3 Basic Set Up - Computer Lesson
Learning is the Key ! www.abodia.com/l 9 Sept ’09- Elden
The most important task with a computer is to be able to do something, the 2nd most important things is to keep and not lose it, keep your original creative work, that is not copied from or kept on a disc.
1 hard drive, divide into 2 partitions & back-up
C Operating System ea. 1-3 month
& programs (apps)
D Data weekly or daily
Your files, books, e-mails, letters, videos links,
all you create, or acquire, or put into your computer.
2nd Hard Drive to keep copies, or synchronized copies.
Copy your operating system with special back up software.
Copy or synchronize your data to the back up with Total Commander.
Copy to the 2nd hard drive to back-up system or data.
Copy from the 2nd hard drive to source hard drive if you loose or mess up a file.
. Getting to your software
Mouse is lazy,
It requires no thinking, no memory
Mouse & Hang down shows you commands
Abandon clicking and note the keystroke for frequently used commands
Like print, save, load, open, close. Learn
When you use 1 keystroke, 10 or 30 times, then your fingers remember, muscle memory, faster than thinking.
Underbar, or underlined character show you the Alternate keystroke, hold alternate, then pluck the letter,
Abbreviations: ^ Control, / A lternate – Shift
Hold border keys, then pluck center keys.
Don’t do both at once, because you sometimes hit the center key first, and it goes to computer like a typed letter, rather than a control command.
Word Processing Commands
^ B old ^ U nderline ^ I talic
Most programs:
^ C opy, ^ V paste, ^ X delete
^ A ll, mark all (text & graphics on a page)
Marking a selection
Click and drag to mark a block, better
Left Click to set an anchor, then
Right click above or below to set the end of the block.
^ Z undo the last thing you did, (many times)
^ Y Redo what you un did
Operating system when you start, then get to windows or programs
When you run a program, then the computer is talking to you.
You cannot play monopoly rules, when you are playing poker.
Your program is a set of rules, print, save, bold.
With your program you can work on files.
Like writing a text document to a word processor.
The file is meaningless without the interpreter, the program, the translator, it has codes.
Each program has a different way to find or open files. Why learn many ways, one program will do it all.
Get your file first, it will get your program.
If you get your program first, then you have to hunt around for the file that you want. The programs are not convenient to find files at different places on you computer.
I use Total Commander, a free program from the internet.
You can load a file, or a folder, or view a graphic, or find things by name, words within, date, or type. It offers many different options
I can find, or load or open any file or folder
It will get the word processor or the graphic program to manipulate the file.
Folders can be empty, or have within other files and or other folders.
Links can point to a file, or folder, or a web site www.abodia.com
You can copy text and or graphics.
You can paste them into a word processor, or from a web site to a word processor.
Set & Learn to run a program (or a file) from a keystroke
When you are in a program; like a word processor, use 1 border key and one center key.
When you are outside of a program, or want to evoke a program, use 2 border keys and then a center key.
I use ^ / W for Word program
^ / X for Explorer
MS Word can hold text, graphics, links, fonts, columns, etc.
Word Pad can only hold words, fonts, graphics and some frames
Note pad can only hold text & numbers.
If you copy into Notepad, then recopy and paste to MS Word, you leave behind all the fonts, margins, bolds, etc.
I use that to wash a text of complicated things I do not want.
When I copy from a web site that might have white text on black filed, I wash the text in Notepad, then recopy and paste to MS Word
At a web site
You can book mark it
Copy the address from the address bar and paste to a file (to remember the link)
You can copy all or part of the page and paste to a word processor page (MS word, or even notepad)
When you have copied and pasted what you want in a word processor file, then you can set anything as you want.
You can set your word processing file.
You can not change the original web page
Maybe you only want part of the web page, or you want a different font, or you want to bold some of the font.
A web page may be there tomorrow and or for years, or it might not be available tomorrow, or might be blocked or removed.
I copy important things from web pages, because some times they are removed or blocked.
Copy & paste thru a note pad to simplify things.
You can send plain text, rtf
(Rich Text Format or html
Set Keystrokes to make your programs and or your files pop up, rather than going to the start menu, Programs, then clicking on a program.
. Here is how:
Use Start Menu, Programs, and point to a program, like MS Word
Right click and click on properties.
At the Short Cut Key, type any letter or number. It will assign Control + Alternate + the letter.
Apply
Then you can just type the Control + Alternate + W (your letter)
And the program jumps up.
I like to find a file with Total Commander.
Make Total Commander come up with single keystroke
Like ^ / C
Then when you are looking for a file, Alternate+ F7 is the Search Command
You can say
File Type *.doc
Find Text give a word or string in file
On the next page or tab
File was created in last
2 months
Then Commander will show you file that meet your criteria
If you see the only file you want, click
Go To File Then Click your file
If you see several that may be what you want - Click – Feed List Box, then you can one at a time test to see if you have the right file, without having to search again, if you pick the wrong file.
Many load a program then look for a file to load and change, or add to.
I always start with Total Commander, that makes it easy & quick for me to find any file or folder.
When I find a file, like a document, I just click on the document and the computer automatically loads the appropriate program, like MS word, or mp3 player, or graphic viewer.
Total Commander lets me have, use, find 10s of 1,000 of files quick and easy.
You can take a text file into MS Word. Or view word files, pdfs, or even jpg images in the 2nd window of Total Commander.