SeniorNet
Exploring
Windows
Lesson Six: Basic Windows Programs
In the last lesson you learned about changing mouse
and keyboard properties as well as personalizing
In this lesson you will explore some of the basic programs supplied with Windows Vista.
You will become familiar with some of the features of:
Ÿ Notepad
Ÿ WordPad
Ÿ The Clipboard
Ÿ Calculator
Ÿ Paint
Contents Page
Open a blank WordPad document
...
Open the file from My Files
folder
Open the file from My Files
...
Copy a picture to another
program
Switch between open programs
using the taskbar
.
Delete the test files and
folder
...
Windows programs
There are several programs included with Vista that are useful for performing common tasks such as preparing simple documents, performing calculations and drawing or editing simple graphics. These programs are found in the Accessories folder under All Programs.
As well, there are some familiar games and some
interesting new ones that take advantage of the Aero display technology built
into
1 Power up your computer and log on (if
necessary) to
Windows Vista starts up and the desktop appears.
Later in this lesson you will need a folder to save files that you create or modify. In the next steps you will create a folder called My Files under the Documents folder.
1 Click the Start button and click Documents.
Windows Explorer opens viewing the contents of the Documents folder in the file list (right hand pane).
2 On the Toolbar, click the Organize button; click New Folder in the drop down menu.
A new folder named New Folder appears in the file list. The name New Folder is highlighted indicating it is selected so anything you type will replace this name.
3 On the keyboard, type My Files and then press the Enter key.
The new folder is now named My Files.
4 Close Windows Explorer my clicking the X on the right side of the Title bar.
Notepad is a very basic text program that enables you to make quick notes. It has limited capabilities but is adequate for typing short notes or for copying excerpts from email, web sites or other documents.
Notepad opens and saves text in text-only format and supports minimal formatting capabilities. To create or edit files that require formatting or for any serious correspondence, you would use WordPad or perhaps Office Word 2003 or 2007.
1 Click the Start button on the taskbar, click All Programs, click Accessories then click Notepad.
The Notepad program opens with a blank document (see Figure 6.1).
Figure 6.1 Notepad program window
1 Insert the Student CD into the DVD/CD drive on the computer.
If the Autoplay dialog opens asking
how to view the files, click Cancel.
2 In Notepad, click the File menu and click Open.
The Open dialog appears. It is a variation of Windows Explorer you have seen many times in Lessons Two and Three (see Figure 6.2).
Figure 6.2 Open dialog
3 In the Folders list of the Navigation pane, click Computer.
The Computer drives and devices appear in the file list.
4 In the file list, double-click the DVD/CD entry.
The Class Files folder on the Student CD appears in the file list.
5 Double-click the Class Files folder.
The folder opens and the one or more files are displayed in the file list.
6 Find the file VacationNotes and click to select it. Click the Open button at the bottom of the dialog.
The VacationNotes file opens in NotePad.
6 Click the Maximize button on the title bar if you want to enlarge the window to fill the screen. (Remember, Maximize is the middle of the three Window control buttons at the right end of the Title bar.)
1 Click Format menu to see that you have two options: word wrap and a choice of fonts. The font selection is fairly extensive but it only controls how the text file is displayed in Notepad and not how the file is saved. It is always saved in a Courier style font.
2 Press and hold down the Control key on the keyboard while you press the End key (Ctrl+End) and release both keys.
This takes you to the end of the document.
3 Press the Enter key to create a new line.
4 Type Aug 16: Left for home
1 Click the File menu and click Save As.
The Save As dialog opens (Figure 6.3)
Figure 6.3 Save as dialog
2 In the Navigation pane, click Documents in the Favorite links list.
The contents of the Documents folder appears in the file list.
3 Double-click the folder My Files in the file list to open it.
My Files opens and its contents appears in the file list it is empty since you have not placed any files in it yet.
4 In the File Name box, click just to the left of VacationNotes to place the insertion point to the left of the V and type My.
5 Click the Save button
You now have a file called MyVacationNotes in the My Files folder under Documents. It is saved as a text file with a .txt extension. You will learn more about file types and extensions in Lesson Seven.
