Expansion Of Theme Standard - X 2021

Solid Waste and Health👸

         About 80,000 tons of solid waste is generated in cities everyday; but it is not collected and destroyed regularly. Most of the solid wastes originate in kitchens and markets, out of it 60% is biodegradable organic waste. We can turn this waste into rich organic manure by using earthworms; ecofriendly way. They enrich the qualities of soil and help the growth of plants.

Where there is a will there is a way🌌

       The biographies of great men and women show how their strong will helped them overcome great difficulties and setbacks, and helped them find a way to achieve their goals.

         Students who resolve firmly to achieve their goals and work towards them sincerely and wholeheartedly, are certain to achieve success. 

       It is only the persistent efforts of some strong - willed people that have turned dreams such as flying in the air, travelling in space and sending messages and pictures instantly, into reality.

    Man's will-power, determination and dedication finds out ways to achieve the impossible. If we come across an obstacle and can't climb over it, we must walk around it. There is always a way ! There is always a solution !

Cut your coat according to your cloth👚

         If you give a piece of cloth to a  tailor to make a coat, the tailor will first measure the cloth and then decide what kind of coat has to be made out of it. He will not be able to make a coat that requires more material than the cloth provided. The same is the case with our income and expenditure. Our expenses should always be within the limits of our income. Otherwise, we will surely land in debt and difficulties. The proverb thus tells us not to spend more than what we earn i.e., to live within our means.

          This proverb applies not only to individuals but also to business establishments. Of course, a company may raise a loan to expand or diversify its business. But it must do so judiciously; otherwise it can even go bankrupt. Even the government of a country has to keep in mind its total resources while spending. If it does not do so and goes on borrowing recklessly from banks and foreign countries, it could result in severe economic problems for the country. Hence the saying is of great practical value It's application in life ensures happiness and contentment.

Cleanliness is next to Godliness⎚

            An unclean environment is an insult to the Creator. Everything that God has created is beautiful, and Mother Nature has in her the power and means to maintain the hygiene and sanitation of the earth. It is only man who makes the environment dirty. When we go to a place of religious worship, don't we bathe first? Don't we put on our best clothes? We must therefore remember that this world is our temple and the first norm we must follow is that of personal hygiene. This involves keeping one's body, clothes, belongings and home clean. This prevents diseases and enhances the quality of life. Cleanliness must also extend towards the neighborhood and the environment in general. Every person must develop clean social and civic habits. It is wrong to spit  on the roads, urinate in public or throw litter wherever one pleases. It is our moral duty to keep ourselves, our homes, our environment. Our nation and this earth clean. That is what is meant by the proverb 'Cleanliness is next to Godliness.'

As you sow, so shall you reap☺

          If a farmer desires to reap a harvest of wheat, he sows wheat, if he wants rice, he sows rice. What should we think of him if he planted wheat and expected to harvest rice; or the other way round? The law of  nature tells us that we must sow what we wish to reap. If we sow nothing, we shall reap nothing. Life is very similar. We have always to bear the consequences of our actions. If we perform good deeds. We shall be rewarded with good. If we perform bad deeds, we shall never enjoy peace of mind. Our lives will be wretched and miserable. Man can decide his future by his present deeds. If he sows the seeds of vice, corruption and sin, he reaps the harvest of misery and ruin. If he plants virtue, purity and goodness, he plucks the golden fruit of prosperity and happiness. If we want to achieve good, we should do good, for as we sow, so shall we reap.

Prevention is better than cure❤

          We sometimes handle a knife carelessly, cut our fingers, allow the cut to go septic and, when the pain is unbearable, consult,  a doctor, The doctor prescribes a prolonged and costly treatment. Wouldn't it have been better for us to have taken due precaution while using the knife? In fact, we can always protect ourselves against common ailments and diseases by resorting to proper precautionary, preventive measures. Very often, we are careless and do things thoughtlessly, We ignore sign that indicate the possibility of trouble. Finally when the trouble occurs, we regret our neglect, but by then it is too late.

       The proverb 'prevention is better than cure' advises us to take necessary steps to stop something unpleasant from happening. This proverb has application in the proper maintenance of machines, buildings , roads or bridges, health care, in the averting of natural calamities, in the prevention of epidemic outbreaks and even at the political and national level. The proverb stresses the need for foresight and precaution in dealing with every situation in our lives in order to avoid facing misery and searching for expensive remedies later on.

Service to man is service to God💪

          Benjamin Franklin, a great scientist said, "Serving God is doing good to man." The noblest creation of God is man. Yet, there are millions who suffer lives of utter misery and degradation. The best way to worship God would be to devote our lives to the service of the poor and the destitute. Everyone recognizes the value of this kind of noble work and acknowledges its greatness.

            Politicians, statesmen and military generals are often forgotten with the passing of time. But noble souls like Gandhiji and Mother Teresa  have earned universal respect and are remembered forever. Whenever Mother Teresa was asked, "Why do you do this work for lepers and the poor?" She would take the five fingers of the right hand of the person, and touching each finger would say five words: "I - do - it - for - Him !" Rich people rarely lift a finger to help an orphan, a widow or a poor deserving student. Don't they realize that God dwells in everyone ? Whatever they have earned has come from society, so it naturally follows that they should give back to society what they have got from it. And the best way to do that would be by serving their fellowmen.

Example is better than precept  Or
practice what you preach  Or💓
Actions speak louder than words

          All of us are born preachers But when it comes to practicing what we preach, we find excuses. Just telling someone what to so or how to behave is not enough. Behaving in the way that one wants others to behave has a more powerful effect. Telling others what to do and not doing it oneself is absolute hypocrisy. Children. quickly observe the gulf between the speech of adults and their actual behavior. They are influenced more by the actions of their elders than by their words. They imitate their actions and inculcate their habits. Gandhiji impressed upon villagers the importance of cleanliness by taking a broom in his hand and sweeping the streets. His action had more effect than any speech he might have given. A father who smokes cannot scold his son when he finds him smoking. He should first give up smoking himself. In short, we should ourselves do what we want others to do. This is because actions speak louder than words. An ounce of example is worth much more than a ton of precept.

Industry is the mother of prosperity💢

            There is a Sanskrit verse that says that animals do not enter the mouth of a sleeping lion on their own. The lion has to go out and hunt them. Otherwise it will starve and finally die. The word 'industry' in the given proverb refers to the quality of working hard regularly. So what the proverb means is that hard work is the key to success. A farmer has to toil under extreme conditions in his field. Only then can he hope to harvest bumper crops. Laborer's in a factory have to work efficiently in order to manufacture the goods that, when sold, will reap benefits for all. All prosperous nations have come up by the unfailing and dedicated efforts of their people. There is, indeed, no substitute for far  hard work, no short cut to prosperity. 

       Nothing worthwhile in life can be  attained without effort. Everything comes from continuous hard work. This is the concept that is the key to success and happiness.

Honesty is the best policy💫

           Corruption has spread through India like an epidemic. At every twist and turn you meet people who are willing to do anything dishonest in order to earn money. Dishonesty in words and deeds is so common now that people have almost accepted it as a rule rather than an exception, An honest person is a bit of an oddity in present day India. Isn't that a rather sad state of affairs / Every religion tells us that we must be honest. No one likes dishonest people because they cannot be trusted. The truth is always so simple. Sometimes we are punished for being honest. but it is nothing compared to the pain and suffering that we cause to others due to our dishonesty. Gandhiji laid great emphasis on the need for truthfulness in words and deeds. His life throughout was a struggle to uphold the virtue of truth. A truthful person can speak and act with moral conviction. He commands respect and reverence in society. Such people are necessary in the world today.

One Good Turn Deserves another  OR
Pay it forward 🙌

            When someone does you a good deed, you must never forget it. On the contrary, you must look out for the opportunity to do something good for that person or to someone else. Good must beget good. You must pay it forward. Then only will this world become a better place to live in. I remember. Once I was in the lift in my building when the lights went off. I was terrified. There was an elderly person in the lift with me. He Calmed me down and told me not to worry;  in a few minutes the lift would re - start. Then when the lift began working he accompanied me to the door of my flat. I was grateful for his comforting presence and thanked him. A few days later, I saw the same gentleman struggling with two huge bags of groceries. I immediately ran up to him and helped him. He thanked me for my help, but he had, in fact, earned my act of helpfulness, because he had himself been helpful to me earlier. There is a beautiful poem about a man who helps an old woman across the street. The woman blesses him for helping her. At the and of the poem the man expresses the fond hope that someday, some young man like himself will help his mother when she is in trouble. Indeed, one should never hesitate to do good for others. For one good turn deserves another 

Procrastination is the thief of time

             It has been said, 'Never put off for tomorrow what you can do do today'. Work  the work, we does not disappear if we postpone it. It only accumulates. Finally when we do tackle the work, we spend hours working under great strain and stress. Very often, we edhs up completing the work in a shoddy manner. It might also happen that the work may never ever get done, just because we delayed doing it at the right time. The person who delays insuring his house will pay a heavy price when it is gutted by a sudden fire Putting off the treatment of a disease may make it worse, and may even result in death. The student who goes on postponing studies will need to burn the midnight oil for last minute preparations before the examination. And even then, he or she may not have time enough to cover the entire potion. Time wasted is time lost forever. Hence procrastination, in this proverb, is referred to as a 'thief of time'. Let us be warned against the dangers of delayed action.

Pride goes before a fall

            Everyone knows the story about the deer who was proud of his beautiful horns and  ashamed of his lean legs. However, when the deer was in danger, it was his legs that helped him run swiftly. His horns, got entangled in the branches of a tree and led to his death. The very thing he was so proud f had brought about his fall! It is not right to be proud of what we possess.  If  we have skills, We should quietly use them for our progress and in the service of others. In the final reckoning, nothing in this would belongs to us. So what makes us so proud? The tree in the forest is not proud of its products. Instead it freely gives its produce to the birds, the animals, the insects and man. It is only man who is vain, who loves to boast and show off his worldly possessions to others. Ultimately, however, he has to leave everything behind, while his body is left to burn or decay. To be proud is to be foolish. To be humble is to be wise.

Speech is silver, Silence is golden

        The Bible says that silence is made in heaven. Thus silence is a priceless gift. Very often, in a conversation, some people speak non-stop, and say hardly anything of value. Little do they realize that people, even in company, need silence in order to evaluate what is going on in their minds. Many people imagine that whatever they say is very important and needs to be listened to. One valuable quality of communication is the ability to be a good listener. Listening is an art. But unfortunately, sometimes people just wait for the other arson to stop so that they can begin their own part - which they rehearse while pretending to listen. To be silent is to be sensitive to the other person's thoughts and needs and problems. If you wish your company to be valued by others, sometimes keep quiet, listen and pay attention while others are speaking. By doing this you will be more helpful than chattering nineteen to the dozen. There is a beautiful song which has this line: You say it best when you say nothing at all !

computer on office automation course details Part - 1 [ 2021 ]

  The blogs in this series have been meticulously designed with a view to teaching the fundamentals of computers and helping students master the use of the keyboard and the mouse. The contents of these blog have been carefully graded on the increasing scale of levels of learning.

Each blog in this series begins with the most fundamental introductions, and the features are then introduced steadily. The language used is simple and to-the-point. The subject matter in each blog appears in distinct logical steps. Besides this, colorful illustrations and screen-shots will help the students learn and understand the fundamentals of computers easily and quickly.

Computer Basics

             The term computer is derived from the word computer. In simple words, a computer is an electronic device, which takes input from the user in form of data and instructions. Once the computer obtains the data, it waits for the user's instructions to go ahead and start processing the data. On receiving the instruction from the user, the computer process the data it and generates some output and display to the user.

       

      

   By data, we mean any un-useful or un-meaningful text, numbers, audio, video, and images, which do not provide any help to the user. When computer process data and convert it into a form that is useful and meaningful for the user, it becomes information.

Input : Sending the data and command to the computer is known as input.

Processing : Work done by the computer with he help of processing hardware and software to produce results is known as processing.

Output : The result displayed by the computer is known as output.

Storage : A place to save result inside or outside the computer is known as storage.

          If you look at your computer then you will realize there is not any single device which is known as computer. A computer can be considered as system of hardware devices and software interacting with each other and generating output to the user.

Various Types of Computers :

         Computers come in various shapes and sizes. A computer can be as small as you palm, on the other hand it can also occupy many rooms of a building. The computer that you use at your home is just another type of computer and it is commonly known as personal Computer. Besides shape and size, computers also vary from each other in terms of speed to process the date. Computers, based upon their sizes, are as listed as follows :

Personal Computer :

            Personal Computer (pc), small but powerful computer primarily used in an office or home without the need to be connected to a large computer. PCs evolved after the development of the microprocessor made possible the hobby-computer movement of the late 1970s, when some computers were built from components or kits, In the early 1980s the first low-cost, fully assembled units were mass-marketed. The typical configuration consists of a video display, keyboard, mouse, logic unit and memory, storage device and, often a modem, further decreases in component size have made it possible to build portable PCs, or laptop, the size of a ream of paper and smaller, Most current PCs have more computing power, memory, and storage than the large mainframe computers of the 1950s and early 60s. PCs equipped with networking and communications hardware are often used as computer terminals.

          Today, PCs are generally categorized in a variety of ways. One of the most obvious is form rather than function. Most PCs come in one of two shapes: towers and desktops, Desktops are perhaps the most familiar. The system unit is shaped like a rectangular box, wider than it is tall, Usually the computer's monitor is placed on top of it, These personal computers (PCs) are what you see most often on the retail shelves and in homes.

Personal Digital Assistant :

           (PDA), lightweight, hand-held Computer designed for use as a personal organizer with communications capabilities. A typical PDA has no keyboard, relying instead on recognition of handwritten input, through the use of special hardware and PEN-BASED COMPUTER software, on the surface of LIQID CRYSTAL display screen. In addition to including such applications as a word processor, spreadsheet, calendar, and address book, PDAs are envisioned as notepads, appointment schedulers, and wireless communicators for sending and receiving data, faxes, and electronic mail messages.

Laptop Computer :

            Laptop computer is also known as notebooks. Laptops are portable computers that are integrated with display screen, keyboard, trackball, processor and memory. Entire machinery of laptop computer is rechargeable-battery-oriented. You can carry laptop computer anywhere and thus you don't have to stick at one place for working on computer. Laptop are expensive than personal computers and they are generally used by such users who travel frequently.

Tablet PC :

            Tablet PC is a kind of micro-computer (Fig.W-1.20), which offers a host of new features to today's IT savvy world. It is Microsoft's venture into the world of natural interfaces. Computer manufactures for years have tried to popularize new data transfer techniques such as handwriting recognition, voice command and fingerprint authentication. The processing power and software base have now developed to the level that a standard computer can smoothly absorb written words. With its electromagnetic pen, touch screen and software that recognizes letters written on a screen, the Tablet PC hopes to be the notepad of the 21st century. Ten years of research and the analysis of millions of handwriting samples went into the final product, said a Microsoft representative. The pen can act like a mouse when moving over a Tablet PC. When the pen touches the screen, it acts like an ink pen, and the user can write directly on the screen.

Super Computer :

          By definition super computer means computer having main memory of 256 megabytes ( Compare this with educational computer's memory of  only 32 kilobytes, exactly 8000 times) working on vector architecture with 64 bit words and performance peak time in range of 500 M flops (million floating point operations/ second.) This operating speed can be compared with the first computer's operating speed. ENIAC and Colossus were in region of 100 flops only.

        The supercomputers of today largely own their fantastic speed of processing to the development of three very important concepts in computer architecture: pipelining, vector processing and parallel processing. Let us examine these concepts briefly. Supercomputers are the largest, fastest, most expensive computers currently made. They process data at speeds exceeding 400,000,000 to 600,000,000 operations per second. The CRay-2, for example, operates at speeds of 1.2 billion flops, (floating-point operations per second, a measure of optimum computers efficiency. It can perform calculations in one minute which a personal computers could perform in three  weeks.

Computer Hardware :

            Anything that you see and feel is known as hardware. In computer terminology there are two broad categories of hardware devices - Input Devices and Output Devices. Any device which lets you enter data or instructions is knows as Input Device. Common examples of Input Devices are keyboards, mouse and joystick. On the other hand any hardware device which displays results to you is known as Output Device, Common examples of Output Devices are monitor and printer . Let us proceed ahead and explore hardware devices of a computer.

