Part
1
It's
what you rest your coffee cup on :-)
The obvious visual
interpretation is the screen that comes up
after your PC has finished booting up. In the top left hand
corner you'll
see the 'My Computer' and 'Recycle Bin' shortcut
icons. And a lot of other stuff that the PC manufacturer
built
in.
The desktop is more than just a backdrop
for your work. It's a
folder on your hard drive, an analogy, and it's the basis for the
graphical user interface
(GUI) that makes up what you see and
interact with whenever you use your computer.
All of the resources in your computer will fit in this container,
and let you work with them. You
can drag anything and everything
to the desktop, and either a shortcut will be created, or the
object itself will
take up residence.
The
desktop is always underneath any open windows. You can get
to it immediately by using the shortcut key combination,
Windows Logo key + D.
Or, right click on the Taskbar
at the bottom of your screen and
select Minimize All Windows.
Two types of icons make their home on the desktop. (This is
important, so pay attention.) These are
File Icons and Namespace
Icons.
They serve two different functions, which I'll explain
immediately.
File Icons.
These are representations of files or folders that are actually
found in your Desktop directory (also
known as a folder) on your
hard drive. Drag and drop these at will.
Namespace Icons.
These aren't file representations. Instead, they are actually
specific resources built into Windows.
My Computer, and the
Recycle Bin are examples of Namespace Icons.
Use the desktop like you would a real desktop. Work on it. It's a
good place to put new downloads from the
Internet, email
attachments, stuff from removable disks, and anything else you
want immediate access to or that
you're currently working on.
I always recommend new
computer users download e-books to the
desktop. Where else would you want to read your book, if not on
the desk?
It just makes things so much easier than plunking the
book into a folder somewhere else, then having to create a
shortcut
to it, or dragging it out whenever you want to read it.
The desktop
is an object, and has a property sheet attached to
it. You can change colors, backgrounds, wallpaper and more by
right
clicking a blank portion, and selecting Properties. You can
also double click the Display icon in the Control Panel.
My Computer is an icon on your desktop. Remember, it's
different,
since it doesn't represent one file or even a group of files, but
rather a resource. You'll find
everything related to your
computer in this spot.
You
can't drag anything into the My Computer area, but you can
drag stuff out to create shortcuts. Use the right click
and drag
method. To access the System Properties dialog box, right click
the My Computer icon and select Properties.
=================================================
Part 2
Recycle Bin.
Now here's a useful invention!
It's a trashcan for your data, and
just like the real thing, you have to empty it. You can configure
it to empty
itself if you want, but I never advise that.
Use the bin
as a temporary storage area for files you aren't sure
of. Anything you place in the bin will just sit there until
you
empty the bin. Should you decide you really do need a certain
file, you can restore the file by highlighting,
right clicking
and selecting Restore from the pop up menu.
I have 416 files occupying 27 megabytes of space in my Recycle
Bin. This answers the question, "Can I store
too many files in
the bin?" You can store as much as you'd like there, as long as
you don't exceed
the percentage of storage that's set up. The
default is 10%. On a 100 gigabyte hard drive, I can store 10
gigabyte
of data in the bin.
View the Recycle Bin properties to
make changes to the percentage
of storage space used for trash. Right click a blank area of the
bin and select Properties.
You'll see all the configuration
variables right there.
Restore files by right clicking them, and selecting Restore. They
obviously have to be in the bin, or there's
no need in restoring
them. They are simply and effectively put back to their original
state, and will be ready for
use next time you need them.
You can drag and drop files into the bin.
It doesn't have to be
open first. Just drag an icon over the top of the Recycle Bin
icon, and release the mouse
button.
Whatever setting you have applied with regard to
the bin's
properties, it will be applicable if you're using Windows
Explorer to delete files, using the
delete key, or dragging and
dropping files onto the bin's icon.
If you have set up the bin's properties to delete files right
away, then files will always be deleted immediately,
no matter
where you delete them from, or by what method you choose to
delete them. If you've set the bin's
properties to store files,
then the same applies - no matter what, when you delete a file or
folder, it will be
stored in the bin.
The bottom line: files obey the Recycle
Bin settings and behave
themselves. Play with the bin settings on a rainy day when you've
nothing better to
do. Like so much else in your computer, you
really can spend forever learning about its mysteries.
============================================
Part 3
Context
menus help you do more in less time. Anything that works
like that for me is readily put to work.
When a right click yields a context menu, you're presented with
options.
These options will always be in the context of the
object you clicked, and will relate to it. So, when you right
click
the Recycle Bin icon, you see a list of things that pertain
to the bin.
Nearly all of the objects in Windows have their own context
menus,
accessible with a right click.
This is powerful information,
since there are often times when
many options are available from a context menu that you won't
find elsewhere
in Windows. This applies to the programs you use
as well.
Try
it. Start right clicking on everything!
Display context
menus with the keyboard combo Shift-F10.
Regardless of where you are, if there's a context menu that's
applicable,
you'll see it. Try it now!
The most frequently accessed
item on any context menu is the
Properties option.
Once
an object is the focus of your next move, you can press Alt-
Enter to jump immediately to the Properties Dialog for that
object.
Try it. Click once on the My Computer icon so
it's highlighted.
Then hold down the Alt key while pressing Enter (Alt-Enter).
You'll see the System
Properties dialog box spring to life, with
info about your computer.
It's great, isn't it? Yeah, well
I think so :-)
Copyright © 2001-2004 Roglan International All Rights Reserved
