• The Custom view: The Custom view, as you might expect, allows
you to choose how you view the desktop (see Figure 2.6). It
effectively allows you to 'mix and match'. However, at this stage, we
suggest that you choose either the Classic view or the Web view
(perhaps switching between them, which you can do at any time, to
see which one you prefer). If, once you are familiar with the two
main views, you want to customise, then that is fine. Note that, in
switching views, you are only changing how you look at the
information and data on your computer. You are not affecting that
information and data at all, so you can change views as often as you
wish.

21
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

-.....
. , - . _ - -. . . . . . . --:=;;;;"'..1
r.1Ioo _ _ ......

--.-
-_
--_.-........
l" ..... _ _ I11 . . _ _

.....
(01---
--I-.. -.. ,._...
('

r. ~..
a. .... _,~==~~==~~~~~
t"~. _ _ ... _ .....

"
r
r.~ .._ .........-......

Figure 2.6 Users can select their preferred

desktop using the Custom view.

We shall point out any differences between Windows 95 and Windows

98 as we go.

Self Study
Consider the differences between the two standard views of the
desktop and examine some of the custom options. What is your initial
reaction? Which desktop view do you prefer? Discuss with your
colleagues if possible.

CIIcIdng: TllrDU"'Dui .... book, we .......... to cIIcIdng

.................... button ~ _ "cIIcIdng', . . . .
cIIcIdng ......... rigid ....... button we ............ to _
'right cIIcIdng'. In .... ct ••• ll: ............. click (..... ....
.... button, •••• eta . . . . . . . . . . . click . . . - ; In .... ....
view, p ........... _ _ _ ower _Icon •••• cla II .....
cIIcIdntI ............. clicking ........ . . . . , . opene •
...................... conIenta of wIIIch ...p .... on ....
................... u.Id ..... Ind•• .., ......... cunor Is ...
IhId ............ If ,... ...". ...... IftD • • button, cIIcIdng
.................... I&uIton cIIan,1I .... DCI'OII ..... (within
appIIcatIona), _ IhId ,... c.. DCI'OII .......... You may
aIM ...". ....... IhId ,... c.. acroII with.

... •
22
. .
•
• ECDL·

** •
 First Steps with the Computer
.a •••••••
AIIhougIt tlllalIook .. ....~ IIbout ............. ....
IECDL .,...... . . . not .... ca, _ eplCa"'" aptenI, _ tor
IIIOet of ........ In ..... 1Iook" we ....... CI...1e vie.,
- that ............ ....,. , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - W ) ' -
find ............................. There however....
occ_la_ ...... we ..... have to .wItch to ........ view
to -..atrate • particular point.

2.4. The Desktop

We have already seen the desktop in Figure 2.1. Note that it takes up
the whole screen and, unlike any other window, you cannot make it
smaller than the screen (except by adjusting the screen controls, but
there is little point in that, unless you cannot see the whole desktop,
because it simply reduces your working area). You may be able to
make the desktop bigger than the screen, which can sometimes be
useful, but we shall not consider that here.

You can also change the background, as we will see later in this
section. When you first use your computer, it will probably be a single
colour. On this background, you will see a number of icons. They may
not appear exactly the same as Figure 2.1, because what appears
depends on your system set-up, but there will be certain icons that
nearly always appear. These include:

My Computer: This is effectively the 'root' directory of the disks

on the computer, as we shall see in the next section.

• Network Neighborhood: This will only appear if your

computer is linked to a network, for example in an office or
college. Then it will always appear. It tells you about the other disk
drives on the network that you can access.

My Documents: This is exactly what it says it is, a place

where you can store your documents. While you can put them
M,Document,

anywhere you like on the system, putting them here, usually in sub-
directories with names that make sense to you, is a good idea. Apart
from anything else, it makes backing them up much easier.

Internet Explorer: As already noted, the Microsoft Web

Internet
Explorel Browser comes with Windows 98 (but not with Windows 95),
While there are advantages in using IE in the context of Windows 98,

23
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

because they are closely integrated, some people prefer to use other
browsers, such as Net5cape Communicator or Opera.

Recycle Bin: This is important, because, by default, any file you

delete from your hard disk is not actually deleted, but sent to the
Recycle Bin, from where you can retrieve it if you find that deletion
was not what you wanted to do. However, the Recycle Bin has a fixed
size (although you can change it) and once it is full, the oldest files are
automatically deleted to make room for the new. So, if you want to
retrieve a file from the Bin, do not wait too long after you deleted it!
Note that when you delete a file from a removable disk, you really
delete it and you are unable to retrieve it.

My Briefcase: This is a folder that allows you to synchronise

your files if you are working on more than one system, for
My8,;efcase

example a desktop PC and a laptop. This is outside the ECDL syllabus.

Self Study
Click on each of the icons on your desktop to see what you find.
Close them by using the X at the top right corner.

On the desktop, if you are using the Web view, you may also see the
Channel bar, which is outside the scope of this book, although it may
be referred to in Module 7, where the Internet is discussed. Then
along the bottom of the screen is the Taskbar (Figure 2.7), made up of
the following:

• The Start button: clicking this opens a quite complex menu (see
below).
• Running tasks: these are the programs that are currently running
or, to be strictly correct, the windows that are currently open, even
if they are minimised, which means that the entry on the taskbar is
the only visible evidence that they are running. The active window,
i.e. the one you can see (or the one on top if you can see several),
is highlighted. Clicking on any other activity will make that the
active window. If the window is maximised, i.e. fills the full screen,
then the new window will overlay the previously active window,
while, if the window is not maximised, it will simply bring it to the
front. Note that changing the active window does not affect anything
that is happening in any of the windows.

.......
Figure 2.7 The Taskbar located at the bottom of the screen .

24 • SCOL ·

•• •
 First Steps with the Computer
.e •••••••
Activities in different windows are effectively independent. Note that
you can also switch between active windows by holding down the
Alt key and striking the Tab key, as we shall see in Chapter 4.
• Quick Launch tool bar: this consists of the icons of programs you
use frequently. You can launch (or open) these programs by clicking
on the appropriate icon; mousing over them will open a box telling
you what each one is.
• The System Tray: this contains the task scheduler, volume control
and time and date, as well as icons representing various background
tasks. These appear on the right-hand side.

Figure 2.8 Example of the Start menu.

The Start Menu is shown in Figure 2.8. Again, depending on how your
system is set up, there may be various entries. Entries that will always
be present, from the top of the second section down, are:

• Programs: selecting this displays the different programs and

program groups. You can start programs from here, too.
• Favorites: selecting this displays Channels, Links and Software
updates. We shall not look at this in any more detail in this guide as
it is outside the ECDL syllabus. Nevertheless, if you are connected to
the Internet, you will find it worth investigating.
• Documents: selecting this will display the last 15 documents you
opened. They can have been opened in any application and a

25
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

document here means any kind of data file, e.g. a word processing
file, a graphics file, a spreadsheet, a database or a video clip.
• Settings: selecting this opens a menu including the Control Panel,
Printers and even the Start Menu itself. We shall come back to some
of these later.
• Find: selecting this opens a menu including Files and Folders. If you
click this, you will open a window that allows you to specify
searches on file and directory names. See Chapter 7.
• Help: selecting this opens up the Help facilities; we shall come back
to this later in the chapter.
• Run: selecting this opens a dialogue box that allows you to start
applications. This is effectively an alternative to using the Programs
option at the top of the Start menu.
• Log Off: you may have no use for this, but it allows you to log off
as one person or profile and then log on as another. This is outside
the scope of the ECDL.
• Shut Down: clicking this allows you to close down or restart the
system, as discussed above.

Self Study
Study the entries in the Start menu. See what happens when you select
different options. You are unlikely to change your system unless you
click OK after making any changes. So do not make any changes
(unless you are confident), do not click OK; always click Cancel.

2.5. How to Look at Basic System

Information
Exercise 2.5
You may want to know about your system, e.g. the operating system, the
processor type, the amount of memory (Random Access Memory or RAM)
installed. Most of this information you access via the Control Panel, which
you open by clicking Start and then Settings. You will then see a window
that looks like Figure 2.09. It may look rather confusing, but most of the icons
are either self-explanatory or have complex names that probably mean that
you will never have to be concerned with them. Here we want the one that (by
default) looks like a computer and is labelled System. If you click that, you
will open a window that looks like Figure 2.10. The first view is called General
and tells you about your operating system, your processor type and who
supplied it. This may be information that is useful when talking to dealers or
support people.

... •
26
.•• •.
•
• ECDL ·
 First Steps with the Computer
.a •••••••

M•
F....

.-,df'.
_-.... w_
G....
e-.
w
.
Im.eeI I-
0--.,

.....
N_
- I- I- s_
OOBCO.a 0_'" Ptiswcwds
-pa.ol
1,
-.
"--
Q--=kff9leJ2 R..,.o

• ff1
......-
s...... s- u_
JII

Figure 2.9 The Control Panel.

"

, ,0 _
-_ ..
E_-'-"'_
lU»Ql"«f1Zl41 J5al

-""'-"" -- --
---
_fC

,,--
I.... ~ .. T_ _

Figure 2.10 The General view under System Properties.

There are three other tabs in this window:

• Device information, which describes the configuration of your system .

• Hardware profiles, which you are unlikely to need to access yourself.
Incidentally, if you do access any of these out of interest and click on, for
example, Advanced Properties, always click on Cancel rather than

27
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

OK, just to ensure that you have not inadvertently made any changes .
• Performance, which gives you more system information, such as the
amount of RAM you have installed.

Self Study
Examine the System menu (remembering never to click OK).

2.6. How to Look at Basic Desktop

Information
You may also want to look at information about the Desktop, including
such things as screen settings, the time and date and other options,
such as the (sound) volume settings. Again, you access the Control
Panel. The following are some of the things you can view and change:

Exercise 2.6
• Date and time: Click Date/Time, which, not surprisingly, opens a
window (Figure 2.11 a) where you can set the date and time, as well as a
second tab, where you change the time zone in which you live. You can
also set the system to automatically correct the time for daylight saving
(Figure 2.11 b). Incidentally, when the clocks change, the computer informs
you about it and asks you to check that everything is correct. If you just
want to see the time, it is usually displayed in the bottom right corner of the
screen. You will also find that mousing over the time will display the date.
Note that to change the display format of date and time you need to go to
Regional Settings (see below).

Odte/Tlme Ploperties DEI

IoITIIITFSS
1 2 3 ~
5 6 7 a 9 10
12 13 U 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
2S 27 2829 30
120 46· 03 3
c..r.nt_ZI)tIe; GMTD~Trne

Figure 2.11 a Date/Time Properties enable the user

to set the date and time.
... •
28
.•• •.
•
• ECDL ·
 First Steps with the Computer
.a •••••••
O.. lT_ t_.zc.,.1 "

p---",---
Figure 2.11 b The Time Zone option under Date/Time Proerties.

• Screen Settings: click Display and then the Settings tab (Figure
2.12). Here you can see how the screen area (or resolution) and the colour
scheme have been set. The screen area shows the number of pixels
displayed, e.g. 800 x 600, and the colour scheme specifies how many
colours are used on your Desktop (the more colours that are used, the
more natural any photograph will appear). Details of these are outside the
scope of ECDL, but changing the settings will illustrate what's involved. You
can do no harm by changing the settings; you just reverse the operation to
change them back. Note that the options you are given, and indeed how
the screen will appear, will depend on your system (desktop or laptop, for
example), on your screen size and on the software used to control the
screen.

Figure 2.12 The Setting tab under Display Properties.

29
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

• Colours and fonts: click Display and select the Appearance tab.
Here you can choose the fonts and colours used on the Desktop (Figure
2.13). By selecting the different parts of the Desktop in the Item drop-down
menu, you can either specify a predefined scheme, such Brick, or you can
specify the colour (co[or) and font information (if the item includes text) in
the boxes shown. Once you are happy, you can just click OK, but it is
better to save your new scheme under a new name, so that you can come
back to it in future if you change schemes again.

D ,splay PlOpert,es (J EJ

OK

.s.cheme:
1_ M
Item:
IDesktop
fori;

OK

Figure 2.13 Choosing fonts and colours using the

Appearance tab •

• Desktop Wallpaper: this is the background to the icons on the Desktop

(it may have been called Wallpaper because it repeats). Click Display and
then the Background tab (Figure 2.14); you can also open this window
by right clicking on the Desktop background and then selecting
Properties. Changing the settings will illustrate the changes. Note that
you can either centre a pattern or picture, which is probably preferable if
you have a picture, or you can tile it, so that it repeats across the screen in
both directions. [f you don't [ike what you see, then just change the settings
again; you can do no harm . [f you do not [ike anything that Microsoft
provides, then you can use any graphics file or even a web page. To do
...•
30
..... ..
•
• ECDL ·
 First Steps with the Computer
.a •••••••
this click the Browse button and find the file you want to use. Click Open
and you will see the file in the preview. If you want to use it then click OK.
Windows 98 also allows you to choose Desktop Themes, but this is outside
the ECDL syllabus (you may need your system CD in its drive if you want to
investigate this option).

Figure 2.14 Selecting the Desktop Wallpaper using

the Background tab •

• Screen Savers: Screen savers have two main purposes. The original one
was to avoid the 'burn-in', an effect in which a picture displayed for too
long became permanently etched on the screen. However, this is not really
a problem with modern screens . The second reason is that they act as a
security device, hiding what you are doing from prying eyes if you leave
your desk. And, of course, they can be fun to look at. You choose them in a
similar way to choosing a Wallpaper. Click Display and this time choose
the Screen Saver tab. You will then see a window like Figure 2.15. You
can then scroll through the available options, adjusting settings if there are
any available and previewing if you wish . Note that you can also set a
password and determine how long before the screen saver comes into
effect. You will also see that there is a reference to power saving ; this is
when the screen goes completely blank in order to save electricity. Exactly
how this is set up varies from system to system.

31
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

~ _ _ _ _ al_

To .... Ihe _ -.go lot )'OUI ".".".

cbS-.go

Figure 2.15 The screen saver options •

• Regional settings: clicking on this icon in the Control Panel opens a

series of windows (Figure 2.16), within which you can view (and change)
such things as the currency symbol in use, the character used for the
decimal point, and the time and date formats. These are mainly self
explanatory; the Time menu is not shown here.

--
~S*9 -Ic.-ql r_ 10.. I

-I
11.-1-
.............
0001 _ _ -
---
"-",,,-

--
~-.-

LoI_

Figure 2.16a Specifying numbering settings.