1 Click the X on the title bar to close the Notepad window.
WordPad has more capabilities than Notepad. You saw some of them in previous lessons.
1 Click the Start button, click All Programs, click Accessories then click WordPad.
The WordPad program opens to a blank document. Maximize it if it is not already so.
2 Click the View menu and, in turn, click all four options at the top of the menu if they are not already checked.
The toolbars that are available in WordPad should now all be on: Menu, Toolbar, Format bar, Ruler and Status bar (see Figure 6.4).
Figure 6.4 WordPad program window with all toolbars displayed
3 Compare Figures 6.1 and 6.4 and note the differences between Notepad and WordPad.
Notepad provides the bare essentials needed for note taking, whereas WordPad supports formatted text.
1 Click the File menu and click Open.
The Open dialog appears.
2 In the Folders list of the Navigation pane click Computer.
The Computer drives and devices appear in the file list.
3 In the file list, double-click the DVD/CD entry to open it.
The Class Files folder on the Student CD appears in the file list.
4 Double-click the Class Files folder.
The folder opens and the WordPad readable files are displayed in the file list.
5 Double-click the file PC tips.
The file opens in WordPad. Note it is a formatted document with colored, bold and underlined headings and indented paragraphs.
6 On the menu bar, click the various menu headings (Edit, View, Insert, Format) and examine the drop down menu options.
Note that more word processing options are available in the WordPad menus than there were in Notepad. A notable difference is the inclusion of a format toolbar with fonts, font sizes, colors, bolding, italic and underlining possible on a character by character basis. Plus, WordPad has the ability to set tabs and indents on the Ruler line.
7 If
you wish, click the Print button on the toolbar to print the PC tips
document and keep it for future reference. If this is not possible at the
You will open a blank document that you will then save twice, once as a text (.txt) document which does not save formatting and once as a rich text format (.rtf) document which does saves formatting.
1 In WordPad, click the File menu and click New.
A dialog opens asking what kind of new document you want to create: Rich Text, Text or Unicode Text.
2 Click Text Document to select it and click OK.
A blank new document opens. It assumes a text only format is required and will be saved as such.
3 In the Format toolbar, set the Font to Arial, 12 point
4 Place the mouse pointer in the Workspace and click to set the insertion point at the beginning of the workspace. Type a sentence, such as: This file is saved as a text document.
5 Double-click anywhere in the word text to select it and click the Underline button on the format toolbar. Click anywhere in a blank area to deselect the text.
The word text is now underlined.
6 Click the File menu and click Save As to open the Save As dialog box (see Figure 6.5).
Figure 6.5 Save As dialog box
7 Click in the File name box and type test1 to replace the default name Document.
8 Click the down arrow on the right of the Save as type list box and click Text Document if it is not already so.
The extension .txt will be added to the file name.
9 If the Navigation pane and folders list is not shown click the Browse Folders down arrow.
The dialog expands out to an Explorer-type view and allows you to navigate to a specific folder (see Figure 6.6).
Figure 6.6 Save As dialog with folders expanded
10 Navigate to the My Files folder under Documents.
(Tip: one way is to click the Documents entry in the Favorite Links
list, find the My Files folder in the file list on the right hand side and then
double click the My Files folder to open it).
11 Click the Save button.
A message appears warning that the document will be saved with no formatting.
12 Click Yes to confirm that you want to save it.
During the Save process the text is stripped of its formatting (the underline).
Close WordPad
You will close and reopen the file to confirm that it was saved as a plain text document with no formatting.
1 Click the X on the title bar to close WordPad.
Open the file from My Files folder
You saved the file in the My Files folder and will now retrieve it.
1 Click the Start button and click Documents.
Windows Explorer opens to the Documents folder. The My Files folder appears in the file list.
2 Double-click the My Files folder to open it.
The contents of My Files are displayed in the file list. There are two entries one being the test1 file you just created.
3 Click the Views button and set the view to display the file Details so you can see the file type listed.
4 The file test1 is listed as a Text Document in the Type column.
5 Double-click test1 to open the file.
The file opens in Notepad since Notepad is the default software application that opens text files. The document no longer has the formatted underline under the word text. As well, any font selection you made in WordPad is removed and the font defaults to New Courier 10 point font (or the font last set into Notepad).
