Basic Computer and Mouse Skills

Windows 10

Hardware--is a term for the physical parts of the computer. The computer consists of four basic
pieces of hardware.

The Monitor
The monitor displays the content and the operations of the
computer. When purchasing a monitor now you can choose
whether you want to pay a little more for a touch screen.

The Keyboard
The keyboard is another input device that lets you communicate with the
computer.

The CPU
The “brains” of the computer. An electronic device comprised of millions of
electronic components that carry out basic functions on your computer.
It houses the motherboard, central processing unit (CPU), power supply, and
more.

The Mouse
The mouse is a hand held device that lets you select, open, move and change
items on the computer screen. You use your mouse to “point and click” on the
computer screen. Nowadays you can purchase a wireless mouse if you want.

All-in-One
New computers are often an All-in-one which means that every
component is housed in the same case as the monitor except the
mouse and keyboard. Laptops are often able to be used like a tablet
also.

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Starting the computer (Booting up the computer)
Turn the computer on by pressing the power button. The
power button is usually located on the front of the CPU. It

will take a couple minutes for the computer

to start and load the programs. Depending
on how your computer is set-up you may or
may not have to log in with a user name
and password.

If you had manually turned the monitor off, you will

have to turn it back on. The power button for the Power Button
monitor is usually in the bottom right corner. It will
come on automatically when the computer boots up if you did not turn it off
manually.

Holding the Mouse

The index finger rests on the left mouse To use the scroll wheel, move your index
button and the middle finger rests on the finger over and roll the wheel.
right mouse button.

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 http://www.crazy4computers.net/computer-mouse-skills.html

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Mouse Buttons

The mouse has two buttons: the left and the right. The left is the main button used to single
click and double click most items. The right mouse button will only open up a menu to tell you
more about an item.

Put the mouse pointer on the blue E for Internet Explorer and right click once. You will see a
menu of things you can do with this item. To select something from the menu left click on the
item one time.

NOTE: Make sure to hold the mouse firmly and as still as possible when doing any type of
clicking.

Single Clicking
If you click the left mouse button once this is called “single clicking.” Single clicking is used to
select an item on the computer screen, click buttons in programs, and links in web pages. A
single right click will give you a menu.

Double clicking
Two quick clicks with the index finger on the left mouse button makes a “double clicking”
motion. This move is used to open programs and files. Be sure to hold the mouse firmly and
just move your index finger to perform this action.

Note: If it is hard for you to do double-click, do these two steps:

 Single click on an item
 Hit Enter button on your keyboard

Click and Drag

If you put the mouse pointer on an object, click and hold the left mouse button, and then move
the mouse the object will come with you as you move. This is called “click and drag.” You can
also put the mouse pointer in the corner of a window and click and drag to make the window
bigger. Click and drag is used to move objects, resize windows, or highlight text.

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Practice Mouse Skills – Solitaire

Click on the Start button at the

bottom left corner of the screen.
Locate the Microsoft Solitaire
Collection tile, and left click your
mouse.

To play a classic game of

solitaire, choose Klondike
Solitaire. Click on the Games
folder. Choose Solitaire from the
list.

Note: If you do not have any

games listed under the Games
folder on your home computer
you will have to enable this
feature by going to Start >
Control Panel > Programs and
Features > Turn Windows
features on or off > and check
the box next to Games.

When the game comes up,

practice your mouse skills
by clicking and dragging
the cards around.

To start a new game, click

on the New Game Icon in
the bottom Left corner.

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Practice Mouse Skills – Websites

Type these website addresses into the address bar of Internet Explorer. The content on these
sites will help to refine your skills.

http://www.pbclibrary.org/mousing/mousercise.htm
http://www.pbclibrary.org/mousing/games.htm
http://www.mouseprogram.com

typingclub.com will allow you to practice your typing skills.

The Keyboard

A computer keyboard is very much like a typewriter keyboard, but it has some extra keys.

The ESC key in the upper left corner will close any menus you have
opened but do not want to select an item from. (Try opening the Start
menu and then click on the Esc key.)

The Caps Lock key is used in typing. Pressing this key once will make
all letters you type CAPITALIZED. Press the Caps Lock key again to
turn off this feature.

The Shift key is used in typing to make one capital letter. To capitalize
a letter, press the Shift key and hold it down, then press the letter you
want capitalized. Release the Shift key and continue to type.