... •
32
.•• •.
•
• ECDL·
 AeQlOndl Selltng1 Plopeftrel
.a •••••••
First Steps with the Computer

11 EJ
I
RI9QNI S-.gs N.......

II. U.-..t..-.cy~

c......",J!OftIbat ~ ..:I
PooIIono/
lal l ..:I
_~

NegoIMo ......... / _ I·all ..:I

ll.eanaI.,.- ..:I
No. 0/ oigb 01\8 docmoI 12 ..:I
091_"'- I· ..:I
N....... 0/ cigb,,_ 13 ::oJ

all

Figure 2.16b Specifying currency settings.

:::~~~I================~
......... a _ d91_ ii_eel. rohIrpel ... a _ bel-.

11Dl 1
and 2029 -3

Longdale ..... I
Lang dale ~II":dd""t.t'-::t.t-::-t.t""t.t: -J-_""':"":"====--
I!MI -'

Figure 2.16c Specifying date settings •

• Sound Volume: The simplest way to control the volume is to use the
volume control on the Taskbar. Just select it and you will see a slider

33
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

control like those that appear on a hi-fi system. Move the slider to what is
comfortable and then just click elsewhere to close the window. Note that
there is also a Mute option, which can be useful in certain circumstances.
If you do not see the symbol on the Taskbar, then click Multimedia and
select the Audio tab, where, among other controls, you will see a slide bar
labelled Playback. If you click this, you will open a window in which you
can adjust the Volume control and the balance (Figure 2.17). (The other
controls are outside the scope of ECDL.) When the volume and balance are
as you want them , close this box by clicking the cross in the top right
corner. In the main audio menu, you will also see a box that allows you to
display the volume control on the Taskbar. If you select this option, then you
will not need to open this, rather complex, Multimedia window again ,
unless, of course, you want to adjust the balance. To close the Multimedia
window, click OK.

Muihmedld P,ope.t,es I] EJ

OK Cancel

Figure 2.17 Adjusting the volume and balance.

Note that these are just some of the settings you can view and change via the
Control Panel. You will learn about others if and when you need them.

Self Study
Look at the icons in the Control Panel and satisfy yourself that you
understand what they are doing.

... •
34
... ..
•
• ECDL ·
 First Steps with the Computer
.a •••••••
2.7. Finding Information about your Disks
To find information about your disks, the simplest way is to open My
Computer and then select the disk you are interested in. You will
then be able to see the size of the disk and how much free space
there is on it. Exactly how this is displayed will depend on which
Desktop view you are using; the Web view appears as Figure 2.18.

Figure 2.18 Checking information about your disks

using Web view.

Self Study
Look at any other disks on your system, e.g. floppy disks, Zip drives
or even network disks. You can try changing to the Classic view as
well.

An alternative way to look at disk information is via Windows

Explorer, which you can open by right clicking on Start and selecting
Explore. When the window has opened, slide the scroll bar in the
left-hand window to the top and you will then see a window like
Figure 2.19. Select the disk you are interested in and select the File
menu and the Properties. You will then see a window like Figure
2.20, which gives you the information you need.

35
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

--....- - - -. ....-. - ...

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... ,.,.."', r._... ,. , ,.....,.

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.11

Figure 2.19 Looking at system details via Windows Explorer.

Apold02abac Ie I P,op",tles 11 EJ

is A

Type local o_
ne system. FAT
Used spac8 1.880.915.968 bjttes 175GB
Flee spac8 203.816.991 bjttes 194MB

194GB

OIMIC

01(

Figure 2.20 Obtaining disk information.

36
..... ..
• E DL .

•• •
 First Steps with the Computer
.a •••••••
_ado.. "... _•.., WIndow..... _.......... ~ to look -'
JOW .,..... III . . . . , ...... 2.t8,. TIle left window abo. .
the . . . . .c ... c .. aIIucture .. the .,..... " • ~ 01'
folder Me ............ ........n ...... It, tNa ...... u.t

..... ......to . . . . . .
theN ....... &ecIoIIH theI . . ~ not ahown.
CIIcIdng on .... ...... ..... ...... . . the aIIucture .... the
CIIcIdng ...... on the .........
cIoN the aIIucture ....... So, H you ..., went to look
-' the . . . . . you cIIcIl on the .................... ..,
c:o.npue.. TIle rItIM-Mnd .............. the . . ~ u.t Ie

the .......... window. III the rIght-hend window. you cen

view the ............. III .."..... .1feIoent
wep. _ ...... 01'
..... IcoMo _ • let. 01' with . . the InIorwIetIon IIbout
811Ch ............ H you MIect the VIew ............ look -'
thell*d MCtIon down" you . . . _ _ optIona. You . -

_&dow.
. . . note theI you ......... the ........... tor .......... the
Icona. . . be looking -' I!xpIoIw III .......
. . . . In ChIIpter 50

2.8. Formatting a Diskette (Floppy Disk)

While you may never have to format a hard disk (and this is not
covered widlin ECDL), you may frequently have to format a floppy
disk. What this means is to organise the magnetic sectors on tlle disk
surface so that they will store data in the format recognised by the
Windows operating system, which organises the data differently from a
Macintosh system, for example.

Exercise 2.8
To format a diskette, use the following steps:

1. Open My Computer and select, but not open, the diskette drive - usually
labelled 3.5-inch Floppy (A:).

2. Open the File menu and select Format. This will open a window (Figure
2.21) with various options.

37
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

f Olmd' 311 floppy IA I () EJ

~
I 18

Fom\III \)Ipe
r. tl..:k(.._1
(" E"
(" eq".S)IIIeII\Nnn

Figure 2.21 The floppy disk formatting dialogue.

3. Choose the type of disk and its capacity. Today, most 3.5-inch inch disks have
a capacity of 1.44 Mb, but you may have a disk that has only 720 kb or even
a 5.25-inch disk (these really are floppy!).

4. Choose the type of format. Quick can only be used if the disk has been
previously formatted and really just erases any existing data. So for a new
disk or one about which have little information, choose Full. The 'copy system
files' options are only used if you want to create a diskette from which you can
boot (start) your system. You may find that you need this if you have problems
with your hard disk. Windows 98 prompts you to create such a 'boot disk'
when you install it.

5. If you want to, give the diskette a label. You do not have to do this, but it can
be useful. It is also a good idea to put a tick in the box alongside Display
summary when finished. Sometimes diskettes are faulty and, if you see a
summary, you can check that all has gone to plan.

6. Click Start and you will see a record of the progress being made and, if you
have asked for one, a summary when the format is complete.

7. Finally, you will be asked if you want to format another disk.

Self Study
Take a used floppy disk and compare the time it takes to do a quick
format and then a full format. Watch the progress and the messages .

... •
38
... ..
•
• ECDL·
 First Steps with the Computer
.a •••••••
2.9. How To Use Help Functions
Your system has extensive help built into it and you should get used to
using this. These days, you do not get the large printed manuals that
used to be provided and being able to use Help properly will make
your life much easier.

Exercise 2.9
There are two ways of accessing Help:

• Go to Start and then select Help. This will take you in at the top level (see
Figure 2.22).

t.? "',"do ... Help . . r-T EJ

fide

I'"CrOClalg _ 98
Expomg Vou: Cc>qUer
f>I>Iorng tne Irjemot
Welcome to Help
LIso:'!I-~
Prt"Ulg Use the Help syote to leam more
Mot>egIrvJ Hordware and So_e about w,ndow.
~Io_ • Ftnd answers to your questions .
lJsb:J &cstt'MY Eeot\IG • Browse the onhne verSion of the
Oeftrog Slarted _ Orkoe Versior
~ Started book .
T~
• Connect to the Web to get
5oftwar-e updates .
• Troubleshoot your system .

01998 Mlcrosgft CgmgC4t,go , All

nghts reserved
..:..I

Figure 2.22 Accessing the Help functions •

• Press the function key F1. This will provide you with context-sensitive help,
i.e. help about th e part of Windows 98 that you are currently using, This will
often be the better solution. See, for example, Figure 2.23.

39
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

.....
~~I\IIII-l

----
CM. . _ I 0 _ _ _ -

-..... -...-- .. -
CIck ..... chongo . ."'_ _ V... . . . . -
~.t..-d""-')IOUlorgonIDWn*Mt..AIIo.JlDUc."I
. . OIhet~ - u:ft.)ICUI~lalogonllD"
neMOIk -110 biIIlhe &ami ")i'CU WndDM peI1IIIIOId TI'WIt

Figure 2.23 Example of context·sensitive help.

As you can see from Figure 2.22, Help is self-explanatory, as indeed it should
be if it is going to be much use. A little explanation may be helpful, however,
specifically of the tabs, Contents, Index and Search:

• Contents gives you the view shown in Figure 2.22. If you are learning about
the system or are not really sure, this is probably the easiest approach .
• Index gives you a 'back-of-the-book' type index (see Figure 2.24). This is
quick if you know what you are looking for and if you know the term
Microsoft uses, which may not always be obvious!

-........
""'-
9I" , ---,,,~

...
~
w_tott.lp

.. -
",,-.~­

-
, . . ~.IICI'U

.......
'I.OlDlCflI'C*X:d
2000. _ _
• Connect: tit the Web to vet
1Oftw.,-. """ f

-
• TroubIt1hoot your 'JyShlm
~-
lA . . ... ..,.,..,.
32.t111 DlCpraIIDCIII

= ___-':
3:2.... PCC'O~

.=J
"192' Mtgospft CprporlbgD .U
-I nsbb ru.cud

Figure 2.24 The Index facility within Help.

... •
40
.•• •.
•
• ECDL ·
 First Steps with the Computer
.a •••••••
• Search (see Figure 2.25) allows you to search for any word. You put in the
word or phrase and then click Display topics.

,? ""lndow. Help . . r-J l:l

Hde

l:_IQ:Iox

Welcome to Help
u._ the H_'p .ymom to 104m more
AddIrQ........ .,.......110 .. -.". • .bout Wlndo ... 98.
~~Slep2 • Ftnd ans wers to 'four questions .
~_qSlep6
~~Slep1
l"IJ'octJc'ng tho new _op
P\itng e new . _ on tho desIoIo!:
• 6tows the onlIne 'Version of th e
Getting Star&>d book .
• Connect to the Web to get
ShortCt.t keys ror MIcrosoft Meg1tie softwa re updates ,
To edd or chongo. cIovce _ roo • Tro ubleshoot 'tour system .
To_ .... your
To _tie your dospIoy 10 ectuoI <iii

.
To COIbtl. your ;erne cortroIer
~o "!'"""" ~ _grCU"od or tho de.=..l
~
rn998 M,aosoft Corpo@bo n , All
neMs reserved ,

Figure 2.25 The Search facility within Help.

There are two other ways to get help:

• Right click on what you don't understand. If you see a box saying What's
this, then clicking on it will give you an explanation. However, this may not
always give you an answer that tells you what you want to know.
• In some windows (and most applications) there will be a question mark on
one of the tool bars at the top of the window. Click on this and then click in
the area where you are confused; an explanatory window will open.
However, again it may not always tell you as much as you hoped for!

Self Study
Spend time using Help. Look through it first using the Contents. Then
try looking in the Index or entering some search terms.

2.10. In Case of Difficulty ...

Occasionally, for one of a number of reasons, an application will stop
responding. This usually means that when you use the keyboard or
click the mouse, nothing happens or perhaps whatever operation the

41
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

system was carrying out just stops. You can usually tell because you
can no longer hear the disk drive operating or the light that indicates
that it is operating stops flashing. If this happens, try the following, in
the order shown:

Exercise 2.10
1. Press the Esc (Escape) key on your keyboard. This may stop the operation in
progress and let you give another command.

2. [f pressing the Esc key has no effect, then hold down the Ctr[ and A[t keys
together and then press the De[ (de[ete) key. This will bring up the Close
Program menu. You will often find that the program you are using is at the top
of the list you can see followed in brackets by 'Not responding'. [n this case,
click on End Task. This will close the program you are running. You will lose
any changes you made since you last saved the fi[e(s) you were working on.
You may then just be able to start the application again. [f another program
shows 'Not responding', you can scroll down to that program and close that
program. [n such a case, because the result is unpredictable, it is a good
idea to save your work and close the application you are running and restart
the computer as described earlier. Indeed, you may find that even if it is the
program you are running that has hit problems, they may recur, so restarting
the computer is a good idea.

3. [f you find that you cannot close the program, either because the Close
program menu has no effect or because the cursor wil[ not respond to the
keyboard or the mouse, you can use Ctr[+A[t+De[ again. This will restart your
computer immediately without going through the Shut down procedure. ([f
Ctr[+A[t+De[ has no effect, you can achieve the same result by pressing the
reset button on your computer, if it has one, or in the last resort, switch the
computer off and on again.) However, restarting your computer [ike this
means that some system files may not be correct, so you will see a message
that asks if you want to run a program, called ScanDisk, that checks your
disk. To agree, you strike any key. Then follow the instructions you are given.
Scan Disk will probably fix problems automatically, but if in any doubt, talk to
an expert. (Note that Scan Disk may run without any intervention by you.)

4. Fina[[y, there may be a serious problem with your system or your disk. While
these are much rarer than they used to be, they do happen, particularly as
systems get older. [t is better to consult someone who knows about hardware.
To try and maximise the benefits from their advice (for which you may have to
pay), it is a good idea to have the boot diskette that Windows 98 prompts you
to create on installation.

42
..... ..
• SCOL ·

•• •
 First Steps with the Computer
.a •••••••
Summary
In this chapter:

• We have seen how to start, restart and shut down the Pc.
• We have seen what to do if there are problems.
• We have examined the Windows desktop and learnt how to make
adjustments using the Control Panel.
• \1Ve have seen how to obtain information about aspect~ of the
system.
• We have seen how to format a floppy disk.
• We have looked at the Help system.

43
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

In this c apter you will learn how to

Select and move icons.

Recognise basic type of icon, such as directories and
app lications.
Use shortcut icons.

... •
44
D. Penfold, ECDL Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files
.•• •.
•
• SCOL ·

© Springer-Verlag London 2000

 Working with Icons
•• e ••••••
3.1. What are Icons?
If you have worked through the first two chapters, you will already
have a good idea what icons are. Originally, icons were religious
images, usually stylised, most commonly used in the Orthodox
churches. However, in recent years, an icon has come to mean any
image that represents an idea or an organisation. In computing terms,
they are little pictures, which represent programs, files, directories etc.;
within the Windows environment clicking or double-clicking an icon
will trigger an operation of some kind. In order to help you, icons are
generally designed to illustrate the operation they represent. After all, if
they were all the same, they would not be much help. Indeed, in
earlier versions of Windows, files, for example were all the same and
you had to rely on the file name (usually shown below the icon) to
identify the icon.

