38. START BUTTON. (Shutdown, Run, Help, Settings, Documents, Programs.)

On the left side of the Taskbar is the Start Button

THE START MENU:

SHUT DOWN:

l. Shut Down
2. Restart
3. Stand by
Before shutting down your computer close all programs Then use Start > Shut Down > Shut down, before you turn your computer off.

Shut down gracefully. Make a point of always using your computer's shutdown command, and wait until the computer notifies you that it's safe to shut down. Improper shutting-down can leave messy file fragments that can clutter up your hard drive and confuse your system.

RUN:

Click Start, and then click Run.
In Open, type the location and name of the program you want to start.
An .exe file can be opened buy just typing its name
such as wordpad, notepad, calc, sol.
Notes · To select the location or name of the program,
click Browse. · You can connect to an Internet or intranet site by typing its address
- for example, www.microsoft.com - in Open.

HELP:

Contents: Touring Windows (everyone should do this)
And there are several other options.
Index: Just type in the word that best describes your problem. Such as Clock, Mouse, Printer, Desktop, Icons, etc.

In XP: Go to Start, Help, click on What's new in Windows XP, then click on Taking a Tour or Tutorial, then click on Take the Windows XP Tour.

SEARCH OR FIND:


Type in the name of the file or folder you are looking for. Look in [ C : ] Click on Find Now

If you are looking for a group of files with a certain 3 letter dos extension, type *.exe for your program files or *.doc for your documents or *.wav for your sound files. Double click on a .wav file and it will sound off.

SETTINGS:

Control Panel - Click on any icon in this Window. A few you might try are Fonts, Modems Mouse, Display, System, etc.

When installing new software or running Error-checking (SCAN DISK) or DEFRAG, you should disable your screen saver ( Right Click on your desktop, click on properties, click on Screen Saver click on the down arrow and select None)

And also disable your anti-virus (I use Norton's 2005) (if there is an anti-virus icon on the right side of your Taskbar, Right click on it and select disable). If there is no Icon on the Taskbar, go to programs, then your anti-virus program and Double Click on the first line which is Real -Time Scanning (Auto-Protect) then click on Yes to Disable. To enable, do the reverse of the above (You must undo the above after you install your program.)

DOCUMENTS:

THE EASIEST AND QUICKEST WAY TO OPEN A FILE: START - DOCUMENTS and click on the file you want. This opens the file and the application program. It will hold 15 shortcuts to your files, then it removes the oldest shortcut first. Only the shortcuts are removed, the files and programs remain exactly in the same place. PLEASE USE THIS OFTEN. This is one of my favorite things.

You wish to clear out all the items in Documents? Right click an empty space on the Taskbar, click Properties, click on the tab Start Menu Programs and on the bottom portion click on Clear.

While you're there click on the tab Taskbar Options then if you wish your taskbar to disappear click on the box Auto Hide then click OK and it will be gone. If you wish it back, put your mouse pointer at the bottom of the page and it will reappear. If you do not like this option, go back and uncheck the Auto Hide Box.

PROGRAMS:

This is where all your programs are. If you see a small triangle after a Name it means there are submenus.

To shorten your program menu:

You can make a folder A-M and a folder N-Z and put the programs you use the least in them, that way you have only the most used programs easily visible.
This is in XP others may be similar:
Right Click on the Start Button, click on Open or Open All Users, depending if you want separate menus for each person logging on.
At the top click on File, New, Folder and name it A-M and then do another File, New, Folder and name it N-Z.
Now just drag the programs you want, into the A-M or N-Z folder.

Strain Your Eyes No More

Do your eyes strain to read the tiny words in your Windows program menus? You can make them easier to read with the Windows Display Settings tool as follows:

1. Right Click on the Desktop.
2. Click on Properties.
3. Click the Appearance tab.
4. Choose Menu from the Item list.
5. Click the B button to make menu fonts bold. You can also change the font style and size here.
6. Click OK when you've finished.

In XP: You click on Advanced after step 3.

Wingdings:

Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Character map Click on a wingding and click on select, repeat this until you have all the wingdings you want, then click on Copy. Go to Word or WordPad and Control V to paste. Then Highlight the wingdings, click on the Format bar at the top of the page and increase the size from say 10 to 24 or whatever, and color them.

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