6 Click the X on the title bar to close Notepad. Similarly, close the Windows Explorer window by clicking the X in its title bar.
There should be no open windows and you are now at the Desktop.
Even though the default application for a pure text document is Notepad, you can open a text document in WordPad or Word if you wish. For example, if you want to make formatting changes to the document, you cant use Notepad so you would have to use WordPad or Word. Instead of double-clicking on the file name to open the document, you will launch the program first and then open the file from within the program. In Lesson Seven, you will shown another way to launch a specific program for a given file type.
1 Click the Start menu, click All Programs, click Accessories and click WordPad.
WordPad opens.
2 Maximize the Window (if not already full screen) by clicking the Maximize button (the center button of the three the window control buttons) at the top right of the Title bar.
3 Click the File menu and click Open.
The Open dialog appears. Once more, navigate to the My Files folder under Documents so that the contents of this folder appears in the file list.
4 Just above the Open and Cancel buttons at the bottom right of the dialog, find the file type list box. Click the down arrow and click to select All Documents if it is not already showing in the box.
The test1 file in the My Files folder is listed.
5 Double-click test1 to open it.
The document opens and still does not have the underline formatting (or any other formatting) since it was saved in text format.
6 The original text wording was This file is saved in text format. Place the mouse pointer at the very end of the document and click the set the insertion point. Use the Backspace key to step back and delete the words text format. In its place type rich text format.
The wording in the document now reads: This file is saved in rich text format.
7 Press the Enter key to add a second line of text and type: There are X seconds in a day.
(Yes, type X, you will be filling this in with a numeric value later.)
8 Select the words rich text and click the Underline
button on the formatting toolbar. (One
way to select these two words is to place the mouse pointer just to the left of
the r in rich and click to set the insertion point. Click, hold and drag
the mouse slowly and carefully to the right over the rest of the text to be
selected. As the mouse is dragged to the right the text is highlighted. Release
the mouse as soon as all the desired text is highlighted. If you make a mistake
and select the wrong text, start over.)
9 Double-click any word in the document to select it and change the font or attribute (bold, italic, underline, color) using the respective icons on the formatting toolbar.
Windows uses a concept known as the clipboard to hold items temporarily while they are being copied from one place to another within a file or from one program to another. An item can be anything from a single character to an entire file or even a folder. The clipboard has been a part of Windows since early versions. Understanding and taking advantage of the Clipboard will help speed up your work, not only in an application such as WordPad, but throughout Windows Vista.
Clipboard properties:
· Anytime you copy an item, it goes onto the clipboard. (You copy an item through the Edit menu or by clicking a Copy icon on the toolbar if present.)
· Anytime you cut an item, it goes onto the clipboard. (You cut, i.e. remove, an item, though the Edit menu or by clicking a Cut icon on the toolbar if present.)
· Anytime you paste an item, it is taken from the clipboard and placed at the point you define. (You paste an item through the Edit menu or by clicking a Paste icon on the toolbar if present.)
· Once on the clipboard, the item remains there until you perform another copy or cut command. This being the case, you so can paste an item that is on clipboard to as many places as you want, as many times as you want. This is true even if you copy/cut and paste between applications.
· When you copy or cut another item, it replaces the last item on the clipboard. In certain applications like Microsoft Word, the clipboard can hold multiple items but the most recent item placed on the clipboard is always the first one available to paste unless otherwise specified..
1 In the WordPad document, click the Edit menu and click Select All on the drop down menu.
All text is selected as indicated by it being highlighted.
2 Click the Edit menu and click Copy.
A copy of the selected text is placed on the Clipboard.
3 Click in a blank area of the document to remove the selection and then click at the very bottom of the document (scroll down if needed) to set the insertion point at the very end of the document.
4 Press the Enter key to start a new line.
5 Click the Edit menu and click Paste
The copy of the text is added to the document.
As you will do shortly, you can copy and paste between applications as well as within an application.