3.2. Selecting and Moving Icons

We have talked about selecting icons in Chapter 2. In Windows 95, to
select, you just click an icon once and then to move it, you 'drag and
drop' .

. . . . . . . . dropc ................................dof
cIIcIdng ... _ Icoa, WOU pIIIce .... c..... ....... Icon .....
....... .... .... ....... IMIIIon. "-PIng .... .........
........ .., WOU ........... c.................. Icon ..... ...
.......... pa ........ n.. wou ..... of ........... .........
......... Icon ___ ........... pl.IIIon ............. . .
wou ~ ............................ You -=- ....
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0............
..... ted In ...... proca ..................

Exercise 3.2
In Windows 98, right click on the desktop and then select Arrange icons;
see Figure 3.1. By default, icons are arranged in rows and columns. If you
select Auto Arrange, you will remove the tick by it and turn off this
automatic ordering. Then you can move the icons around using drag and
drop or use the other options on the menu to arrange by Type, Size or Date.
To tidy up the arrangement, just select Line Up Icons.

45
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

~ j':~ r to

Figure 3.1 Selecting how to arrange icons.

3.3. Changing the Size of Icons and the

Spacing Between Them
Auto Arrange usually gets the spacing between icons about right, but if
you feel they are too close, then carry out the following procedure:

Exercise 3.3
1. Right click on the desktop and select Properties.

2. In the Display Properties dialogue box, select the Appearance tab

(Figure 2.14 in Chapter 2). You can then select either the horizontal or the
vertical icon spacing and adjust it; the default is 43 pixels.

3. When you have what you think is the right number, then click Apply to test it.

4. If it is correct, click OK.

Note that Auto Arrange must be ticked for Apply to show any proposed
change.

To change the size of an icon, you go through a similar procedure:

1. Right click on the desktop and select Properties.

2. In the Display Properties dialogue box, select the Appearance tab.

Then select Icon from the Item drop down list (see Figure 2.14 In
Chapter 2).

3. In the Size box, change to a larger or smaller number; the default is 32

pixels.
... •
46
.•• •.
•
• ECOL ·
 Working with Icons
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4.....~e ••••••
4. When you have what you think is the right number, then click Apply to test it.

5. If it is correct, click OK.

If you change the sizes of the icons, the spacing will also change, so you may
need to adjust that again. Note also that you are changing the size of all icons
on your DeskTop.

Self Study
Experiment with changing the size and spacing of the icons on your
desktop.

You can also change the size of the icons in your Start menu or on
your TaskBar:

1. Click the Start button, and then select Settings.

2. Click Taskbar.

3. On the Taskbar Options (Figure 3.2a) or Start Menu Programs tab

(Figure 3.2b), change the settings to what you want.

T dskbar Properhes () E:I

..
f' •
Yau can cuatomize ycM Start mn.r by
addng or remcMng items from it

A4Yanced. ..

D~mn.r ~~~~~~~=_~~~··

Clck the ae. button to IemcMI the

conIenb oIlhe D~ mn.r and
.. other personal hiday ktI.

Figure 3.2a Changing icon size using Taskbar Properties.

47
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

p--
r _ .......... _ .....

Figure 3.2b Changing icon size using Start Menu Properties.

3.4. Changing Icons

You do not have to use the icons that have been provided for you.
You can select others from amongst those stored on your system. The
procedure is again similar:

Exercise 3.4
1. Right click on the desktop and select Properties.

2. In the Display Properties dialogue box, select the Effects tab (Figure
3.3, left).

--
r ..__ .. _ - · · __

....-
,,------
,,----
""'
r _ _~_ _
r _ _- _

Figure 3.3 Selecting new icons from system options .

.. .
48
. .
•
• ECDL ·
• * •
 Working with Icons
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4......~e ••••••

3. Select the icon you want to change at the top of the window and click the
Change Icon button.

4. The Change Icon dialogue box will open and you can choose another icon
(Figure 3.3, right).

5. If you are not happy with any of the choices provided, then you browse what
is provided on the system, in either of the files Windows\system\sheIl32.dll or
Windows\system\cool.dll (the latter may be what you are shown initially).

6. Select the icon you decide on and click OK.

Self Study
Try changing some icons. When you browse in the Windows\system
directory, you can try opening any file that has an extension .dll
(dynamic link library) or .exe (and executable file or program). Either
of these file types may incorporate icons, although not all files do.

You can also download icons from the Web, but this is outside the
scope of this book. Note that it is a good idea to be systematic about
your icons; random selection can lead to confusion!

3.5. Basic Types of Icon

Some icons you will probably never change. For programs this is
because the software suppliers have designed an icon for their
program and changing it will only cause confusion. Similarly, there are
some standard desktop icons, many of which we have already met.
Typical ones are as follows:

JII My Computer

"Jj floppy disk

• network neighbourhood

• directory or folder

tit recycle bin (waste basket)

49
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

When files are created by a particular application program, they will

have a file extension (the part of the file name after the full stop).
These extensions are automatically associated with a program (not
necessarily the one used to create them, so be careful) and the icon
representing a file will carry a modified version of the program icon.
For example, the Word icon is ~, while the usual icon for a Word file
(with extension .doc) is [:I .

3.6. Creating a Desktop Shortcut Icon

Shortcuts are icons that you put, for example, on the DeskTop to give
you easier access to a particular program, folder or file, i.e. they are
pointers, also referred to as DeskTop aliases. You can recognise a
shortcut icon by the small arrow in the bottom left corner; thus iJ is a
shortcut to Word, while ~ is the real icon; the wording below the
icon mayor may not say that the icon is a shortcut, so look for the
arrow. If you delete the shortcut, it is not important, because you can
always recreate it. However, if you delete the real icon, you will delete
the application, which is not usually what you want (while, as we have
noted in Chapter 2, you can recover files from the Recycle Bin, as long
as you realise in time that you have deleted them, it is better not to
have to use this option).

If you delete the file or folder to which the shortcut points, any
shortcuts to it are not deleted automatically. If you click on what might
be called 'orphan' shortcuts, you will see a message saying that
Windows is searching for the file to which the shortcut pOints, but that,
if you want to, you can use Browse to locate it yourself. This is
because, rather than deleting the file, you may just have moved it,
while the shortcut points to the original location.

Shortcuts can be created to any file, although usually they are to a

program or a folder. The Create Shortcut option appears in many
places, including:

• on the desktop pop-up menu (accessed with the right mouse

button) as New/ShortCut;
• on various dropdown menus;
• on the pop-up menu you see if you right-click on an icon.

... •
50
. .
•
• ECDL ·
• * •
 Working with Icons
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4.....i-fc€) • • • • • •

K~.'" ehorIcuta: 0rItIInIIIIYt .......cut ........ e keyboerd

shortcut, but ...... Windows 95 __ ..I ....... point..... Le.
Icon .......cuts, . . . . Introdlllce... So, ...... we MY
shortcut, we ........ Icon. K.,.. ...........cuta _III elwllP
1M .......... to.., ....... tenn.

Exercise 3.6
There are various ways to create a shortcut; you will be realising by now that
in Windows there is nearly always more than one way to do something. If you
can see an icon, either on the desktop or in Windows Explorer (see Chapter
2), or even the file name in Windows Explorer, then do the following:

1. Point to the object and right-click, keeping the button held down.

2. Drag the object to the desktop; you will actually see an outline or ghost
version of the object move, while the original stays where it was.

3. Release the mouse button and you will see a menu like that shown in Figure
3.4a, although sometimes it will look like Figure 3.4b. This is because you are
not allowed to move some icons, such as disk drives, as they form the
structure of the filing system, as we shall see in more detail in Chapter 5.

Modified :
01/O6/199800:0(

Size : 5,212K8

Figure 3.4a Right-clicking and dragging an icon to the Desktop.

51
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

E. M, CQIIIPUler

Figure 3.4b Releasing the right mouse button produces

the menu shown here or that in Figure 3.4a.

Figure 3.4c Simply right-clicking (and not dragging)

an icon produces this menu.

4. Select Create Shortcut(s) Here and a shortcut icon will appear.

If you right click on the icon and do not hold the button down you will get a
menu like Figure 3.4c. If you then select Create Shortcut, you will create a
shortcut in the same folder as the real icon (if you are allowed to; sometimes
you will get a message that you cannot do this and asking you if you want to
create a shortcut on the desktop). Of course, a shortcut in the same folder as
the real icon is not very useful, but once you have created it, you can always
drag to the DeskTop or to a ToolBar. Alternatively, you can cut and paste the
icon (see Chapter 6).

If you cannot currently see the icon you want, rather than using My Computer
or Windows Explorer to locate it, you can do the following:

1. Right-click on the Desktop.

2. Select New/Shortcut.

... •
52 . .
•
• ECDL·
• * •
 Working with Icons
•• e ••••••
3. In the dialogue box that you will now see, type in the location and name of the
original file (this is often referred to as the full path and will look like
C:\Program Files\FrontPage Express\Bin\Fpxpress.exe). However, in many
cases you will not remember what this is, so you can click the Browse
button.

4. Once Browse has opened a window that allows you to look around the system
(Figure 3.5), find the file you want, select it and click Open. The Command
line box will now show the path of the file.

Figure 3.5a Creating a shortcut from the Desktop using Browse.

CIC'dh!' Sho ri cul El

TjIPe ... .,.,... . . . _ c l ... _ , . . , _ ... _
• ___ 10.1),. ................ a.,cicblgS-

Figure 3.5b Creating a shortcut from the Desktop using

the file location and name.

5. Click Next and either accept the name given or put in your own; the system
always gives a name that starts 'Shortcut to'.

6. Click on Finish and the shortcut icon will appear on the desktop.

53
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

If you want to rename a shortcut (or, indeed, any icon), then just right click on
it and select Rename. You then type in the new name and , to finish , click
somewhere else or press the Enter key. Since Windows 95 there have been
no practical limits on the names of files or icons, so it makes sense to use a
description that you will understand. However, remember that the following
characters are not allowed in icon or file names:

" * : I \ < >/?

Self Study
Try creating some shortcuts on your desktop or in convenient folders.
Try the different approaches outlined. Note that, as all you are creating
are shortcuts, they may be deleted once you have finished.

The ........ of ............. On older ~ ................

....wOltla ..... ~ a p.,allng aptenIe oilier .....
WI..dows H ...... ,... May find ..... ,... . . ....trIcted to
.......................... c.-ed .... L3 conventIon, ..... Is
...... c:MnIctan............ .... ................... If wou

........
............ wIth ............. to8UCh~ ...... ....
... all.1l1y ... 1IuncMed .......... c..a ..... to
,*,,-Ion. n ...... worth ............rIng ..... In WI..dows
IIpItIIc.uan ......... . . . . . . . . . _ , .... group of cMl'llClers
.................., .. _ _lilted with .... application, _
..... eMs........................... xIe, lor ........., wUI
................. no ................aw ............... _-
. .ceI .......... ~ .... .,...... ... ~ you. Of course, ....
......... not ... chen..... Ibut .....................
iIIIIk. . n .... easy to WGIIl with. And ........... point
IIbaut ....aw of .... 'con....tlo...• tIud ...". ...... Introduced
....... thew .........d.d to iIIIIk. . . . . . . . . . Ior,.... In
.......... once,... get ...... to ........ wou fInd .........y
do so.

You can change the properties of a shortcut by right clicking on the

icon and selecting Properties. Then select the Shortcut tab. Most of
these options are outside the ECDL syllabus, but a useful one may be
the Shortcut key, which allows you to create a keyboard shortcut to,
say, a program file. If you type in a letter, the system will add Ctrl+Alt.
Thus, if you enter F for a program, then the keyboard combination to
start the program will be Ctrl+Alt+F. As usual, you click OK to finish .

.. .•
54
.•• •.
•
• E CDL·
 Working with Icons
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - t......r+€) • • • • • •

KeJII ..... ehorIcuIa: It . . . good ..... ..., to ...". • few

ka,tla .... 8hOItcuIa, bec _ _ _ . . . . . . . . take
..... e.d.nce ...................... appIIcaIIon ...........
...... ,au ....a......, find ..... ...., .....................
,au . .". ............. e .. _,au . . carrwtng out -
op.NIIon ............. So, .. ,au ......... k.,.a .... ehortcuI
............... ......,-. ...... ,au no ........... .....
to . . . the ............. ehortcuI.

There are various shortcuts that it is useful to create. For example,

creating a shortcut on the DeskTop to a disk drive provides you with a
much quicker way of seeing the contents than using Windows
Explorer. Similarly, if you are on a network, you can add other
computers to the DeskTop, or, if you access the Internet frequently, a
shortcut to the Dialler will be useful.

Summary
In this chapter:

• We have examined how icons are used and how they can be
created .
• We have also noted the difference between icon shortcuts and
desktop shortcuts.

55
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

In this cha ter ou will learn how to

Recognise the different parts of a desktop window.

Reduce, enlarge minimise and close a window.
Recognise the aspects that all application windows
generally have in common.
Move between windows and between applications.

Notice that we refer to windows with a small w ',

although of course these windows are an integral
aspect of Windows 98.

.. .•
56
D. Penfold, ECDL Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files
.•• •.
•
• B CDL·

© Springer-Verlag London 2000

 Working with Windows
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - t.......HO •••••
4.1. Introduction
In Chapter 2, we spent some time looking at the main desktop
window and much of what we said there is applicable to all windows.
And we have already seen what windows look like; for example,
clicking on My Computer opens a window that shows the disk-drive
icons and various other directories and files.

4.2. What is a Window?

This may sound an unnecessary question to ask, but it is important to
be clear. Windows are essentially of several kinds:

• those that represent a folder or directory, in which you can see the
subfolders and files that are contained within that folder (the ECDL
calls these desktop windows); we shall look at folders in more detail
in Chapter 5;
• those that are menus or dialogue boxes; we have already seen some
of these in previous chapters;
• application, or program, windows, which open when a program is
started and represent the program environment; there may well be
further windows that open within that window; these will be dealt
with in other modules, although we shall briefly look at a simple
text editor and a word processor in Chapter 8.