Keyboard :

          The keyboard looks like the typewriter, A numeric keypad is located to the right of the keyboard. Numeric keys have the same placement as a 10-key calculator, which allow the operator to enter numbers rapidly. The keyboard that we use is also known as QWERT keyboard. The name "QWERTY" for our typewriter keyboard comes from the first six letters in the top-left alphabet row (the one just below the numbers). It is also called the "Universal" keyboard for rather obvious reasons. Christopher Sholes, the inventor of the typewriter, designed the arrangement of characters on a QWERTY keyboards in 1868. As the technology progresses, the QWERT keyboard starts to appear in different shapes. Generally, keyboards are available in two models - Standard model with 83-84 keys and enhanced model. This model is more popular nowadays and contains 104 keys or more.

Secondary Memory of Computer :

         Any internal or external storage device used by the user for storing data and programs is known as Secondary Memory of the computer. The Secondary memory differs from primary memory in that it is not directly accessible by the CPU. Also, Secondary Memory devices do not lose the data when the computer is powered down; thus it is nonvolatile memory. In modern computers, hard disks are usually used as secondary storage. The hard disk is a device which stores all programs and data in the computer. Hence, the hard disk is referred to as the memory bank of a computer. The Hard disk is placed inside the system unit and connected to the Motherboard for functioning. Nowadays, the capacity of the Hard disk is measured in giga bytes (GB). Earlier, the memory capacity of computers was limited to Mega Bytes (MB). But, today PCs having hard disks of capacities like 80 GB, 120 GB or 250 GB are popular. Larger the hard disk capacity, more the amount of software programs and information that can be stored in it.

          Beside hard disk, there are other external storage devices which can be also be treated as Secondary Memory of computer. Some common examples of External storage devices are listed here under:

• Floppy Disk : The floppy disk drive continues to be included in new PC system, even through years ago it was to have been made obsolete by newer storage devices. The floppy disk has come in a variety of sizes over its lifetime, including 8-inch, 5.25-inch, and 3.5-inch disks. The 3.5-inch disk has been  the most popular size over the years. The floppy disk drive is an internal device mounted into an open drive bay of the system case.
• CD / DVD : Unlike floppy and hard disks, which use electromagnetism to encode date, optical disk system use a laser beam to read and write date. Optical disks have very large storage capacity, but they are not as fast, as hard disks, In addition, the inexpensive optical disk drives are read-only. But with advancement in technology, read / write CDs and DVDs are now available in the market.
• Blu-ray Disc : A Blu-ray Disc (also known as Blu-ray or BD) is an optical disc storage media format. Its main uses are high-resolution video and pictures and large volume of data storage. The disc has the same dimensions as a standard DVD or CD. The name Blu-ray Disc is derived from the blue-violet laser used to read and write this type of disc. A Blu-ray Disc can store data more than on the DVD. A dual layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 GB, almost six times the capacity of a dual layer DVD.
• USB Flash Drive : USB Flash drive (also called data or memory stick )is a typy of flash memory data storage devices integrated with a USB (universal serial bus) connector. USB flash drive is typically small, lightweight, removable and rewritable. USB Flash drives offer potential advantages over other portable storage devices, particularly  the floppy disk. They are more compact, faster, hold more data, are more reliable due to their lack of moving parts, and have a more durable design. Additionally, it has become increasingly common for computers to ship without floppy disk drives. USB ports, on the other hand, appear on almost every current mainstream PC and laptop. These types of drives use the USB mass storage standard, supported natively by modern operating system such as Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and other Unix-like system. Flash drives are active only when plugged into a USB connection and draw all necessary power from the supply provided by that connection. These drives will not work unless plugged directly into a host controller (i.e. the ports found on the computer itself) or a self-powered hub.

Cards :  All standard motherboards come with in-built support for hardware devices. Still professionals like graphic designers, sound editors, Network administrators, etc. expect more out of their computers in terms of speed and output. To overcomes this situation, the best alternate is Cards, A card is printed circuit board that you can insert into an expansion slot of motherboard to give additional capabilities to your computer. Expansion slots are long and narrow connectors, which allow you to plug in cards. Cards are also called expansion boards are also called adapters, add-ins, and add-ons. Some commonly used Cards are listed here under:

• Display / Video / Graphic Card: Display card is used to display the data to the user. It is indirectly linked with the computer memory. Nowadays, it is inbuilt in the motherboard. Two types of display cards are available. These are the PCI graphic card and the AGP card.
• Sound Card: This card allows you to play sound and music . The sound card converts the digital information into electrical signals that speakers use. When the speaker is connected to the sound card, the sound can be heard on the speaker.
• Network Interface Card (NIC) : NIC is another type an expansion board that you can insert into a computer so the computer can be connected to a network. Most NICs are designed for a particular type of network, although some can serve multiple networks.

Switch Mode Power Supply 

          In personal computer, the power supply is the metal box usually found in a corner of the system unit. The power supply box is visible from the back of system unit because it contains the power-cord receptacle and a cooling fan Power supply, often referred to as 'switching power supply' , uses switcher technology to convert the AC current into  DC current. Once the current is converted to DC, the power supply sends the required wattage to different components of the computer like, monitor, hard disk, CD-ROM, floppy disk drive etc. The measurement unit of voltage is watts.

Other Hardware Devices 

          Your computer system comes with hardware devices that you can use to communicate with your friends over the Internet. Besides conversing with your friends, you can use communication devices to access various educational and entertainment resources available on the Internet. Some devices comes in-built within the computer, while other can easily be attached to your computer.

Modem 

         The modem is technically called the Modulator-Demodulator. It is an electronic device, which helps transmit programs and data locally or around the world through the telephone line. The main function of a modem is to transform digital signals into analog signals and vice versa. With a modem, you can subscribe to a growing number of online and bulletin board service or communicate with other computers located elsewhere which have modems attached to them. A modem may be a card  mounted inside  the PC (AN INTERNAL MODEM,), or it may be a separate piece of equipment that connects to the serial port of the PC via a cable (an external modem). Telephone lines then connect the modem to the telephone service. Modems incorporate a diverse range of features such as electronic mail, banking, travel, reservations etc. Some modems contain software that allows documents (files) created on your computer to be sent to fax machines.

Web Camera

           A Web camera is a video camera, usually attached directly to a computer, whose current or latest image is request able from a web site. A live camera is one that is continually proving new image that are transmitted in rapid succession. Cameras are easy to connect through a USB port (earlier cameras connected through a dedicated card or the parallel port). A piece of software connects to the camera and takes hold of a frame from it periodically. For example, the software might hold a still image from the camera once every 30 seconds. The software then turns that image into a normal JPG file and uploads it to your web sever. The JPG image can be placed on any web page.

           If you don't have a web sever, several companies now offer you a free place to upload your image, saving you the trouble of having to set up and maintain a web server or a hosted web site. This is the simplest possible webcam.

Fax

           A fax is the telephonic transmission of scanned-in printed material ( text or image), usually to an telephone number associated with a printer or other output device. The original document is scanned with a fax machine, which treats the contents (text or images) as a single fixed graphic image, converting it into a 0s and 1s. In this digital form, the information is transmitted as electrical signals through the telephone system . The receiving  fax machine reconverts the coded image and prints paper copy of the document. Common components of a fax machine are as follows:

• Optical Scanner : The optical scanner converts the outgoing page into digital format i.e. in 0's and 1's Later the scanned document is handed to the modem for transmitting over the phone line.
• Paper supply tray : The paper of incoming faxes is kept in supply bin and fed to the printer page by page.
• Control Panel: The control panel of the fax machine has number of button to control the working of fax machine. The control panel displays the incoming phone number and the number of pages sent or received. It also allows the user to program the machine in different ways for different situations - for example, to send the same fax to a number of people.
• Paper feed tray : Outgoing documents are placed in the paper feed tray. The paper feed mechanism takes each page of the document in turn passed it to the optical scanner.
• Modem: The electronic information (the scanned document ) has to be converted into a signal that can be transmitted over the telephone wires. This is done by modem.
• Printer: Modern fax machines use inkjet-printing technology to give a high quality print.

Computer Software :

           Software of a computer words as a brain of a computer. Software can be defined as the set of programs necessary to carry out operation for a specified job. Computer programs are step-by-step instructions telling the computer how to carry out operations for a specific job.  Software can be divided into two groups - system and Application software. 

System Software 

          This consists of all the programs, languages and documentation supplied by the manufactured of the computer. This type of software is required to use the computer efficiently and conveniently. These program allow the application developer to write and develop their own programs. Examples of system software : Operating System (Windows 2000, windows XP, Windows Vista), Drivers (Sound card driver, Display Driver), etc.

Application Software 

            It is impossible to imagine the survival of the modern world without computers. Whether it is a small super market or a large business house, computers are used everywhere in some way or the other. We depend on computers for everything from paying electricity bills to withdrawing money from a bank. There are different types of programs for managing different types of programs for managing different types of information. Let us discuss some of these programs in detail.

• Word Processing Program: The word processing software enables the PC to function like a sophisticated typewriter. This software allows you to type a letter or report, and change words or move blocks of text around with ease. Further, word processing programs also count your words and even check spellings. Amongst the various word processing programs, ,Microsoft word and WordPad of Windows 2000 are the most popular ones.
• Spreadsheet Program : A spreadsheet program is meant for those who need to do a lot of calculation or financial planning. A spreadsheet is made up of cells arranged in a grid. Each cell can contain a number, text or a formula. Sometimes a spreadsheet program may include charting tools that allow you to plot the values stored in rows or columns as a graph or chart. Microsoft Excel is so far the most popular spreadsheet program with computer users.
• Database Program: Database program are useful for storing, sorting and retrieving large amount of data. Invoices or orders, which may be in large numbers , can be managed better by using a database program. Database software allows you to add new information, search through previously stored data, and print out records. An organization, for example, might require may need to maintain databases about patients and their individual medical histories. Today, the most widely used database program is Microsoft Access.
• Presentation Program: A Presentation Program enables us to represent information in a numbers of attractive formats. These programs are very useful for people who have to prepare reports and proposals very frequently. The most commonly used presentation program is Microsoft PowerPoint.
• Browser: Browser is a software application used to locate and display web pages. The two most popular browsers are Netscape navigator and Microsoft internet Explorer. Both of these are graphical browsers, which means that they can display graphics as well as text. In addition, most modern browsers can present multimedia information, including sound and video, though they require plug-ins for some formats. Another type of browser is Opera.
• Personal Information Manager: Personal Information Manager is a type of software application designed to help users organize information. Although the category is fuzzy, most PIM enable you to enter various kinds of textual notes ---- reminders, lists, and dates ----- and to link these information together in useful ways. Many PIMs also include calendar, scheduling, and calculator programs. One such PIM is Outlook that comes with the MS Office package. Using outlook one can easily organize his contacts, phone numbers, set a reminder for a meeting or task etc.
• Multimedia Software: Multimedia software packages are the latest craze in the user. A user can very easily create animations and, modify them using such programs. Using these programs, one can create 3D objects, move objects on a definite or a random path, and can animate objects in a number of ways. Some of the examples of the multimedia programs are flash, Director, Maya and Sound Forge.

About Computer Network

         A network is a group of interconnected system sharing services and interacting by means of a shared communication link. A network, therefore, requires two or more individual systems with something (data) to share.

     The individual systems must be connected through a physical pathway called transmission medium. All systems on the physical pathway must follow a set of common communication rules for data to arrive at its intended destination; and for the sending and receiving systems to understand each other. The rules that govern computer communications are called protocols.

In brief, all networks must have the following :

• Something to share (data)
• A physical pathway(transmission medium)
• Rules of communication (protocols)

Every computer connected to the network is said to be on the network. The technical term for a computer that is on the network is node. When a computer is turned on and is able to access the network, the computer is said to be on-line and if it is unable to access the network, it is off -line. A computer could be off-line for several reasons it could be turned off, the cable that connects it to the network could be unplugged, or there could be a wad of gum jammed into the disk drive.

Network Building Blocks

          Although the term "network" has many definitions most people would agree that networks are collections of two or more connected computers. When their computers are joined in a network, people can share files and peripherals such as modems, printers, tape backup drives, or CD-ROM drives. When networks at multiple locations are connected using services available from phone companies, people can send email, share links to the global Internet, or conduct videoconferences in real time with other remote user.

The building blocks of a network are:

• Protocol Software (Network)
• User Interface Software (FTP, Telnet, etc.)
• Operating System Software
• Network Interface Cards
• Patch Cables
• Cross Connect Blocks / Equipment / Jacks
• Network Hardware (Communications Equipment)

Clients and Servers

         A computer that retrieves information from and/or uses resources provided by a server or main computer is called a client. Many corporate network are comprised of a client computer at each of the employees' desks. Each of these computers connects to a central server or mainframe allowing the employees to work. A client is also another name for a software program used to connect to a server. A client can also be another term used to describe a businesses user.

         A computer connected to a network that other computers may or may not access is called a server. Unlike other computers on a network, a server is a dedicated computer set up for one or more purposes. For example, a user may setup a server to authenticate and allow or prohibit users from accessing a network, and/ or may be setup to manage print jobs, and / or host a website.

          Because servers commonly serve a high need, they are up all day and night; and when they fail, they commonly cause the network users or company a great deal of problems. Some server failures can cause a company and its employees to come to a complete halt in their work until they return. Because of this, servers are commonly high-end computers and are setup to be fault tolerant.

Types Of Network

           Networking has been developed on all levels, from local to international , in diverse sectors of society. Examples are network used by government organizations for rapid retrieval of information from databases at central locations, networks used by banks and retail merchants for the transfer of funds or credit verification or by corporate offices to get information of activities at its branch offices etc. There are many types of computer networks, described as follows:

• Local Area Network (LAN): A system of networked computers and other hardware, like printers, that are in relatively close proximity to one another. Although improvements in technology have extended the area a  LAN can cover, it is still typically less than one square kilometer. There are several different protocols ( Ethernet, Token Ring, etc.) each with its own advantages and disadvantages: The owners usually provide and maintain  the transmission media for a LAN maximum data transfer rate usually 10-16 M bits / sec, but newer versions can handle 100 M bits / sec or more.
• Wide Area Network (WAN) : A geographically dispersed communications network, with many owners, linking computers for the purpose of communicating with each other, such as a national network for airline reservations or the Internet. The largest wide-area network is the Internet, a collection of networks and gateways linking millions of computers users on every continent.
• Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) : LAN which are limited to only one metropolises. A metropolitan area network, or MAN (plural: MAN's, not MEN) is basically a bigger version of a LAN and normally uses similar technology. It might cover a group of nearby corporate offices or a city and might be either private or public. A MAN can support both data and voice, and might even be related to the local cable television network. 
• Wireless / Mobile Networks : Transmission media include infra-red light, radio channels, microwave radio, cellular telephone systems and satellite relays, here the transmission rates vary with the media, from under 1 Mbit / sec up to the G bit /sec range for satellite relays.

Network Topologies

         A network topology is the geometric arrangement of nodes and cable links in a LAN, and  is used in two general configurations: bus and star. These two topologies define how nodes are connected to one another. A node is an active device connected to the network, such as a computer or a printer. A node can also be a piece of networking equipment such as a hub, switch or a router. A bus topology consists of nodes linked together in a series with each node connected to a long cable or bus. Many nodes can tap into the bus and being communication with all other nodes on that cable segment. A break anywhere in the cable will usually cause the entire segment to be inoperable until the break is repaired.

        The term topology refers to the physical pattern to which a network conforms; that is, the physical layout of the network's computers, terminals, and links, while most industrial-strength networks incorporate complex interconnections that don't conform neatly to any of these four simple topologies, they are the fundamental structures on which most networks are built.

       The topology, or physical layout, of the network provides another way of differentiating between networks. Different network topology offer different advantages and disadvantages in cost, complexity, and robustness. The first two differences are self-explanatory and the robustness of a network is its ability to continue functioning even if damage occurs to any part of the network. The three most often used topologies are the bus, the ring, and the star. In addition, computer user can create and use combinations of the topologies as needed. There are numerous types of topologies but following are:

• Bus
• Star
• Ring

Bus Topology

             It is the simplest of the topologies. In this layout, the networks begins at one end and then connects to each machine as shown in Fiq.NW-9 people often refer to this as daisy-chaining the machines together. These networks are usually the easiest to put together for a small classroom or lab network but become unwieldy for larger networks, Besides the difficulty of connecting large networks, a big weakness of a bus is the lack of robustness in the network. With only one connection between all the machines, damage to the network at a single point will cause some or all the machines not be able to communicate with each other.

