Introduction to Computers

Connie Dalrymple

What is a computer?

Sources: http://flic.kr/p/9sakKT http://flic.kr/p/4rJs5b http://flic.kr/p/6kY5S1

And other devices!

Sources: http://flic.kr/p/6kY5S1 http://flic.kr/p/8GvC54

tablets, ereaders, notebooks, smart phones

Sources: Burke County Public Library

A good file storage option we’re going to demonstrate today…

Thumb driveFlash driveUSB driveGo ahead and insert it into a USB Port (you may need to flip it over to make it fit.)

Turning it On…

Source: http://www.greenit.soton.ac.uk/?p=50

Communicating with the computer

Some computers will bring you to a user logon screen like this one where you’ll select an option and log in using a password.

This is the Guernsey Library PC Reservation System. Click on Available…

Use the mouse to click in the upper white box, then type in the 13-digit number from your library card, skipping any letters or spaces.

Click Use this Computer to complete the PC Reservation process.

You will have 1 hour of computer time. The amount of remaining time is displayed in a little box. If you run out of time and need more, go to the desk and ask for a guest pass. There is a limit of 2 hours of computer time per person per day unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Where to begin?The desktop

Touchpad Practice

• Touch the touchpad and move your finger around – note the movement of the arrow on the screen.

• Move the arrow to the e in the task bar at the bottom left of the screen

• Click the left button below the touchpad• You have started a program to access the

Internet!

Touchpad practice continued…

• Find the text box at the top of the screen, move the arrow to the text box and click once on the left button below the touchpad

• Now type in the following www.pbclibrary.org/mousing/mousercise.htm

• Note the autofill feature• Follow the instructions to practice with the

touchpad, then the mouse

Mouse

Sources: http://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/assets/files/computers/Basics.pdf http://flic.kr/p/7pKeAb http://flic.kr/p/buQAVz, http://flic.kr/p/41xp8a http://flic.kr/p/9KuVN7

Other good mouse practice

• Games like solitaire (Click Start, then All Programs, then Games to choose from games preloaded on the computer.)

Start Applications

Most popular Microsoft Application: WORD

Find MS Word either on the desktop, in the most frequently used

applications, or under all programs, then click to open it. Depending on where you find it, you may need to

click once or click twice in rapid succession (double-click.)

Application Window

Microsoft Word Application WindowMay look a little different depending on the version of Word loaded on your particular

computer…

To Open a Document, click here

Then here…

This screen gives you the locations where files are stored on your computer.

If you look on the left under Computer, you should be able to figure out which one is your flash drive – in this case Removable Disk (D:). Double click to find out what files are on the flash drive.

When the list of files on the flash drive appears, double click on This is a practice

word document.docx.

Congratulations, you know how to open files. Click on the image of the piece of

paper and do some typing.

To save your work, click here

Then here…

Click in this box and type a name for your practice word document, then click save.

In the upper right corner:

Click here to send Word to the system tray at the bottom of the screen, allowing you to put Word on hold and use other programs.

Click here to make Word larger or smaller. If you make it smaller, you can have two different programs viewable at the same time.

Click here to close down the program entirely.

Organize Files

Open the flash drive by double-clicking

Click New folder to create folder where we can organize our documents

Click the New folder box and type a name for the folder. I’ll call mine Student

Practice Files. Then hit Enter.

Now we will practice “drag and drop” to move files around.

To drag and drop, click and hold on the file you want to move. While holding, drag the file to where you want it to go. Then release the mouse button you were holding.Put all the files into the folder you created.

To get files out of a folder

• Double-click to open the file you created• Single-click the file you want to move• Click Edit, then click Cut

To get files out of a folder, continued…

Go to the place where you want to put the file and click Edit, then click Paste

Note that if you click on a file and then click the right mouse button, you can also access the cut and paste functions there

Install Software

• From a CD/DVD – open the CD/DVD drive and put in the disk and close it again. Usually the program will begin to auto-install. Just follow the directions.

• If you put in a CD/DVD and it doesn’t auto-install, you can go to Start, then Run, then Browse the CD/DVD drive and click on the program to start the install.

Install Software, cont.

• From downloads from the Internet – open your internet browser (Internet Explorer is the e icon at the bottom left)

• Go to the web site download.com and search for programs to download, then follow the instructions

• Note that public computers like the ones you’re using today are set up to not let anyone install programs or make other changes.

Turn computer off

Staying Safe!Internet Security & Antivirus Software

Backup Devices

Source: http://www.google.com/shopping

Buying a computer

Source: http://www.google.com/shopping

Further Help

• Contact me for an appointment – 334-4034, email no.connie@4cls.org

• Go to the circulation desk for help• Come to future classes