How to Explore and Customize Your Computer

To accomplish a task in windows, you need to interact with a folder or a file. A file is a named collection of some information such as a program, a set of data used by a program or a user crated document. A folder is a container that contains other files or folders. It is shown in windows as an icon displaying a file folder. Folders are a means of organizing files and folders on a disk.

Microsoft Windows Explorer is a program that enables you to view and manage the folders and folders on your computer. If your machine is a part of a group of computers of network, you can also connect to resources that are shared over tae network from the Windows Explorer. To open the Windows Explorer click Start => All Programs => Accessories => Windows Explorer. The following figure shows the Windows Explorer window.

As can be observed from the figure, the window consists of :

v  Folders Pane

v  Contents Pane

v  Toolbar

Folders Pane

The Folder pane displays all the folders in a hierarchical structure as shown in the above figure. A plus sing (+) icon attached to a folder icon is an indication that the folder contains other levels of folders. If you click on the plus sign, the folder tree will expand to show other folders in the hierarchy and the plus sigh will change to a minus sing.

Some of the main folders that appear in this pane are:

v  My Documents – This is your personal folder. It contains specialized personal folders like. My Pictures, My Videos and My Music. Windows XP creates personal folders for every user on the computer. When each their is more that one person using the computer, each personal folder is identified by the user’s name.

v  Shared Documents – Windows also provides  a Shared Documents folder for files you want to share with other users. The Shared Documents folder also contains Shared Pictures and Shared Music folders. These folders are for pictures and music you want to share with other people who use your computer.

v  My Network Places – This link can be used to view all the shared folders on your machine or on another machine.

Contents Pane

For each folder selected in the Folders pane, the contents pane displays the files and sub folders contained in it. For example, if the selected folder is Studentguide, the second panel will display the files and folders contained in that folder. The view of the contents pane can be modified bay selecting one of the following options from the view menu :

v  Title – This view displays the files and folders in the windows explorer as icons. The icons are larger than those on icon view.

v  Icons – This view displays your files and folders as icons. The file name is displayed under the icon.

v  List – This view displays the files and folders in a list. In the list, the names of the files are preceded by small icon depicting the type of file.

v  Details – This view list the contents of the open folder with detailed information about the files, including name, type, size, and date modified. This view also enables you to see the files and folders in groups

Note: The show in Groups option also changes the view of the folders. It is available in the submenu of Arrange Icons By of the view menu submenu, which enables you to group your files by any detail of the file, such as name, size, type, or date modified, This option is only enabled in the Titles, Icons and Details views.

Toolbar

The toolbar of the Explorer window displays buttons which act as shortcuts to menu items.

The toolbar contains following buttons:

Back

You can use this button to move from the current contents to those that were previously displayed. For example, if you are currently viewing the contents of the G:\WinXP folder and you move to view the E:\Stella folder, you can use the Back button to move back to the G:\WinXP folder. Thus, this option helps in quick navigation by remembering the relative path that you traverse in the folder hierarchy.

Forward

This button works similar to the Back button with the difference that is moves you to the next location in the traversal hierarchy.

Up

The Up button displays the contents of the folder that is one level above in the folder hierarchy.

Search

The Search button provides a shortcut to the Search Companion. Search Companion makes it easy to search for files folders, printers, people and other computers on your network and it’s a convenient starting point for searching for information on the internet. Search Companion also has an indexing service that maintains an index of all the files on your computer, thus quickening he search process.

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Web Browsers Information

Web browsers are software packages that display web pages containing text, graphics, audio and video files and links to various other web pages. Some examples of graphical web browsers are Mosaic, Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer.

Mosaic

 Mosaic was the first web browser. It was developed by the National Center for Supercomputing Application (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is available for Macintosh, Window and X Windows platforms. This software is available free on the Internet and ca be downloaded from "ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu" by any anonymous FTP.

Netscape Navigator

Netscape Navigator was released in 1994. It is available in different versions for UNIX, windows and Macintosh platforms and has built in e-mail and Newsgroups facilities.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer is based on NCSA Mosaic and is distributed under a licensing agreement with Spyglass Inc. This is a shareware software and can be downloaded from the Internet. It comes in different versions for various windows products.

We will be using Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 that is shipped with Windows XP. Let us discuss how we will use Internet Explorer 6.0 to browse the Internet.

