Lesson 1
Hardware and Software

A. Hardware- CPU, Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, Modem, Printer, Scanner, Speakers, etc.
B. Log Book- Record information on Hardware you have. Use http://www.belarcadvisor.com/   to download information on your computer and its software.
I recommend that you have a password that you use for all of your unsecured sites on the computer. Log the sites with the user name you choose and its password. Also use another site, for your email address, rather than the one you usually get your email from friends. This will eliminate the junk mail from coming to your personal email site.
You can set up a site for email, from the web, at gmail.com for all of this mail.
Record in your notebook the secure site password you will use and do not have it saved on the secure site. This will prevent it from being hacked off of your computer. You can use the same password at all secure sites. Some sites recommend that you change the password. If you choose to do so make sure you record the word and the date of the change.
C. Software- Tells the hardware what to do. You can see the programs already installed on your computer by going to START-.PROGRAMS on your computer. Click on program to view. (Example is the calculator for balancing the checkbook.)
D. START UP
1. Most computers now have the start up buttons on the front of the CPU and Monitor.
2. INPUT: by mouse or keyboard.
a. Point, Click, double-click, and dragging. The left side controls the direction of programs. The right side will find menus for executing commands such as delete, copy, etc. (note the demonstration of the mouse usage on screen)
b. Keyboard: Typewriter, Number Pad, Functional Keys, Directional Keys, (may have separate keys for Insert, Delete, Home, End, Page UP, and Page Down).
3. Desktop: Workspace that appears on your screen--open programs, connect to Internet, read e-mail, etc.
Icons(small pictures) represents an object(folder or program)

4. Task Bar: Blue or Grey bar at bottom of screen.
a. Start button (Lower left corner)--click to bring up menu--3 sections (Bottom, operating tasks; Middle, way to open applications; Top, Personalized functions that you can add to start them).
b. Buttons for each program that is open and the system clock
E. LOG ON:
1. Welcome to Windows--Click START, Point to Programs, Point to ACCESSORIES, and note sub menus after the arrows. Click Word Pad.
2. Word pad is a windows word processing program for writing letters, reports, etc. Many prefer using open office writer for Christmas letters or documents.
3. TITLE BAR: Top of each window--name of the application or software. Has Minimize, Maximize, Close X
4. Scroll Bar: appears when the amount of info needs more window than is shown on the screen, therefore you can change the size of the window. Click and drag the bar with pointer (up or down), or click on down arrow, or press down on the bottom arrow to scroll down rapidly. Do the same to the top arrow to bring the page back up.
5. To close windows just click the X in the upper right hand corner. The window will disappear from the screen and the task bar. If you have a number of windows open you should close them all out before you shut down your computer. The easy way is to right click on the ones on the tool bar and click delete on the menu. If they are grouped together you can click close group and it will automatically close out all of the open programs for you.
6. Shut down your computer by clicking on the START (lower left) and click on turn off computer. Always close down before turning your computer off to prevent corrupting the programs you are running.
Question and Answer time.