Getting Started with XP

Information from Sam's Teach Yourself Windows XP (Home Edition) in 24 Hours.

About Accounts
Assigning and Changing Account Passwords
Shut Down Windows XP
Managing Windows

About Accounts

Your account is your personalized set of settings you use every time you run XP. Accounts include permissions which determine how much control each account user is allowed to have over the opperating system. The permissions are:

Administrator. The administrator account is the one that sets the permissions for all other accounts. This account is automatically created when you install Windows XP, and does not require a password until you log in as Administrator and assign one to the account.
Limited. A limited account allows the account holder to change only his or her own account settings and only the other areas of the PC that the administrator has decided to allow the limited account holder access to.
Guest. A guest account allows the account holder to run some programs and access some data files, but not change any of the computer's settings.

Logging On

When you see the welcome screen (it's a screen that says "to begin, click your username") click your user name. Enter your account password if nessasary (XP will not ask for a password if the account is not set up, by the system or by the administrator, to require one). The XP desktop that correlates to your account will appear.

NOTES: XP allows more than one account to be running at a time. One account can leave programs running and log off, allow another user to log on, do whatever, and log off. Then the first account can log back on and find things exactly as he or she left them.

Logging Off

Click Start
Click Log Off
If Nessasary, Click Switch User to let another account holder log on

Assigning and Changing Account Passwords

The Administrator can assign and change passwords for any of the other accounts. To do this, first log in as the Administrator. Then

Click Start
Select Control Panel
Click User Accounts
Select the account you want to modify
Click Create a Password
Type in the password you want to use
Press Tab
Retype the password exactly as you typed it the first time
Press Tab
Type a password hint
Click Create Password
Close the window

Shut Down Windows XP

Windows XP, like many computer operating systems, must be shut down properly in order to avoid damaging the system or your files.

Close all running programs
Click Start
Click Turn Off Computer
Turn off the computer when the system advises you it is safe to do so

Other Options
Instead of choosing Turn Off Computer, you can choose

Stand By: This will turn off most of the power to the computer but keep your programs open until you press a key, which will restore full power. This is a good option to lower your electricity bill.
Restart. To restart your computer, which will reset all your settings to the account defaults.

Managing Windows

Here we learn how to navigate through the many windows on the XP desktop. Below, you see an image of the XP My Computer window. All XP windows have the same basic structure.

The edges of this window can be used to resize it. Here is a list of things you can do with any window on your screen:

Minimize the window so that it shrinks down to an icon on the toolbar, while remaining open
Maximize the window back to full or partial-screen size
Move a window from one part of the screen to another (by drag-and-drop)
Move a window to the top, middle, or bottom of the screen
Display different windows by clicking one of the Tasks or Other Places options. If this creates new window contents, you can also click back on the toolbar to return to the previous contents.
Drag items from one window to another or to different locations in the same window
Close a window which will remove it's icon from the toolbar and stop the application running inside the window

The Window's Menu Bar

Almost every XP window will have a window bar. You can use these bars to close the window, open additional windows, get help, access the internet for related information, and cut, copy and paste items from one window to another.

The Window Contents

You can use the menu bar's veiw button to choose a way to view your content. You can view in several different ways, depending on what info you want. Play around with the settings and see what they do.

The Toolbar

Most windows have toolbars. On any window's toolbar you'll find buttons for actions you can perform in that window. As you work in a window, the toolbar changes to reflect what you're doing. To change the way the toolbar looks:

Right-click over the right-hand end of the toolbar.
Click Customize
Change the toolbar to look the way you want. You might, for example, click No Text Labels, which will make the toolbar buttons display in less space because they now use no text labels.

Completely Changing the Way a Toolbar Looks

You can completly change the way your windows look. To do this:

Click Tools
Click Folder Options
Click Use Windows Classic
Click Ok

This will change the window by getting rid of all the special XP stuff, like the areas containing Other Tasks You Can Do and Selected Object Details. The window will instead look as it does in earlier versions of Windows OS.