4.3. The Parts of a Desktop Window

Figure 4.1 shows a desktop window for the C: drive; this window has
been chosen because there is more information than will easily fit in
the window as shown. Figure 4.1(a) shows the Web view and (b) the
Classic view. The main difference is that in the Web view the main
area of the window is split, providing you with information in the left-
hand pane; sometimes this is useful, but using the Classic view fits
more files or information about them into the window. As we have
noted previously, you can choose which you prefer and switch
between them at will. We shall also see below that there are various
different ways of displaying the information within the window. The
options are the same for both views.

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Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

Cd'om Cm9798 Cod9 DeY

Select .an Item to
View rts
descnp on .
--.J
dg>oI glllb95 Hpcac Hppon

U
M_ MoIhtl'P<' Maus.. Moo/fice

It! ~

Figure 4.1 a Desktop window for C: drive using Web view.

fie t.. Y- Jio FfI'OI1Ies l:!~

(h] ~
Up DA

-.J
Cod9 DeY glllb95 Hpcac Hppon

Moihtl'P<' Mouse Moo/fice MvD"""","",, D........

Dnrib Pcoat Program Fies pdonl. PoWer 0_

~
~39M8

Figure 4.1 b Desktop window for C: drive using Classic view.

At the top right of almost every desktop window are three icons. They
are as follows:
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• minimise: if you click on this, the title of the window will appear
in the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, but there will be no
window open .

• or .maximise or reduce in size: if the window does not

occupy the full screen, then you will see • which means that the
window will be maximised if you click on this: if the window is
occupying the full screen, then you will see .and clicking on this
will reduce the window size .

• close: if you click on this, you will close (exit from) the
application. If you click this in Word, depending on what you are
doing, you may see a message on the screen, asking, for example, if
you want to save the file you have been working on.

If a window does not fill the screen, it is a good idea to click on the
centre icon of those above to maximise the window so that it fills the
screen. Even then, you will see that the taskbar is still at the bottom of
the screen.

The top line of the window tells you which window you have open.
On the left there is an appropriate icon. If you click on that, the things
you can do are self-explanatory. If you click Move or Size, then the
cursor changes shape and allows you to move either the window as a
whole or one of its edges. Maximize and Minimize have the same
effect as the symbols at the top right of the window.

On the second line of the screen, there is also a list of words: File, Edit
etc. These are menus and, if you select them, the menu will drop down.
Depending on which view you are using you may just have to mouse
over them (Web view) or click on them (Classic view). Move away (Web
view) or click again or elsewhere in the window (Classic view) and the
menu will close. Anything you can do with the window or the files
within that folder can be accessed from these menus and we shall be
looking at many aspects of them as we go through this guide.

Below the menus are one or more toolbars. Note that the toolbars
contain icons that are graphical equivalents of the commands on the
menus. Clicking an icon is often quicker than accessing the menu;
what the icon does is usually printed below it in desktop menus; in
application menus, you often have to mouse over to reveal the name
of an icon. Some of these operations we shall discuss later, but a few
are worth looking at now:

59
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

Back: this takes you to the last window you looked at. If the
8-* one on the screen is the first or only window you have looked
at, then the icon will be 'greyed' out, which means that it is not
operational.

Forward: this is often also 'greyed' out and will be when you
open the window initially. However, if you move to another
window and then back to the first, clicking on this icon will take you
to the second window, and so on.

(b] Up: this moves you up the directory structure, as we shall see in
U more detail in Chapter 5. So, if you are looking at the window
for drive C:, clicking Up will move you to My Computer. You can see
where you will move to by clicking on the down arrow at the right of
the Address bar.

t2V Undo: this is a very important operation (and applies

Undo everywhere in Windows). Click this and you will cancel the last
operation you carried out (the keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+Z). Note,
however, that this applies to editing operations, like Delete, and not to
display options, in which you just choose another option. The
difference is that display options, like changing a window size, only
affect what you see. Editing operations actually change the files on
your system!

Delete: If you select a file or folder within the window and

Delete then click this icon, you will see a message asking you either if
you want to delete the file or if you want to transfer it to the Recycle
Bin (with Yes and No options in each case). Which message you see
will depend upon which folder you are looking at. If it is a folder on
your hard disk, as we have discussed in Chapter 2, deletion just means
copy to the Recycle Bin. However, if you are looking at a removable
disk, then deletion means exactly that and the file is not recoverable -
so be careful!

-~..--. Properties: If you select a file within the window, then

tli
PIQPIIdiet (usually, but not always) clicking on this icon will provide
you with information about that file. The exact form of the information
will vary depending on the type of file.

~ Views: Clicking on the down arrow to the right of this icon

v_ not only allows you to choose between the Web and Classic
views, but also allows you to choose some other options (see Figure

..... ..
4.2):

60 • ECDL·
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - t.......HO •••••

• .... Ieen
Spleen
Liot
Q....
Figure 4.2 Options available under Views.

• large icons, as previously;

• small icons (Figure 4.3);
• a list (Figure 4.4);

Figure 4.3 Selecting the small icons option.

Selea ~n Item to
view Its
desalptJon .

Figure 4.4 Viewing items as a list.

61
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

• a list plus details (Figure 4.5).

1 94GB
R.......obieO""
SjnlemFcIdet
SyotemFcIdet
SyotemFcIdet
SyotemFcIdet
Select an Item to
vieW tts SyotemFcIdet
de,,,,,p~Qn.

Figure 4.5 Viewing items as a list plust details.

Remember that in the Classic view you see one pane and in the Web
view two panes.

Self Study
Compare the different views of information in windows.

Below the toolbars is the Address window, which gives you the full
address of what you are looking at. To move to another window, you
can either type the new address in this window or, what is probably
easier, browse by clicking the down-arrow at its right-hand side to
display the structure of your system in a similar way to Windows
Explorer.

Exercise 4.3
If the window contains more information than can actually be seen in the
window, then on the right-hand side of each pane in the window is a vertical
scroll bar which can be used to display the rest of the files. You can use this
in several ways:

1. Put the cursor on the sliding box and hold down the left mouse button. Then
just move the mouse, and thus the box, up or down until you reach the line
you want in the text.

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2. Move the sliding box by pointing at either the single arrow at the top, to move
up, or the single arrow at the bottom, to move down the document, and hold
the left mouse button down until, again, you reach the line you want.

3. Click in the space above or below the sliding box and you will move up or
down the document by one screen at a time; repeat until you reach the line
you want.

There may also be a horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the window. You
can use this in the same way; just substitute left and right for up and down in
the above descriptions.

There may be a third button or a scroll wheel on your mouse. Both are
intended to make scrolling easier.

At the bottom of the window are three boxes, which may contain various
pieces of information. These are:

Left·hand box: the number of objects in the window or the number of

objects selected (if any are selected).

Centre box: the size of the file selected; if a disk is selected, the size of the
disk and how much free space; if nothing is selected or if a directory is
selected the box will be blank, as it will be if the directory only contains other
(sub )-directories.

Right·hand box: where in the system you are, e.g. My Computer.

Note ...... ."... ....... window Is eel for full 8CNeft, WOU
cell.u. ... the .,...... t . . . . . . . the boIIoIn of the
screen. D.p ....... on how yow' . , . ..... Is eel up, .......
IIIQ . . . . be _ 0IIIce taa . . . Cor....,... • De8ktop or

Acceuortes too ..." down the rigid............. of the

sc......

4.4. Moving and Resizing Windows

We have already looked at how you can resize a window using the
icons in the top right corner of every window. You can also resize by
placing the cursor on the edge of the window (if it does not occupy
the full screen), and the cursor will turn into a double-headed arrow
(Figure 4.6). You can then move in either of the directions indicated by

63
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

the arrow to move that boundalY of the window. If you place the
cursor at a corner of the window, then you move both of the
boundaries that meet at that corner. Selecting the icon in the top left
hand corner and then choosing size allows you to do the same thing,
but is an unnecessary stage.

-
lH _ _ _

......
.,....f_
RIII'IIW.-.o..

I~ ;=,=~_f_

-,-
.,....f_
I~ s,.-fctilr

Figure 4.6 The cursor turns into a double-headed arrow

when resizing the window.

To move a window (providing it does not occupy the full screen),

simply place the cursor on the title bar at the top of the window and
drag and drop. Again, using the icon at the top left and the menu
produced by selecting it allows you to do the same thing, but once
more this is unnecessary. This menu also allows you to maximise,
minimise and close the window (repeating the icons at the top right).
Occasionally this may be useful because another window is obscuring
your access to the top right of the window (some windows can be set
so that they are always on top).

Self Study
Open some windows on the desktop and change their sizes by the
various methods described above.

4.5. Applications Windows

Applications windows are similar to Desktop windows, except that
they usually contain more toolbars, menus, etc. They are usually
customisable and so may look different on different computers.

For standard applications, such as Word, Excel, Access and Internet

Explorer, the windows will be explained in the appropriate module.
Here we will look briefly at the Word window (Figure 4.7) so as to

..... ..
obtain a generic idea of the typical characteristics of an applications

64 • E DL .
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - t.....
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window. Most other applications will have a similar layout, but will
vary in detail.

Exercise 4.5
Before we go on to describe the different areas of the screen, notice that,
when Word starts up, it opens a new document, called Document1, for you;
the name is given at the top of the window after the Word icon and, just to
remind you, the words 'Microsoft Word'. In most cases you will not use
Document1, but you can do so, typing in the text area and saving the
document.

w--
Figure 4.7 The Word window.

At the top right of the screen are three icons, common to all Windows
applications and described above in Section 4.3.

The second line of the screen applies to the file you currently have open. On
the left there is a Word file icon (a page with the Word icon superimposed). If
you click on that, you will see a menu in which you can change the document
window (which up to now is integrated with the Word window itself). If you
click on Restore, the document window becomes separate (and the icon
moves to that window). The other things in this menu we have already
discussed.

On the second line of the screen, there are the menus, which are similar to
those for the desktop windows. Any1hing you can do with Word can be
accessed from these menus. See Module 3 for further details.

Below the menus are one or more toolbars. Note that the tool bars on your
system may not be exactly the same as shown in Figure 4.7. Again the

65
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

tool bars contain icons that are graphical equivalents of the commands on the
menus; there are also a few icons at the bottom left of the screen. Clicking the
icon is often quicker than accessing the menu; if you put your cursor on an
icon (usually called mousing over it), the meaning of the icon will be
displayed in a small box.

Self Study
Open Word and try mousing over the icons and opening the menus,
so that you start to understand the window and its contents. (To open
Word, the simplest approach is to go to Start, select Programs and
then select Microsoft Word. To close Word, click on the X on the top
right corner. If you are asked if you wish to save any files, then
answer No.) Also open Excel in the same way and see the differences
from, and similarities with, the Word window.

TooIbars do not ...". to ... at the top of the 8Creen;

they c.n .a.o ... moved around the 8CNeft _ that they
ftoIIt. " you W . . . to .......... In that WIlY. you c.n,
elthough most people ...we ....... fixed at the top of the
8Creen; the ......... benefit In, doing ....... thllt . . Icon Is
elweys In the ...... piece.

Below the toolbars is the ruler, immediately above the text window,
which shows the margins you are using and any tabs you have set for
the line you are on in the text. At the left there is a box showing the
type of tab you can currently set. If you are in page view, there will
also be a ruler down the left-hand side of the page. There will also
probably be scroll bars on the right-hand side and at the bottom of the
window; this depends on the whether the whole document or page
can be seen within one window. Finally, within the Word window, you
have a line, the status bar, that gives you more information such as
the page and section showing on the screen, the total number of pages
and whether, for example, you are in Insert or Overtype mode. For
more information see Module 3 on word processing).

Applications obviously differ, because they are designed to fulfil

different functions. However, virtually all applications have windows
with a similar appearance to the Word layout, with menus and
toolbars. What the menus and toolbars do will vary widely between
applications, but generically they are the same. Similarly, scrollbars
always work the same way.

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4.6. Moving Between Windows and

Between Applications
Windows is what is called a multitasking system, in that various different
operations can be carried on at the same time. In fact, they all take turns
to use the central processor, but this happens so fast that the user is not
usually aware of it, at least in principle. Sometimes, however, mainly
depending on what you are dOing, how much memory (RAM) you have
and how powerful or fast your processor is, the sharing is very obvious
and you have to wait for a response from the computer. However, here
we are only concerned with how you move between these applications
that are running and between windows.

Moving between windows and applications is not quite the same thing,
because, as we have seen, there are two kinds of window, desktop
windows, which are almost literally windows onto part of the system,
and application windows. Nevertheless, what you do is the same.

If you have a number of windows visible on the screen, i.e. none of

them occupy the full screen, then the window that is active will have
its title bar highlighted. Active means that any conunands you type on
the keyboard will apply to that particular window, and highlighted
refers to the title bar which is a dark blue in Windows 98 as it is
supplied (but this can be changed, so your system may be different).
The title bars of all non-active windows will be 'greyed out'. If one
window occupies the full screen (and you can see no other smaller
windows), then this is the active window.

To make a different window active, you simply click in it if you can

see it. While clicking anywhere in the window will have the effect of
making the window active, it is safer to click in the title bar if you can.
You then know that you cannot select a file or instigate a process
inadvertently by holding down the mouse button for too long.

If you cannot see the title bar or if your active window occupies the
full screen, there are two ways to move to another window. The first
involves using the taskbar along the bottom of the screen, where all
open windows are represented. To make another window active, just
click the box on the task bar that represents it and the new window
will open. This also applies if you have windows minimised, that is
they only appear on the taskbar. If you are not sure which window is
which, then just select until you have the one you want. Note that a
full-screen (maximised) window will immediately occupy the full
screen if selected, while any window that is not full screen will open

67
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

on top of whatever was displayed before you made the selection (see
Figure 4.8), unless you have a window set to be always on top.

Figure 4.8 Example of windows opening on top of each other.

The final way of changing the active window is to use the key
combination Alt+ Tab. This opens a small window in the centre of your
screen (see Figure 4.9) showing the open windows with the active
window surrounded by a square and its title displayed below. If you
hold down Alt and press Tab again, then you will see the square move
to the next application and the title change appropriately. You can
cycle through all the open windows. To make a window active, you
simply release the keys when it is surrounded by the square. It is
useful to note that, although you cycle through the operations, if you
key AIt+ Tab a second time, the previously active window will be active
again. This can be very useful if you are switching backwards and
forwards between two applications or windows.

loidilao Anid..e 3.01

Figure 4.9 Active window surrounded by a square.