You will now save the file in rich text format (RTF) which maintains formatting information.
1 Click the File menu and click Save As.
The Save As dialog box opens.
2 If the
Address bar is not pointing to Documents>My Files, repeat the steps outline in the previous section of this lesson to
navigate to the My Files folder.
3 In the File name text box type test2.
4 Click the arrow on the Save as type list box and select Rich Text Format.
5 Click Save.
6 Click the X on the title bar to close WordPad.
Open the file from My Files
1 Click the Start menu and click Documents at the top of the right column.
The Documents folder opens in Explorer. My Files folder appears in the file list.
2 Double-click the My Files folder to open it.
The files test1 and test2 appear in the file list.
3 Notice that the file test2 is listed with Rich Text Format in the Type column. (You need to be in Details view mode to see this)
4 Double-click test2 to open the file.
The file opens in Word or WordPad depending on whether or not you have Word installed on your computer and how it is configured. In any case, the document has retained the formatting you did: underline under the word text and any other format changes you made.
5 Leave the program (Word or WordPad) open.
Calculator program
There is a calculator tool available in Windows that you may find useful and can activate at any time.
1 Click the Start button on the toolbar, click All Programs, click Accessories then click Calculator.
An image of a pocket calculator appears (Figure 6.7) as a floating window in front of the still open WordPad document. Notice the digits are in one color and the arithmetical functions are in another. You can use this calculator in the same way you would use an actual calculator.
Figure 6.7 Calculator
2 Perform some calculations by clicking on the buttons or using the number pad on your keyboard and click to explore the various menus.
+ = plus
- = minus
/ = divide
* = multiply
Note: The calculator has additional capabilities. On the View menu you have two options: Standard and Scientific. If you chose Scientific, you will get a scientific calculator capable of many more functions.
3 Perform the following calculation: 60 * 60 * 24 =
The result, 86400, appears in the answer window at the top.
4 In the Calculator menu, click the Edit menu and click Copy.
The number is placed on the Clipboard.
5 Click the WordPad (or Word) title bar or in the workspace to make this the active window and force the Calculator to the background.
6 Find one instance of the text- There are X seconds in a day. Position the pointer right on the X and double click to select it. You will know it is selected when it is highlighted.
7 Click the Edit menu and click Paste on the drop down menu (or press the CTRL key and simultaneously, press the Y key)
The result of your calculation is pasted in place of the X. You have performed a calculation in one application (Calculator), copied the result an intermediate holding area (the Clipboard) and pasted it into the text of another application (WordPad).
8 Click the X on the title bars to close WordPad or Windows. Dont save changes to the file when prompted. Repeat this to close the Calculator.
Close any remaining open windows and you are returned to the desktop.
You can use the Paint program to create pictures to add to your letters, newsletters or other documents you create. In the following exercise you will learn how to create a simple picture similar to Figure 6.8 to illustrate a vacation trip to a lake or ocean. You can add the boat or other elements if you wish.
Figure 6.8 Summer on the ocean picture
1 Click the Start button, point to All Programs, point to Accessories and click Paint.
The Paint program opens with a menu bar across the top, just below the title bar. On the left you see the toolbox with icons for a number of drawing tools (see Figure 6.9). You will use some of these tools to draw a picture.
Figure 6.9 Paint program tools
2 Click the Maximize button to Maximize the Paint window.
The white area of the window is the workspace where you can create your drawing. Notice the (very) tiny square dots at the corners and sides of the workspace. These squares are called handles. You can click on any of these handles and press and hold down the mouse button and drag them up, down, left or right to change the size of the workspace.
3 Click the handle at the lower right corner of the white workspace and drag it toward or away from the center until the workspace fills at least half of your screen.
1 Click
the Line tool 
in the toolbox.
2 Move the pointer to someplace within the white workspace.
You see two sets of numbers separated by a comma on the status bar at the bottom right of the window.
These numbers represent the position of the pointer. The number to the left of the comma represents the distance from the left edge, while the second number represents the distance from the top edge. These numbers are the coordinates of the current position of the pointer. The numbers measure distance in picture elements (the dots that make up any image that is displayed on the screen). The term picture element is usually abbreviated to pixel.
