WINDOWS TERMS
1. What is virtual memory? List an advantage and a disadvantage of using virtual
memory.
Windows 95 can use some of a hard drive's available space as if it were RAM.. This disk
based "RAM" is known as virtual memory. The advantage of virtual memory is that you
can open more programs and larger data files than you could if you were limited to only
actual RAM. The disadvantage of using virtual memory is that information stored in
virtual memory is accessed much more slowly than real RAM. Real RAM is accessed in
nanoseconds or billionths of a second. Information stored on a hard drive and therefore
virtual memory, is accessed in milliseconds or thousandths of a second.
Next to a faster CPU, giving Windows 95/98 as much RAM as it needs is the best way to
improve your computer's performance. If you use only one or two programs at the same
time, 32MB of RAM should be sufficient. If you use more than two programs at a time or
if you use large data files such as color scanned images, 64 or even 128MB of RAM may
be required to avoid using virtual memory.
2. What is the Clipboard? How do you place data on the Clipboard?
Windows 95/98 sets aside a portion of a computer's RAM for the clipboard. The
clipboard is a temporary storage location for data. The data may be text or graphics, even
entire files. To place data on the clipboard, you must first select or highlight it. Once data
has been selected, choose either the cut or copy command to place the highlighted data on
the clipboard. Data placed on the clipboard remains on the clipboard and can be pasted as
many times as you want to.
3. What is the main limitation of the clipboard?
The main limitation associated with the clipboard is that it can only hold one piece of
information at a time. As mentioned above, once something is placed on the clipboard, it
remains there but only until something else is cut or copied to the clipboard. Cut or copy
something and it replaces whatever was on the clipboard.
Of course, since the clipboard is RAM, if the computer should lose power, the clipboard
and its contents will be lost. Be careful with data cut to the clipboard. Because cut data is
removed from its document, if you should cut or copy something else to the clipboard,
you could lose the data you cut to the clipboard.
4. What is the Recycle Bin? What role does the Recycle Bin play in Windows 95/98?
The recycle bin is a storage location for file that have been deleted from a hard drive.
Once a file is deleted from a hard drive, it isn't actually removed from the drive. Instead,
it is placed in the recycle bin where it remains until you remove it from the bin, delete it
from within the bin or until you empty the recycle bin. As long as a file remains in the
bin, you can get it back.
The recycle bin has two purposes:
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To store files that have been deleted from a hard drive.
To let you retrieve deleted files if you should want them back.
5. How do you delete a file?
Deleting a file means to remove it from the storage device where it is located. To delete a
file from a hard drive, you place it in the recycle bin. (See the question below for
information on deleting a file from a floppy, zip drive or network drive.) There are
several ways to place a file in the recycle bin.
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You can drag a file over the bin. When the recycle bin turns a darker color, let go
of the mouse button and the file will be placed in the bin.
Click on a file and select the Delete command from the File menu of the window
that contains the file.
Click on a file and press the delete key. When you press the delete key, a message
window appears. If you click the OK button or press the enter key, the file is
placed in the recycle bin.
6. How do you retrieve a file from the recycle bin?
There are two ways to retrieve a file from the recycle bin.
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You can drag the file from the recycle bin to the desktop or any other folder or
drive on the computer.
Another way to retrieve a file from the bin is to click on the file's icon. Then,
select the Restore command from the recycle bin's File menu. The recycle bin
remembers the location where a file was stored before it was placed in the recycle
bin. The Restore command returns a file to the drive and folder where it was
located before it was placed in the recycle bin.
7. What is the difference between deleting a file from a hard drive and deleting a file
from a floppy, a zip disk or a network drive?
When you delete a file from a hard drive, it goes to the recycle bin. When you delete a
file from a floppy, a zip disk or a network drive, it doesn't go to the recycle bin. Instead,
the file is actually removed from the floppy, zip disk or network drive
8. Once you've emptied the Recycle Bin or deleted a file from a floppy, is there any
way to recover those files?