           Bus networks are the most common LANs. They have no switches and, in their simplest form, no repeaters, but simply share a common, linear communication medium, as shown above. Each station requires a tap (hardware for attachment to the medium),  which must be capable of delivering the signal to all the stations on the bus.

          The data is sent in packets, and each station 'hears' all the transmission, picking up only those addressed to it. Most bus networks have the advantage of being passive, i.e. all the active components are in the stations, and failure of any component in the station affects only that one station. They can be somewhat limited in distance, however, and since usually only one station at a time can transmit data, there has to be a complex access mechanism at each station.

Star Topology

           In this layout, the network designer designates one location as the center of the star. A network architecture that consists of a central hub to which all computers are connected. Star topologies are often used with local Area Network (e.g., twisted pair Ethernet.) In a star network several devices are connected to a central device. Thus, a network in which several terminals or workstations are served by a host computer is an example of a star network.

            By connecting all the machines directly to the hub, a break in a single network cable will, at worst, cause one machine to become unable to communicate with the other. Unfortunately, failure of the hub would prevent any of the machines from communication. Choosing a good hub equipment can minimize the risk of failure of the hub. The disadvantage of using a star topology is the large amount of wiring that it needs during its implementation. If the designer places the hub far from the machines it connects, the cost to run multiple lines to it instead of just one or two can be high. By choosing a central location for the hub, the designer minimizes the costs but the added robustness of a star further makes up for the additional cost. 

           A star topology is a LAN architecture in which the endpoints on a network are connected to a common central hub, or switch, by dedicated links. The simple star diagram of star topology shows each station connected to a central switch by a dedicated physical link. The switch provides a path between any two devices wishing to communicate, either physically in a circuit switch or logically in a packet switch. The main advantages of a star LAN are that access to the network, i.e. the decision on when a station can or cannot transmit data, is under central control. Star LANs tend to imply simple attachment hardware at each station, although the switches themselves can be complex and therefore expensive Speeds are generally limited and the central switch is an obvious potential source of catastrophic failure.

Ring Topology

              The next topology used in networks is the ring topology. It is very similar to the bus topology, except that the two ends of the network connect to from a complete ring as shown in Fig.60. The chief advantage of this topology over bus topology is that if a break occurs in the ring, the machines will still be able to communicate by going the other way round the ring. Unfortunately, the difficulty and cost of bringing both ends of the network together and wiring a ring topology usually outweigh the advantages of using a ring topology.

Networking Hardware 

              A Server is a powerful computer that other computers ( desktop system) connect to retrieve information from. A server is simply a central location to store and retrieve data. It is also used as a central location for Internet Access. In a server-based network environment, resources are located on a central server or a group of servers. A server is a computer that is specifically designated to provide services to the other computers on the network. The server based network model is more efficient for all but the smallest networks because hardware resources can be concentrated on relatively few highly-utilized network server. In information technology, a server is an application, or device that performs services for connected clients as part of client-server architecture.

What's Important in a Server

            Servers are computers designed to handle large amounts of business data, and they have the power to run software that performs specific business-wide tasks such as file sharing or web hosting, Servers can also provide: 

• Efficiency: Server solutions help businesses of all sizes run more efficiently, increasing revenues, lowering costs, and supporting business growth.
• Scalability: Because you can add capacity and capability, server can address both your current and future business needs.
• Power: Server are more powerful than desktop computers and can support more sophisticated software applications, such as customer relationship management (GRM) software, plus more users and information. 
• Reliability and security: Servers can help you keep critical applications up and running, plus they can help prevent computer viruses and unexpected data loss.
• Proven value: More than 300 million servers with Intel Xeon processors are powering businesses all around the world today, and Indel's more than 20 years in the server business help ensure that Intel-based solutions deliver industry-leading reliability and performance.

Network Cable 

      The Ethernet standard is well established. It is used in a variety of different environments and accordingly there is a variety of different types of cable over which it operates. It is possible not for Ethernet to operate at different speeds, but there are different varieties of cable that can be used within the same speed category. In order to ensure that Ethernet operates correctly, the types of cable, their electrical conditions and the maximum lengths over which they may operate are specified.

• Coaxial Cable
• Twisted-Pair Cable

Coaxial Cable

      Coaxial cable is a preferred, means for transmitting signals between electronic equipment. The use of coaxial cable has become more prevalent in communications and other system because of its advantages over wire system. Effective data transmission between sophisticated computers and similar apparatus is dependent upon successful utilization of such cables.

       Coaxial cables consist of two wires:  the first, a copper wire, surrounded by an insulator, the second is surrounded by a metallic cylinder called shield. This design provides the coaxial cable with a special advantage: electric interference is reduced because the two conductors are shielded and confined separately.

         Coaxial cables are widely employed today to carry signals between various electronic devices such as televisions, displays, computers, CRT displays, and computers stations on a computers network.

Twisted-Pair Cable

           Twisted-pair cable is a type of cabling that is used for telephone communications and most modern Ethernet networks. A pair of wires form a circuit that can transmit data. The pairs are twisted to provide protection against crosstalk- the noise generated by adjacent pairs. When electrical current flows through a wire, it creates a small, circular magnetic field around the wire. When two wires in an electrical circuit are  placed close together, their magnetic fields are the exact opposite of each other. Thus , the two magnetic fields cancel each other out. They also cancel out any outside magnetic fields. Twisting the wires can enhance this cancellation effect. Using cancellation together with twisting the wires, cable designers can effectively provide self-shielding for wire pairs within the network media. Two basic types of twisted-pair cable exist: unshielded twisted pair (UTP) and shielded twisted pair (STP).

• Unshielded twisted pair: UTP cable is a medium that is composed of pairs of wires. UTP cable is used in a variety of network. Each of the individual copper wires in UTP cable is covered by an insulating material. In addition, the wires in each pair are twisted around each other. UTP cable relies solely on the cancellation effect produced by the twisted wire pairs to limit signal degradation, caused by electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI). To further reduce crosstalk between the pairs in UTP cable, the number of twists in the wire pairs varies.
• Shielded twisted pair: STP cable combines the techniques of shielding, cancellation, and wire twisting. Each pair of wires is wrapped in a metallic foil. The four pairs of wires then are wrapped in an overall metallic braid or foil, usally150-ohm cable. STP reduces electrical noise both within the cable (crosstalk) and from outside the cable (EMI and RFT) .STP usually is installed with STP data connector, which is created especially for the STP cable. However, STP cabling also can use the same connectors that UTP uses. Although STP prevents interference better than UTP, it is more expensive and difficult to install. In addition, the metallic shielding must be grounded at both ends. If it is improperly grounded, the shield acts like an antenna and picks up unwanted signals. Because of its cost and difficulty with termination, STP is rarely used in Ethernet networks. STP is primarily used in Europe.

Hubs and Switches

                  A network with more than one computer is likely to use a hub or switch. Hubs and switches link computers within part of a network, for example a home LAN. Although hubs and switches both attach the PCs in a network, a switch is more expensive and a network built with switches is generally considered faster than one built with hubs.

           An advantage of hubs is they require almost no installation at all. The great disadvantage of hubs is that the devices using them all share the same bandwidth. The more devices and the more traffic trying to share the network, the slower it gets. When a hub receives a packet of data at one of its ports from a PC on the network, it transmits the packet to all of its port and, thus, to all of the other PCs on the network. If two or more PCs on the network try to send packets at the same time a collision is said to occur. When that happens all of the PCs have to go though a routine to resolve the conflict.

           Switches don't force all network devices to share the same bandwidth. A switch automatically divides the network into multiple segments, acts as a high-speed, selective bridge between the segments, and supports simultaneous connections of multiple pairs of computers which don't computer with other pairs of computers for network bandwidth. It accomplishes this by maintaining a table of each destination address and its port. When the switch receives a packet, it reads the destination address from the header information in the packet, establishes a temporary connection between the source and destination ports, sends the packet on its way, and then terminates the connection. In short, a switch is "better".

Repeaters

           A repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and retransmits it at a higher level or higher power, or onto the other side of an obstruction, so that the signal can cover longer distances without degradation. The purpose of a repeater is to regenerate and retime network signals at a bit low level to allow them to travel a longer distance on the media. Repeaters are commonly used if too many network nodes exist or the number of cables is insufficient. A repeater connects two segments of your network cable. It retimes and regenerates the signals to proper amplitudes and sends them to the other segments. Repeaters require a small amount of time o regenerate the signal This can cause a propagation delay which can affect network communication when there are several repeaters in a row. Many network architectures limit the number of repeaters that can be used in a row.

Bridges

         Bridges are similar to repeaters or network hubs, devices that connect network segments at the physical layer, however a bridge works by using bridging where traffic from one network is managed rather than simple broadcast to adjacent network segments. A bridge reads the outermost section of data on the data packet, to tell where the message is going. It reduces the traffic on other network segments, since it does not send all packets. Bridges can be programmed to reject packets from particular networks.

         The function of bridge is to make intelligent decisions about whether or not to pass signals on to the next segment of a network. Bridges can also be used to connect dissimilar protocols and media. When a bridge receives a frame on the network, the destination address is looked up in the bridge table to determine whether to filter, flood, or copy the frame onto another segment.

   
Routers 

          A router is used to route data packets between two networks, It reads the information in each packet to tell where it is going. If it is destined for an immediate network it has access to, it will strip the outer packet, readdress the packet to the proper Ethernet address, and transmit it on that network. If it is destined for another network and must be sent to another router, it will repackage the outer packet to be received by the next router and send it to the next router. it will repackage the outer packet to be received by the next router and send it to the next router. Routing occurs at the network layer of the OSI model. Although they can transform information at the data link level, routers cannot transform information from one data format to another. Routers  do not send broadcast packets or corrupted packets. If the routing table does not indicate the proper address of a packet, the packet is discarded. 

        For most home user, they may want to set-up a LAN (local Area Network) or WLAN (wireless LAN) and connect all computers to the Internet without having to pay a full broadband subscription service to their ISP for each computer on the network. In many instances, an ISP will allow you to use a router and connect multiple computers to a single Internet connection and pay a nominal fee for each additional computer sharing the connection. This is when home users will want to look at smaller routers, often called broadband routers that enable two or more computers to share an internet connection. Within a business or organization, you may need to connect multiple computers to the internet, but also want to connect multiple private networks - and these are the types of functions a router is designed for.

Summary

• A computer has four basic operations - Input, processing, Output and Storage.
• Based upon size and speed, computers come in different shapes and sizes. Some commonly found computers are personal Computer, Palmtop, Laptop and Tablet PC.
• Main Frame computers are used for commercial applications and large-scale computing purposes.
• Super computers are the largest and fastest computers present on earth. Cray-2 and Param are examples of super computer.
• The two broad categories of computers hardware are - Input and Output devices. Commonly used input devices are: Keyboard and Mouse. Monitor and printer are examples of output devices.
• The System unit of a computer is also hardware but it is solely used by the computer for processing and generating results for the user. The system unit is also knows as the brain of computer.
• The front side of the system unit has floppy disk drive and CD-Writer drives.
• The back side of the system unit has several connection points of different  shapes. These connection points are known as ports.
• The inside of the system unit comprises motherboards, Switch mode power supply (SMPS) box, random Access Memory (RAM), Read only Memory (ROM), Hard Disk Assembly, and Cards.
• Commonly used external storage devices are floppy Disk, CD and Memory Stick.
• A set of instructions (Program) necessary to carry out a specific job on computer is known as software. Software can be divided into two groups -- System and Application software. Windows, Mac, Linux etc. are examples of System Software MS Word, MS Excel MS PowerPoint are examples of Application Software.
• Communication devices let you communicate with people over the Internet. Modem and web Camera are two commonly used communication devices.

1: Introducing Windows Vista

• Windows Vista
• Hardware Requirements to Install Windows Vista Business Edition
• Overview of the Desktop
• Shutting Down the Computer

Windows

        Windows Vista is Microsoft's latest operating system. Before learning more about Windows Vista, let us first understand what an operating system is and what it does.

          Operating system (OS) is a set of programs that provides the links or interface between the user and the computer hardware. It is the first program loaded when the computer is turned on, and its main part, called the kernel resides in the memory at all time until the machine is turned off. An Operating system is designed to run the other programs on your computer. All other program installed in your computer run under the control of operating system. Without an operating system. your computer would not able to work. The basic tasks of an operating system are:

• It recognizes the input from the keyboard and mouse.
• It sends output to the display window.
• It keeps track of files and directories on the disks.
• It controls the peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers etc.

        The various example of operating system of Microsoft Windows family are Windows 95, Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, windows XP, and the latest one ---- the Windows Vista which we are well familiar with.

      After getting the basic information about the operating system, let's move on to windows Vista and explore what's new in this operating system and how various functions can be performed in the Windows Vista.

Windows Vista

          Windows Vista is the latest version of Microsoft Windows family. It was developed over a span of five and a half years. Vista's original code name was "Longhorn". It was originally scheduled for release in late 2003 but was made available to volume licensed customer on Nov, 2006.

             Windows Vista has various new features, such as Widows Vista visual elements that enhance the clarity, productivity, and focus, a powerful new desktop search that helps search files or folders quickly and easily, Digital media enhancements that allow you to share television, music, and photos, and much more. It also has enhancements regarding security, reliability, and computer management. These new features will assist users find and access the information, work faster, improve performance. All the new features of windows vista have been discussed later in this chapter.

Let's know more about Windows Vista.

New Features of Windows Vista

          Microsoft Windows Vista is an operating system of windows family and provides new powerful features that differentiate it from the older version of Microsoft operating system. Here, we will discuss the key features in brief. As the chapter progresses, you will learn the details of these features. The key features of Microsoft windows Vista are as follows: 

Start Menu and Desktop

        Start menu is the entryway to your computer programs, files, folders, setting and features, Windows Vista provides a powerful Instant or Start Search capability to help you find out anything on your computer. The Start Search box appears in the lower side of the left pane of the Start menu. When you type any search item in the Start Search box, you get the search results very quickly. You can find  application, documents, IE favorites or Email by typing in the Start Search, as shown in Fiq,W-1.1 YOU CAN DIRECTLY NAVIGATE TO ANY PROGRAMS. FOLDERS, AND SETTINGS FROM THE START MENU (Fiq.W-1.1).

Windows Sidebars and Gadgets

           Windows Sidebar is a new feature of the Windows Desktop. In the Sidebar, you can put the gadgets. The gadgets are mini programs showing information such as real-time weather reports, stock quotes, and foreign exchange rate. Now you do not need to open a web browser just to check the weather forecast, or open an application to view your calendar, or open a calculator program just to add up a few numbers; you can find all these information with the help of windows sidebar and its associate mini-application ------ the gadgets which display information constantly on the Sidebar of your desktop.

Display

           Windows Vista provides new features, like Windows Aero, and Windows Flip 3D to improve the display quality.       

Windows Aero

            Windows Aero, that is Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and Open, is a visual element of Windows Vista. It is a new Visual theme and new user interface designed to deliver, a new level of efficiency for any business use. After enabling this feature, you can see how the open windows glide smoothly on your screen when you move or resize them. This feature provides the facility to view the three dimensional, animated views of your open applications and documents. If the transparency level of the windows is enabled, then in case of several windows open, you will be able to easily identify all these windows without moving to these windows. The overall effect is a desktop with shiny and glassy look (Fig.W-1.3).

Windows Flip 3D

           When Aero feature is enabled, you can quickly preview all of your open windows in 3-D view, as shown in Fiq.W-1.4. All these windows appear as a stack, in which the window at the top is the one that is open, and for displaying other windows, you have to flip through the stack. To, open, Flip 3D, press Ctrl + Windows logo key + Tap, and then, to rotate the open window in a cycle by holding down the Win logo key and press the Tap key repeatedly.

Thumbnail View in the Taskbar

       In Windows Vista, you can see the thumbnail view of you currently open files. A thumbnail is a small window of a picture that acts as a preview of full size of any window. Move the mouse pointer on the taskbar, you can see the miniature or thumbnails view in the Taskbar (Fig.W-1.5).