3 Move the pointer around the workspace and watch the coordinates change.
4 Press and hold down the mouse button while you drag the pointer across the screen.
You have now drawn a line in your workspace. This was just for practice.
5 Click the Edit menu and click Undo.
The last change you made to the drawing (a line) is undone. Paint will allow you to undo up to ten consecutive actions.
1 Click
the Pencil tool 
.
This will enable you to draw in freehand mode.
2 Move the pointer to the left edge, a little more than one inch from the top.
3 Draw a hillside similar to the one shown on the left in Figure 6.10. Take your line to the very bottom of the workspace.
Figure 6.10 Picture layout
You will now color in the hillside.
1 Click
the Fill tool 
(it looks like paint being poured from a can).
2 Below the menu you see a selection of colors. Click the color dark Green.
Note: If
you do not see a color palette below the tool box, click the Colors menu
and select a color there.
3 Move the pointer (which now looks like a can of paint being poured) inside the hillside and click the mouse button.
Oops! Maybe the entire workspace turned green. If so, click the Edit menu and click Undo and complete the steps in the next section.
If the green is contained in the hillside, skip to the Line tool section.
The reason the entire workspace may have been painted green is that the Paint program fills the space with the selected color until it reaches a boundary. If you look closely, probably either the beginning of your line does not quite touch the left edge, or the end of the line does not quite touch the bottom edge. To rectify the situation, do the following:
1 Click the View menu, click Zoom, then click Custom and set to 200%.
2 Click the Pencil tool. Also, click the color Black.
3 Scroll down until the top of the hillside appears. If the line does not meet the edge of the workspace, place the pointer on the top end of the line and extend the line to the left edge of the workspace (click and hold the mouse button down and drag the pointer).
4 Scroll down to check the bottom of the hillside. Does it meet the bottom edge of the workspace? If not, make it do so as described in step 3.
5 Click the View menu, click Zoom, then click Custom and set to 100%.
6 Repeat the steps in the Fill tool section above to only color the hillside green.
Next you will draw the surface of the water.
1 Click the Line tool (see Figure 6.9).
2 Place the mouse pointer at the line that defines the hillside and about ½‑inch above the bottom of the workspace (see Figure 6.10).
3 Press the Shift key and press and hold down the mouse button while you drag the pointer to the right edge of the workspace.
Note: The line will staircase if it is not drawn absolutely straight. If you press the Shift key while you draw the line, it will be drawn straight.
4 As for the hillside, you need to make sure you have a complete enclosed boundary as you will be filling the water area with color shortly.
Next you will draw the sun.
1 Click
the Ellipse tool 
.
2 Click the color Yellow on the color box below the menu.
3 Place the pointer about 1½ inches from the left edge and 1½ inches from the top.
4 Press and hold down the mouse button while you drag the pointer toward the lower right corner. Try to make the resulting circle as round as you can before you release the mouse button. Dont forget, you can always undo any mistakes and try again.
Next you will color the various elements.
1 With yellow still selected click the Fill tool then click in the circle to paint the sun.
2 Click a blue color for the water and click the Fill tool then click anyplace in the area below the water surface line.
The water is painted with the color you selected.
3 Click a light blue color, then click the Fill tool to color the sky.
4 Click white for a line color.
5 Click the Ellipse tool and, in the sky to the right of the sun, make several interlocking ellipses. The outside edges of the mass of ellipses will define the clouds.
6 Click the white color and click the Fill with Color tool to fill each of the parts of the interlocking ellipses with white.
Now you will use the text tool to type a title for your picture.
1 Click
the Text tool 
then click the color black.
2 Place the pointer a little to the right of the hillside and about Ό-inch above the bottom of the workspace then press and hold down the mouse button while you move the pointer to the right.
A text box with a dotted border appears. When you release the mouse button, the text box is white.
3 Place the pointer on the middle of the right border of the dotted rectangle (a double-headed arrow will appear), then drag the pointer about an inch to the right.
This will extend the text box and allow more text to be added.