The CTRL and the Alt key are in the bottom left corner, which are used
in conjunction with other keys to perform various functions.

The Delete key is used to remove text you have typed that is to the right
of the cursor or to send selected items to the Recycle Bin.

The Backspace key is used to remove text you have

typed that is to the left of the cursor.

The Enter key gives a new line (like a carriage return) when you are typing. At
other times the Enter key works like a left mouse click.

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Hardware vs Software
A piece of hardware is a mouse, keyboard, monitor, or digital camera. Hardware requires
software to work. A piece of software is an application (program) that is a set of instructions that
tells the hardware what to do. (i.e. Microsoft Word, Chrome, and Internet Explorer). We deal
with software on a daily basis which fall into two categories: operating system and applications.

Microsoft Windows
Microsoft makes the Windows operating system used in many computers. The operating system
is a set of instructions that tells your computer how to run and how to manage the different
programs that you install. There are several versions of Windows currently in use including
Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 which is the newest. When you install a newer
version of your operating system, you “upgrade” to the more recent version.

Task Bar
The taskbar is usually found at the bottom of your desktop screen. The taskbar will show items
that are open. Selecting the file folder icon on the taskbar will bring up File Explorer. This is
where you can find all of your file storage locations on your PC. You can also pin items to your
taskbar so they will always be there. To Pin an item to the task bar, go to the start menu. Scroll
through your apps until you find the app you are looking for. Right click on the app and rest your
mouse on more a new menu will appear, click on pin to taskbar. To unpin an app from the
taskbar, right click on the app on the taskbar and choose unpin.

System Tray
The system tray of your desktop area has icons to
indicate which programs are running in the background.
The more programs you have in this area, the longer it
takes for your computer to boot up. Place your mouse cursor over top of the icons to see what
they are. (Don’t click. A small explanation box will pop up.)

Volume Controls – The speaker icon will open the

volume controls. Single click on the icon to make a
quick volume change. Click and drag on the bar to
raise or lower the overall volume, or click on the
button to mute all sound.

Hidden Icons – There may be other icons in your system

tray that are not being displayed at all times. To see those

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other icons, click on the Up arrow to the left of the icons. The other icons will appear in a
window above the Up arrow.

Antivirus Software - The Norton antivirus program can look like a yellow shield.
AVG looks like this: If you have a different antivirus program you will have to
look through the icons to see which one it is. To see options for using this program, either right
click on the icon to see a menu or double click on the icon to open the program window.
(Remember to keep your antivirus program up-to-date!)

External Hardware – Another icon you may run across in your system tray quite
often is your external hardware icon. This icon only shown when you have a piece
of external hardware plugged in. Examples include things like flash drives, digital
cameras, external hard drives, etc. When it’s time to remove the device, it is
recommended that you tell the computer to stop the connection with the device.
That way your hardware isn’t damaged when you pull the device out.
To stop the device, left click one time on the external hardware
icon. Choose which device you would like to remove, and left
click on it one time. (Flash drives are commonly called USB Mass
Storage Devices.) You will be informed when it’s safe to remove
the device from the system tray area.

Power (Laptop only) – Place your mouse cursor

on top of the symbol and it will tell you the
percentage that the battery is charged, and if it is
currently charging.

Wireless – Laptops and some desktop computers are

capable of connecting to a wireless network to gain access
to the Internet.

To connect to a network, left click on the wireless icon and

choose Connect to a network. In the window that appears,
choose the network from the list that you desire to connect to
and click on the Connect button that will appear in the lower
right corner. If the network is Unsecured, anyone can connect
to it. If the network is Security-enabled, then you will need a
password to connect to it.

Start Menu

The start menu is one of the most important features in the Windows operating system.
You'll use the start menu to open apps, access commonly used folders, and more.
Windows 10 allows you to customize the start menu to suit your needs. Upon clicking the
Windows icon at the bottom left, it will bring up the Start Menu. You can scroll drown to see
all the apps in the start menu. Simply click or touch on an App or Tile to open it. open a

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program. If your computer does not display an icon on the desktop you can look in the start
menu by left clicking on the Windows Icon. You should see all of the programs installed on
your PC listed in alphabetical order. To open a program, left click on the name of the
program you wish to open. When you get home take some time to explore the list of apps
in this list.

