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Windows XP Tutorial for beginners

Lesson-1

INTRODUCTION

Windows XP is an operating system , so before learning about Windows XP, you must understand what is operating system. An operating system also called as ‘OS’ is a large collection of software, which manages resources of the computer system , such as memory, processor, file system and input/output devices. Operating system act as a link between user and the computer.

When you will start your computer then you will see following screen and this screen is known as Desktop.

Windows XP Desktop

Windows XP uses a desktop for the standard interface. Desktop is a workspace from where you can operate everything in your computer, such as system components, applications, the Internet, etc.

The desktop contains

Ø  Icons - These are small images that represent your computer's programs, files, folders, applications and other parts of the operating system. You can access your program, file, folder, application that an icon represents you simply double click on it with the left mouse button.

Ø  Start Button – It is a very important tool of desktop. When you will click on start button, the start menu will appear and the start menu is used to access programs, applications, settings and more.

Ø  Taskbar – It is an important part of desktop. It is used to switch between any open programs or applications.

Lesson-2

The Start Menu
When you click on the start button, the start menu will appear as shown below:

The start menu allows you to access all the programs and applications on your computer.
The right side of start menu allows you to access common Windows folder (for example, My Pictures) and also provide access to Control Panel, Help and Support, Search and Run. The left side show list of programs.

The brief detail of different options of start menu

·    All Programs – It provides gateway to all installed programs on your computer.

·    Log Off – It is used to log off the present user.

·    Turn Off Computer – It is used to shutdown, restart and standby the system.

·    Help and Support – It provides us various help and support articles, using which we can get answer of questions related to windows. It also provides us the online help.

·    Search – It helps us to search for those pictures, music, videos, documents, files and  folders whose location we are not sure of.

·    Run – It allows us to execute commands to open executable files.

·    Control Panel – Using it we can configure the settings of the system.

Task Bar

The Task Bar is a small bar at the bottom of the desktop. It contains start button,quick launch bar and system tray.

·    Start Button – We have already learnt about the Start Button.

·    Quick Launch Bar – It is by default hidden but if you want to use it then you can activate it by right clicking on the taskbar and take the mouse pointer over the toolbars and then click the quick launch.

The quick launch bar provdes direct access to programs, files and folders with just one click.

·    System Tray – Here you will find the clock and icons of the programs that are currently running.

Lesson - 3 will come soon