4 Type the title Summer on the ocean.
5 Click anywhere outside the text box to complete the entry.
You should have a drawing similar to that shown in Figure 6.8 and are now an expert in Paint!
1 Click the File menu and click Save As.
The Save As dialog appears.
2 If the Navigation Pane links and folders are not shown, click the Browse Folders down-arrow.
The dialog opens to an Explorer-like view that you have seen earlier when saving a WordPad document.
3 Navigate to the My Files folder under Documents so the contents of My Files are in the file list.
4 In the File Name text box, type MyVacationPic.
5 In the Save as Type list box, click the down arrow to select JPEG.
6 Click Save.
Copy a picture to another program
You will now copy the picture from Paint and paste it into a WordPad document. Even though you are copying and pasting an image, rather than text, the clipboard is still the means of transferring the information.
1 Click the Edit menu and click Select All.
The picture is selected as indicated by a dotted line surrounding it.
2 Click the Edit menu and click Copy.
The picture is copied onto the clipboard.
1 Click the Start button, click All Programs and click Accessories and click WordPad to open it.
The WordPad program opens to a blank document. Notice that a WordPad task button appears on the taskbar along with the Paint task button.
2 Click the File menu and click Open.
The Open dialog box appears, (with the now familiar layout of Windows Explorer).
3 In the Navigation pane Folders list, click Computer.
The computers drives and storage devices appear in the file list
4 In the file list, double click the DVD/CD drive to open it.
The Class Files folder appears in the file list.
5 Double-click the Class files folder to open it.
6 Double-click the bio_top file to open the document.
7 Click the Maximize button on the title bar if necessary to enlarge the window.
1 Scroll down to almost midway down the page to the Recreation section.
The sections are in alphabetical order.
2 Click just before the first sentence How did below the word Recreation. This sets the insertion point to where you will paste the image
3 Click the Edit menu and on the drop down menu that results click Paste.
The picture is pasted below the word Recreation but it may be very large.
4 Place the mouse pointer on the handle (a little square) on the lower right corner on the selection box that surrounds the picture until the pointer becomes a double-headed 45° arrow. Hold down the mouse button and drag the pointer diagonally toward the center of the picture to make it smaller (see Figure 6.11).
Figure 6.11 Paint picture pasted in WordPad document
Switch between open programs using the taskbar
If you had other graphics you wanted to put into the document you could click the task buttons on the taskbar to go back and forth between the documents as you copy from one program and paste into another.
1 Click the Paint button on the taskbar.
The Paint window opens in front of the WordPad window and becomes the active window.
2 Click the WordPad button on the taskbar.
The WordPad window opens in front of the Paint window and is the active window.
3 Close WordPad by clicking on the X on the title bar. Do not save changes when prompted. Similarly, close Paint and do not save the file.
Delete the test files and folder
You will delete the four files and the one folder you created in this lesson.
1 Click the Start button and click Documents.
Windows Explorer opens with the contents of Documents in the file list.
2 Double click the My Files folder in the file list to open it.
The four files test1, test 2 and MyVacationNotes and MyVacationPic appear in the file list.
3 Right-click the test1 file in the file list to open a pop-up menu.
4 Click Delete.
A Confirm File Delete message appears.
5 Click Yes.
6 Repeat steps 3-5 to delete the Test2 and MyVacationNotes and MyVacationPic files.
7 Navigate back to the Documents folder.
(Here
are a couple of quick ways to do this: click the back arrow on the address bar,
or click the Documents entry in the favorite links list).
8 Click the My Files folder appearing in the file list.
Right click My Files and click Delete in the pop-up menu.
9 Click the X on the title bar of Windows Explorer and any other open windows..
Note:
you can also delete a file or folder by clicking to select it and then press
the delete key.
1 Click the Start button and bring the pointer to the power option button 
.
A fly out menu appears with the various power options.
2 Click Shut Down to fully power-off the computer.
Challenge:
There are many other applications provided with
You have become familiar with some of the features of:
Ÿ Notepad
Ÿ WordPad
Ÿ The Clipboard
Ÿ Calculator
Ÿ Paint
In the next lesson, you will learn about Gadgets and file types.
Notes: