Computers Made Easy - A New York Farm Viability Institute Computer Training Course By Jack Kellogg and Juliet Carroll
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Computers Made Easy
A
New York Farm Viability Institute
Computer Training Course
By
Jack Kellogg and Juliet Carroll
Trainer Fruit IPM Coordinator
Professional Studies & Continuing Education NYS Integrated Pest Mangement Program
Finger Lakes Community College Cornell University
2006COMPUTER BASICS
MAIN COMPONENTS of a PC (personal computer):
Desktop Personal Computer
Screen (monitor): monochrome, color,
or LCD
CPU (central processor unit): the
“brains”, mother board, hard drive,
etc.
Keyboard: layout similar to a type-
writer plus adding machine keys and
function keys.
WORKSTATION (hardware): A workstation normally consists
of monitor, CPU, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc. An
alternate workstation could consist of a laptop computer,
or a hand-held.
PRINTER: Earlier printers were dot matrix, followed by the
popular laser and color/bubble jet. Most printers use buf-
fers (internal memory) to help in storing and processing
the documents that are sent to them for printing.
SOFTWARE: The software starts with the Operating System Software purchases are rarely
refunded.
(Windows or Mac), which interfaces with the applications
When buying software make
software programs (Word, Excel, Quickbooks, etc.) that certain it is compatible with your
yield the resulting computer files. computer system (OS, memory,
processor, etc.).
OPERATING SYSTEMS: The operating system (OS) is typi- Check the software ‘system re-
quirements’.
cally a Windows (DOS IBM compatible) or Mac (Apple
Computer). The OS acts like a traffic cop between the
software and hardware.
SOFTWARE PROGRAM TYPES:
Word processor: Word by Microsoft or Word Perfect.
Spreadsheets (or workbooks): Excel by Microsoft or Lotus.
Software is available for additional tasks such as graphic de-
sign, database management, accounting, presentations,
Internet connections, calendars & planners, games, etc.
The software must be written in a language compatible
with the operating system.
NYFVI Computers Made Easy – Kellogg & Carroll
MOUSE: The device used to move the cursor (arrow or point- Left Right
er) around the screen. A single LEFT click will activate the
item at the arrow, while a double LEFT click will open the
item at the arrow. In some instances a RIGHT click acti-
vates a pop-up menu.
OTHER COMPUTER COMPONENTS:
MODEM: A modem is needed to communicate via phone
lines for on-line services such as the Internet, faxing,
data transfer, etc.
SPEAKERS: Speakers are used with some software,
games, music, and other interactive software.
SCANNERS: A laser image reader allowing a document
to be scanned then saved electronically and sometimes
edited, depending on the scanned file’s format and avail-
able software. Many types of scanners are available.
SERVERS: A server is usually another computer that we
connect to that acts like a hub so we can connect to
other computer(s), as with the Internet.
DRIVES: The main drive, (internal drive, C: drive, or hard
drive) is the main brain. Other “floppy” drives are:
A: normally used for 3_ inch disks
B: was used for 5 _ inch floppy disks (obsolete)
D: normally used as the CD-ROM drive
E: normally used for a removable drive (thumb, mini, BACK UP your files (data, photo,
music, etc.) frequently and rou-
jump, etc.) tinely.
Information (files or software) can be loaded from Make and store copies on floppy
these drives into the computer’s hard drive. disks, CDs, etc. using one of
F:, S:, etc. – these drives are also used for networked these drives.
computers. See your network administrator for the
drive to be used if your computer is networked.
CD: A CD is a shiny compact disk that can contain soft-
ware programs, reference data, music, photographs, etc.
Blank CDs (used like a floppy 3 _” disk) can be “read
only” (R) or “read & write” (RW) types.
NYFVI Computers Made Easy – Kellogg & Carroll
LAPTOPS: These computers have caught up and even
passed some PC’s, using more computer chips and
faster processors to achieve greater memory and speed.
Laptops may be convenient but are run by ni-cad batter- FORMAT ‘ting or reformatting a
ies that need re-charging. drive completely erases all files
from that drive or the disk in that
FORMAT: Has dual meaning - Anytime the word FORMAT drive.
Do not use the FORMAT com-
appears be extremely careful!
mand until you are certain you
1. FORMAT could mean completely erasing (removing any know what you are doing.
and all) data from one of the disk drives.
2. FORMAT could mean simply the layout of the document,
the layout of a picture, or the layout of a mathematical
equation for some spreadsheet software. Some software
refers to this now as the SYNTAX.
SET-UP: Set-up can refer to many things that should be left
to the more experienced PAID computer buff. The areas
most common and best left alone: Autoexec, Config-sys,
Stacks, Buffers, Drivers, etc. Set-Up can also refer to
hardware as: Parallel and/or Serial Ports, Comm Ports,
Controllers, Boards, etc. Set-up can also refer to the se-
quence of start-up, or displaying a main menu before or
after software is run. This latter area is easily learned by
some and better avoided by others.
NYFVI Computers Made Easy – Kellogg & Carroll
COMPUTER OPERATION
STARTING THE COMPUTER: Start most computers by
pressing a button or flipping a switch on the CPU. The
computer will start up (boot up) and display on the
screen what is called the “Desktop”.