Changing Internet Options

You can change the settings of your Internet Explorer using Internet Options from the Control Panel. Use the following steps to change the settings:

1. Open Network and Internet Connections from the Control Panel, which you can open from the Start menu.
2. Click Internet Options icon. The following window is displayed:

You can change the following settings using Internet Properties:

• You can change the first web page to be viewed in the browser.

• You can delete Temporary Internet Files to make more disk space on the machine.

•   You can use the Content advisor to block objectionable sites to be viewed from the machine.

• You can specify how the fonts and colors are to be used on the Brower.

• You can set the security level for downloading of files on the machine.

• You can set the programs to be used for reading e-mail and Internet newsgroups.

Interface of The Explorer

You can open the Internet Explorer using the Start -> All Programs->Internet Explorer menu option. The Internet Explorer will open the default home page that you have set in the Internet Options, for example "www.msn.com" as in the following figure:

As can be observed from the above figure, the URL appears in Address bar at the top of the window.

Browsing The Web

Internet Explorer 6.0 has built in IntelliSense that enable you to type in a few words and the most commonly accessed addresses appear in the Address bar for you to choose form. Similarly, you can complete Web based forms by just typing in a few worked and you can select the rest of the entries form a choice presented to you by the browser. It also determines the network and Internet connection status automatically.

The different ways in which you can navigate web sites using IE are:

• Type in the first few works of a frequently used site in the Address bar and the names of the sites matching the words will appear just below the Address bar as shown in the above figure.

• You can use the search button on the toolbar to locate a Web site based on a phrase or word. The Search Companion panel will appear on the left side of the window as in the following figure:

• You can directly using the Address bar by typing the work or phrase you are looking for. The browser will display a list of most appropriate web sites matching your work or phrase.

• You can browse through other sites or web pages related to the one you are viewing by clicking on Show Related Links under the Tools menu.

• You can browse through the web pages you have recently visited by clicking the History button on the toolbar or by clicking History from View->Explorer Bar->History. You can even rearrange or search the History list.

In the above figure, you can arrange the sites in the History list by clicking on View drop down list, which provides you with the option of arranging the sites- By Date, By Site, By Most Visited, By Order Visited Today.

• You can add frequently visited web pages to your Favorites list for easy access. You can organize your favorite web sites in folders and sort them in the order that you like.

• You can add your favorite web sites by clicking Add and can organize the web sites by clicking Organize.

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How to Explore the Internet on Your PC

In 1969, the Department of Defense (DOD) of the United States of America started a network called APR net (Advanced Research Project Administration Network). It began in a modest way with one computer in California and three in Utah. Later, to share the software and hardware resources, the military allowed universities to join the network, from where the students caught up with it and developed much of the software, giving birth to the now so very popular Internet.

Note : A network is a group of computers and other devices, such as printers and scanners, connected by a communications link , enabling all the devices to internet with each other. Networks can be small or large, permanently connected through wires or cables, or temporarily connected through phone lines or wireless transmissions.

What is Internet?

Internet is an inter-connection between several computers of different types belonging to various networks all over the globe. It is a network of networks.

The kind of colossal powers that the Internet gives your machine is mind-boggling. To send receive data within a matter of seconds to someone placed beyond the Pacific was unthinkable before the advent of the Internet. The internet represents the transformation and evolution of the entire information age. It is due to these factors that people all over the globe have recognized the Internet as their latest developmental tool. The Internet unleashes the power to communicate unlike any other modality. The Internet is making a major impact on the information technology industry. Major companies like Microsoft, AT&T, Intel and IBM have reworked their business strategies vis-à-vis the Internet.

Advantages of Internet

The Internet is an ocean of information accessible to people across the world, but the way it can be put to use on various platforms is different. The internet simultaneously works as the following.

•  Network--- Organizations can use the Internet to link their offices and employees, turning the Internet into a virtual private network.

•  Medium--- The Internet serves as a communication channel for anybody dealing with product marketing to corporate communications.

•    Market--- The Internet is a vast virtual market place where you can advertise and even order products from the market.

• Transaction Platform--- The Internet allows you to complete your business transactions in the market place. For example, you can complete your financial transactions online while linked directly to your suppliers, customers or financial institutions.