You can, of course, also minimise the currently active window, but you
will not usually be able to predict which window will then become
active.
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You -W ....... Iook .........IIdGp ..............

.......................... c:lc:k .............. ....
............ 'Ihen,au ....... _ .......... ......
4.to.. Select .......... AI ..................... ....
.................... ...., ............. ,... ..........d
.................. c:lc:k ....................... ...........
...... 4.t ........................... AlLYou ...
......... - - , a u ope..... .., ...... clc:kIntI ...........
........................... .............. Too. . .
....... IIuI .... etr.cta ............ opIIone lor ..........
wIndow............. ~4.tt "4.t3.

loohss •
Ca.icade \II1'Idows
Tile \II1'Idows HorizcriaIy
Tile \II1'Idows V~
Mininize AI \II1'Idows
Properties
Figure 4.10a Menu option to Minimize All windows.

loobn

Undo Mnmize AI

Figure 4.10b Menu option to restore all windows to

their state before the Minimize All command was
applied.

69
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

Figure 4.11 Example of Cascading windows.

• • can ~ • . • h:: ,"

.... _. - .

Figure 4.12 Example of windows Tiled Horizontally.

..... ..
Figure 4.13 Example of windows Tiled Vertically.

70 • ECDL·
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - t........HO •••••

......ver WGU ....... the .ctIve window. It . . . good . . .

to..". the ... WGU" wOIIdng on In the ~ acthre
window........ In prine...... WGU ........ Ita ..... to go back
..... ..". II. thInp do ............ go ............. ......
......... . .&dow...... have waye of ........ back ..... that
have ...... Ioat or ~ they . . not .. olllroof .....
anyway It ........ not to ..............

Summary
In this chapter:

• We have looked at what windows are.

• We have looked at the parts of a d sektop window.
• We have seen how to move and resize windows.
• We have looked at the parts of an applicatio n window .
• We have seen how to move between windows and applications.

71
 Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

In this chapter you will learn how to

Utilise file and directory structures.

Create directories and subdirectories.
View the properties of a directory.
Recognise different types of icons representing files
and how to view the properties of these files.
Rename files and directories.

... •
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D. Penfold, ECDL Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files .•• •.
•
• E CDL.

© Springer-Verlag London 2000

 File and Directory Structures
•••• 0 ••••
5.1. Directory Structures
Some of these topics we have touched on before, but here we will
attempt a systematic approach.

To look at directory (or folder) structures we really need to understand

the overall structure of the file system, which we mentioned in Chapter
1, where we talked about filing cabinets and inverted trees. The
concept is very simple; you can either think of files as folders within
other folders within filing cabinet drawers within the cabinet, within
the filing room etc.; alternatively you can think of them as leaves
growing on twigs, growing on branches, growing on bigger branches,
growing from the root (for some reasons the trunk never features, but
this may be because the terminology originated in the USA and the
trunk means what we in the UK call the car boot!). Figures 5.1 and 5.2
repeat the figures from Chapter 1 that we used to illustrate these
concepts. Remember that, from a practical viewpoint, there is no limit
to the number of levels of sub-directories you can create, although you
will find that, unless you are systematic and use a structured approach,
creating too many levels will mean that it is difficult to remember
where files are.

Figure 5.1 Windows uses cabinet and folder metaphors

for the file structure.

Figure 5.2 The inverted tree metaphor can be used

for the file structure.

73
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

Self Study
Look back at the work you did in Chapter 1 and see if you feel that
the directory structure you designed there for your ECDL work is still
appropriate or does it need modifying?

Although when you look lit your .pt..... ,ou .......

........... atructwe. In f8ct the ........ not atONClI• •
thIIt lit ... ThQ . . acatteNd In ......1 MCtIona ..I over
,OW' hIIf'd dIak ..... the Op.I.'.... apt.... hendIes the . . .
of linking all thoM piece. t ............................... to
the ............ you (..... IIIcroaoft ..... other vencIora, ..
ve
given ........ In f8ct. wit.............. the pIec. . c.n
become ao ac.at...ecll (the . . . . . . _acra..d ••
............., thIIt 8CCeU to ....... aIowa down. WIndow.
provide. what .. celled ................ tool to aort out
..... aItuwtIon. H you think thIIt ..... ...., be • probl.m. . . .

We have already seen how opening a window representing a folder

shows you the files and other folders within that folder. We shall look
again at this when we look at information about files (Section 5.6).

5.2. The Structure of Files

In fact, we are not really going to discuss the structure of files, or least
their internal structure, because that is determined by the application
that was used to create the file. We shall look at simple texl files in
Section 5.8, but other file structures are not readable without the
application that created them (or a compatible application). Such
structures include not only what you see on the screen when you
open an application, but many other codes that tell the application
what to do with the data you see.

5.3. How To Create Directories and Sub-

Directories
There are two usual ways to create directories and sub-directories, by
using Desktop windows and by using Windows Explorer.

... •
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 File and Directory Structures
• • • • @• • • •

Exercise 5.3
From the Desktop, you do the following:

1. Open My Computer and select and open folders until you reach the folder
where you want to create a new (sub)folder. Of course , if you already have a
short cut on your desktop to this folder, you can open it directly. Alternatively,
you can type the full path name in the Address box.

2. Open the File menu and select New. Another menu will appear to the right,
with Folder and Shortcut at the top (Figure 5.3). (We have already seen
this in Chapter 3.)

Jio F§YOriIeI Ii",

. ._ . . . ~ fdclor
.<I ,S,hoItaA
HTMlO~

t1 W""" Sound
• TeoIOoc:u...t
81mop1_ h........... doc
!) MICIoooIt E>alWorI<w..
~ooi< 0... MICIoooIt PowooP.... ~
tfose !Jl M..oodI Office 8n101
..,.,.,........rrm~ , 0 .... Olhce O~
...,v"",e,;;w"ItS
doscnpbon. Adobe F,amoM'" O~
!) MICIoooIt WOld Ooc:u...t
~ MICIoooIt 0 ... lit.
,!:J BnoIcMe
M..IOII"""O_ 6.00,_
MICIOIIJ"'" PlcluroPltiohor 6.0 1 _

Figure 5.3 Menu for creating new folder.

3. This time select Folder. A new folder will appear in the window (after the
existing files , irrespective of alphabetical order), labelled, not surprisingly,
New Folder; these words will be highlighted (Figure 5.4) This will be true
whatever view of the information you have chosen.

75
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

fie Edt '{- jio F........ Ii.

Bod.
. IbJ
Up
~
U. COllI'
fa
Paola

~
ecd <labut.btI h....,.."....doe
ecdl
New Folder
file folde,

Modified :
12/06/2000 00:02

Figure 5.4 Creation of a new folder.

4. Type the name you want to give the folder and then strike the Enter (Return)
key or click somewhere else. The folder will have the name you have given it.
If you do not give it a new name, perhaps clicking somewhere else
inadvertently, which is particularly easy to do in the Web view, then you can
rename it, as described in Section 5.7. Next time you open this folder window,
the file will be in the correct place, depending on how you have decided to
view the files, by date, name, etc.

From Windows Explorer the stages are very similar:

1. Open Windows Explorer.

2. Select the directory or folder within which you wish to create a new folder.

3. Open the File menu and select New.

After this the stages are the same again. The new folder will appear in the
pane of the Explorer that shows the Directory content. Again it depends how
you are displaying the file names on exactly what will appear. Figure 5.5
shows the folder window, with Large Icons selected. Figure 5.6 shows
Windows Explorer with Details selected.

... •
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 File and Directory Structures
•••• 0 ••••

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Figure 5.5 Folder window with Large Icons selected.

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Figure 5.6 Folder window with Details selected.

As noted above, there is no practical limitation on the number of levels you

can nest directories or folders, so to create a folder within your new folder,
you simply open the new folder and repeat the process.

Self Study
Create the ECDL file system that you reviewed in Section 1 of this
chapter. My Documents is a good place to put it.

77
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

5.4. Examining a Directory/Folder

So you have opened the window representing a directory or folder.
What else can this tell you? Similarly to the way we looked at
information about disk drives in Chapter 2, we can look at files or
directories in folders other than via My Computer. So to get
information about a directory, you look not in its own window, but in
the window of its parent directory, where if you select the icon for the
child directory, you will see, in the Web view only, information about
the child directory in the left pane (see Figure 5.7). For a file, you can
see similar information (Figure 5.8). In the Classic view, this
information is not displayed. For a file you can obtain the same
information and more by accessing the properties (by using the icon
on the tool bar, selecting Properties in the File menu or selecting
Properties from the menu produced by right clicking) - see Figure
5.9. However, if you do this for a directory, you see the date it was
created, rather than the date it was modified. This may seem rather
inconsistent - and indeed it is, but it is so easy to switch between
views that one can regard this as a richness rather than an oddity.

-
c......
,-.. rolll.

2 l1O'S1lHll' ..... '

L:J
-
t:..J
Sc.en 0.111..1..,

Figure 5.7 Accessing directory information in Web view.

-
w ___
. .~ ... IH"I

1 1/0611"111
_ _a H
--- ..... D.lJl,.I~

,.,q "-""

Figure 5.8 Accessing file information in Web view.

... •
78
..... . .
•
• ECDL ·
 File and Directory Structures
• • • • @• • • •

•
~I

T,.. __

~ 1:'...-:1
So. "lQIfIIII.831_l _ _ _

MSOOS _ 1IUoIIMU_
~ 23",'.'141211

-
_ O!Jo.N'!I'J111.l116
__ .2Jo.N2IIOO

Figure 5.9 Accessing file information from

Properties in Classic view.

As we have seen, the name of a directory or a file is displayed below

its icon in the parent directory window and, of course, it is displayed
in the title bar of its own window.

If you use the Details view, you will be able to see much of the same
information about the files and directories, but in a more compact
form (as in Figure 5.10). Note that you can always obtain the same
information in the same format via Windows Explorer, so the option
you take will depend on what you find Simpler. We shall look at file
attributes below.

RoF_
Rof_
Rof_
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wnt,e Document.
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ZlI05Il9!18 17 52
1111J&/1007 1129
0iWif1007 1121

,,11<8 c-
Figure 5.10 Accessing file information via the Details view.

If you open the directory or folder of interest, as we saw in Chapter 4,

the first two boxes at the bottom of the window give you information

79
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

about the number of files in the directory and the size of the file
selected. In Windows Explorer, however, the middle box shows the
combined size of all the files in the directory Cif none of the files are
selected).

Self Study
Select a file and a directory and see what you can find out about them,
using the approaches given above.

5.5. Common Types of File

You will have noticed that files have different icons associated with
them. While these can be chosen at random, in fact they represent the
application that is associated with that type of file. This may be the
program used to create the file, but not necessarily, and there is
occasionally confusion, because the association is based on the file
extension (the letters - usually three - after the dot in the file name)
and sometimes you find that two applications use the same extension.
On the whole, though, this is not common and certainly not so for the
most frequently used files.

Figure 5.11 Shows a window containing a number of application files.

You will see, as we noted with the Word window in the previous
section, that the icon usually contains the application icon. Common
file extensions and icons include the following:

_d
!b4(ICIIICI_G.
a"""d
low _ _.
s......d .....
tJ
B«IoO>d dMIot:krb::
tJ
tbtqliEl_Q.

S.led. .... Item m v..""

!JLaw low
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5<0_
If'
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IU cNf.Ct'IDtIoon.
'- ~_CL IIOCIftIIl _cu.duc R..... do<

Figure 5.11 A number of application files •

•exe. This is an executable file, i.e. a program. Programs tend to have

the icon of their application, as we have seen for Word.

... •
80
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 File and Directory Structures
• • • • @• • • •
•bat. This is another type of program file .

•com. This is yet another type of program file (for the purposes
of ECDL you do not need to understand the differences
between the types of program file) .

.doc. This is usually a Microsoft Word file. However the icon

can also represent an RTF file, which is also usually a word
processing file, in Rich Text Format, which will be considered in more
detail in Module 3. RTF files are in a form such that the formatting
commands can be read as text. This format is often used as an
exchange format between word processing programs and as a safe
way of sending a word processing file via email, if viruses are likely to
be a problem.

~ .txt (or sometimes .asc). This is usually a plain text file. The
!l- .asc is short for ASCII, which is the name of the coding system
used for the alphabet, numerals and a few other symbols .

. xls. This is almost always an Excel spreadsheet file .

. ppt. This is usually a presentation file produced using

Microsoft PowerPoint.

.pdf. This is almost always a file in Portable Document Format

(produced and read with Adobe Acrobat software). It is
effectively an electronic facsimile of a printed page, which can be read
using the freely available Acrobat reader.

.zip. This is a compressed file format, which is frequently used

to transfer large files either on disk or across the Internet.

.htm. This will be an HTML (hypertext) file that represents a

World Wide Web document. Note that the icon given here is
that of Microsoft's web browser, called Internet Explorer. There are
other browsers, the most common of which is Netscape Navigator. If
your system is set up to use this, rather than Internet Explorer, then
you will see the Navigator icon .

.jpg. This is an image file in JPEG format. This format, named

after the Joint Photographic Experts Group, is widely used on
the web. The icon used here is for Micrografx Picture Publisher, but
there are a large number of different picture editing files available, so
your system may show a different icon.

81
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

Exercise 5.5
This is just a sample list of common file types. If you go to either My
Computer or Windows Explorer and open View and then Folder Options,
you will open first the window in which you can choose the view that you want
to use. However, if you click on the File Types tab, you will see a window
that looks like Figure 5.12, which indicates what each of the icons represents.
If you select one, in the area below you will then see the icon, the file
extension and the program that opens this file by default, i.e. if you open it in
a window or in Windows Explorer. As you will see in Figure 5.12, you can
change these, remove them and add new ones, but that is outside the ECDL
syllabus.

r o ld e . Oplron. 51 EJ

Adobe Acrobat D~
AdobeACIobol Fonno D~
Adobe F._ak.. Book
AdobeF._ak.. D~
Adobe F._ak.. lnte":h,,ngo F
AnrrJ>Med c.....
~A;dcabon
ART Irnogo

ErUnooan. WAB

CcrionI Tl'P8 (MIMEI

o Cancel I_~--I
Figure 5.12 Details of what icons represent can
be found in File Types.

If a file has the generic Windows icon ( IJII ) associated with it, this
means that Windows does not recognise the icon and therefore, when
you open the file by clicking on it, a window will open (rather like
Figure 5.13) in which you are asked to select the applicatio n program
that you wish to use to open the file.

... •
82
. .
•
• ECDL ·
** ,
 File and Directory Structures
• • • • @• • • •

CIICI< Ihe _am )'CU wwi 10 use 10 open Ihe hie

'QVUNK32.GIO·
~_ d' GIO' Net
'*'"
If Ihe _am )'CU wwi II not .. Ihe "'. Other

Conc:eI I Ojhor

Figure 5.13 Icons can be changed, removed or added.

5.6. File Attributes

We have already talked about file properties - otherwise known as
attributes. If you use the Details option to look at a window or within
Windows Explorer, you will see these. A detailed view is shown in
Figure 5.14. The attributes are:

s.1 Tp I NocIiId
"apha File Foldel 11106J2(XX) 17:39
Backup 01 Fogcaps... 24K.B MiclOsoIt WOfd Bac. .. 12J0612OOO 17:44
Backup 01 section .. 29KB Microsolt WOld Bac.. . 1210612COJ 13:27
Backup 01 section .. 62KB Microsoft WOfd Bac .. . 12106121Dl 14:50
Figure 5.14 Examples of file attributes.

File name: This is not as absolute as you might think, because you
can change the name of a file , as we shall see in the section below,
without changing the contents and nature of the file at all. However, if
you try to change the extension (and by implication the file type), then
Windows will ask you if you mean to do this. As we have discussed,
the name is preceded by an icon.

File size: This is given in bytes, where effectively a byte represents a

character or a code. Thus, although a text file may contain 400 words
with perhaps 2,500 characters (including spaces and carriage returns),
a formatted Word file of the same text may have a size that is ten
times as great because of the inclusion of the formatting information.
You need to keep an eye on file sizes, because eventually you may

83
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

run out of disk space, although disks are now so large that this
becomes increasingly unlikely. Size can also be important, however, if
you are transferring a file, either on disk or over the Internet.

Type: This is almost redundant, but it confirms what the icon shows
you about the file.

Modified: This shows the date and time that the file was either created
or last modified. If this is a file that you have created, then it is
straightforward. However, sometimes files that have come from
elsewhere may show the date and time that they were transferred onto
your system or even some other date. So do not put too much trust in
this information, except for your own files, which are likely to be the
ones where this information is most important. If the date and time are
shown in a format that you do not like, then you can change it, as we
discussed in Chapter 2 (using International Settings - not Date/Time -
in the Control Panel).

Self Study
Examine the attributes of different kinds of files. Are some types of
files smaller than others? Are the system files older. Find some files that
have never been modified. In all, try to understand what the file
attributes can tell you.

5.7. Renaming Files and Directories

We have mentioned renaming when discussing the creation of a new
file and we have already discussed renaming short cuts. The procedure
for renaming files and directories is very similar:

Exercise 5.7

1. Select the file or folder that you want to rename, either in My Computer or
Windows Explorer.

2. Choose Rename from the File menu or from the menu produced by right
clicking. The existing name will be highlighted.

3. Type the new name and either click elsewhere or strike the Enter/Return key.

Next time you open the window or change the order to alphabetical, the file
will appear correctly under its new name. As noted above, if you try to
change a file extension, Windows will ask you if you really want to do this .

.. . •
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•••• 0 ••••
Self Study
Experiment with renaming files. See what happens when you try to
rename a program file. (It is probably better to follow the advice
given.)

Summary
In this chapter:

• We have looked at directory structures.

• We have realised that we can only look at the external strucnlre of
files.
• We have learned how to create directories and sub-directories.
• We have looked at how we can obtain information about directories
and files.
• We have looked at common types of file.
• We have considered file attributes.
• We have seen how to rename files and directories.

85
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

Selecting,
Copying,
Moving and
Deleting Files
and Directories
In this chap er ou will learn how to

elect files .
Copy and move file and directories.
Delete files and directories.
Copy files to a diskette as backup.

... •
86
D. Penfold, ECDL Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files . .
•
• ECDL ·
* • •
© Springer-Verlag London 2000
 Selecting, Copying, Moving and Deleting Files and Directories
• • • • • @• • •
6.1. Introduction
This chapter is about doing what one might call secretarial or
administrative things with files and directories as entities. In other
words, think of a file in conventional terms, that is as a bundle of
papers, which you can choose from the filing cabinet, move around,
throwaway and even copy without actually referring to the contents of
that file. Just as you can do these things with a real file of papers, so
you can do them, rather more easily and certainly with less effort, with
files and directories on your computer. Copying the complete contents
of a directory can be achieved with a few clicks of the mouse button.

To save repeating the phrase 'file or directory', throughout this section

when we say file this means either a file or a directory.

6.2. Selecting Files

If you want to carry out an action on a file, the first thing you need to
do, as we have already seen in previous sections, is to select it. You
have already seen how this is done and you know that, if you are in
the Web view, you only have to move the cursor over the icon or file
name representing the file, while in the Classic view you click once on
the icon or file name. It is obviously easier just to have to move the
cursor to the file, but in the Web view if you move the cursor onto
another icon, then that icon is selected instead. On the other hand in
the Classic view the file you have selected remains selected until you
make a decision to select another file, or de-select the first one by
clicking it again or clicking in a blank area of the window (with the
Web view, just moving the cursor to a blank area deselects the file).

Exercise 6.2
Before we go on to consider what you can do once you have selected a file,
we shall look at ways in which you can select more than one file:

• To select all the files in the active window, open the Edit menu and choose
Select All. Even easier is to use the keyboard shortcut and enter Ctrl+A.
• To select adjacent files, you can select one and then hold down the Shift
key as you select others. All those you passed your cursor over in the Web
view or clicked on in the Classic view will then be included in the selection.
If you are looking at icons you can also marquee select. This means that
you draw a box in the window by clicking at an appropriate blank spot in
the window and hold down the left mouse button until the box includes all
the files you want to select; then you release the mouse button and those
files will be selected. See Figure 6.1.

87
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

.ut.lul,'.'

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-
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.......wo1
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Total '11. $i:e

373 ... 29 bytes

fKOOnlOl.doc:
umon2'02.doc
ndlon20J .doc
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l&&8 141_
Figure 6.1 Using the marquee select feature.

• To select non-adjacent files, you again select the first one you want and
then hold down the Ctrl key while you either click on the others you want in
turn (Classic view) or pass the cursor over them (Web view). The latter is
more difficult because you have to take what may be a rather complex path
with the cursor in order to avoid all the files you do not want to select. Here,
using the Classic view certainly seems simpler.

To de-select a particular file you effectively repeat the process on the files that
have been selected. Thus, if you want to de-select a series of adjacent files
(and they have to be at the beginning or the end of the selection), de-select
the first or last and, keeping the Shift key depressed, click in the Classic view
or move the cursor over the file in the Web view for each of the other files you
want to de-select.

In fact, it is generally easier to hold down the Ctrl key and de-select files one
by one (and here they do not have to be at the beginning or end of the
selected list).

Self Study
Experiment with different methods of selecting and de-selecting files to
see which you prefer.

6.3. Copying and Moving Files

We have already seen that you can move icons by using drag and
drop. That is, you select a file and then, holding down the mouse
button, you drag the icon (or file name - it works with file names as
... •
88
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• ECDL·
 Selecting, Copying, Moving and Deleting Files and Directories
• • • • • G) • • •

well) until it is where you want it, when you release the mouse
button. In fact, you can carry out drag and drop in more than one
way. If you use the left mouse button,. as we have done previously,
then, if the target window is on the same disk drive (i.e. it has the
same letter such as C:), the file will be moved. However, if the disk
drive has a different letter (e.g. a diskette A:), then a copy will take
place. The reason for this is obvious; it reduces the risk of files being
lost. While you have the button held down, if a copy is due to take
place, a small plus sign appears. If the file is a program file (with a
.exe or .com extension), instead of the plus sign you will see the
Shortcut arrow appear, because instead of either a copy or move, a
shortcut will be created. This is because moving program files can
mean that they will not operate properly. In fact, if you open the
Program Files window, you will see a warning to this effect in the Web
view. The different versions of the icon as it is moved are shown in
Figure 6.2.

Figure 6.2a The '+' symbol indicates an icon is being copied.

r';.:"';!.1," " :
~~'~
'\}".,i
Screened
Aooms.doc

Figure 6.2b No '+' symbol means the icon is being moved.

An alternative approach is to use the right mouse button when you

drag and drop. This time (whatever the target window), when you
release the mouse button, you will be given four options, Move Here,
Copy Here, Create Shortcut(s) Here and Cancel. This is probably the
easiest and least risky approach, other than using the Clipboard, which
we shall describe in Section 6.4.

Selecting and moving or copying groups of files is not always as

simple as it sounds, because, unless you are careful, you can find that
you have changed your selection without intending to do so, just
because your timing was not quite right. So, if you plan to use this
approach, it is a good idea to practise.

89
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

In addition, drag and drop really requires you to have both the source
area or window and your target area or window visible on the screen
at the same time. While you can drag and drop off the screen by
moving the cursor to the edge of the screen, what happens then is not
always easy to control.

Thus, an alternative method is useful. This uses what is called the

Clipboard and techniques called Copy, Cut and Paste.

6.4. The Clipboard, Copy, Cut and Paste

Exercise 6.4
To copy a file or group of files from one directory to another, you first select
what you want to copy and then choose Copy, either from the Edit menu of
the window where you are viewing the file(s) (this can be either My Computer
or Windows Explorer) or from the pop-up menu you see when you right click
on your selection. What happens then, although this is not obvious from what
you see on the screen (nothing appears to happen), is that the files you have
selected are stored (usually described as placed) on the Clipboard, which
you can think of as a special area in the computer memory. The term
Clipboard is used because, if you think of the physical analogy, you can take
a piece of paper and add it to a clipboard until you decide where it should be
re-filed.

If you decide that, instead of copying a file, you want to move it, then instead
of choosing Copy from the Edit menu or the pop-up menu, you choose Cut.
This time you will see something happen; the selected file(s) will change in
appearance, becoming faded with the outlines dotted (see Figure 6.3). Again
the file has been copied to the Clipboard.

modu le 2
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Figure 6.3 Result of selecting Cut from the Edit menu .

.. . •
90
.•• •.
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 Selecting, Copying, Moving and Deleting Files and Directories
• • • • • @• • •
In either case, you then open your target window (again either in My
Computer or in Windows Explorer) and go again to the Edit menu or the pop-
up menu produced by right clicking and select Paste. The file (or its icon)
will then appear in the new window. You will also notice that, if you Cut the
original file, it will now disappear from the original window.

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you turn JOUI' comput... off or you cerrr out enother Cut or
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to ... reteined on .... CllpbD .......... inde.d, WIndows 2000
.llows • few It..... to ... reteInecL

The keyboard shortcuts for Copy, Cut and Paste are probably some of the
most widely used. They are:

• Copy: Ctrl+C
• Cut: Ctrl+X
• Paste: Ctrl+V

You will note that, along with Ctrl+Z (Undo), they are at the bottom left of the
keyboard and, even for one-finger typists, are easy to access.

The other point worth noting is that all the move and copy operations can be
reversed with Undo (Ctrl+Z).

91
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

6.5. Deleting Files and Directories

Exercise 6.5
Deleting files is similar to copying and moving, except that once you have
selected the file(s) you want to remove, you either click the right mouse button
or you go to the File menu of the window containing the file(s) you want to
delete and select Delete. Even simpler is just to depress the Del (delete) key
on your keyboard. Whichever of these three options you take, you will then
see a message asking you to confirm the deletion (Figure 6.4). In fact, the
message will be different depending on where the file is situated. As we have
noted in Chapter 3, files deleted from the hard disk are actually moved to the
Recycle Bin so that you can get them back again, while files deleted from a
floppy disk are actually deleted (even Undo does not work here). So you need
to be sure that you do indeed want to delete these files.

Confum F tie Delete EI

Figure 6.4a Files deleted from the hard disk are sent to
the Recycle Bin.

Conium ••Ie 0 elete EJ

Figure 6.4b Files deleted from floppy disks are erased

immediately.

If you indicate that you want to delete a directory, the message you see will ask
if you want to delete/move to the Recycle Bin the directory and all its contents,
just to remind you that this is not just a single file that you want to remove. You
can also drag and drop a file to the Recycle Bin window (or onto its icon), but, if
you do that, you will not see the message asking you confirm the operation.

If when you use a menu to delete, you hold down the Shift key when you
select Delete, then, irrespective of which disk the file is situated on, you will
delete rather than copy to the Recycle Bin. This may be useful if you have a
confidential file that you want to remove, but again be very sure that you do
want to remove it completely.
... •
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 Selecting, Copying, Moving and Deleting Files and Directories
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6.6. Copying Files to a Diskette as
Backup
While good practice is strictly not part of this ECDL module, we should
stress that it is important to remember to back up your work, i.e. copy
to a removable medium, just in case something goes wrong with your
computer system or perhaps you delete a file inadvertently. These
removable media include diskettes, tapes, removable disks such as Zip
disks, and even recordable or rewritable CDs. Although it is most
important to copy your work regularly, a complete system backup is
also useful at regular, if longer, intervals.

Although special software is obtainable for handling backups, you can

simply copy the files from your working window (probably within the
My Documents directory) to the window that represents the diskette
(usually your A: drive) or whichever medium you wish to use for
backup. Indeed, all you need to do is select the files or directories that
you want to back up and drag and drop them to the new window,
remembering that, because this is a different disk, the result will
automatically be a copy rather than a move.

If you are moving files to a disk that already contains files or directories
with the same names, then you will receive a message asking if you
want to replace the files or directories with the new ones. This message
even gives you the dates on which the two files of the same name
were last updated (see Figure 6.5), so all you have to do is click Yes or
No. There is also a button that allows you to indicate Yes to All, which
saves you having to look at every file individually, but to use this you
need to be sure that you do want to replace the old files with the new
ones. For backup purposes this usually is the case.

[onium f .Ie Hepldce E1

••• ""'cUd ,."..lke'" NIIIoct .. -.gilt

53.001
IIIIIdfied on 01 .Me 21m. 17 1252
I'IIIhlhlone?

Figure 6.5 Message requesting confirmation of file

replacement.

93
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

Summary
In this chapter:

• We have seen how to select files and groups of adjacent and non-
adjacent files.
• We have seen how to copy and move files with the mouse.
• We have seen how to copy and move files by using Copy, Cut,
Paste and the Clipboard.
• We have seen how to delete files and directories.
• We have seen how to copy files to a diskette or other removable
media for backup.