Ease of Navigation with better Windows Explorer

           Windows Explorer is an application that provides graphical user interface to access the files system. In Windows Vista, there are some significant changes in the Windows Explorer when compared to the earlier versions of windows. For example, now the Windows Explorer has better filtering, sorting, grouping and stacking methods for files and folders, there is also a new layout toolbar, also it has a new feature, Details pane, which displays the information about the currently selected files or folder. The Toolbar now contains various buttons that help organize and view the files and folder and also more functionality. From the navigation pane, in the left side of the Windows Explorer, you can navigate directly to the folders that contain files which you are looking

Windows Media Player

        Windows Media Player is a digital media player used to play audio, video files pictures, and recorded television. It is the most recent media player available in Windows XP and Windows Vista, The Windows Media player 11 is far better because it can recognize most audio and video file formats than the previous versions of media player (Fig.W-1.7)

Windows Photo Gallery

          Windows Photo Gallery offers an easier, more intuitive way to view, manage, and refine your photos and home movies. In Window photo Gallery, you can perform all editing functions like, resizing copping, red-eye reduction of your photos or movies. You can burn pictures or videos to CD or DVD in Photo gallery. Fiq.W-1.8, shows how Windows photo Gallery looks like.

Windows Movie Maker

        Windows Movie Maker is a video-editing program in Windows Vista. Previous Versions of Windows also had this program, but it is certainly improved in this edition.

Introducing Windows Vista

Internet Explorer 7.0

       Windows Vista provides some new features added to the old Internet Explorer. Windows Vista comes with Internet Explorer 7. IE-7 makes the browsing the web easier, safer, and more enjoyable. A new feature in the Internet Explorer is tabbed browsing, which allows you to open multiple websites in a single browser window. There is a new Instant Search box located in the right upper corner of each browsing window (Fig.W-1.10). Internet Explorer 7 has a new feature called phishing Filter that helps defend users from phishing attacks.

Windows Mail

       Window Mail, formally knows as Outlook Express, is designed to enable you to easily send your e-mail while helping keep you safe. Phishing Filter is integrated with Windows Mail in Windows Vista. Windows Mail addresses the junk mail, viruses delivered through e-mail and attachment, and phishing attacks targeted acquiring your personal information. Windows Mail window is shown as Fig.W-1.11.

Enhanced Security with Windows

       Windows Vista provides special security features including Windows Firewall, Windows Defender, and Windows Updates. Windows Security Center helps to enhance your computer's security. It checks the status of firewall settings, Windows automatic updating, anti-malware software settings, and also Internet security settings, After checking the status, if the Windows detects a problem with any of the security essentials, Security Center display a notification, and then you can know how to fix the problem. The Windows Security Center window looks like Fig.W-1.12.

Windows Firewall

       Windows Vista Business edition provides the technology and tools to ensure security to your personal computer. This technology and tool is Windows Firewall (Fiq,W-1.13). WINDOWS SECURITY CENTER HAS LINKS TO CHECK YOUR COMPUTER'S FIREWALL, Antivirus software, and update status. Windows Vista firewall helps to protect your PC from hackers, viruses, and worms that cause damage to your computer over intent.

Windows Defender

       Windows Vista provides a new tool Windows Defender (Fiq.W-1 .14) THAT HELPS  PROTECT AGAINST SPYWARE. IT WORKS WITH INTERNET EXPLORER 7. When potential unwanted software or. spyware try to run or install on your system, Windows Defender alerts you. Windows Defender can be used to scan, remove or prevent any spyware and other potential software.

Brief Comparison of Various Windows Vista Editions

        Microsoft offers five versions or editions of windows vista. Each of these editions allows users with some different features and capabilities.

• Windows Vista Home Basic

        Windows Vista Home Basic is perfect for basic computing like word processing, e-mail, to view photos and to browsing the internet. It provides better security and reliability, with your basic computing needs. You can easily and quickly find out the programs and files what you are looking for on your personal computer.

• Windows Vista Home Premium

       Windows Vista Home Premium edition provides more features than Basic edition, including the entertainment functions such as Windows Media Center, TV, movies, and music. This edition of vista also provides a new level of security and reliability to your PC. It also supports new features like Windows Aero, instant  desktop search capabilities, and ability to switch between your open windows in a three-dimensional layout.

• Windows Vista Business

        Windows Vista Business is the first windows operating system which is designed primarily to make up the needs of small businesses. This edition provides new safety features, better user interface, and robust communications capabilities.  

• Windows Vista Enterprise

         Windows Vista Enterprise is used to meet the needs of the global organizations and business with complex information technology requirements. It offers lower IT costs and risks. This editions provides several levels of security

• Windows Vista Ultimate

          Windows Vista Ultimate offers all of the features found on the different editions of Windows Vista. This edition is the most complete edition of Windows Vista. It offers all the business features, security enhancements, and the entertainment capabilities. Now, you have a complete idea of different versions of the Windows Vista. After a brief introduction about new features of Windows, Vista, let us now learn about the hardware requirements for installing the Windows Vista Business edition.

Hardware Requirements to Install Windows Vista Business Edition

        Windows Vista needs certain system requirements that your personal computer must fulfill before you start installing Windows Vista. This section lists the recommended minimum hardware requirements for WINDOWS VISTA BUSINESS EDITIONS AND THEN DESCRIBES THE WHOLE PROCESS OF INSTALLING THE OPERATING SYSTEM.

The minimum hardware requirements to install Windows Vista Business edition are as follow:

• 800 MHz processor
• 512 MB of system memory
• 20 GB hard disk drive with at least 15 GB of free space
• Support for super VGA graphics
• DVD-ROM drive

Now, following are the recommended Hardware requirements :

• 1 GHz 32-bit (X86) or 64-bit (X64) processor
• 1GB of system memory
• 40 GB hard disk drive with at least 15 GB free space
• Support for DirectX 9 graphics with

           O  WDDM (Windows Display Driver Model) driver

           O  128 MB of graphics memory

           O   pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware

          O    32 bits per pixel

• DVD-ROM drive
• Audio Output

Installing Windows Vista on a New System

       We will learn a clean installation of operating system on your hard disk. We assume that there is no operating system installed in your system.

      Before installing the Windows Vista, there are some primary requirements that you should know about. First you need Windows Vista installation, DVD or CD and Windows product key having 25 characters. Product key will be on the installation disc holder inside the windows package. NEXT, YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF Windows Vista, and then select the desired edition for installation in your computers. Here, we are installing Window Vista Business edition.

Installing Windows Vista

          undertake the following steps to install Windows Vista Business edition.

1. Insert Vista DVD in your PCs DVD drive. A BIOS Window flashes, you may be asked to press a key to boot from CD or DVD. if it happens then press a key. However, some system, boot from the DVD by default, and there is no warning, We are assuming that your system do nt have any operating system. You have to create and format partition. Therefore, boot from installations DVD.
2. The Install Windows Window appears, as shown in Fiq.W-1.15. The default language, currency format, and input method appear beside the corresponding option, like English beside Language to install option, English (United States) beside the Time and currency format, and US beside the Keyboard or input methods option. Click the Next button (Fig.W-1.15).

N------- The default language, currency format, and input methods that are shown in Fiq.W-1.15 are the most preferred options. If anyone wants to change these options, and then click on the drop-down button beside the appropriate option, and select the option from the drop-down list as per your preference.

       3. Next, the Install Windows window appears (Fiq.W-1.16). Click the Install now option, as shown in Fiq.W-1.16.

        4. The Install Windows Window for typing the product key for activation appears. Enter the twenty five character product key and then click the Next button.

       5. Next, an Install Windows window asking you to accept the license terms and condition appears, click the I accept license terms button to accept the license terms and then click Next button.

          6.An Install Windows Window for selecting the type of installation appears, as shown in Fiq.W-1.17. Click the Custom (Advanced) option (Fiq.W-1.17).

          7. The Install Windows window for selecting the location to install Windows appears, as shown in Fiq.W-1.18. Select the location and then click the Next button.

N------- If you want to create new partition o delete partition, click the Drive options (advanced) option (Fiq.W-1.18). As a result, the options like New, Delete, Extend, and Format appear, as shown in Fiq.W-1.19. Use new option to create new partition, Delete option is used to delete the created partition, Extend option is used to extend the size of created partition, and Format option is used to format the partition.

       Clicking Next, as shown in Fig.W-1.18, begins the installation process and the installer  starts copying windows to your hard disk. It installs,  the Vista in the partition which you selected in the previous steps. A green status bar showing the installation status appears at bottom of your window. It will take approximately half an hour or more.

      After the Windows Vista has been installed, your system will be rebooting. You are prompted with a number of setup windows. Let us see what those setup windows are and learn their configuration. The first setup window, Set Up Windows WINDOW APPEARS AFTER REBOOTING THE SYSTEM, as shown in Fiq.W-1.20. now  you will be asked to create a username and password for creating the first user account.

        8. Type a user name below the Type a user name option in the Set Up Windows window (Fiq.W-1.20). We have typed Paul in it.

       9. Type a password below the Type a password option (Fiq.W-1.20). Again re-type the password below Retype your password option.

       10. The lower part of set up windows contains a series of pictures. Click a picture for user account (Fiq.W-1.20). 

        11. Click the Next button (Fiq.W-1.20).

     12 . Again a set up Windows window for Type a computer name and choosing a desktop background screen appears, as shown in Fiq,W-1.21. The default computer name appears, as the name of user below Type the computer name option. You can rename it. Choose a picture for your desktop background by clicking on a picture (Fiq.W-1.21).

      13. Click the Next button (Fiq.W-1.21).

      14. The Help Protect Windows automatically screen of set up windows window appears, as shown in Fiq.W-1.22. From here you can select automatic updates option provided your PC has an internet connection. To do so click the user recommended settings option, as shown in the Fiq. W-1.22.

      15. Review your time and data settings screen of set up windows window appears, as shown in Fiq.W-1.23. To select a time zone for your area, click the down arrow button below the Time zone option. A dropdown list appears. Select a time zone for your area. In OUR CASE, it is (GMT -05:00)  Eastern Time (US & Canada). 

      16. Click a date in the Date box (Fiq.W-1.23)

      17. Enter a time in the Time edit box (Fiq.W-1.23).

      18. Next, click the Next button (Fiq.W-1.23).

       After this process is complete, Windows Vista automatically starts running on your personal computer. The first window appeared is welcome window from which you can logon in your system by entering the correct password. When you have entered the password, Welcome Center window appears, as shown in Fiq.W-1.24. Welcome Center window provides some basic information abut your personal computer, like the edition of Windows Vista which you are using and several usually -demanded configuration options. On the Background window of welcome center, you will find a taskbar on the bottom of desktop that contains the Start button at left of the taskbar.

      After Installing Windows Vista on a new system. let us now see how to upgrade Windows XP system to Windows Vista Business edition.

Upgrading Windows XP System to Windows Vista Business Edition

         If you are working on Windows XP and want to install Windows Vista Business edition in your computer ,then you can upgrade Windows XP to Windows Vista Business edition. Before starting to upgrade your Windows, you should take the backup of your files, to a safe location so that you can restore your all files and folder safely.

Undertake the following steps to learn to upgrade Windows XP to Windows Vista Business edition:

1. To upgrade Windows XP to Windows Vista business edition, follow the Step 1 to Step 5 of Installing Windows Vista described earlier.
2. An Install Windows window for selecting the type of installation appears, as shown in Fiq. W-1.25. Now, choose the installation type, Upgrade or Custom. Click the Upgrade option (Fiq.W-1.25).
3. Windows Vista set up will proceed further. The next steps are similar as we have discussed in the previous section' Installation of Windows Vista'. So, follow the instruction for the further steps.

Now, Windows is working properly, let us now interact with the computer desktop.

Overview of the Desktop

        When you turn on your personal computer and log on to Windows, the first screen or window, area you see on your computer is called the Desktop. The Desktop comprises of the desktop icon, Taskbar, Sidebar.

      By default. Windows Vista Welcome Center screen appears as a start-up window. Beneath his welcome Center window is the Desktop. A program or any folder that you open is appears on the Desktop. It has shortcuts to your most frequently used programs, documents as a component.

Let us know about the various part of your Desktop:

• Desktop Icons: The desktop has various icons in it, as shown in Fiq.W-1.26. These icons are the shortcuts of the programs, files or folders. Your just click on an icon, and the corresponding program, file or folder will get displayed.
• Taskbar: Taskbar is located at the bottom of the Desktop (Fiq.W-1.26). It shows the programs that are currently running. You can switch between these programs.
• Start button: The start button is located at the left side of the Taskbar. From this button you access the programs, folders, and computer setting etc. (Fiq.W-1.26).
• Quick Launch Toolbar: You can see the  Quick Launch toolbar in the Taskbar beside the Start button. You can put the icons of the programs that are frequently used in the Quick Launch toolbar, and then can access them from there (Fiq.W-1.26).
• Notification Area: The Notification Area lies at the right edge of the Taskbar. It contains the shortcuts of programs and also important status information like System clock and Network (Fiq.W-1.26).
• Windows Sidebar and Gadgets: By default, the Windows Sidebar remains at the right side of the desktop. It contains the gadgets, which are small, mini programs. Some of the gadgets are real-time weather reports, stock quotes, and foreign exchange rate. With the help of windows sidebar and its associated mini applications called gadgets, you can be able to see various types of information (Fiq.W-1.26). The Sidebar can also be shifted at the left side of the Desktop.

        Till here you learn about installation of Windows Vista as well as vary first window that appears after successful installation of Windows - the Desktop. Besides icon and gadgets, the Desktop contains a very important feature without which we can hardly dream to work on computer - the start button. The start button is located on the bottom left corner of the Desktop and acts as quick access point to start programs and access important locations of computer. Let us proceed ahead and learn about the Start button in detail.

Let us now see what happen when you click the Start button.

The Start Menu

          Clicking the Start button displays a menu. This menu is knows as start menu. At any given moment of time you can open the start menu by simply clicking on the Start button (Fiq.W-1.27).

          You can see from Fiq.W-1.27 that there are left and right panes of the Start menu, and also there is a Start Search box below the left pane of the Start menu, and a button panel.

       The left pane of the Start menu, contains the most frequently used or recently used programs. The right pane of the Start menu, displayed the list of, files, folders, settings, and features like Computer, Network, and Documents etc.

          A Start Search box appears in the lower side of the left pane of the Start menu. Type in the Start Search box, you get the search result in very quick time. You can find application, documents, IE favorites or E-mail by typing in the Start Search.

        The button panel contains buttons, like power button and lock button. The power button is used when you want to save your session and puts the computer in a low-power state so that you can quickly resume working. Lock button is used to lock the computer when you are away from computer and do not want to shut down the computer. After understanding about the Start menu, let us now learn how to launch a program from it.

Launching a Program From the Start menu

         You can launch any program installed in your system from the Start menu, Some of these programs are in built programs that come with Windows operating system and others are the one that you install from a CD or DVD. Undertake the following steps to launch a program from the Start menu:

1.  Click the All Programs option in the left pane of the Start menu (Fiq.W-1.27). A list of programs gets displayed in the left pane of the Start menu.
2. From the list of programs that appears, lick the Windows photo Gallery option, as shown in Fiq.W-1.28. you will see the Windows photo gallery appears, as shown in Fiq.W-1.29.

      After launching a programs from the Start menu let us now learn about the important location of  your computer.

Important Locations on Your Computer.

        The main locations of your files, folders programs are Computer, Control Panel, and the Document folder. 

Let us know about the important locations of your computer:

• Computer: This is a location that contains the disk drives and others removable disk (if any) to your computer. To view the content inside the Computer, click the Computer option in the right pane of the Start menu (Fiq.W-1.28). The Computer window appears, as shown in Fiq.W-1.30.

Activating Windows

        The Computer location lets you activate Windows. Activation is a procedure for license validation required by a computer software programs. Activation verifies that your copy of Windows is not counterfeit and it also verifies the Microsoft Software License Terms and conditions. We can say that it helps preventing software counterfeiting.

     You have to activate Windows within 30 days after the installation otherwise Windows will stop working.

     For activating Windows Vista in your computer, undertake the following steps:

1. Click System properties button in the TOOLBAR Of the Computer window (Fiq.W-1.30).
2. A System window appears (Fiq.W-1.31). Under Window Activation section in the bottom of window, click Activate Window now option to activate Windows (Fiq.W-1.31).

• Document Folder: The Document folder contains the letters, reports, notes, and other kinds of documents. To see the content of the Document folder, click the Document option in the right pane of the Start menu. (Fiq.W-1.28). The Document window looks like shown in Fiq.W-1.32.
• Control Panel: The Control Panel customizes the appearances and functionality of your computer. You can add or remove the programs, set up network connection, and the user accounts from the control panel. To open the Control Panel, click the Control Panel option, in the right pane of the Start menu (Fiq.W-1.28). The Control Panel window appears, as shown in Fiq.W-1.33.
• Network: The Network location provides access to computer and devices that are in your network. To open Network, click the Network option in the right pane of the Start menu, (Fiq.W-1.28). The Network window looks like shown in Fiq.W-1.34.

      AFTER THE DESKTOP OVERVIEW, LET US NOW LEARN THE HELP SECTION IN WINDOWS VISTA.

Help in Windows Vista

          Windows Vista provides a Windows Help and Support which contains the overview of Windows Basics, security and Maintenance, brief description about the new features, and troubleshooting regarding Windows Vista. It contains information which helps and guides you to learn the various features of vista as well as to learn to work with Windows Vista. Undertake the following steps to open help and support in Windows Vista:

1. Click the Start button the Start menu appears.
2. In the right pane of Start menu, click the Help and Support  option (Fiq.W-1.35). windows Help and Support window appears, as shown in Fig. W-1.36.

Let us now see how to find the information from the Windows Help and Support window (Fiq.W-1.36).

 

Finding Information through Help and Support

         Windows Help and Support Window contains various links. By clicking a link you can find the corresponding information displayed. Here's how you can find information in Help section:

1. Click the Start button, and then click the Help and Support in the right pane of the Start ,menu, The Help and Support window appears.
2. Under Find an answer section of Windows Help and support window, various links like Windows Basic, Table of Contents are displayed. Click on any of these links, like we have clicked the Table of Contents option (Fiq.W-1.36).
3.  Another Help and Support window containing the information about Table of Contents of vista appears (Fq.W-1.37). CLICK AN OPTION AND SEE  the detailed information corresponding to that option.

Let us now learn how to find information in help section by typing a keyword.

Searching Help by Typing a Keyword

         You can also find the information from the Help section by typing a keyword in the Search Help box. The Search Help box is located at the top of Windows Help and Support window, as shown in the Fiq. W-1.37. To find information, undertake the following steps:

1. Type a word or word phrase in Search box and press the Enter key. We type Window photo Gallery. 
2.  You will see various links related to Windows Photo Gallery appear, as shown in Fiq.w-1.38. Click a link to see the detail information about that link. For example, we click on the Open Windows.

 The information regarding the link appears in the Help and Support window (Fiq.W-1.39).

Let us now see how to set option in the help section.

Setting Options in Help

         You can set the various options in help sections, like you can set the font, size, browsing help and also enable or disable the online help.

 Let us learn how to enable the online help:

Enabling the Online Help

        To enable the online help, undertake the following steps:

1. Click the options option in the top-right corner (below Close  button) in the Fiq.W-1.39. A drop-down menu appears as shown in Fiq.W-1.40.
2. NOW, CLICK ON THE SETTING OPTION IN THE DROP-DOWN MENU, AS SHOWN IN FIQ.W-1.41. A DIALOG BOX NAMED HELP SETTING APPEARS, AS SHOWN IN FIQ.W-1.42.
3. FOR ENABLING THE ONLINE HELP, CLICK ON THE CHECK BOX BESIDE THE INCLUDE WINDOWNS ONLINE HELP AND SUPPORT WHEN YOU SEARCH FOR HELP OPTION IN HELP SETTING DIALOG BOX, AS SHOWN IN FIQ.W-1.42.
4. Click the ok button to save the setting (Fiq.W-1.42).

Let us now learn to set the font size in the help section:

Setting the Font Size in Help Section

          You can set the font size of your help section text. The font size may be among the options largest, larger, medium, smaller, and smallest.

Undertake the following to set the font size in the help section:

1.  Click the Options option (Fiq.W-1.43) in the top-right corner of Windows Help and Support window (Fiq.W-1.39). A DROP-DOWN MENU APPEARS, AS SHOWN IN FIQ.W-1.43.
2. Click the Text Size option, as shown in drop-down menu. A sub-menu appears having options to set the text size like Smallest, Smaller, Medium, Larger, and Largest (Fiq.W-1.44).
3. Select a font size option from the sub-menu (Fiq.W-1.44). In our case it is Medium. The settings will be automatically saved and the sub-menu will be closed. After learning various features of Windows Vista, let's now see how to shut down the Computer.

Shutting Down the Computer

        When you go for shutting down your computer, you will see various options. Let us first understands these options in brief:

• Switch User: This options allows you to switch to the other computer user account without closing the programs and files first.
• Log off: When you click the Log off option, all of the programs that you were using will be closed but your computer will not be turned off.
• Lock: When you lock your computer, no one can use your computer. Locking is useful when you are away from your system and don't want to log off your computer. Only you or the administrator can unlock it.
• Restart: This option is used to restart your computer.
• Sleep: Sleep is a power saving state. When you click on this option, it saves your open documents and programs to memory. When you start working again, it allows the computer to quickly come to full power (Within several seconds). To put your computer to sleep, you can directly click on the power button.
• Shut Down: Use this option to shut down your computer.

For shutting down your system, undertake the following steps.

1. Click the Start button a Start menu appears.
2. In the button panel in the right pane of the Start menu, click on the arrow beside the Lock button. A shortcut menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-1.45.
3. Now, Click the Shut Down option, as shown in Fiq.W-1.45. Your system will shut down after a few  seconds. 

Summary

       You have learned what windows vista is and its new features and technologies. The detailed description on hardware requirements to install Windows Vista Business edition has also been given in the chapter. Under overview of the desktop,  brief introduction about background wallpaper, Taskbar, and start menu, and important locations on your Computer have been discussed. The help section explains you how to find information regarding the Windows whenever you encounter any problem related to it.

      In the next chapter, you will learn about the desktop and Start menu and how you can customize the desktop, Taskbar, and Start menu.

2: Personalizing The Desktop And Start Menu

• Changing the Background of  Desktop
• Working with Desktop Icons
• Taskbar
• Working on the Start Menu
• Notification Area
• Working on Windows Sidebar and Gadgets

Windows

        The Desktop is the primary screen area that appears, after you turn on your computers and log on to Windows. Any program or document that you open appears on the Desktop. The Desktop comprises Taskbar, Icons, and Sidebar. The Taskbar is located at the bottom of the Desktop and it shows you which programs are running and allow you to switch between them. The Sidebar is a long and vertical bar that appears by default on the right hand side of your Desktop. This Sidebar contains  various gadgets like, real-time weather reports, stock quotes, and foreign exchange rate, etc.

        From the Desktop, you can access and close a program, file, folder or feature. you can create the shortcut of the programs, files, folders, and various types of documents that help you to access them quickly. In this chapter, we will learn to customize the Desktop in number of ways.

      As the chapter progresses, we will look into another interesting aspect related to the Desktop, the Start menu, and learn ways to change it. We will also consider the Sidebar in the chapter and make it more versatile and useful to meet your daily requirements.

Let us now start the chapter by learning the procedure to change the background of the Desktop.

Changing the Background of Desktop

       The Desktop background is a picture or design on the Desktop. It appears on the background for your open Windows. Your Desktop background (also knows as wallpaper) can be a picture from your own collection or that are by default present in the Windows.

        You can change the background of the Desktop as well as the position of the selected Desktop background. Besides using pictures. you can also apply solid colors to the background of the Desktop. Let us now undertake the following steps and learn to change the Desktop background:

1. Right-click on empty area of the Desktop. A shortcut menu appears. Click the Personalize option in the shortcut menu (Fiq.W-2.1).
2. A Personalization Windows appears. Using this windows, you can change the appearance of the desktop, windows, dialog boxes, etc. Click the Desktop Background option (Fiq.W-2.2).

The Desktop Background windows appears, as shown in Fiq.W-2.3

   

    3. Now, click on down-arrow of the Picture Locations option. A drop-down list appears (Fiq.W-2.4)

    4.IN THE DROP-DOWN LIST, CLICK THE windows Wallpapers option (Fiq.W-2.4).

N.....  if you want to pick a picture from the location other than the one displayed in the drop-down list, you can use the Browse button.

     5. The various wallpapers appear in the Desktop Background window (Fiq.W-2.5). CLICK ON A WALLPEPER OF Your choice, as shown in Fiq.W-2.5.

        6. FINALLY, CLICK THE ok BUTTON TO SET the selected wallpaper as your Desktop background (Fiq.W-2.5).

      7. THE PERSONALIZE Window re-appears (Fiq.W-2.2). CLICK THE CLOSE BUTTON PRESENT ON THE TITLE BAR. 

       8. The selected wallpaper appears on your Desktop, as shown in Fiq.W-2.6.

After learning how to set the Desktop background, let us now see how to set the position of the background. 

Setting the Position of Background

            You can set the position of the Desktop background in three ways - Fit to screen, Tile, and Center. In the Fit to screen option, the picture or wallpaper selected as Desktop background stretches on the entire area of the screen. The Tile position creates an impression of tiling and display the picture or wallpaper as tiles positioned on wall or floor. Selecting the Center option as Desktop background places the picture or wallpaper in the center of the screen. The Tile and Center positions are useful when the selected background picture or wallpaper is smaller in size. Let us now undertake the following steps and learn to set the positions of he Desktop background:

1. Right-click on the empty area of the Desktop. A shortcut menu appears (Fiq.W-2.1).
2. Click the Personalize option in the shortcut menu (Fiq.W-2.1). A Personalization window appears (Fiq.W-2.2).
3. Click Desktop Background option in the Personalization window (Fiq.W-2.2). A Desktop Background window appears. On the lower side of the  Desktop Background window, you can see that three are three, options are available for setting the position of the Desktop background. The three options are - Fit to screen, Tile, and Center (Fiq.W-2.7)
4. WE HAVE SELECTED THE FIEST OPTION, THAT, IS, FIT TO SCREEN,  (Fiq.W-2.7).
5. Click the OK button to set the position of the desktop background (Fiq.W-2.7).

After understanding how to change and position the background of Desktop let us now learn working with Desktop icons.

The Recycle Bin

       In Windows-based operating system, the Recycle bin represents a location where deleted filed and folders are temporarily stored. This enables you to retrieve files and folders that you may have accidentally deleted. Let us now undertake the following steps and learn to explore the Recycle Bin:

1. Double click Recycle Bin icon in the Desktop.
2. The Recycle Bin windows appears. Deleted files or folders appear in the Recycle Bin windows, as shown in Fiq.W-2.8. If you want to restore all items back to their original location they were deleted from, click the Restore All Items button in the Toolbar (Fiq.W-2.8).

N......... To restore a particular item (file or folder) from the Recycle Bin, simply click on the item name and then click the Restore this item button present on the Toolbar.

     3. To remove the item from the Recycle Bin permanently, click the Empty the Recycle Bin button in the Toolbar (Fiq.W-2.8).

After learning some primary function. let us now see how to set the Recycle Bin properties.

Setting Recycle Bin Properties

         You can change the setting of the Recycle Bin as per your requirement. For example, you can customize the size of the Recycle Bin. Undertake following steps to learn to set the Recycle Bin properties:

1. Right-click on the Recycle Bin icon in the Desktop. A Shortcut menu appears as shown in Fiq.W-2.9.
2. Click the Properties option in the shortcut menu (Fiq.W-2.9).

The Recycle Bin Properties dialog box appears, as shown in Fiq.W-2.10.

     3. From the Recycle Bin Properties dialog box, you can customize size for the selected drive. To, do so, select a drive as shown in Fiq.W-2.10 and then, click on the option button beside the Customize size option. The default size of the recycle bin for the selected drive appears in the text box beside the Customize size. You can change it if required.

N....... If you click on the radio button beside the Do not move files to the Recycle Bin option, then the deleted files or folders will no longer come into the Recycle Bin; instead they will be permanently gone from your computer and cannot be recovered. So, pay extreme attention while choosing this option and remember about it whenever you are about to delete some file or folder.

       4. Now, click the OK button to save the setting (Fiq.W-2.10).

         After Working with the Desktop Icons, let's now learn about the Taskbar.

Taskbar

         The Taskbar is a horizontal bar at the bottom of the window frame. This bar displays running programs and opened files or folders in from of buttons. The Taskbar is visible nearly all the time and you can switch over from one program or file/folder to another by clicking a button. If  you look closely at the Taskbar then you will find it is divided into four main sections:

• Start button: It launches a menu which displays the important programs and documents .
• The Quick Launch toolbar: This section allows you to quick launch a program by a single click to the icon present in this section.
• Middle Section: It displays programs, files and folders already open on your computers in form of buttons. 
• Notification Area: It shows a clock and icon for system functions that are currently running on your computers.

Let us know about the functioning with the Taskbar.

Previewing Through Taskbar

        For displaying the previews of an open windows, just move the mouse pointer over a Taskbar button present on the Taskbar. As you take the mouse pointer over the button, a small picture is displayed, which shows you thumbnails of the open windows (Fiq.W-2.11). This is a new feature incorporated in Windows Vista.

Working On the Start Menu

        Start menu is the entry way to your computers programs, folders, files, setting, and features. We can divide the Start menu in four main parts. Here's the description of these parts:

• The left pane of the Start menu contains the list of programs which you can customize. For viewing more programs, click the All Programs.
• On the bottom of left pane of the Start menu, a Start Search box appears. You can search programs on typing in the Search box.
• Right pane of the Start menu displays the commonly used folders, files, features, and settings.
• On the bottom of the right pane of the Start menu, there is a button panel. From this this button panel, you can turn off or log off your computer.

Pin a Programs Icon to the Start Menu

         If you use a programs regularly, you can create a short cut of that program by pinning the programs in the start menu. The shortcut of the program that you have pinned appears on the left pane of the Start menu.

Let us undertake the following steps to pin a program:

1. Click the Start button, A Start menu appears,
2. In the left pane of the Start menu, click the All Programs options, a list of programs appear.
3. Click the Accessories folder. A list of programs under Accessories appears (Fiq.W-2.12).
   
4. Right-click the programs, say Notepad, a shortcut menu, appears (Fiq.W-2.12).
5. In the shortcut menu, click the Pin to Start Menu option (Fiq.W-2.12).

        The program appears in the left pane of the Start menu, above a horizontal line. In our case, we are pinning the Notepad Program. Notepad option appears in the left pane of the Start Menu, as shown in (Fiq.W-2.13).

   After pinning a program to the Start menu, let us now learn to set frequently used programs.

Setting the Number of Frequently Used Programs
        In the Start Menu, you can see the shortcuts for frequently used programs. You can set the number of shortcuts of the programs to appear in the Start Menu, Let us now undertake the following steps to learn how to set frequently used programs:

1. Right-click in the blank space on the Taskbar, a shortcut menu, appears (Fiq.W-2.14).
2. Next, click the Properties option in the shortcut menu, as shown in Fiq.W-2.14.
3. The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box appears, click the Start Menu tab as shown in Fiq.W-2.15.
4. Now, under Start Menu tab, click the Customize button (Fiq.W-2.15).
5. A Customize Start Menu dialog box appears (Fiq.W-2.16). You can set the number by using the up and down arrow beside the Number of recent programs to display option as shown in Fiq.W-2.16.
6. After setting the number, click the OK button (Fiq.W-2.16).
7. The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box re-appears (Fiq.W-2.15). First click the Apply button and the the OK button. Now you see the shortcuts in the Start Menu appears according to the number you set.

Let us now learn to remove the icons of frequently used programs from the Start menu.

Removing a Frequently Used Program icon From the Start Menu

       Removing a program icon from the start menu does not mean that the programs is deleted from the All Programs list or the programs is uninstalled, it only removes the programs shortcut from the list.

        Undertake the following steps to remove a program from the start menu list:

1. Click the Start button. The Start menu, appears.
2. In the left pane of the Start menu, right-click on a programs, a shortcut menu appears.
3. In the shortcut menu, click the Remove from this list option (Fiq.W-2.17). The program name is removed from the list.

After working on the left pane of the Start menu, let us now learn to organize the right pane of the Start menu.

Organizing the Right Pane of the Start menu,

          You can organize the items appearing in the right pane of the start menu. You can also add or remove the items from the right pane of the start menu. Let us learn to organize the right pane of the start menu.

Hiding and Displaying Items

           For hiding or displaying the items from the right pane of the Start menu, undertake the following steps:

1. Right-click in the empty space of the Taskbar, a shortcut menu, appears.
2. In the shortcut menu, click the Properties option as shown in Fiq.W-2.14
3. The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box appears. Click the Start Menu tab (Fiq.W-2.18).
4. Under the Start Menu tab, click the Customize button as shown in Fiq.W-2.18.
5. A Customize Start Menu DIALOG BOX APPEARS (Fiq.W-2.19). To hide a displayed item, click the check box beside an option which you want to hide from the Start menu. For example, we click the check box beside the Network option; the check mark in the check box beside the Network option will be removed.
6. Click the OK button to save the setting (Fiq.W-2.19).
7. The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box re-appears (Fiq.w-2.20). First click the Apply button then click the OK button.

Let us now see how to change the behavior of items like computers or Recent items on the right pane of the Start menu,

N....... To display the items which are hidden, follow the steps (1 through 4) under Hiding and Displaying Items; and in the Customize Start Menu dialog box select the items by clicking the check box beside the various options to display in the Start Menu.

Let us now learn to change the behavior of the items,

Changing the Behavior of Items

         You can customize the behavior of the items like Computer, Document, Control, Panel, Games in the right pane of the Start menu, Behavior of the item means how the items are displayed in the Start menu, You can set the behavior of the items in two ways: either by displaying it as a menu or by displaying it as a link. Let us now undertake the following steps to change the behavior of the items that are in the right pane of the Start menu:

1. Right-click in the blank space on the Taskbar, a shortcut menu appears.
2. Click the Properties option in the shortcut menu, as shown in Fiq.W-2.21.
3. The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box appears (Fiq.W-2.22). Click the Star Menu tab.
4. Next, under the Start Menu tab, click the Customize button (Fiq.W-2.22).

A Customize Start Menu dialog box appears (Fiq.W-2.23). Two types of behavior are shown in the dialog box for any of the items; one is Display as a link, and the other is Display as a menu.

     5. Click any of the two option buttons beside the Computer option, say Display as menu option (Fiq.W-2.23). SET FOR THE OTHER ITEMS, IF REQUIRED.

     6. Now, click the OK button in the Fiq.W-2.23.

    7. The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box re-appears. Click Apply button and, then click the OK button in the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box (Fiq.W-2.22). To confirm the changes made in the behavior of Computer, undertake the following steps:

    8.Now, click the Start button, the Start menu appears.

    9.Click the Computer option in the right pane of the Start menu, a menu appears showing the content of Computer (Fiq.W-2.24).

Let us now learn how to restore the Start menu default setting:

Working on Windows Sidebar and Gadgets

          The Windows Sidebar is a new feature of the Windows Desktop. The Sidebar is a long and vertical bar and by default it appears on the right side of your Desktop and automatically appears whenever you start the computer. The Sidebar contains various gadgets. The gadgets are mini programs. Some of these gadgets, like real-time, weather reports, stock quotes, and foreign exchange rate. The basic purpose of using the Sidebar is that it holds information and tools that are quickly available for your use. Such as, you do not need to open a web browser for checking the weather. open an application to view your calendar, or open a calculator programs just to add up a few numbers. Now, with the help of windows sidebar and its associated mini-applications called gadgets, you will be able to see all these type of information. You can organize the gadgets on the Sidebar according to your requirements.

Adding and Removing the Gadgets to Sidebar

         Gadgets are mini programs that provide easy access to often-used tools. For example, Calculator is a basic tool that you use all the time. Some more examples of gadgets are real-time weather reports, stock quotes, and foreign exchange rete. You can add gadgets on the Sidebar and can also remove them as per your requirement.

Adding a Gadget to the Sidebar

Undertake the following steps to add a gadget to the Sidebar:

1. Click the Gadgets button on the top of your Sidebar (Fiq.W-2.25).
2. A window appears containing the various gadgets, as shown in Fiq.W-2.26. MOVE THE CURSOR TO ANY OF THESE GADGETS AND DOUBLE-CLICK OR RIGHT-CLICK ANY OF THE GADGETS, a short menu appears. Click the Add option. As soon as you click the add option, the selected gadget gets added to your Sidebar as shown in Fiq.W-2.27.

Let us now see how to remove a gadget from the Sidebar.

Removing a Gadget From the Sidebar

         You can remove the gadgets from the Sidebar. Undertake the following steps to remove a gadget from the Windows Sidebar:

       3. On the right hand side of each gadget, there is a Close button. Click Close button for closing or moving the gadgets from the Sidebar, as shown in Fiq.W-2.28.

       PERHAPS THE CLOSE BUTTON IS NOT VISIBLE IN THE FIQ.W-2.28. so you just concentrate on one gadgets as shown in the Fiq .W-2.29. Now, you are able to see the Close button in the Fiq.W-2.29.

     AFTER REMOVING A GADGET FROM THE SIDEBAR, LET US SEE HOW TO CONFIQGURE A GADGET.

Configuring Gadgets

            Every gadget has its own options that you can use to alter the working of gadget as per your requirements. Here, we can't explore each gadget. As an example, here we will pick the Weather gadget and demonstrate the process of changing its options.

1. In the Sidebar, Right-click a gadget, say Weather. A shortcut menu appears (Fiq.W-2.30).
2. in the shortcut menu, click the options option (Fiq.W-2.31).

A dialog box for the selected gadget appears (Weather in our case), as shown in Fiq.W-2.32.

  3. From the Weather gadget (Fiq.W-2.32), YOU CAN CHOOSE THE CURRENT LOCATION AND THE UNIT OF TEMPERATURE AS FAHRENHEIT OR CELSIUS. We have selected Celsius.

     4. Next, click the OK button to save the setting (FIQ,W-2.32).

After configuring the gadgets, let us now see how to change the position of the Sidebar.

Changing the Position of the Sidebar

         By default the Sidebar is displayed on the right hand side of the Desktop, but you can change the position of the Sidebar. You can set this through Windows Sidebar Properties dialog box.

Undertake the following steps to change the position of the Sidebar. in the Desktop:

1. Right-click on the empty area in the Sidebar. A shortcut menu appears (Fiq.W-2.33)).
2. Next, click the Properties option in the shortcut menu (Fiq.W-2.33).

A Windows Sidebar Properties dialog box appears as shown in Fiq.W-2.34. Right now the Sidebar is set to the right side of the Desktop (the right option button is shown selected.).

      3. Under Arrangement, click the option button beside the Left option (Fiq.W-2.35).

      4. Click the ok button to save the setting. The Sidebar appears on the left in the Desktop window as shown in Fiq.W-2.36.

N....... To set the Sidebar in the right hand side in the Desktop, click the option button beside the Right option under Arrangement section in the Fiq. W-2.35.

       Let us see in the following steps how the Windows Sidebar should be displayed open when it is not shown on the Desktop and also the sidebar icon is not present in the Notification area:

1. Click the Start button. The Start menu displays.
2. In the left pane of the Start menu, click the All Programs option. A list of programs appears (fig.W-2.37).
3. In the list of programs, click the Accessories folder icon.
4. Click the Windows Sidebar option, as shown in the Fiq.W-2.37.

Now, you will see the Windows Sidebar, on the Desktop, as shown in the Fiq.W-2.38.

N....... You can quickly locate Windows Sidebar on the Desktop by double-clicking the Windows Sidebar icon in the Notification area or right-click the Windows sidebar icon in the Notification area, a shortcut, menu appears. Click the Open option. Windows Sidebar will be displayed on the Desktop (Fiq.W-2.39).

     5. For closing the sidebar, right-click the sidebar, a shortcut menu appears. Click the Close Sidebar option. Windows Sidebar will be closed. Let us now see how to detach a gadget from the Sidebar.

Detaching a Gadget from the Sidebar

           If you want the gadgets outside of the Sidebar, you can do so by detaching it from the Sidebar. It can be fixed on the desktop either for a short period of time or for longer period of time. The steps to detach a gadget from the sidebar are as following:

1. Move the pointer to a gadgets on your sidebar and right-click. A shortcut menu is displayed including Detach from Sidebar as an option (Fiq.W-2.40). Click the Detach from Sidebar option.

The gadget will detach from the Sidebar, as shown in the Fiq.W-2.41.

     2. The gadget moves on the Desktop, to again move back the gadgets from the Desktop to the Sidebar, Right click the gadget on the Desktop, a shortcut menu appears. Then click the Attach to Side bar option in the shortcut menu (Fiq.W-2.42).

Summary

         We discussed the Windows Desktop including, the Taskbar, Windows Sidebar, and its various features. While learning about the Desktop, you have learned how to add or remove icons from the Desktop, arranging the Desktop icons, and hiding the Desktop icons, In the Taskbar we have discussed minimizing and restoring windows, previewing windows through, grouping and restricting similar programs. Under Taskbar, We have further described locking or unlocking the Taskbar, adding a toolbar to the Taskbar. You have .learned about how you can quickly access the programs from the Quick Launch toolbar. You can pin a program that is frequently used in the start Menu. The maximum number of the frequently used programs can be set. You can also customize the right pane of the Start menu. You have also learned how to use the Start Search feature in the Start menu; this helps you to search the programs, files, appointments, and saved instant messages. Notification Area displays very important information including the status, program, and the detection of the new devices. The icons can be removed from this area. You can also hide the Notification Area from the Taskbar. In the end you have learned to change the gadgets in Windows Sidebar. The gadgets can be added or removed from the Sidebar. You can configure the gadgets and change the position of the Sidebar.

3: Managing Files And Folders Through Windows Explorer

• Introduction to Windows Explorer
• Copying and Moving Files Between Folders
• Compressing a Folder
• Hiding a Folder
• Sharing a Folder
• Changing the Folder Icon
• Searching Files and Folders
• Deleting Files and Folders
• Writing Date on CD and Pen Drive

Windows

         After Understanding about the basic operations in Windows Vista, let's now learn about important and powerful feature of Windows Vista. In this chapter, we will further, enhance our capability by knowing about one of the powerful features of Windows Vista called Windows Explorer - a programs which enables you to access various files, folders and disk drives. To understand files. and folders in the context of computers, let us take the example of a filling cabinet in which files are stored. A filing cabinet has folders pertaining to various subjects. For example, your filing cabinet may have folders containing data of your clients, projects, etc. that may or may not be logically arranged. Each folder in your filing cabinet may have articles, letters ,diagrams reports - anything that you want to keep. Similar to a filing cabinet, Windows Vista provides the Explorer program to logically store all the files and folders in your hard disk. This program also helps you in understanding the way files and folders are arranged in the hard disk.

         A file is similar to a sheet of paper containing some written information. You may have lots of such sheets with different kind of information written on each one of them. When the number of sheets grows, then you obviously would like to keep all such sheets in an organized manner at a safe place. And to be doubly sure about the safety of your sheets, you may prefer to bind them. In computer terminology, a paper sheet is called a 'file' and a book is called a 'folder'. Just as a book contains pages, a computer folder consists of files.

Introduction to Windows Explorer

         Windows Explorer is an application that provides you a user interface in which you can find the detailed information about your files, folders, and drives. The Explorer window is divided into two parts. The left part of the explorer window displays the folders, and the right part of the explorer window displays the contents of a folders that has been selected. Explorer also allows you to perform various operations, such as cutting, copying, pasting, on files. In Windows vista, the Windows Explorer has some new features added to, it, for example, the address of current location in Address bar appears in categorized form in which each location is separated by an arrow and not by back slash ( \ ) symbol; the status bar has now become more detailed; you can click the Forward and Back buttons to the left of the Address bar to navigate through locations you have already visited, just as if you were surfing the Internet; You can also surf the Internet by typing a web address (URL) into the Address bar of Explorer window, which causes the folder window to switch to Internet Explorer.

Let us now proceed to work with Windows Explorer by undertaking the following steps.

1. Click the Start button , a Start menu appears.
2. In the left pane of the Start menu, click the All Programs option. A list of programs appears.
3. From the list of programs that appears, click the Accessories option. as shown in fiq.W-3.1
4. Under Accessories, click the Windows Explorer option (Fig.W-3.1).

The Documents window appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.2.

N....... You do not always need to follow the Steps (One through four) to open Windows Explorer, because Windows Explorer opens automatically when you open a folder. For example, when you click the Start button, and then on any folder like Music, Pictures, and Documents in the right pane of the Start menu, the Windows Explorer opens with corresponding folder ,You don't need to go to All Programs, then Accessories, and then Windows Explorer to open the Windows Explorer Window.

Let us now understand the layout of Windows Explorer Window:

• Address Bar: Address bar is on the top of the Windows Explorer window. It shows your current location as a serialized set of links that are separated by arrows.
• Toolbar: Toolbar contains various button used to perform various operations with files and folder. These operations may be changing the icon size in the content area, e-mailing, files, sharing folders, burning files and folders in to a CD, etc. The button present on the toolbar changes depending upon the type of icons, file or folders, you select.
• Navigation Pane: Navigation Pane is at the left side of the Windows Explorer (Fiq.W-3.2). The Navigation pane is horizontally divided into two sections, Favorite Links and folders pane. You can change the contents of content area from the Favorite Links or from the Folders pane.
• Content Area: The area that displays the content of a folder that you are currently viewing is called the Content area. For Example in Fiq.W-3.2, the content area of Documents folder shows various files and  folder contained in this folder (Fiq.W-3.2).
• Details Pane: The Details Pane displays some information about the icon that is selected in the content area. If there is no icon selected then the Details pane displays the total number of items in the content area (Fiq.W-3.2).
• Search Box: The Search box is situated at the top right of the Windows Explorer window. You can type  a word or phrase in the Search box to look for a file in the current folder.

Let us see what changes appear in windows Explorer when we open Windows Explorer for Computer, Drive, folder, or file.

     1. In the Windows Explorer window (Fiq.W-3.2), click the Computer option in the Folders pane, as shown in Fiq.W-3.3.

       The Windows Explorer window for the Computers folder appears, as shown in Fiq. W-3.4. From the Windows Explorer Window for Computer folder, you can see the different drives of your computers in the content area. The Details Pane shows the user name, user workgroup, and the system information such as the processor type, its speed and memory size.

N......... The content area displays two categories of drives - hard disk drive, and the removable drive, like floppy or CD drive. A computer has at least one hard disk drive but at the time of installing the Windows, you can make any number of partitions of your hard disks drive. In our case, there are three partitions of hard disks drive,  namely Local Drive (C:). Vista (E:), as shown in Fiq.W-3.4. As stated, the second category of drive is removable drive like floppy disk drive and CD or DVD Drive. In our case, there is only DVD.CD drive named Drive (F:).The Details Pane display your system name, workgroup name and system configuration like processor speed and memory size.

        2. Next, select a drive on the content area, say Vista (D:). AS SHOWN fIQ.W-3.5. WHEN A DRIVE IS SELECTED, SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE SELECTED DRIVE APPEARS IN THE DETAILS PANE.

         The Details Pane in FiqW-3.5. displays the information of a selected drive like total size of the drive, used and free space of drive. There are changes in Toolbar also, for example, a properties button is added in the Toolbar you can see that is not present in the Toolbar of the Window Explorer window (Fig.W-3.4) where no drive is selected.

         3. Next, select a folder to see what changes appear in the Windows Explorer window. In our case, we have selected folder Comdex- Windows Vista in the Vista (D:) as shown in Fiq. W-3.6.

         The Details Pane of the Windows Explorer windows (Fiq. W-3.6), in which a folder is selected, contains the information like the file name and modified date of the folder; and the Toolbar of this window has buttons like Organize, View, Explore, Share, and Burn.

      4. Now, select a file and see the changes appearing in the Explorer window. For example, we have selected a Microsoft word file, which is within folder Comdex - office 2007 in the Vista (D:) DRIVE, AS shown IN Fiq.W-3.7.

         Now let's see what changes appear in the various panes and components of the Windows Explorer window on selecting a file. When you selected a . doc file, the information, such as the title of the file, file size and tags, file modified date, appears on the Details Pane. The Toolbar also changes with new information, like now it displays button, such as Organize, View, Open, Print, E-mail, and Burn.