Functionality of Internet

The Internet is and information super-highway and has compressed the world into a cyber colony. Although, there is a major diversity among the Internet community, some shared values have been evolved in the past 25 years of its existence. Though there are no set rules for managing and accessing data over the Internet, a society called the Internet Society (ISOC) exists and works towards bringing order and direction to such a vast undertaking.

The Internet has more than a million computers attached to it, from which arises the need of a proper addressing system for communicating.

This system of addressing is called the Internet Protocal (IP) addressing system. Each computer on the network is called a host, and has a name and a number, which identifies it. The IP addressing system uses:

• The Letter Addressing System

• The Number Addressing System

Letter Addressing System

An example of a letter address is downwind.srrl.umich.edu, which is the address of the University of Michigan Weather Underground and gives free and comprehensive weather forecasting. The last three letters of the address are important because they provide information about the kind of organization to which the address belongs. Some of the abbreviations used are listed below.

Abbreviations	Represents
edu	Educational institutions
mil	Military sites
gov	Government deponents
net	Networking organizations
com	Commercial organizations
Int	International organizations
org	Professional societies

The letter addressing system also users country codes comprising two letters. Examples of country codes are in  for India, ca for Canada and au for Australia. This letter addressing system is called Domain Naming System (DNS).

Number Addressing System

A numeric address has four parts and is referred to as a dotted quad, for example, 41.212.196.197. This is also known as an IP address. Each number in the dotted quad, called an octet, cannot exceed 255. The lettered IP address is mapped to the dotted quad before a machine is accessed. It is recommended that you know the IP address of the host computer you often use.

The Internet, being a packet switching network, transmits data by converting it into small packets. The software document to another that may be located on different machines. The user can use the browser software, such as Internet Explorer, Mosaic or Netscape Navigator to navigate the Web.

that is responsible for marking the Internet function efficiently is the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol or TIC/IP.

The World Wide Web (WWW)

The Internet application that is currently drawing most attention is the World Wide Web. WWW is a series of servers that are interconnected through hypertext links.

Hypertext is a method of presenting information in a document in which certain text is highlighted and, when selected, displays more information on the particular topic. These highlighted items are called hyperlinks, which allow users to navigate from one document to another that may be located on different machines. The user can use the browser software, such as Internet Explorer, Mosaic or Netscape Navigator to navigate the Web.

A browser is software that helps the user to navigate the WWW. The content and graphics that are displayed on a browser are contained in a Web page. Web pages can contain pictures, buttons and even links to sound files, in addition to text, thus enabling multimedia applications to be displayed on a browser. The term home page commonly refers to the index page of any organization or information source. From the home page, the user can have links that take the user to further levels of information within the some topic, or there can be links to other home pages. Several Web pages together make a Web site.

Common Terminologies

Some of the most commonly used terminologies related to the WWW are:

• Browser--- is client software that allows the user to display and interact with a hypertext document.

• Web server--- is a place where page reside. It is a program that responds to requests from Web browsers to retrieve resources. It is also used to refer to the computer that runs the server programs.

• Home page--- is the first hypertext document displayed when the user follows a link to web server.

• Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)--- is the encoding scheme used to create a Web document.

• Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)--- is a protocol used on the Web to transfer hypertext documents. A protocol is a set of rules that the computers user to communicate logically.

• Uniform Resource Locator (URL) – is a web addressing scheme that spells out the exact location of an Internet resource. When the user clicks on a link, the browser reads the path of the linked document. The information about the link is provided to the browser by the URL. Any link from one document to another is always implemented by using a URL. AURL contains information about the location of the document. A URL   may point to another HTML document or an image. Certain conventions have to be followed while writhing a URL. A typical URL would be as follows. Certain conventions have to be followed while writing a URL. A typical URL would be as follows:

scheme://host.domain/path/dataname

The following table contains and explanation of the components of a URL:

Component	Description
Scheme	Type of data to which the URL points
host.domain	Refers to the server on which the data is stored
path/dataname	Refers to the location on the server where the data is stored

The URL used on the WWW  to retrieve HTML documents is called HTTP URL. From example, if a file called mtv.html has to be accessed from the directory/lib, on the HTTP web server www.cnn.com, the URL would be:

http://www.cnn.com/lib/mtv.html

An illustration of services provided by the Internet and when to use them is given in the following table:

