Week1b

Week1b Windows NT/95

The computer program responsible for managing the resources (disk drives, memory, mouse, printer,…) of a computer system is called the operating system. Windows 95 and Windows NT are two examples of an operating system.

A Graphical User Interface is a special screen that allows commands to be issued by clicking or dragging the mouse on graphic symbols such as icons, menus, scroll bar and the like.

The desktop appears after Windows NT/95 has been started (this is your personal work area). Some of the objects on the desktop worth mentioning now are:

My Computer keeps track of all of your computer's resources.

Recycle Bin is a "second chance" trash bin used to delete information. As long as deleted information resides in the Recycle Bin it can be recovered when necessary (hence the "second chance").

Start Button is used to start an application program.

Taskbar displays all programs that are running and the windows that are opened on the desktop.

Mouse Mechanics

Click press the left mouse button

Double-click click the left mouse button twice in rapid succession

Drag press and hold the left mouse button, then move your mouse to a destination

Select click on the object to be selected

Deselect click anywhere off the object that was previously selected

Point move your mouse to the desired object

Right-click click the right mouse button

Storing Information

The smallest unit of information that is stored on a disk is called a file. Related files are stored together in a folder or directory on disk. A file or folder are given names that consist of up to 255 characters including spaces. File names consist of two parts a name + extension. The extension is usually 3 characters in length (it represents the type of file, for example word processing file, pascal program, text file, and so on).

Disk Drive Designators (may vary depending on computer)

A: floppy disk drive

B: zip drive

C: hard disk drive

D: hard disk drive

E: CD-ROM drive

Path

The path to any file on disk is represented as:

drive:\directory1\directory2\…\directoryN\filename.ext

Suppose the directory structure shown in the diagram above is on the

Disk in drive A:, then

A:\cs110\windows\docs\

represents a path to any file in directory docs.

Clipboard Viewer

The clipboard is the vehicle used to transfer information (text, graphics,…) from one application to another.