Because of the way Windows treats files deleted from the recycle bin or a floppy, a zip
disk or a network drive, it is possible to undelete them. When you delete a file from the
recycle bin or from a floppy, a zip disk or a network drive, the file isn't actually wiped
from a disk the way you might wipe down a blackboard. Instead, the space on the disk
occupied by the file is marked as available for storage of another file. Not until another
file is actually written to that space is the deleted file actually gone. If the storage
locations occupied by the deleted file haven't been written over by another file, you can
use an undelete utility program to retrieve the file. Since Windows doesn't come with an
undelete program, you must purchase one yourself. The secret to success with undeleting
files is timing. The sooner you attempt to undelete the file, the greater your chances for
success. Sooner isn't a measure of time. Sooner means before you save other files to the
disk. If you should accidentally empty the recycle bin or delete a file from a floppy, a zip
disk or a network drive, stop using the computer and run an undelete program. As long as
you don't save any files to the disk, your chances for recovering the file are good.
9. What is a Shortcut icon? How are shortcut icons used?
A shortcut icon is an icon that points to an actual file stored somewhere on a hard drive.
Shortcut icons are used to gain quick access to data files or programs stored on a hard
drive. Double click a shortcut icon and the actual file that it points to opens. Shortcut
icons are pointers to the original files, not the files themselves. Because of this, if you
delete a shortcut icon, deleting it has no effect on the actual file it points to. For example,
I have a file called Win95/98 terms. It is stored in a folder called 219 which is in a folder
called Sch of Bus which is in a folder called SSU which is on the hard drive. Rather than
opening all those folders to get to Win95/98 terms, I place a shortcut icon for the file on
the desktop. To open Win95/98 terms, all I have to do is double click the desktop shortcut
icon; there is no need to open folders within folders until I find the file. Shortcut icons are
commonly found on the desktop or on the Start menu. To create a shortcut icon, right
click an icon and choose the create shortcut icon command. You can then drag the
shortcut to whatever location you choose.
10. How do you open the Start menu? List three options found on the Start menu.
The Start menu is a collection of commands that give you quick access to the programs,
data files and hardware resources on your computer. To open the Start menu, click on the
Start button in the lower left hand corner of the screen. You can also use the keyboard to
open the Start menu. To open the Start menu with the keyboard, hold down the control
key and, while you are holding it down, press the escape key. If your keyboard has a
Windows key, you can press that key to open the Start menu. Some options you'll find on
the Start menu are Programs (a menu of the programs installed on a computer),
Find/Search (used to locate files and folders on a drive), Settings ( used to control a
computer's appearance or performance) and Help (provides explanations and instructions
on how to use Windows).
11. What is the Taskbar? What is the Taskbar's main purpose?
The Taskbar is gray rectangle that runs the length or width of the computer screen.
Typically located at the bottom of the screen, the Taskbar contains the Start button at one
end and the system tray at the other. The purpose of the Taskbar is to give you one click
access to all open program and folder or drive windows. Every time you open a program,
folder or drive window, a button representing that window appears on the Taskbar. To
make any open window the active window, simply click on its Taskbar button. Accessing
open windows from their Taskbar button is especially helpful if the window you want is
hidden behind another window.
12. What should you always do before turning off a computer running Windows?
Unless your computer has frozen, you should always choose the Shutdown command
from the Start menu before turning off the computer. A few moments after choosing
Shutdown, you should see a message on the screen telling you it's safe to turn off the
computer. Only when you see this message should you turn off the computer. If you turn
off the computer before you see this message, it is possible that some of your files will be
corrupted.
What should I do if my computer stops responding to the mouse and keyboard?
If your computer has frozen and is no longer responding to commands, hold down the
control and alt keys and, while holding them down, press the delete key; a window with
several buttons and a list of open programs and windows will appear; click the End Task
button. Another window will open; click the End Task button again to close the problem
program. If this doesn't return control of the computer to you, press control, alt and delete
again. You can also try pressing the reset button. Only if none of these actions work
should you turn off the power.
13. Name and briefly describe the purpose of each of the three types of windows in
Windows.
The three types of windows found in Windows are folder, application and document
windows. Folder windows are storage locations for the files on a hard drive. Folders
contain other folders or files that are related to each other by some common trait.