To	Option
Get a file from another system on the Internet	FTP
Send a file to another system on the Internet	FTP
View files in a directory in a system on another network	Telnet
Correspond with a particular person on the Internet	E-mail or Chat
Correspond with a group of people interested in a similar topic	Newsgroups
Read multimedia documents on the Internet	WWW
Search for everything about a specific topic on the Internet	Gopher

Requirements for Internet Connection

To connect to the Internet, the user needs a computer with a communications software such as Telix, Procom Plus or PCPlus to access the service provider. The hardware requirements to connect to the Internet are:

• A PCAT 486 or higher with SVGA capabilities, if the user intends to use the GUI Brower to navigate the Internet.

• A large capacity hard disk should be available to download the files.

• A modem that can handle at least 9600 bits per second (bps)

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Managing The Control Panel In Your PC

Windows XP enables you to make the windows interface more user friendly by allowing you to change various settings through the Control Panel. For example, you might wish to change your system date or change the display settings of the windows.

To open Control Panel click on the Start menu and select Control Panel.

As can be observed from the figure, the Control Panel offers various specialized options that can be used to customize windows. Let us discuss some options that are commonly used.

Changing Date and Time

You can change the date and time settings of your computer by clicking the Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options icon in the Control Panel. The following window is displayed:

Click the Date and Time icon or Change the Date and Time option in the above window. The Date and Time Properties dialog box is opened.

Alternatively, you can open the Date and Time Properties windows by double clicking on the time icon on the taskbar.

•  Date and Time

• Time Zone

• Internet Time

Using the Date and Time tab, you can set the year, month, date, and time. In the Date and Time Properties windows, you can change the system date in the Date area and time by clicking the up and down arrows in the Time area.

Using the Time Zone tab, you can select the time zone that your city is in. Windows XP sets the time on your computer by determining the time difference between GMT time and your time zone.

The following figure displays the Time Zone settings tab in the Date and Time Properties window.

Change the time zone in the drop down list. Click Apply and OK.

The Internet Time tab is not available if your computer is not connected to  the Internet or is a part a domain. In case your computer is not a member of a domain, your computer’s clock is automatically and regularly synchronized by an Internet time server.

To change the time server you can click the Internet Time tab and select the Automatically synchronize with an Internet time server check box. You can select the server in the server list box.

Setting Mouse Properties

You can use a mouse to interact with objects on the monitor, as you would use your hand in the physical world. It can be used to move, open or change objects on the screen. You can change the functionally of the mouse to make it more user friendly according to your requirements.

You can customize the settings of a mouse by clicking the Mouse icon in the Printers and Other Hardware option in the Control Panel. The Mouse Properties dialog box is displayed.

Buttons Tab

A mouse typically has two buttons, a primary button and a secondary button. The primary mouse button is the left button of the mouse and is used most often by you to click or select an item. The secondary button is the right mouse button and is used to display the shortcut menu or the program specific functionality. Clicking on the right mouse button is also called right clicking the mouse button.

To reverse the functionality of the mouse buttons you can change the configuration in Button Configuration. You can change the speed of the double click of your mouse by moving the slider in the Double click speed area. You can check the Turn on Click Lock to avoid holding down the mouse button while selecting an area.

Pointers Tab

You can change the mouse pointers that are shown on the screen by selecting the Pointers tab and the following window will be displayed:

In the above figure, you can select a different scheme for your pointer from the Scheme drop down list to change all your pointers at one time.

You can change one pointer by using the following steps:

1. Select the pointer you want to replace in the Customize list.
2. Click Browse to select the name of the new pointer. The Browse dialog box is displayed.
3. Select the pointer name in File Name.
4. Click Open.
5. Click Apply and OK.

Setting the Keyboard Properties

You use the keyboard to enter text or enable certain activities in the computer, Normally a keyboard doses not require any special settings once you plug it in. It should work.

However, you can change some keyboard setting using the Control Panel. For example, when a person is handicapped you can adjust the rate at which a character is repeated when you hold down a key, and the time delay before it starts repeating. To access the Keyboard Properties dialog box, click on the Keyboard icon in the Printers and Other Hardware option of the Control Panel.

The cursor that appears while you are editing blinks at a particular speed. You can also adjust the blink rate by moving the slider in the Cursor blink rate area.

