Win95 Introduction Notes

Introduction to Windows 95

The Mouse

Right Mouse Button. This usually brings up a small shortcut menu related to the task you are currently performing. (For example, if you are creating a table in WordPerfect, clicking with your secondary mouse button will bring up a shortcut menu consisting of formatting commands for tables).

Double-Clicking your mouse button. This means you should click the left mouse button twice quickly without moving your mouse.

Draging the mouse, click and hold the left mouse button down as you move the mouse button, then release the button.

The Start Menu

If you click with your left mouse button on the start button in the bottom left hand corner of your screen you will see the start menu which gives you all the options you need to get started in Windows.

Menu Item

Description

Programs	Displays a series of cascading menus showing all the programs you can start
Documents	Shows a list of documents you have recently opened. If you click on a document name in this list, Windows will automatically open it up in the program it was created in so you can work with it.
Settings	Settings This is where you find your Control Panel and all the "technical stuff" for setting up windows, (installing new hardware and programs etc.), options for changing the look of your desktop (colours, screen savers, wallpaper etc.), and your printer controls.
Find	Lets you find a file or folder (directory) on your computer
Help	Starts the Windows help program.
Run	Starts a program or opens a folder. (Works exactly the same as choosing Run from the File menu of Program Manager or File Manager in Windows 3.1
Shut Down	Shuts down or restarts your computer. Use this every time you exit Windows.

Opening Applications

To open a specific program

Click on the Start Button
Point to Programs
Point to the Folder related to the program you want
Click on the program you wish to Open

The Task Bar

Each time you open a program in Windows 95 a button will appear on the taskbar You can quickly toggle between programs simply by clicking on the button for the program you wish to switch to.

Working With Windows

Moving Windows - Place your mouse cursor (pointer) on the window's Title Bar. Drag the window to its desired location.

Resizing Windows - Place your mouse cursor along one of the outside edges of the window. The cursor should change to a double headed arrow. Drag the windows to its desired size. Notice that you can size the window in 2 directions if you Drag from one of the corners.

Minimize a Window - Click on the Minimize Button. This does NOT close or exit programs or windows it just "hides" the window leaving your screen free to complete other tasks.

Maximizing a Window - Click on the Maximize Button. This will make the window you are working on take up the entire screen.

Restore - If a window has been maximized, the Restore Button will restore the window to the size it was at before it was maximized.

Closing Windows - Click on the Close Button to close a window or application.

Basic Windows Procedures - File Menu

Saving

From the File Menu in a program choose Save or Save As (Save as will give you the opportunity to select a new file name or location to save your file)

Choose the disk you wish to save to by clicking on the down arrow beside the Look In box
Choose the folder you want to save the document to. You may have to use the scroll bar to find more folders.
In the File Name: box type in a name for your document. It can be up to 255 characters, but if you intend to use this file on a Windows 3.1 machine limit yourself to 8 characters.
Click on Save

Opening a File

On the File menu, click Open
Choose the disk that your document is stored on by clicking on the arrow next to the Look In box, and then clicking on the disk that contains the folder.
Click the folder that contains the document you want to open from the main area of the window. You may have to scroll to find the folder you are looking for.
Click on the name of the document you want to open
Click on Open

Printing a File

From the File menu, click on Print
Every program you use may be a bit different, look at the options selected for you. Usually the default is fine but make sure that it is being sent to the correct printer, that you are printing the number of copies you want and that you are printing the right section of the document.
Click on Okay

Basic Windows Procedures - Cut, Copy and Paste

This is by far one of the most useful procedures in Windows. It allows you to move and copy text within a document in a program, between documents and even between programs (for example, you can do some work on a spreadsheet like Excel and then copy all of that into your Word document)

Select the text you wish to cut/copy (click with your mouse at the beginning of the section and drag the mouse over the text, releasing the button when the area you want selected is highlighted)
From the Edit menu choose Cut or Copy (Experiment with these. You will soon discover that Cut will remove the section from the document entirely but copy will leave it there). This information is now stored on the Windows Clipboard and is available for pasting in any windows application.
Click the mouse cursor where you want to put the selection you cut or copied
Choose Paste from the Edit menu

Fun Stuff

Programs to try...

Click on Programs on the Start menu
Look in the Accessories menu you will find a variety of applications, games, paint program, calculator, notepad etc. Have fun!

Changing the look of Windows

From the Start Menu choose Settings, then Control Panel
Double Click on the Display icon
Experiment with the different tabs. You can change the background wallpaper, screen saver, and appearance (Colours).

Help!

Most Windows Applications have a Help Menu. If you ever get stuck try searching these. Remember that the F1 key is the usually a shortcut key to the help menu of a program.

Check out the Windows 95 Help menu and tutorials available from the Start menu.

Good Luck!

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