STARTING AGAIN: Turning the computer on after the CPU
unit has been turned off should be done ONLY AFTER 30
seconds have elapsed and the hard drive has stopped
coasting.
DESKTOP: After starting, the frequently used software and
files saved in the Desktop will be visible on the screen
usually as icon(s) or folder(s). This is the pivotal point at
which the user directs the computer to start the software
or program of choice. Before shutting down, return to
the Desktop by saving and closing all files and closing all
programs.
TASK BAR: The task bar is the gray bar across the bottom
of the screen. The left side of the task bar (Windows OS)
has the START button (to Shut down, Restart, Log off, or
Standby). The right side of the task bar displays the time
of the system clock. In between will be program quick
start buttons, short cut buttons, and minimized bars of
open files.
FILES: Computer files are much like those in a filing cabinet.
The cabinet is controlled by the instructions of its operat-
ing system (DOS, Windows 2000 or XP, Mac OS9 or OSX,
etc.) to open, close, move, copy, look at, and change
files. The user tells the software what the file name is
and where it is kept. The computer goes and retrieves it
(open, find) and then puts the file back (save, move).
FILE NAMES (and FOLDER NAMES): Depending on the
software and the operating system, file names (and folder
names) must have certain characteristics. No slashes
(back \ or forward /), @, $, #, %, etc, or punctuation. Usu-
ally the software assigns a suffix of 3 characters to the
filename after a period (ex: filename.doc).
NYFVI Computers Made Easy – Kellogg & Carroll
BACK UP: File back up is vital! Hard drives, CDs, floppy
disks, external drives can become damaged or may fail
making data retrieval impossible. It is a good habit to al-
ways save the final working copy by clicking on File, then BACK UP your files (data, photo,
“Save as” to some other drive (the “backing up place”). music, etc.) frequently and rou-
About once a week, or more often, save your files to an- tinely.
Make and store copies on floppy
other disk (floppy, CD, Zip disk, etc.). disks, CDs, etc.
MY COMPUTER: This is “Command Central” for your com-
puter. Double click on the icon on the upper left corner of
the desktop labeled My Computer. This will open the My
Computer window. Double click on CONTROL PANEL.
Double click on DATE & TIME: Observe the clock and date
settings. This is where you can adjust your date and time
settings. Close this window.
Double click on DISPLAY. Observe the tabs: Background,
Screen Saver, etc. This is where you can customize the
colors of you display, screen savers, etc. Close this win-
dow.
Double click on MOUSE and notice the slider pointer for the
mouse speed. Slide the pointer to adjust the double click
speed and test in the test area. Close this window.
minimize maximize
close
MINIMIZE the Control Panel window by clicking on the Mini-
mize box in the upper right hand corner and observe
what happens. Click on the button on the task bar and it
re-appears.
MAXIMIZE the window by clicking on the middle button in
the upper right hand corner and observe what happens.
Click it again to RESTORE DOWN. Notice it acts as a File windows have these same
buttons. Buttons are slightly differ-
toggle to either position. ent on Mac OSs.
CLOSE the window by clicking on the X in the upper right Save your file before CLOSE ‘ing
hand corner, and the window disappears. it.
NYFVI Computers Made Easy – Kellogg & Carroll
AN EXERCISE IN MICROSOFT WORD
Click on the Start button, then on Programs, then on Micro-
soft Word to start the program. Try Minimizing / Maximizing
the Word window or the document window and note the dif-
ference.
TITLE BAR: Notice the colored Title Bar going across the top
of the screen. The Title Bar of any program contains the
name of the open program and the file name.
MAIN MENU BAR: Below the Title Bar is the Main Menu Bar.
Try the drop-down menu items and some of their con-
tents:
File menu: New, Open, Close, Save, Save As, Page
Setup, Print Preview, Print, Properties, etc.
Edit menu: Cut, Copy, Paste, Find, etc.
Format menu: Fonts, Paragraph, etc.
ICON TOOLBAR: Notice that the icons on the Icon Toolbar
are the same as in the drop down menus. They are the
most frequently used commands, for quick access.
Together the drop down Main Menu Bar and the Icon Toolbar
are referred to as the Standard Toolbar.
SCROLLBARS: Scrollbars (and scroll buttons) are located on
the right side and the bottom of the Word window. These
are used as navigation tools around a document or pro-
gram window.
Cut and Paste Exercise:
1. Type your name on first line and press enter
2. Type your city on the second line and press enter
3. Type your street address on the third line and press enter
4. Select the street address text using the mouse
5. Using the scissors on the icon toolbar cut the street ad-
dress out from the bottom line.
6. Create a blank line to paste in the street address
7. Using the paste icon, paste in the street address
NYFVI Computers Made Easy – Kellogg & Carroll
SHUT DOWN: Before shutting down the computer save and
close all files, then exit all software, to return to the Desk-
top. Then you may shutdown.
SAVE your files before CLOSE ‘ing
them.
CLOSE your files and programs
before SHUT ‘ting DOWN.
SOFTWARE TO CONSIDER
WORD PROCESSORS: Word or Word Perfect
SPREADSHEETS: Excel or Lotus
DATABASES: Access, D-Base or My-Database
PUBLISHING: Power Point, Publisher or Corel
ACCOUNTING: Quicken or QuickBooks
NYFVI Computers Made Easy – Kellogg & Carroll
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