Let us now see how to use the address bar in the Windows Explorer window:

Using the Address Bar

        You can navigate to the different location from the address bar. Undertake the following steps to learn to use the address bar. (Fiq.W-3.7).

1. Click on the arrow button beside the Computer link, as shown in Fiq.W-3.8.

A drop-down list appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.9.

 

    2. NOW, TO MOVE TO PARTICULAR DRVE, CLICK ON THE DRIVE OPTION IN THE DROP-DOWN LIST. LET'S CLICK VISTA (D:) drive, as shown in Fiq.W-3.10.

The folders and files contained in the Vista (D:) drive appears in the content  area of Windows Explorer window, as shown in Fiq.W-3.11

      3. Click on the arrow button beside the Vista (D:) drive in the Address bar of the Window Explorer window (Fiq.W-3.11),  a drop-down menu, appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.12.

From the drop-down menu, you can move within a folder by clicking on a folder and can view the various files and sub-folders in the selected folder.

N....... You can also view a folders by typing the complete folder path directly in the address bar and then pressing the Enter key, as shown in Fiq.W-3.13, You will now find all the files within folder Chap3-IMAGES.

Using the Toolbar

           From the Toolbar in the Windows Explorer (Fiq.W-3.9), You can activate the Menu bar. Let us now undertake the following steps to activate the Menu bar:

          1. Click the Organize button in the Toolbar, as shown in Fiq.W-3.14.

          A  DROP-DOWN MENU APPEARS, AS SHOWN fIQ.w-3.15.

       2. Click the Layout option in the drop-down menu, A sub-menu appears, as show in Fiq.w-3.16.

         3. In the sub-menu, click the Menu Bar option, as shown in the Fiq. W-3.17.

      You can see the Menu Bar between the Address bar and the Toolbar, in a Windows Explorer window, as shown in Fiq.W-3.18. The Menu Bar contains the menu like, Edit, View, Tools, and Help.

           

N........ The shortcut menu or the sub menu shown in Fiq. W-3.17 also contains other options like Details Pane, Preview Pane, and Navigation Pane. The Details Pane and Navigation Pane are already selected and appear on the Windows Explorer window (Fiq.W-3.18). IF YOU WANT TO HIDE THESE PANES FROM THE WINDOW EXPLORER window, click on the options that are already selected.

Using the Folders Pane

             The folders pane in a Windows Explorer window contains various folders like public folder, Computer folder, Document, folder, etc. You can directly navigate to these folders from the folders pane. You can expand or collapse the folders or drive in the folders pane. You can see the folders pane in the Fiq.W-3.19.

Expanding or Collapsing a Drive or Folder

       For expanding a folder, undertake the following steps:

1. Click on the arrow beside a folder, say the Computer, in the Folders pane, as shown in Fiq.W-3.20.

Now, you will see that the all the disk drives in your computer will be displayed under Computer option in the Folders pane, as shown in Fiq.W-3.21

    2. To see the folders in the Local Drive (C:), click on the arrow button next to Local Drive (c:), to expand it, as shown in Fiq.w-3.21.

You will see that all the folders In the Local Drive (c:) are displayed in the folders pane, as shown in Fiq.W-3.22.

      3. To collapse a folder or a drive that is already expanded, click the arrow next to that folder or drive. For example, we click on the arrow next to the option Local Disk (C:). The Local Disk (C:) drive will be collapsed and looks like the figure shown in Fiq. W-3.22,

       

Selecting a Folder

        You can navigate to any folders of your computer through the Navigating Pane. Undertake the following steps to select a folder from the Navigation Pane:

1. Click on the arrow button beside an option, say the Programs Files folders, as shown in Fiq.W-3.23.
2. The sub-folder within Program files folder gets displayed. Click on a folder, say Microsoft. Net, you will find that all the sub folders under the Microsoft. Net folder are displayed in the Content area (Fiq.W-3.24).

Working with Content Area

        In a Windows Explorer window, the content area is a place that displays files, folders, and drives of you system. From the content area, you can work on your files and folders. This content area shown the content in which you are currently working. Let's discuss how to create a folders in a drive or with in a folder.

Creating a new folder or sub-folder

        For creating a folder in the drive or creating a sub-folder within a folder, undertake the following steps:

1. Right-click on the empty area of the content area in a Windows Explorer window. A SHORCUT MENU APPEARS, AS SHOWN IN fIQ.w-3.25.
2. Click the New option in the shortcut menu. A Sub-menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.26.
3. To create a folder, click the Folder option in the sub-menu, as shown in Fiq.W-3.27.

A New Folder icon will be created in the Windows Explorer window, as shown in Fiq.W-3.28.

     4. The folder icon contains a text box with name new folder (Fiq.W-3.28). Type the name to change the name of the folder in the text box appearing on the folder icon. We have renamed the new folder as Folder1, as shown in Fiq.W-3.29.

     To rename a folder at any time, right-click on the folder, A shortcut menu appears containing an option Rename. Click the Rename option and the change the folder name.

After creating a folder, let us now learn how to change the folder view.

Changing the Folder View

          You can set how the folders on your system should look like. There are some options, such as Extra Large Icons, Large icons, or List, that can be chosen for the folder view. Undertake the following steps to change the view of a folder:

1. Click on the down arrow button beside the View button in the Toolbar of a Windows Explorer window, as shown in Fiq.W-3.30.

A drop-down menu appears, as shown in Fiq. W-3.31. You can see a slider on the left on this menu.

     2. Move the slider beside the option you want to choose for your folders view. For example, we set the slider beside the Small Icons option (Fiq.W-3.32).

You an see the folder view in the content area of the Windows Explorer window, as shown in Fiq.W-3.33.

Adding or Removing Column Headings

          You can see the column headings just above the content area. Columns headings display the information like file name, file modified date, type, and size etc.

1. Right-click the Name column heading in the content area, a shortcut menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.34. Name column is permanently selected and is disabled.
2.  In the shortcut menu (Fiq.W-3.34), Click beside the option which you want to add in the column heading, like in the Fiq.W-3.34 Date modified, Type, and Size options are selected. These options are added as column headings.

For removing a column heading, click beside that option to clear the check mark beside it.

 

     3. If you want to select options other than those that are in the shortcut menu, then click the More option in the shortcut menu (Fiq.W-3.34).

     4. The Chose Details dialog box appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.35. Select the option (S) from the dialog box that you want to appear as column headings, and then click on the OK button.

       You can see the Name, Date modified, Type, and Size  details of various file of the folder named Folder 1 in the Windows Explorer window (Fiq.W-3.36).

Previewing a file in the Content Area

1. Click the Organize button in the Toolbar, as shown in Fiq.-3.37.                                      A drop-down menu appears (Fiq.W-3.38).

     2.Click the Layout option in the drop-down menu (Fiq.W-3.39). A sub-menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.39.

     3. In the sub-menu menu that appears, click the Preview Pane options, as shown in Fiq.W-3-40.

        You can see the preview of a document file in the Preview pane in the content area (Fiq. W-3.41).

N....... If you don't want the Preview Pane to appear in the Windows Explorer window, then click on Preview Pane option in Shortcut menu (Fiq.W-3.40) to clear the option. Let us now see how to sort files and folders.

Sorting Files and Folders

            You can sort the files or folders by name, size, type or date modified. Let us briefly describe the different sorting methods:

• Name: This sorting method arranges icons in alphabetical order by the icon name.
• Size: This sorting method arranges icons in order of files size. If the icon is a shortcut to a programs, the size refers to the size of the shortcut file.
• Type: This sorting method arranges icons in order of type. For example. if you have shortcuts to several PowerPoint presentations on your desktop, then these presentation will be arranged next to each other.
• Date modified: In this sorting method, the icons are arranges on the basis of last modified date.

Undertake the following steps to sort files and folders:

1. Click the View menu in the Menu Bar of Windows Explorer window. A drop-down menu appears (Fiq.W-3.42).
2. In the drop-down menu, click the Sort By option, a sub-menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.43.
3. IN THE SUB-MENU (FIQ.W-3.43), select an option of your choice. We have selected Type option, as shown in Fiq, W-3.44.

     You can see the files and folder sorted in the Windows Explorer window (Fiq.W-3.45).The files have been sorted by file type. For example, the explorer window displays the power point file next to each other, and then word document files are next to each other.

         After sorting files and folders, let us now learn how to group files and folders.

Grouping the Files and Folders

        You can group the files and folder on the basis of their name or type, date modified, or size. Using grouping all the similar files appear in groups. For example, if we group the files on the basis of their types then the files or folder of similar type would from a group. Let's see how to group files or folders.

1.  Click the View menu in the menu bar of Windows Explorer window. A drop-down menu appears (Fiq.W-3.46).
2. Click the Group By option on drop-down menu, a sub-menu appears (Fiq.W-3.47).
3. In the sub-menu, click the Type option (Fiq.W-3.47).

Now you can see that all the files have been grouped according to their file type in the content area (Fiq.W-3.48). Here, all similar type of files have formed a group. For example, MHTML Document files have formed one group, Microsoft Office Power Point 97-2003 Presentation files have formed another group, all Microsoft Office Power Point Presentation files are into another group, and Microsoft Office Word Files are also grouped into one.

Let us now learn to copy and to move files between folders.

Copying and Moving Files Between Folders

              You may need to copy and to move a file from one location to another. If you have a bundle of files on the external disks, you may want to copy them to your hard disks where they are easier to get and work with. external disks, you, may want to copy them to your hard disks where they are easier to get and work with. Similarly, you may require to move files from one location to another location. Here. you must note the difference between copying and moving. Moving a file implies that you have moved your file from one location to another location and it is the only copy of the file on your system; whereas copying implies that you have copied a file and then placed that copied file to some other location, so that you have two copies of the same file-one at the source location or folder or drive from where you have copied it and another at destination folder or drive where you have placed the copied file. The source and the destination folder can be within one drive or in different drives. Suppose you want to copy a photo from Sample Pictures sub-folder (Which is within Pictures folder) to Pictures folder, Let us now undertake the following steps to copy it between folders.

1.  In the left pane of the Windows Explorer window (Fiq.W-3.48), click the Pictures option under favorite Links.
2. The Windows Explorer window for Pictures folder appears (Fiq.W-3.49). Click the Sample Pictures folder icon in the Windows Explorer window (Fiq.W-3.49).
3. The Sample Pictures folder open and various pictures in this folder appear in the content area of the window, as shown in Fiq.W-3.50. Now, select a picture of your choice. We have selected Autumn Leaves, as shown in Fiq.W-3.50.
4. Right-click on the selected picture, a shortcut menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.51.
5. From the shortcut menu, click the Copy option to copy the picture (Fiq,W-3.51).
6. Click the Back button to move to the Windows Explorer for Pictures folder and right-click on the empty area of the content pane. A shortcut menu, appears (Fiq.3.52).
7. Now, click the Paste option (Fiq.W-3.52). THE SELECTED FOLDER IS COPIED ON YOUR PICTURES FOLDERS, AS SHOWN IN Fiq.W-3.53.

After learning how to copy and move date, let us now learn how to compress a folder.

Compressing a Folder

           Compressing is a technique by which you can reduce the size of a file or folder. It saves you space on the drive. The compressed folder takes less time than the uncompressed folders, when you transfer it to the other media. You can uncompressed the folder to display the content of the folder again.

1. Open Windows Explorer, Click the Public folder from the Folders option in the left pane. The Public folders appear in the content area of the Windows Explorer window (Fiq.W-3.54).
2. Next, right-click on Public document folder, as shown in Fiq.W-3.54.                            A Shortcut menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.55.
3. Click the Send To option in the shortcut menu, a sub-menu appears (Fiq.W-3.55).
4. Click the Compress (Zipped) Folder option iin the sub-menu (Fiq.W-3.56).   
5. A compressed folder gets created, as shown in the Fiq.W-3.57. This folder has a zip marked on it. You can rename it. We have renamed it as Compress - Public Documents (Fiq.W-3.57).
6. To uncompress the folder again, right-click on the icon of the compressed folder (Fiq.W-3.57).
7.  A shortcut menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.58. Click the Extract All option, as shown in Fiq.W-3.58.
8. Extract Compressed (Zipped) Folders dialog box appears. Click the Extract button (Fiq.W-3.59). The Extract Compressed (Zipped) Folders dialog box disappears and you can see the content of the folder.                                                                                After learning how to compress or uncompress a folder, let us now learn how to hide a folder.                    

Hiding a Folder

          The purpose of hiding a folder is to keep the folder unseen from other user. To hide a folder, undertake the following steps:

1. Select a folder in Windows Explorer windows, as shown in Fiq.W-3.60. We have selected the Public Desktop folder.
2. Right-click on selected folder, a shortcut menu appears (Fiq.W-3.61).
3. Click the Properties option in the shortcut menu (Fiq.W-3.61). The Public Desktop Properties dialog box appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.62.
4. Under the General tab, click in the check box beside the Hidden option.
5. Next, click the OK button. The Public Desktop Properties dialog box disappears.
6. Now, click the Start button, a start menu appears.
7. In the right pane of the Start menu, click the Control Panel option. The Windows Explorer window for Control Panel appears.
8. In the Windows Explorer window for Control Panel, as shown in the Fiq. W- Fiq.W-3,63. click the Appearance and Personalization option (Fiq.-3.63).
9. The Windows Explorer window for Appearance and Personalization appears. Click the Folder Options option in it, as shown in Fiq, W-3.64.
10. The Folder Options dialog box appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.65. Click the View tab to view various options in it.
11. Click on the radio button beside Do not show hidden files and folders options, as shows in Fiq.W-3.66.
12. Next, click the Apply button and then the OK button (Fiq.W-3.66) to save all the settings, Now, the selected folder will be hidden. After learning how to hide a folder, let us now learn how to view the hidden file or folder:

Viewing Hidden Folders

        You can view the hidden folder by changing some settings. Undertake the following steps to view a hidden folder:

1. Click the Start button, a Start menu appears.
2. Click the Control Panel option in the right pane of the Start menu. The Windows Explorer windows for Control Panel appears.
3. In the Windows Explorer window for Control Panel, click the Appearance and Personalization option (Fiq.W-3.63).
4. The Windows Explorer windows for Appearance and Personalization appears. Click the Folder Options option (Fiq.W-3.64).
5. The Folder Options dialog bog appears. Click the View tab, as shown in Fiq.W-3.65.
6. Under the View tab, click the radio button next to the options Shown hidden files and folders, as shown in Fiq.W-3.67. ALL THE HIDDEN FILES OR FOLDERS WILL NOW BE VISIBLE.

After discussing about Hiding or Viewing a folder. let us now understand how to share a folder.

Sharing a Folder

           Sharing a file or folder means making the file or folder available to the other users in the network. Sometimes a user working on the same computers or in a different computers in the same network may need your folder or file. This can be made possible only when your folder is in share mode. In Windows Vista, there are two techniques to share a folder - Sharing through public folder, and sharing through any folder. 

Let's discuss both these methods one by one.

Sharing through Public Folder

            You can share your folders and files through Public folder. The Content of the Public folder is automatically shared with other users accessing your public folders on the same computer or on a different computers in the network only when Public folder sharing is on. Anyone who has user account on a computer can access the public folder of that computers. But in the network, if the Public folder sharing is turned on, everyone in the network can access the public folder, and if you turn off the Public folder sharing, then no one will be able to access the Public folder in the network. For sharing the files or folder with other users, you just copy them in the Public folder or in one of its sub-folders, like public Documents, Public Pictures etc.

There are three level of access to Public folders, let us know about them in brief:

• Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can open files   If you turn on this options, then anyone in the network can open the files but can't make any change to the files. It means, the files in this case are read only.
• Turn on sharing so anyone with network can open, change, and create files  :                                                                                                  If you select this option, then the users working on the network not only can read the files but also can change and create the files.
• Turn off sharing (PEOPLE LOGGED ON TO THIS COMPUTER CAN STILL ACCESS THIS FOLDER)                     If you turn off the sharing, no users in the network can access the public folder. Only the people having a user account in the same computers can access the Public folders.                                                                           

You can open Public folder by using the following the steps:

1. Click the Start button. A Start menu appears.
2. Click the Document option in the right pane of the Start menu.
3. The Windows Explorer windows for Documents folder appears (Fiq.W-3.68). In the Navigation Pane and under Favorite Links, click the More button (Fiq.W-3.68).
4. Now, a shortcut menu appears (Fiq.W-3.69). Click the Public option in the Shortcut menu, as shown in Fiq.W-3.69.