... •
94
.•• •.
•
• ECDL ·
 Searching for Files and Directories
• • • • • • 6*e

Searching for
Files and
Directories
In this cha ter ou will learn how to

U:. e tbe Find tool to locate a file or directory.

11 e different properties of a file to locate it.

D. Penfold, ECDL Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files 95

© Springer-Verlag London 2000
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

7.1. Introduction
Although it is important to organise your directory structure so that you
know where different files are, even in the best regulated systems
there comes a time when you want a file and you cannot be sure
where on the system it is. And the larger hard disks become and the
more space software takes up, the more likely this is to happen.

Fortunately, Windows provides you with an important tool called Find

to look for files and directories, while there are other tools, which we
will not discuss here, but which will be referred to in Module 7, for
finding information on the World Wide Web.

7.2. Using Find

Exercise 7.2
To open Find, click on Start, select Find and then Files and Folders.
The window shown in Figure 7.1 will open. By now you should find this fairly
self-explanatory.

~ Fmd All Fties fII[iiJ £J

.Look in:
Browse...

Figure 7.1 Opening the Find window.

The first tab you see is the Name & Location tab. There are two main ways in
which you can search, either by the name of the file you are looking for or by
a string of text that occurs within the file you are looking for. You can also
combine the two. We shall look at this tab first. Then we shall look at the other
tabs, Date and Advanced, as well at one or two of the menu options.

96
..... ..
• SCOL ·

** •
 Searching for Files and Directories
•••••• a-e-e
7.3. A Simple Search
We shall start with looking for a file that is on every Windows system,
one called config.sys. This is a file that is invoked when Windows
starts up.

Exercise 7.3
To find where it is on the system, you simply type config.sys into the Named
box. You also need to tell the system where to look by completing the Look
in box. By default you are usually given the name or code for your hard disk
(C:), but you can browse your system in the usual way to make the search
more specific and, incidentally, reduce the search time. On the other hand,
you increase the scope of your search if you include removable disks , such
as CDs, and other computers on the network.

It is usually a good idea to have the box Include subfolders ticked. If you
do not, then the search will only look for files within the top-level directory. So,
if you have specified that the system should look in C: and the box is not
ticked, then the system will only look for files within C: and not within the many
directories that C: contains. Figure 7.2a shows the results of a search for
config.sys. In fact, the operational version is in the top level of C: , but the
system has also found three other versions that are stored elsewhere on the
system (probably part of the installation files). If the box had not been ticked,
the result would have been as in Figure 7.2b.

~ f and f des ndmed conllq SYI I!!I~ EI

fie £cit Y'- QpIIOnI 1:1'"

Name H.oc-..I 0.... I Advanced I

In Fddot
c.\
...J C \\IJINOOWS\COMIoIANO\£BO
C.\\IJINOOWS\OPTIONS\CABS

MonIIlmg Nowllemo

Figure 7.2a Results of search for 'config.sys'.

97
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

fie tell 'i- g...,.. H.

N_lu.c-l0... IM.-I

H- :=I~
=.~=:::;::::;::::;:=.::: : .J
t~I'" ~I___--..:::==::::::.;:~
L"'" n I J\c>dIII2""" iC.)~~~~
r."Qojo~ 11.-

Figure 7.2b Results of search for 'config.sys' with

Include subfolders box not ticked.

If you do not know the full file name, you can enter any part of it and the
system will find all those files with names that contain this string. Thus Figure
7.3a shows that just searching for config brings up many more results, while
searching for sys (Figure 7.3b) brings up even more.

~ F.nd f del ndml!d l:onlrq .. r-T

fie toM 'i- Qpbono tI.
~ u..-., 1D.... I Adv.!r'Od I

~I~~ ~-===~~~3
' ...._ .... 1
.----=-===----.3
I

Figure 7.3a Results of search for 'config'.

To locate a folder or directory, you proceed in exactly the same way.

Indeed, the search results will include both files and folders. These
can be distinguished either by looking at the icon, or by nothing that
folders/directories always end with a backslash. Note that if you select
any file or folder and go to the File menu, clicking on Open Containing
Folder will do just that, opening the folder containing the file or folder
you have found.

... •
98
.•• •.
•
• ECDL ·
 Searching for Files and Directories
•••••• a-e-e
~ F.nd Fdel n.Jrned I !,I I I!!I~ EI

Name , locabon 0"",I

Homed ~1'l'I~:::=::======~:::
~t.,. : . . . 1_ _ _ _ ::::::::=~
LooIo..... I
j:; IrdJde pHoIdors ~r_

Figure 7.3b Results of search for 'sys'.

Self Study
Try putting in partial file names of some of the common file extensions
we looked at in Chapter 5. See what anomalies this may throw up.

7.4. Text Strings

Exercise 7.4
The second box, Containing text, in the Find window allows you to
specify a text string that occurs within a file. Again you just type the string into
the box. You can narrow down the range of directories and files where you
want the system to search if you wish. Thus, say you write letters to someone
called Jones and you store these in a directory called letters. You want to find
all the references to Brown in letters to Jones (which you called jones01.doc,
jones02.doc etc.). The search box would look like Figure 7.4 and note that the
directories to be searched have automatically changed to Document Folders.
However, this search would also throw up all files that include any occurrence
of brown including, for example, the phrase 'brown shoes'. So, if, you go to
the Options menu at the top of the Find window, you can choose Case
sensitive, which means that if you enter Brown (rather than brown) in the
Containing text box, you will only be given files in which Brown (with a
capital B) appears. Of course, if 'Brown shoes' happens to appear at the
beginning of a sentence, then the file containing that will appear as well, but
case sensitivity does help in most cases.

99
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

Figure 7.4 Example of search box.

Note that the CIISe .....mvtty option ...... not IIPPIY to fI..
......... bee_•• IIIthough WIndows .......,. to .11ow ce_
.......1vIty In fI........... " ....ay ...... not, so Config.sp,
CONFlG.SYS ..... conflg.sp ell dHc..... the ...... fI... This
ls not ....Iy • problem, bee . . . . WIndows . . . .ys w ....

........
you H you . . . In ....... of ovetwtltlng ..... with the ......

Self Study
Add some text to the text box and try searching Help files
(extension .hlp).

7.5. Date Options

Exercise 7.5
If you now select the Date tab in the Find window, you will see a window
such as Figure 7.5. If you click on the white circle beside Find all Files
Modified, then you can specify dates. Note that Modified is in a box and
you can change it to Created or Last accessed by clicking the down
arrow at the right-hand side of the box and selecting the appropriate option.

~ f rnd An. Ilel .. r-J EJ

rio [dl ~ lls*>ns ~

N..... I Loe-. Dolo IAdY<ncedL

r~1io>
r. F'!!dellioo I M~ ::J
r. ~ 115I03I2OCQ ::::J ond 11310612OC1J :::J
r ...... h--..n ....*1
r~ .... _ n .... 1

.......
Figure 7.5 Specifying the date criteria when finding files .

100
• SCOL ·

** •
 Searching for Files and Directories
•••••• a-.e
You can then put in specific dates (check which date convention your system
is using - see Chapter 2 - or else you may confuse 5 March and 3 May, for
example) or specify the period in months or days. This information works
together with the information in the first tab. If you close Find and reopen it,
you will find that it reverts to All files. However, if you leave Find open on
your desktop and then come back to it later to carry out another search, there
is nothing in the Name & Location tab to tell you that you narrowed the
date range. It is worth checking this, or you may find that the search does not
give you the result you want.

Self Study
Search for all the files you have modified in the last week and the last
month.

7.6. Advanced Options

If you select the advanced tab CFigure7.6a), you will find that by using
the top box, you can narrow your search to a certain type of file or
folder. Just click the down arrow at the right-hand side of the Of type
box CFigure 7.6b) to select a type.

"

Figure 7.6a Using the Advanced tab for finding files.

_ n "

Fiugre 7.6b Selecting specific file or folder types.

101
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

You can also specify the maximum or minimum size of the file you are
looking for.

These options can be used separately or together and are used in

conjunction with settings in the first two tabs. Just as for the date, the
settings are cancelled when you close Find, but, while the window is
open, they remain in force, so you need to check them if you are
coming back to reuse an open Find window.

Self Study
Take the same common file extensions that you used in the first
exercise in this section and specify that type of file in the Advanced
tab. See if you get similar results.

7.7. Saving Searches

If you go the File menu a~d select Save search, an icon will be
created on your desktop. If you subsequently click on this, the search
(with all its settings) will be updated. There may be times when this is
useful, particularly if the search is fairly generic, such as find all files
Modified in the last 7 days, but there is a danger of cluttering your
desktop.

7.8. New Search

An important button is New Search. Clicking this will allow you to
specify a new search. Note that if you click this, while it clears the
settings in the Name & Location and the Advanced tabs, it does not
clear the settings in the Date tab.

You will also see that the Named box has a down arrow on its right-
hand side. If you click this, you will see the last nine entries in this box.

Summary
In this chapter:

• We have looked at the Find facility.

• We have examined the various options for specifying file names and
text that is included in the file.
• We have looked at the date conditions that can be applied.
• We have looked at the file type conditions that can be applied .

...•
102
.•• •.
•
• BCDL·
 Editing Text Files
••••••• e-e

Editing
Text Files
In this chapter you will learn how to

Launch an editing program or word processor.

Open a file or create one and save it.
Close the file and the application .

D. Penfold, ECDL Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files 103
© Springer-Verlag London 2000
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

8.1. Introduction
We have noted earlier the difference between text files and files
normally generated by a word processor. The former contain just text,
plus the carriage returns and tab characters, while the latter contain all
kinds of formatting commands. So, although you can edit text files in a
word processor, and we shall see how you do that, you do not
actually need a word processor to edit them.

Windows provides you with a text editor, called Notepad, and a very
basic word processor, called WordPad. However, for any serious word
processing, you need to look at Microsoft Word (see Module 3) or a
similar program, such as WordPerfect or WordPro. Here, however, we
shall simply look at Notepad and WordPad.

8.2. Opening a File in Notepad and

WordPad
If you want to edit a text file, which will usually have the extension
.txt (although there are other files that are also text files, e.g . .ini and
.bat files), when you click to open it in My Computer or in Windows
Explorer, you will find that it will most probably open in Notepad (see
Figure 8.1), which you can see is very basic. Notepad has a limit on
the length of the file it can open, so you will sometimes see a message
that tells you that the file you want to open is too large for Notepad
and asks you if you would like to use WordPad instead.

Figure 8.1 The Notepad text editor.

... •
104
.• • •.
•
• S COL ·
 Editing Text Files
••••••• o-e
Exercise 8.2
Alternatively, if you want to open Notepad directly, you go to Start and select
Programs. Then open Accessories, which is usually the first item shown,
and then choose Notepad. Incidentally, you will see that WordPad is
opened in the same way; it is lower down the list of accessories. Once you
have opened Notepad, try keying a few paragraphs of text. Alternatively, you
can try opening a file with the extension .txt.

8.3. Using Notepad to Edit and Create

Files
Even Notepad has a few formatting features in case you want to print
a file.

Exercise 8.3
If you open the File menu, you will see that you can choose Page Setup,
which allows you to specify the size and orientation of paper and the margins;
printing is dealt with in Chapter 9. Note that the formatting is not stored with
the file.

The Edit menu has the usual Cut, Copy and Paste and Select All that
we have seen in previous sections. Here, however, if you use select, then you
select strings or blocks of text and, if you cut or copy, you cut or copy the text
you have selected; similarly with paste. Try this with the file that you created
or opened in Exercise 8.2.

The other two entries in the Edit menu that are of interest are Time/Date,
which inserts the system time and date into the file, and Word Wrap, which,
if switched on, wraps the lines (i.e. inserts temporary carriage returns) so that
they all fit within the editing window. If Word Wrap is switched off and there
are only carriage returns at the end of each paragraph, you will only see the
first few words of each paragraph in your editing window. You can, of course,
use the horizontal scroll bar, just like the ones we saw in Chapter 2, but if the
text wraps it makes reading much simpler. Search allows you to look for
sequences of letters and is self-explanatory.

If you already have a file open in Notepad, you can make any changes by
adding or deleting characters using the keyboard. In fact, in many ways you
can think of Notepad as rather like an electronic typewriter. Once you have
finished your editing, you can save the file, either directly by using Save in
the File menu, when your new version will overwrite the old version, or you
can use Save As, in which case you either give the file a new name or you
save it under the same name (or a new name) in a new directory (Figure 8.2).

105
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

In this way your original file is preserved. Saving to a diskette simply involves
browsing through the system until you find the diskette letter (usually A:, but
occasionally B:). Then you just save in the usual way, ensuring, of course, that
you have the right diskette in the drive.

Sdve A. - DEI

Figure 8.2 Saving a Notepad file.

Note that you can only have one file open at a time in Notepad, so if you go to
File and then select Open or New, you will be asked if you want to save
any changes to the file that is currently open. Note that if you have not made
any changes, you will not see this message. To open a file, key open and you
will see a window (Figure 8.3) that is rather like the My Computer window and
not unlike the Save As menu. You can browse in this until you find the file you
want, which you open by selecting it and then clicking on Open or by double
clicking.

Figure 8.3 Opening a file in Notepad.

If you want to create a new file, you select New in the File menu and the
window will go blank and the file name Untitled will appear in the window
title bar. Again you just type in the window and, when you are ready to save,

..... ..
you select Save from the File menu. You will see a window that is very like

106 • SCOL ·

* * •
 Editing Text Files
• • • • • • • 0-e
the Save As window and you can browse to decide where you want to save
the file and type in the name you want to use. Note that if you leave the box
Save as Type showing Text documents, the system will automatically
add the .txt extension for you.

Self Study
Find a text file on your system (use Find, as described in Section 7).
Open it in Notepad. Switch on word wrap if you can only see the
beginnings of lines. Do not make any changes. Click Save As in the
File menu and save under a name in your ECDL directory. Then select
New in the File menu and open a new file. Type something into it, but
do not save. Select New again and see what message you get. It is up
to you whether you save what you have done.

8.4. Using WordPad to Edit and Create

Files
The WordPad window is shown in Figure 8.4. Although WordPad
allows you to format files, setting the typeface (font), typesize and
various aspects of layout, such as bullets, if you are editing a text file,
then these things are irrelevant because when you save the file they
are lost. However, what WordPad does allow you to do (as indeed
does Word) is open a file formatted in Word or one that is in the Rich
Text Format (RTF) and save it as a text file. To balance this, you can
save a text file as a Word document. You also have the page setup
controls that you find in Notepad and again, unlike a fully featured
word processor, the page setup is not retained as part of the file when
you save it.