An application window opens every time we start a computer program. Application
windows have two main purposes. They provide a collection of menus that contain the
program's commands and they provide a workspace we use to create data files with the
program.
Document windows fill the workspace provided by application windows. All of our work
with Windows 95/98 programs takes place in document windows.
14. What is the difference between a maximized and a restored window? How do I
maximize or restore a window?
A maximized window is as large as possible while a restored window is some custom
size between maximized and minimized ( a window's smallest size). In the upper right
hand corner of every window are three buttons. The left hand button is the minimize
button. The right hand button is the close button. The middle button can take on one of
two forms, maximize or restore. The middle button is the maximize button when it has
one square in it; it's the restore button when it has two small squares in it. To maximize a
window click the maximize button; to restore a window click the restore button.
Alternately, if you double click a window's title bar, the window will change in size from
restored to maximized or from maximized to restored depending on the size of the
window when you double click its title bar.
15. What does it mean to scroll through a window? List three different ways to use
the mouse to scroll.
Scrolling is the act of bringing into view a portion of a window that isn't presently on
screen. Scrolling can be done with the keyboard or the mouse. To scroll with the
keyboard, press the arrow keys or the page up or down keys.
To scroll with the mouse, you use the scrollbar. A scrollbar is composed of three different
parts, the scrollbar itself, scroll bar arrows (triangles at either end of the bar) and a
scrollbar box (a small square or rectangle in the scrollbar). The scrollbar itself can be
used to move up or down a screen at a time. Click in the scrollbar above the box and you
move up a screen of information. Click in the scrollbar below the box and you move
down a screen of information. The scrollbar box serves two purposes. You can click on
the box and drag it up or down the scrollbar to quickly move up or down in a document.
Dragging the scrollbar box up or down the scrollbar is the fastest way to move up or
down in a document. The scrollbar box is also used to indicate your relative position in a
document. The farther down the scrollbar the box is, the farther down you are in your
document. For example, if you are working with a ten page document and the box is in
the middle of the scrollbar, you are looking at page five of the document. The scrollbar
arrows allow you to move up or down in a document one line at a time. Click once on an
arrow and you'll move up or down a line. Press and hold the mouse pointer on an arrow
and you'll scroll continuously.
16. List two different methods you can use to change the size of a window.
There are three ways to change the size of a window.
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You can click one of the size buttons.
You can double click a window's title bar.
You can drag any of a window's four borders.
17. How do I move a window? When can't a window be moved?
To move a window, click in its title bar and then press and hold down the left mouse
button. Now as you move the mouse, the window will move around on your screen.
Remember these two things: you can't move a maximized window and you can't move a
document window outside of its program window. Another way to move a window is to
open its control menu icon (the icon in the upper left hand corner of a window) and select
the Move command. Now pressing the arrow keys moves a window. When the window is
in the desired location, press the enter key to move the window or the escape key to
cancel the move.
18. List two different ways to close a window.
To close a window, you can click the close button in the upper right hand corner of a
window, you can double click a window's control menu icon or you can choose the Exit
or Close command from the file menu. The Exit command will close an application
window and the Close command closes a document window.
19. List two different ways the keyboard can be used to access menu commands.
You can press the Alt key plus the underlined letter in a menu name to open a menu and
then type the underlined letter in a command's name to access the command. For
example, to select the Print command, type Alt then F (the underlined letter) to open the
file menu and then type the letter P for print. Some commands have a keyboard shortcut
associated with them. To access commands that have keyboard shortcuts, type the
shortcut. For example, the Print command uses the keyboard shortcut control P. To
access the Print command, there is no need to open the file menu. Hold down the control
key and, while you are holding control down, type the letter P; the Print dialog box will
open.
20. How do you open a shortcut menu? What is a shortcut menu? What will you
find on a Shortcut menu?
To open a shortcut menu, click on an object with the right mouse button. (This is the only
time you use the right mouse button.) A shortcut menu is a collection of commands that
relate specifically to whatever you right clicked. Shortcut menus are sometimes referred
to as context sensitive menu because the commands found on the menu are only used
within the context of whatever you clicked on with the right mouse button. Once the
menu opens, to activate one of its commands, click the command's name with the left
mouse button. The term shortcut is used in two different contexts within Windows 95/98.
