CIT 1100
In this chapter, you will learn how to
 Adjust basic Windows settings
 Explain user accounts in detail
 Describe how to store, retrieve, rename,
and delete files and folders in Windows
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Windows gives you many options to configure
the user interface
Microsoft works very hard to create an
intuitive, easy-to-master user interface for
each version of Windows
Microsoft makes Windows customizable as
well to cater to the millions of Windows users
around the world
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The Start Menu offers a great place to start
customizing Windows, enabling you to open
frequently used programs quickly
Right-click the Start button
and select Properties from the context menu
to open the Taskbar and Start menu
By selecting the Customize Start
Menu dialog box, you can display
various options as links, as menus,
or not at all
Start Menu
If Display as Menu is selected in the
Customize Start Menu the item will be
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in the
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the Start
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Don’t Display this item to unused
icons
The Control Panel contains numerous areas for
customizing the operating system.
Windows 7offers eight areas to make adjustments:
 Appearance and Personalization
 Clock, Language, and Region
 Ease of Access
 User Accounts
 Programs
 Hardware and Sound
 Network and Internet
 System and Security

To open Control Panel, go to Start  Control
Panel
THREE ESSENTIAL APPLETS
1
2
3

The Appearance and Personalization category enables
you to set up Windows to look and feel precisely
To change the theme of the screen
how you like it
You can use Appearance and Personalization
to adjust the screen resolution, increasing the
resolution makes the desktop font and icons
and such appear smaller
 To counteract this, you can make your fonts
and icons larger
You can set up a computer for a specific
location, referred to as localization
 Set up in Control Panel with the Clock,
Language, and Region applet
 You can change region settings, which can
change the default language used in
Windows
 You can change time or time zone as well

In addition to changing the time to match the local time,
you can also add a clock gadget to your desktop in
Windows 7
The Ease of Access category enables you to set
up a computer to help people work with the
computer more easily
 You can change things such as how the mouse
and keyboard work Sticky Keys that enables
you to press key combinations using only one
key at a time
 The Stick Key is designed for someone learning
how to use a keyboard or someone who needs
to do input with one hand or finger
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


The ability to enter keystrokes one at a time
rather than all at once is useful for some
users
The sequency Control+Alt+Delete would
require pushing (3) buttons at the same time
Sticky keys once enables allows pushing each
individually
This is set up in the Ease of Access menu
User Accounts define what individuals can do on the
machine, and what actions they can take
 Each time you log on to a computer, you must
present a valid user name and pass word for one
of the accounts
 Logons can be highly simplified, or even invisible,
but you still need a user account
 Having multiple user accounts on a single machine
enables people to share the computer and retain
some privacy
 Multiple accounts provide private folders in which
each user can keep his or her personal files
separate from those of other users
Users get their own Documents folder, Music
folder, Pictures folder, etc
 These folders can't be accessed by another
user, unless that person is an administrator
 This adds a level of organization and security
to the files on your computer
 Different users have different privileges
 Knowledgeable users would be assigned
administrative privileges
Windows offers several types of user accounts, such as
administrator, standard user, and guest. The Professional
versions of Windows offers more
 Users with Administrator account type can install new
software, change settings in Control Panel, add new
users, and do pretty much anything else that can be
done on a computer
 This level of power carries with it a similar level of
responsibility, these users must know what they're doing
on a computer
 Standard users can use most programs and access
personal files but cannot install programs or change any
settings that could affect other users
 A Standard user attempting do anything that only an
administrator can do would be presented with a dialog
asking for an administrator's user name and password
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To understand how data is organized on your
computer imagine it is nothing more than a giant
filing cabinet
 The actual data in your computer is stored as
individual files on your hard drive
 These include things like your documents,
movies, music, and even important system data
that you'll never actually open or look at
yourself
There are many different types of computer
files, separated by different file extensions
 File extensions are three or four letters
(possibly longer) after the period in a filename
◦ Birthday.jpg file extension is JPG
◦ Budget.xlsx is an XlSX file
◦ Letter.doc is a DOC file