If you want to close any open App or Tile, click on the ‘x’ button on top right just like closing
a regular window. You should see the familiar Desktop screen just like on Windows 7
version or earlier.

Re-arranging and Resizing Tiles: To re-arrange tiles, click and drag a tile to the
desired location within the start menu. To make a tile larger or smaller, right-click the tile,
select resize, then choose the desired size. Your tile sizes can be small, medium, wide,
and large, depending on the tile.

Pinning Tiles: If you want to add a tile to the Start menu, you can pin it. You can also unpin
tiles you don't use very often. To pin an app, click the Start Menu, then click the All Apps
icon. Find the app you want to pin, right click on it, and select Pin to Start. You can
remove a pinned app by right clicking the app, and selecting Unpin from Start.

Turning off Live Tiles: Windows 10 now feature live tiles (Weather, Photos, News, etc.)
which are sometimes animated. If you no longer want to see the animations, you can turn
them off by right clicking the tile, and selecting Turn live tile off.

Store Tile: This App allows you to search and shop among free and paid Apps
available for your Windows 10 computer/tablet.

Settings:
Open Settings command by pressing the Windows icon + I (the letter I NOT L) on your
keyboard OR click on window button and click on Widget. See below.

System command will let you change your display; how you want to turn on/off notifications on
your computer; how to change power setting on your computer to save energy; how much
storage you have on your computer, etc.

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Devices will allow you to setup any Bluetooth compatible devices, as well as printers and
scanners.

Network and Internet will let you see what other networks open for you to join. This is also the
section to do any troubleshooting of your internet connection.

Personalization will let you change background, themes, and how start menu works and its
color on your desktop.

Apps will allow you to uninstall apps, setup default apps for different files, and manage optional
features of apps.

Accounts will let you change your sign-in options (add or you change your picture when you
sign in), change the password in your sign-in option, and add other user accounts to your PC.

Time and Language will let you change the date and time settings on your computer, change
the region and display language, and speech options. (Note: You can also access these
settings by right clicking your mouse on the date and time in the bottom right corner of your
screen)

Ease of Access allows you to use narration, magnifier, change screen contrast settings, set up
closed captions, and change keyboard and mouse settings.

Privacy allows you to change privacy settings on many of your apps. In this section, you can
set which apps are able to access information from other apps on your computer.

Update and Security will let you manually check for the system updates, if any; and to reset
the PC to go back to previous version if you had upgraded to windows 10. It is very important to
keep your computer up to date with the latest software improvements and fixes.

Using the Internet

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You can use any browser to get onto the Internet. Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer (now
called Microsoft Edge) are some common programs. The following screen shots are done by
using the Chrome. Once your computer has an Internet connection, you can go to any web
page.

A fast way to jump right to the page you want to view is to type the page’s address into the
Address bar. Type www.google.com into your browser’s address bar and hit the Enter key on
your keyboard.

If you don’t know the address of the page you want to go to, you can perform a search. You can
go to www.google.com and enter your search topic into the box in the middle of the page.

Akron public library computer classes

Hit the Enter key on

your keyboard after
typing into the box. This
will take you to a
search results page.

Click on one of the blue

titles to see what is on
that page, and use the
Back button to return to
the previous page.

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Clicking the User Account Icon

Change account settings- Allows you to make

changes to your user account (picture, sign-in
options, synced email accounts, etc.)
Sign Out – Choose this option to sign out of your
user account but keep the computer on. This will
also allow you to change user accounts.
Lock – Choose Lock if you want to walk away from
your computer. It will remain On and the programs
you were working on will remain open. When you
come back you will have to reenter your password
to get back into your user account (if you have a
password set up).

Shutting down the Computer

Left click on the Start button, and then on the Power

button. Once you click the Power button, the option for
Sleep, Shut down, and Restart will appear. Click on Shut
Down to turn your computer off. It will automatically shut
down and stay off until you press the power button to turn it
back on the next time you use the computer.

Restart – All of your programs close and your computer

cuts all power. Then it turns itself back on.
Sleep – The computer maintains a fast state of readiness. Power is cut to the hard drive and
monitor, but you are still using some power as your open programs are held open and ready
for you to continue the next time you push the power button. You are up and running in
seconds.

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