Don't confuse shortcut icons (discussed above) with shortcut menus.
21. What does it mean when a command's name is gray? Give an example of a
command that might be gray and describe what to do to change the command's
name to black letters.
Sometimes when you open a menu, you'll notice some of its commands are gray. Grayed
out or dimmed commands are unavailable at the time you open the menu. To make these
commands available, you must change the circumstances affecting the command. For
example, the Cut and Copy commands on the Edit menu will appear gray unless you
select (highlight) some data. Once you select something, the two commands will turn
black, meaning they are now available.
22. What is the purpose of a dialog box? Give an example of a command that uses a
dialog box.
When you open a menu, you'll notice that some commands have three dots after their
name. These dots are called an ellipsis. When you select a command with three dots after
its name, a dialog box opens. Dialog boxes are used to provide options to a user such as
where to save a file or to get information from a user, such as a file name, that the
command needs to complete its function. For example, before the Save as command can
save a new file, it needs a name for that file.
23. What is the difference between the way radio buttons and check boxes present
you with options?
Round or radio buttons are small white circles. They are used in dialog boxes to present a
user with a set of mutually exclusive options. Only one radio button in a related group
will be active at any time. The active button is the one with the black dot in it. To choose
a different option, click on that option's button. As soon as you click on the option, the
black dot appears in its button (white circle) and is removed from the button that
previously contained the black dot. For example, the Print command lets you print a file
in either portrait or landscape orientation. You can choose one or the other but not both at
the same time. The portrait or landscape radio button with the black dot in it is the one
that is active and that controls the way your document will print.
Check boxes are small, white squares found in a dialog box. Unlike radio buttons, several
of the check boxes in a related group can be active at one time. Click once in a check box
(a check mark appears in the square) to turn on its associated effect; click the same box
again (the check mark goes away) to turn its effect off.
24. Why are some dialog boxes divided into tabbed sections? Give an example of a
tabbed dialog box.
Some dialog boxes have so many options that it would be impossible to present all of
them on screen at once. In these cases, the dialog box groups its options on named tabs
that are stacked one of top of another. To access a group of options, click on the tab's
name. Once you click on a tab, its group of options and commands pops to the top of the
stack. Click on another tab name and its options pop to the top of the stack. The Find
command on the Start menu is an example of a command with a tabbed dialog box.
25. What is a folder? How do you create a folder?
A folder is a storage location on a disk. Although floppy disks can contain folders,
folders are primarily created on hard drives. Folders contain related files or other folders.
For example, you might create a folder called Business 219 and use that folder to contain
all the homework files you create for this class. To create a folder, from an open disk or
folder window, choose the File menu and then the New, Folder command. Once you do
this, a folder appears in the open window. The name of the folder is New Folder. You can
rename this folder by typing a new name and pressing the enter key.
26. How does the view of your hard disk provided by My Computer differ from the
view provided by Windows Explorer?
Windows 95/98 provides two programs you can use to view the files and folders on a
computer. The two programs are My Computer and Windows Explorer. My Computer
displays the contents of a disk one folder at a time. To see one folder's contents open a
window for that folder. To see another folder's contents, you open another window.
Windows Explorer displays the contents of a disk all at once. On the left side of the
Explorer window you'll find the drives and folders the drives contain. On the right side of
the Explorer window you'll see the contents of whatever drive or folder you click on the
left side of the window. If you compare your hard drive to a forest, My Computer gives
you a view of the trees while Explorer gives you a view of the forest.
27. How do you start the Find command? List three different file attributes you can
use to find a file.
To start the Find command, click on the Start button. When the Start menu opens, click
on the Find command and then choose Files and Folders. The Find command helps you
to locate files and folders stored on a disk, either hard or floppy. The most common use
for Find is to locate files or folders by their name. But the Find command is much more
versatile than that. You can look for files based on the program that created them. You
can look for files based on the date they were created or last modified. You can search for
files according to their size or even by their contents.