Its these file extensions that lets the computer
know which program to use to open the file
Windows handles file and folder management
through the Windows Explorer utility program
 Windows Explorer starts whenever you click
on Start  Documents, or Start  Music
Start  Documents 
There are numerous ways you can access
Windows Explorer
 Right click Start  Open Windows Explorer
 Start  All Programs  Accessories  Windows
Explorer
Microsoft first introduced My Documents and other "My"
folders in Windows 2000 to give users a simple place to
store their documents
Microsoft by default will store documents in the My
Documents folder, Pictures in the My Pictures Folder, etc
When you go to Start  Documents, you open Windows
Explorer focused on that folder. On top is a toolbar with
options like Organize, Open, and Burn
Windows 7 uses libraries to group similar files
in one location, regardless of which folder
they're in
 If you have documents spread out over three
or four locations you can add those locations
to your Documents library and have a single
point of access to the documents
Windows assigns each storage device a letter and
organizes its contents using folders and subfolders
The Navigation pane- left side of a Windows Explorer
window
is extremely
useful
for in
working
with filespane,
and
Only
folders
and drives
appear
the Navigation
folders,
giving
you
a graphical,
of the contents
both
folders
and
files
appear in view
the Contents
pane
Folders
When
Clicking
a folder
the white
displays
drop-down
its subfolders,
arrow in
a black
front of
arrow
a folder
pointing
in the Navigation
downward
pane
replaces
expands
the the
white
folder
arrow.
so Clicking
that you
the
can black
see itsarrow
subfolders.
hides the subfolders.
Windows Explorer gives you options for how
you view the contents of a folder.
 Clicking the Views button in Windows Vista or
the Change your view button in Windows 7
Standard Actions – tasks you would normally
perform on a computer include:
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Create
Move
Copy
Cut
Delete
These actions would be performed on folders,
files, as well as between folders and drives
Action works the same with Desktop folders
as it does in the Computer
To create a folder or file, right-click a blank spot
on the screen and select New
From the Fly-out menu you can
choose to create any listed item
To Copy or Move a folder left-click on the folder
Left click
Drag/Drop with mouse to destination Drive/Folder to Copy
What happens when you drag and drop a file
depends on where you drag it.
When you drag a file to this location
This is what happens
A folder on same drive
The file is moved to the destination folder.
A folder on a different drive
The file is copied to the destination folder.
A library on your computer (such as the
Documents library)
If the library's main folder (or default save
location) is on the same drive, the file will be
moved. If it's on a different drive, it will be
copied.
Windows Explorer enables you to perform
standard tasks on multiple files and folders at the
same time
 Select two or more files or folders by clicking the
first one and then pressing the SHIFT key while
clicking the last one in the list
Click on the file to select it
Hold shift and select the last file
Selected files can be copied
deleted or moved together
Often times the name of a file needs to be
changed for a number of reasons
Select the file by right clicking on it 
Windows7 organizes folders and files
on the hard drive in standard locations
 User files go into folders based on
user account names
 Operating system files go into the OS
folder
 Program files tend to go into program
folders
Windows 7 store user folders on the C: drive in
a subfolder called Users
 By default, Standard users cannot see the
contents of the Users folder for each other's
account.
 If one or the other is an Administrator they can
gain access
You can access your user folder in a few ways
You can click Start and select your user name. This shows
all the folders, such as Contacts, Desktop, Downloads,
and so forth
You can access your user folder in a few ways
Or you can do it the long way:
Click Start  Computer
Double-click  Local Disk (C:)
Double-click  Users
Double-click  user name
Newest versions of Windows organize essential
files and folders in a relatively similar fashion
 All have a primary system folder for storing
most Windows internal tools and flies
 SystemRoot is the name given to the folder
where Windows has been installed
 Most versions of Windows use C:\WINDOWS
Essential folders you need to know about:
 C:\Windows\Fonts All of the fonts installed in
Windows live here
 C:\Windows\Offline Web Pages When you tell your
Web browser to save Web pages for offline viewing,
they are stored in this folder. This is a folder that
Windows automatically deletes if it needs the space
 C:\Windows\System32 This is the actual Windows
Operating system location all of the most critical
programs and files that make Windows run are
stored here.
Windows has one or two folders that help organize
programs:
 They sit in the root directory at the same level as
the system folder, and have variations in name
depending on the version of Windows
 Most computers use the C: drive by default to
store programs
Most programs install some or all of their essential files into a
subfolder of the Program Files 32 bit programs are kept in (x86)