The Hardware tab displays hardware information about the keyboard that is required only if there is some problem with the hardware.

Changing Display Properties

The Control Panel presents you with various settings of the system that you can customize. For example, you can change the display fonts or the date and time settings of your computer.

Let us discuss how you can customize the display of the Desktop. The steps are:

1. Right click on the Desktop and select Properties to go to the Display properties window.

Setting the Theme

You can set a theme of your desktop by selecting the Themes tab in the Display Properties dialog box.

A theme affects the general appearance of your desktop. It is a predefined set of icons, fonts, color, and other elements that make up a window. You can select a theme from the Theme drop down list box. Alternatively, you can customize individual element of the theme by clicking on other tabs in the Display Properties dialog box.

Applying a Background to the Desktop

If you are a frequent computer user, you might prefer to have a pleasant looking screen in front of you. You can achieve this by applying wallpaper to your desktop background. Wallpaper is typically a bitmap image or a scanned picture.

You can use to following steps to apply the background:

1.      Select the Desktop tab in the Display Properties window. Windows XP displays the available wallpapers for you to select from.

2.      Select a picture from the Background list. If you want to apply wallpaper that is not listed in the list, you can select it by clicking the Browse button and location the image file from the Explorer.

3.      Choose the way the picture should be displayed on the desktop by either sleeting the Stretch. Tile or the Center option from the Positing list. Stretch will  elongate the picture to cover the full desktop, Tile repeats the picture to cover your desktop screen and Center creates a window of the picture and centers it on the desktop.

4.      Click Customize Desktop to further enhance the Desktop. The following dialog box is displayed:

5.      Select the desktop icon you want to change under Desktop icons. For example, select My Computer.

6.      Click Change Icon to change the icon. The following figure is displayed:

7.      Select an icon from the list or click Browse and select an icon from a comprehensive icon list.

8.      Click OK. The Desktop Items dialog box is displayed with the changed My Computer icon:

The icon is changed on the Desktop also as shown in the following figure:

Adding Web Content

You can also display a web page as a background of your desktop. Use the following steps:

1. Click the tab in the Desktop Items dialog box. The following window is shown:

2. Select the Web page under Web Pages or click on New to add a new web page. The New Desktop Item window is displayed:
3. Click Browse to locate the Web Page you want.

As can be observed from the figure that Browse opens the Favorites folder of IE by default.

4. Select the web page by double clicking the folders. For example, you can click celebrities in the Browse dialog box.

5. Click Open.
6. Click OK. The following message will be displayed:
7. Click OK. The following box will appear showing that the site is being synchronized:

8. Click Apply and then OK to finish the task.

The desktop will display the selected web page offline as shown in the following figure:

The active desktop will contain the web content as shown in the above figure. You can arrange the web content as required by selecting the options from the drop-down menu on the top. You can update the web content by selecting the Synchronize option from the menu. To remove the web content click Close from the menu or the Close button on top of the web page.

Setting a Screen Saver

A screen saver is an animated graphics program that runs on your screen if you are not working on your computer for a specified time. Thus if you have to leave your workplace for a few minute, the screen saver executes and displays animated graphics on your computer. If your computer has a wound card, the screen saver may produce sounds too.

To set a screen saver for your computer:

1. Open Display Properties by right clicking on the Desktop and selecting the Properties option.
2. Select the Screen Saver tab from the Display Properties window.

3. Select a screen saver that you like from the Screen Saver drop-down list. For example in the above figure, Marquee has been selected.
4. Specify the minutes to wait before the screen saver is executed in the wait list box.
5. Specify that he screen saver is password protected by selecting On Resume and Password Protect.

The Settings button will open another dialog box, if further settings such as rotation speed etc, are required. The Settings button will display different settings for individual screen savers.

For example, if you select Marquee screen saver, then you need to further click on the Settings button to set the text of the marquee. The following figure will be displayed:

In the above Marquee Setup box, you can write the text to be displayed in the marquee in Text box. You can further format the font by clicking on the Format Text button. You can adjust the speed of the marquee by moving the slider in the Speed box.

6. Click OK.

The screen saver password is the same as the system password. The password option requires you to supply the password before the screen clears and returns to the active application. This facility ensures that no one tampers with your computer if you are away for some time.

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