Figure 8.4 The Word Pad window.

107
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

To open a file , select Open from the File menu and you will see a
window like that shown in Figure 8.5, where the file type drop-down
list is shown. You select the type of file you want to open and these
will be displayed. You also need to browse until you find the
appropriate directory. If you open a Word file, it will appear formatted
(Figure 8.6), while a text file will be unformatted and the formatting
bar will disappear (Figure 8.7). However, you can add formatting using
the Format menu and then save as a Word file (with a file extension of
.doc) and the formatting bar will reappear.

Open DEI

Rename

AM c/ Jype IWOId 101 Wrodow; (· doc)

Figure 8.5 Opening a file in WordPad.

, -
,.... ,,--1

Figure 8.6 WordPad opens Word files with formatting .

.. .
108
. .
• •
• ECDL·
** •
 Editing Text Files
• • • • • • • G-e

h, . . l._
• I
~.I" ........... ue Ul ..

~l" Of 00teC-e1K_

."" ",l.....
I t.I..I"~'_

~ "t~ 1.. ... . , . . .. . . . .

1 -.u1U., .u.• ~
"'I"IU" .,1.. .......
"1«1., ... ce" , . .. .,..,' . . . . II'-Iell., r,l •• . . , o.IC.c1.OCS ••
• , ... rOC' Ul . . . . . . IHrftl'l.arl'"

......
h l l l " I . : n . t l l. .
"-:,

Figure 8.7 WordPad opens plain text files without formatting.

Similarly, if you open a Word file and save it as a text file, the
formatting bar will disappear, although the formatting will remain on
the screen. However, if you close WordPad (and WordPad is like
Notepad in that you can only close the file by closing the application,
opening another file or creating a new file) and then reopen the text
file in WordPad, the formatting will have gone. You use Save and
Save As in exactly the same way as you would with Notepad.

You may find that using WordPad gives you a simple introduction to
word processors, because it is much simpler than Word. In practice, it
is generally only used to edit text files that are too large for Notepad.

Self Study
Repeat the first exercise in this chapter, but try adding some formatting
to your new file and saving it as a Word file.

8.5. Closing Notepad or WordPad

As already noted, both these applications can only have one file open
at a time. Thus, closing the file means closing the application, while
opening another file means closing the current file .

To close either application, go to the File menu and select Exit. If you
have unsaved changes in the current file , you will be asked if you
want to save the file. Otherwise, it will simply exit.

109
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

Summary
In this chapter:

• We have looked at editing text files in Notepad .

• We have looked at editing text and Word files in WordPad.

110
..... ..
• ECDL·
•• •
 Printing
•••••••• @

Printing
In this chapter you will learn how to

Carry out printing.

Change the default printer.
Vi·ew the progress of a p1int job.

D. Penfold, ECDL Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files 111
© Springer-Verlag London 2000
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

9.1. Introduction
Even in this age of electronic communication, it is more than likely
that you will need a printed version of a file you have been working
on. Windows is able to store details of many printers and you can
switch between them if they are attached to your system. However,
there is always a default printer, which is the one to which documents
are automatically sent unless you indicate otherwise.

In practice, most printing is done from within applications, so just as

we saw in the last chapter that you can use the Print command from
the File menu of Notepad or WordPad, so virtually every application,
including Web browsers, has a Print command on its File menu.

On the other hand it is possible to print directly from a desktop

window if a file has an application associated with it. Strictly speaking,
however, the associated application opens and moves straight to
printing. If there is no associated application, the Print option does not
appear on the File menu.

9.2. Printing from a Desktop Window

If you select a file using My Computer and then select Print from the
File menu, you will see that the application which is associated with
that file will open and the file will be printed immediately by the
default printer. If there is no associated application, then Print does not
appear on the File menu.

9.3. Printing from Within an Application

Exactly how print works within an application, i.e. exactly what
options you see to print all the pages, some of the pages, left-hand
pages, right-hand pages etc., varies from application to application.
Notepad, for example, gives you no options and prints directly, while
WordPad is rather more complex and not untypical of many
applications. When you select Print, you see the menu shown in
Figure 9.1. This allows you to choose which printer to use (the one
that is shown initially is the default printer), how many copies to print
(and how to collate them). If you click on Properties, you see
another window (Figure 9.2), which varies depending on the printer;
each printer has its own driver software, which determines what you
see here. What always appears, however, is the option to change the
paper size (you may find that many applications use the US letter size
as default, so you need to change to A4) and the orientation of the

... •
page on the printer, that is, portrait (long side vertical) or landscape

112
. .
•
• [ COL ·

* • •
 Printing
•••••••• @

(long side horizontal). Once you have made your selection, click OK
and then again OK in the main printer window.

lPTl

r.
"'1> t-r Jal
c

Figure 9.1 Dialogue for selecting printer.

P l dsclJel . / 4M PadScllpt Propefhn 11

S
...
Ct<n-loe",
.!.I

.
,

Figure 9.2 Dialogue for choosing print properties.

9.4. Changing the Default Printer

Exercise 9.4
As noted above , the system always has a default printer, but you can
change this:

113
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

1. Go to Start and select Settings and then Printers. A window will open
that looks like Figure 9.3. Exactly how it will look will depend on your
particular system.

Add Prlnte,.

Ttl. _dd Pnnttr ","uni

..6IIf. JOY i~O - b, · step
th~ In~"
pnnur. Jun foRo .. ~
If'I$CNCbOns on • .ctI
fO"ten .

......
Figure 9.3 Changing the default printer.

2. Select the printer you want to make the default. (Perhaps you have changed
your printer or want to run a long job on a printer that is currently not the
default.) Note that you can add printers to this folder if required.

3. Go to the File menu and select Set as Default (or right click on the printer
icon and select Set as Default from the menu that appears). If there is a
tick alongside this, then this printer is already the default printer.

4. Close the Printers window. The next time you print from an application, it will
be your new default printer that will appear in the options window.

9.5. Viewing the Progress of Printing

If you have sent a number of documents to be printed, you may wish
to review their progress. You can do this from the desktop print
manager. There are two ways to do this.

Exercise 9.5
1. Open the Printers window (Start/Settings/Printers) and then select the
printer you are currently using and open it. You will see a window like that in
Figure 9.4, which shows you the progress of the various print jobs you have
sent to this printer.
... •
114
.•• •.
•
• SCDL·
 Printing
•••••••• @
~ I own I PI ~~IlU ~fOi

Figure 9.4 Progress of print jobs.

2. When you start to print, you will see a printer icon open in the Taskbar at the
bottom right of your screen (next to the time in most cases). If you click on
this, you will see the same window as in Figure 9.4. The icon will remain as
long as there are files being printed . When printing is complete, it will
disappear.

F........... print .................. IOU c.n ........... 01'

....... pa ..,tIng. TIlle c.n be ....... II. for ......... IOU ......
....... print . . . . . . . . . . dd • ..., ......................... to
print 01' II .... printer .......... IOU need to .top pllntlng.

Summary
In this chapter:

• We have seen how to print from a desktop window and from within
an application.
• We have seen how to change the default printer.
• We have seen how to review the progress of printing.

115
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

Index
Active window ............................. 67
Advanced search .. . .......... . . . ............... 101
Alt+ Tab ........ . . ............... 68
Appearance tab ........... . ....... . .............. .46
Applications windows ....... . ..... . . ................ 64
Auto Arrange ..... . . . ....... . ...... . .... . .. .45

Back ..... . ..... . ....... . ...... . ......... . ....... 60

B~~~ ...................... . .......... . ....... ~
Browse ... . . .... . ............... . .............. 53

Case sensitive ...................... . ............. 99

Change Icon ..... . ...... . ......... . ...... . . ...... .49
Classic view ............... . ...................... 20, 57, 60, 78
Clipboard ......... . ..............................90
Close ............ . ....... . ......................59
Control Panel ...... . ............. . ................ 26
Copy file .......... . ....... . .............. . ....... 89, 90
Create Shortcut '" .. . ..... .. ...... . . . .... . . . ....... 50
Creating directories ......... . ...................... 74
Ctrl+C ................................... . ....... 91
Ctrl+V ..... .. ..... . . ...... . ....... . . ............. 91
Ctrl+X .... . ....... . ....... . ..... . ........ . ....... 91
Ctrl+Z .................................... . ...... 91
Custom view ...... . ....... . ...... .. ..... . .. . ...... 21
Cut and paste ...... . ....... . ....... . ....... . ...... 90

Date and time ....... . ..................... .. ...... 28

Date search ............... . ....... . ..... . ........ 100
De-selecting files ... . ....... . ....... . ....... . ...... 88
Default printer ............ . . . ...... . . ..... . . ....... 112
Defragmentation tool ......................... . ...... 74
Delete .................... . ....... . .............. 60, 92
Desktop ........... .. ...... . ... .... . ...... . . ..... 17, 23
Desktop icons ............ . ..... . ....... . ....... .45
Desktop Shortcut ......................... . .. 50
Desktop Wallpaper ........ . ................ . ....... 30
Desktop window ... 57
Details view ..... . . .79,83
Directory information .. . .. . .78

... •
116
. .
•
• £COL·

** •
 •••••••••
Index

Directory structures ................................ 73

Disk information ...................................35
Drag and drop ................................... .45

Effects tab ............................... ....... .48

Favorites .........................................25
File attributes .....................................83
File extensions ....................................80
File information ....................................78
File names .......................................54, 83
R~~~ .........................................~
Filing structures ................................... 10
~d ............................................ 00
Folder Options .................................... 19
Formatting a diskette ...............................37
Forward .........................................60

Help functions ....................................39

Icons .......................................... .45, 49

Internet Explorer ...................................21, 23
Inverted tree ................................... ... 11

Keyboard shortcuts ................................55

Marquee select ....................................87

Maximise ........................................59
Minimise .........................................59
Moving files ......................................88
Moving windows ...................................64, 69
MS-DOS .........................................9
Multitasking ......................................67
Mute option ......................................34
My Briefcase ...................................... 24
My Computer ..................................... 23,35
My Documents .................................... 23

Name & Location search ............................96

Network Neighborhood .............................. 23
New folders ............................... 75
New search ............................... . ... 102
Notepad ......................................... 104

117
Module 2: Using the Computer and Managing Files

Operating system ........ . .........................9

Page Setup ........ . ...... . ....................... 105

Pause printing ......• . ..... . ...................... 115
PC-DOS .......... . ....... . ....... . .............. 9
Presentation files ..... . ............................81
Print manager ..................................... 114
Print properties .................................... 112
Purge printing ..................................... 115

Quick Launch tool bar ................. . ............. 25

Random Access Memory (RAM) ................ . ...... 26
Recycle Bin ................................ . ..... 24
Regional settings ........................... . ...... 32
Renaming files/directories ................ • ........... 84
Resizing windows ..................... . ............ 63
Restart ................ . ..... • .............. . .... 19
Rich Text Format (RTF) ....................... . ...... 107
Running tasks .......... • . ..... • . .................. 24

Save files ............... . ........................ 105

Save files to diskette ............. . ....... . .... . ..... 106
Saving searches .......... . ........................ 102
Screen Saver .... . ..... . . ..... . . ....... .. .... . .... 31
Screen Settings ... . ................ . .............. 29
Search ......... . ................................97
Selecting files .... . ............. . ....... . ...... . ... 87
Shut Down ....................................... 18
Sound Volume ........... . ..... . .................. 33
Spreadsheet files ........ . ......... . ............... 81
Start ............................................ 17
Start button ....................... . ............... 24
Sub-directories ................... . ....... . ........ 74
System Properties ..................................26
System Tray ......................................25

Taskbar ..........................................24
Text editing ....................................... 104
Time zone ................ . .......................28
Time/Date ........................ . ............... 105
Toolbars .........................................66

...
118
.•• •.
• •
• ECDL ·
 •••••••••
Index

Undo ......................60
Unix .................... 11
Up ....................................... . ... 60
User interface ................................... 19

Volume control ....................................34

Waste basket ......................... ........... .49

Web view ........................................21, 57, 60, 78
Windows ......................................... 10
Windows Explorer ..................................37
Word ............................................64
Word processing files ...............................81
Word Wrap .................................... ... 105
Word Pad ........................................104

119
 European Computer
*** ®
**ECOL **
Driving Licence TM

the european pc skills standard *** *

....................................................................................................................................................
•
Springer's study guides have been designed to complement
• the ECDL syllabus. and be consistent with the content
·
•
•
•
contained within it. Each study guide enables you to
successfully complete the European Driving Licence (ECDL).

·
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The books cover a range of specific knowledge areas and
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•
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·• .............................................•
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Titles in the series Include: •

•
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• Module 1: Basic Concepts of Information Technology
ISBN: 1-85233-442-8 Saftcaver £9 .95 •
•
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• Module 2: Using the Computer & Managing Files

ISBN: 1-85233-443-6 Softcover £9.95
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ISBN : 1-85233-446-0 Softcover £9 .95 ·•
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ISBN: 1-85233-447-9 Softcover £9.95
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.............................................·
Module 7: Information & Communication •
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 ._s Ilia 1111 lISt ilfll'llltin .~ last reMil, b ,II fli i nlntl il eel,ml, fist
.....................................................................................

The Essential Series

Editor: John Cowell

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....................................................................................

Accessible Access
Mark Whitehorn and Bill Marklyn

·• .......................................... .
·•• Accessible Access 2000 assumes that you start with no
••• knowledge of Access or databases and takes you to the point
• where you can create and use a multi-table da tabase.
•
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AMAro .co.UJ(

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J!me2000. oftcover. 318pages • IBN: 1-85233-313-8. £24.50

.........................................................................................................................................................

How Computer
Programming Works
Dan Appleman
·• ...........................................
• Key features Include:
•

· •
•••
• A useful book for future programmers or anyone
interested in explaining important computer
•• programming concepts

··• • Full colour illustrations help to visually explain important

• topics
• • New expanded section on computer programming for
• the Internet
•
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• The book covers haw programmers turn ideas into code. the use
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• of algorithms to accomplish common tasks. the basic function
• of compilers and interpreters. and even how to program a
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ptilOG.UIJIIMIPItIO
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• June 2000 • Softcover • 226 pages
•
...................... •
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• ISBN: 1-893115-23-2 • £17.00

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