 The Public sub-folder appears in the content area of the Windows Explorer window, as shown in Fiq.W-3.70.

       Let us see how to share documents through Public folder. Undertake the following steps to share files and folders through public folder.

1. Click the Start button, a Start menu, appears.
2. In the right pane of the Start menu, click the Control Panel option. The Windows Explorer window for Control Panel appears.
3. In the Windows Explorer window for Control Panel,  click the Network and Internet option, as shown in Fiq. W-3.71.
4. The Window Explorer window for Network and Internet appears, Click the Network an Sharing Center option, as shown in Fiq.W-3.72.

The Windows Explorer window for Network and Sharing Center appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.73. With the Public folder sharing option off.

   5. Click on the down arrow button deside the Public Folder sharing option in the Fiq.W-3.73. Three options under Public Folder sharing option are displayed to provide the level of access to public folder (Fiq.W-3.74). We have already discussed these three options.

    6. Click on the radio button beside the Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can open files option (Fiq.W-3.75).

   7. Click the Apply button, as shown in Fiq.W-3.75.

       Now, you can see from the window (Fiq.W-3.76) that the Public Folder sharing option is turned on. Now the users in the network can only read the shared filed or folders, they cannot make any change to the files or folders.

     After learning the sharing through Public folder method for sharing the files or folders, let us now learn how to make a boundary to determine that your public folder could be accessed by those that have the. For doing this you would need the password protected sharing.

• Password Protected Sharing                                                                                            You can set a boundary to datermine access to your Public folders. This can be done by protecting your shared folders or files through the password. This is called password protected sharing. To determine the limit, you have two option:
• Turn on password protected sharing                                                                                 When you choose Turn on password protected sharing option, the people who have user account and password on this computer can access the shared files, printer attached to this computers and the public folders.
• Turn off password protected sharing                                                                                If the password protected sharing option is turned off then the users in the network can also access the public folders.              

Undertake the following steps to learn how to turn on/off password protected sharing:

1. Click the Start button, a Start menu appears.
2. In the right pane of the Start menu, click the Control Panel option. The Windows Explorer windows for Control Panel appears.
3. In the Windows Explorer windows for Control Panel (Fiq.W-3.77), click the Network and Internet options, as shown in Fiq.W-3.77.
4. The Windows Explorer window for Network and Internet appears. Click the Network and Sharing Center option, as shown in Fiq.W-3.78.                                       The Windows Explorer windows for Network and Sharing Center appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.79.
5. By default, the Password protected sharing option is On. Click on the down arrow button beside the option Password protected sharing (Fiq.W-3.79).

 When you click the down arrow beside the option Password protected sharing, you will see two options: Turn on password protected sharing, and Turn off password protected sharing, as shown in Fiq. W-3.80. Depending upon the type of option selected, it will be decided as to who can access the public folders. Fiq.W-3.80 Shows both the options. We have already discussed these two options before startning folders. Fiq.W-3.80 shows both the options. We have already discussed these two options before starting the steps.

    6. Click on the radio button deside Turn off password protected sharing option (Fiq.W-3.80).

   7. Finally, click the Apply button to save the setting (Fiq.W-3.80).

Now, the password protected sharing is off, as shown in Fiq.W-3.81.

After sharing through the Public folder and password protected shraring, let us now discuss how to share files or folders through any folder.

Sharing through any Folder

           In Sharing through folder tecnique, you share an individual file or flder. This shared folder is thus made accessible to other users. Undertake the following steps. to share folder by this method:

1. Select a folder in the Windows Exlporer window, say Notes folders (Fiq.W-3.82), and click the Share butto in the Toolbar, as shown in Fiq.W-3.82.                                            A File Sharing dialog box appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.83.
2. Click the down arrow button, as shown in the dialog box (Fiq.W-3.84). A drop-down list appears (Fiq.W-3.84).
3. Click on a user name from the drop-down list. We have selected Guest option (Fiq.W-3.84).                                                                                                                     You can create a new  user by clicking on Create a new user option from the drop-down list(Fiq.W-3.84). 
4. Next, click the Add button to add the user for sharing the folder, as shown inm Fiq. W-3.85.
5. The selected user is listed in the box, as shown in Fiq.W-3.86. Click on the down arrow button under the Permission Level option beside the user name you have selected. A drop-down menu appears, as shown in Fiq. W-3.86.
6. Select a permission level from the drop-down menu, as we have selected Reader option (Fiq.W-3.86).

N........ The drop-down menu contains various permission levels such as Reader, Contributor, and Co-owner.

• If the Reader level is selected, then the user can only view the shared files, but can not add, alter, or delete them.
• If the Contributor level is selected, then the user can view the shared files and ,make additions to, it, but can only alter or delete the files, which he/she has contributed.
• If the Co-owner permission level is selected then the user can view, add, alter or delete any shared file.

    7. Now, click the Share button, as shown in Fiq.W-3.87.

A File Sharing dialog box for providing the confirmation that your folder is shared appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.88.

After getting the confirmation that the folder is, shared, you can send an e-mail to the people with whom you have shared your files or folders. For sending this information through email, undertake the following steps:

   8. Click the e-mail link (Fiq.W-3.88), Your default e-mail application opens. In our case, it is Microsoft Office Outlook, as shown in Fiq.W-3.89.

   9. Click the Send button (Fiq.W-3.89). The Microsoft Office Outlook Window closes automatically.

10. The File Sharing dialog box is still open, click the Done button, as shown in Fiq.W-3.90.

       So, in this way, you share a folder with other user and intimate it as well to that user through email. After learning about sharing a folder, let us now learn how to change the folders icon.

Changing the Folder Icon

          You can change the folder icon in the Window Explorer. The basic purpose of chaging the folder icon is to better signify its contents. Changing folder icons will not only make your windows system look better, but more importantly, will als increase your work efficiency because it'll take you less time to find a specific folder than it used to be. Undertake the following steps to change tje folder icon:

1. Open Windows Explorer and select a folder icon in the Windows Explorer window. We have selected Projects folders in Vista (E:) drive, as shown in Fiq.W-3.91.
2. Right-click on the folder option, a shortcut menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.92
3. Now click the Properties option in the shortcut menu (Fiq.W-3.92).
4. The Projects Properties dialog box appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.93. Click the Customize tab, as shown in Fiq.W-3.93.
5. Under the Customize tab, click the Change Icon button in the Properties dialog box (Fiq.W-3.94).
6. Change Icon for Projects Folder dialog box, appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.95. Select an icon from the list displaying in the dialog box (Fiq.-3.95).
7. Now, click the OK button (Fiq.W-3.95).
8. The Projects Properties dialog box re-appears. Click the Apply button and then click the OK button in the Projects Properties dialog box(Fiq.W-3.94).                                 Now you can see in Windows Explorer window that the icon of the selected folder has changes (Fiq.W-3.96).

 After chaging the folder icon, let us now learn how to search files and folder:

Searching Files and Folders

          There are various ways to search files and folders in Windows Vista. Lile searching files or folders through Search, box in the Windows Explorer window, searching files or folders using search folder, and also search files, folders and programs from the Instant search box. Let's go through all the these methods.

Searching Files and Folders Using Search Box

         If you have a folder or file stored in  a specific folder like Computer, Document, pictures, or Music folder, and you don't exactly remember where it is, then you can search that files or folder using Search box in the Windows Explorer. Let's learn how to search a files or folders in he Computers. For doing this, undertake the following steps:

1. In the Windows Explorer window that's open (Fiq.W-3.96), click the Back button to move back to the Windows Explorer windows for computers folder as shown in Fiq.W-3.97. The Search box is situated at top right of the window (Fiq.W-3.97).
2. Type a word or a phrase in the Search box. The search result will be displayed on the Content area, as shown in Fiq.W-3.98.

 After searching the files and folders through Search box, let us now search the files and folders through Search folder.

You can search files or folders using Search folder when you don't know the location of folders or files. To search folders and files using this technique, undertake the following steps:

1. Click the Start button, a Start menu appears.
2. In the right pane of the Start menu, click the Search folder.

A Windows Explorer window for Search Results appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.99.

   3.Type a word or a phrase of words in the Search box. The filtered result will be displayed in the Content area (Fiq.W-3.100).

     4.Now click the down arrow button beside the Advanced Search option, as shown in Fiq.W-3.100. Various options, such as Location, Date, and Size and some text boxes for Name, Tag, and Authors appear, as shown in Fiq.W-3.101.

     5. Enter information in any of the list box, like we have typed folder name as Pictures beside the Name option (Fiq.W-3.102). You don't need entering all fields and then click on the Search button.                                    

The Search result will be displayed in the Content Area. You will now find your desired search result (Fiq.W-3.103).

After learning to search files and folders. let us now learn how to delete files and folders.

Deleting Files and Folders

          When you delete a file or folder, it is not deleted completely, but moves to the recycle bin. The file remains in the recycle bi until you empty the recycle bin or the recycle bin is full. When the recycle bin is full, it replaces the newly deleted files, and the oldest files are permanently deleted. The process for deleting a files or a folder is same.

Undertake the following steps to delete a file or folder:

1. Locate a folder in a Windows Explorer window. We have opened the Public Pictures folders, as shown in Fiq.W-3.104. All the pictures under this folder appear in the content area of the window. Now right-click on the selected folder.
2. A shortcut menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.104. Click the Delete option in the  shortcut menu.
3. The Delete Folder dialog box appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.105. Now, click the Yes  button to delete the folder, as shown in Fiq.W-3.105.

After learning how to delete files and folders, let's now learn how to write data on CD and pen drive.

Writing Data On CD and Pen Drive

        In our daily life, we may need to transfer data and information from one place to another. For this, we need a device that can store the data. One of the simple ways to store data is to write data on a CD. Your computer should have CD or DVD recorder to write data on CD.

• Live File System: If the disk is formatted with Live File System format, then it works like a USB flash drive or floppy drive. It means, you can copy files to disk immediately without having to burn them. Live File System allows you to copy files to the disk at any time instead of copying them. By defeult, Live File Format is selected to burn disks.
• Mastered: If you select this option to format the disk, then you have to select all files that you want to copy to the disk and then burn them all at once.

Undertake the following steps to write data n a CD:

1. Insert a blank writable CD in CD or DVD recorder of your computer. An Autoplay window appears (Fiq.W-3.106). 
2. Inside the Autopaly window, click the Burn files to disc option, as shown in Fiq.W-3.106.

The Burn a Disk dialog box appears, as shown in Fiq.W-3.107.

     3. In Burn a Disk dialog box, rename the disk title beside the Disk title option, like we renamed it as Kogent -Data. Now click on the down arrow button beside the Show Formatting options option, the Burn a Disk dialog box appears with the formatting options (Fiq.W-3.107).

    4. Select a file format, say Live File Format. Click up arrow beside the Hide Formatting options (Fiq.W-3.108).

      5. Next, click the Next button (Fiq.W-3.109).

    6. As you click the Next option in the Burn a Disc dialog box (Fiq.W-3.1090, The Calculating time remaining dialog box showing the status  for the disk formatting appears (Fiq.W-3.110). It might take several minutes to complete the disc formatting.

Once the formatting of the disk has been completed, the Windows Explorer window opens for disk folder (Fiq.W-3.111).

    7.Next, open a Windows Explorer for a folder. For Example, we have opened the Windows Explorer for Documents folder. Drag the files from the folder and drop it to the disk folder, as shown in Fiq.W-3.112.

    The Fiq.W-3.113 Shows you the status of copying files in the disk folder from the Documents folder.

    When the copying process is complete, you will see the files that you want to write, on the disk folder, as shown in Fiq,W-3.114.

It completes the process of writing the data on a CD.

Pen drive is a removable storage device that can be used to easily transfer files between USB- compatible devices.

Undertake the following steps to write data on a pen drive:

1. Plug pen drive into the USB port of your personal computer. Your system will automatically detect this new device. An Autoplay windows appears for the Removable Disk.
2. Click the Open folder to view files option (Fiq.W-3.115).
3. A Window Explorer window appears for the Removable Disk (G:). The Removable Disk (G:) is your pen drive. No, from the Navigation pane, navigate to a location to select a folder for example, we click the Desktop from where we will transfer a file or folder to the pen drive (Fiq.W-3.116).
4. Clicking on the Desktop folder displays the content within the desktop folder. Right-click on a file, a shortcut menu appears (Fiq.W-3.117).
5. Click the Copy options in the shortcut menu (Fiq.W-3.117).
6. Next, to move to the removable disk folder, click the Removable Disk (G:) Fiq.W-3.118.
7. The content of Removable Disk (G:) is shown in the Fiq.-3.119. Right-click on the empty space of the content area, a shortcut menu appears (Fiq.W-3.119).
8. In the shortcut menu, click on the Paste option (Fiq.W-3.119).

From the Windows Explorer window for Removable Disk (G:), You can view the file that you transfer from the computer to the pen drive (Fiq.W-3.120).

N...... If you go to Computer folder, you will see an icon of the Removable disk (G:) for the till the pen drive is plugged into the USB port of your personal computers.

When you plug the pen drive into the USB port of your personal computer, an icon for the pen drive appears in the Notification area (Fiq.W-3.122).

Summary

       The chapter discussed about Windows Explorer and its various layouts like Naviation Pane, Menu bar, Tool bar, Content area, Details Pane, and Preview Pane. Next you have learned how to work on the Address bar, Toolbar, folders pane, and Content area. The chapter also discusses copying and moving files, compressing a folder, hiding, and sharing a folder, and at last it explains how to change folder icon, search files and folders, delete files and folders and copy files and folders on the CD and pen Drive.

4: Working With Windows Vista Programs

• Operating with Programs and Tools
• Windows Contacts
• People Near Me
• Windows Meeting Space
• Windows Mail
• Paint
• Calculator

Windows

        Every operating system, be it Linux, Mac or Windows-based, comes with some built-in programs. These programs get installed on your computer at the time of installation process of the operating system. The software vendor provides these programs to help users better utilize the various facilities available in their system. Keeping this in mind, the Windows Vista operating system has undergone a dramatic change with regard to both new and existing features it offers its users. Various new features have been added while the old ones adopted from the earlier versions of Windows have been enhanced. Some of the new programs include Windows Sidebar, Windows Defender, Windows Meeting Space, Windows Mail, new games and Snipping Tool. Existing programs such as Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, Windows Media player have been enhanced with the addition of several new features. Moreover, Some programs are kept in reserve which can be turned on or, off, by the user. These programs include Internet Information Services, ActiveX Controller, Microsoft NET Framework, and so on. These reserved programs run in the background and provide support for the corresponding applications.

         In this chapter, we will discuss the various options that control the working of programs as well as the built-in programs, such as, Windows Contact, Windows Meeting Space, Windows photo Gallery, and Windows Mail available in the Business Edition of Windows Vista operating system.

Let's begin the chapter with a discussion on the Varoius programs and tools available in Windows Vista.

Windows Contacts

           Windows Contacts helps you to save all information necessary to keep track of and access people and organizations by creating contacts. It allows you to enter the personal and official information of a person such as his phone number and e-mail address. While entering the information, you can skip the details that you feel are not relevant for you. For quick recognition, you can add a picture of the contact.

Let us now learn how to open Windows Contact and work in it by following these steps:

1. Click the Start button. A Start menu appears.
2. In the Start menu, click the All Programs . A list of  programs appears.
3. In the list of programs, select the Windows Contacts option (Fiq.W-4.1).                     A Contacts windows appears. By default, a contact folder of the currently, active user account appears in the window (Ram in our case), as shown in Fiq.W-4.2.
4. In the Toolbar of the Contacts window, click the New Contact button (Fiq.W-4.2).     An Properties dialog box appears. This dialog box contains various tabs. The tab's name resembles the type of information that can be filled in options present under it For example, the Name and E-mail tabs contain option to enter the name and email IDs of a person or contact. Similarly, the Home and Work tabs contain options to enter residential and official details  ( that is, the residence and office addresses, and their phone numbers, etc.) of the person.
5. In the Name and E-mail tab, type the first name word that appears in person's name in the First text box (Fiq.-W-4.3).
6. Repeat the last step and the type middle and last words that appear in the person's name beside the Middle and Last options respectively (Fiq.W-4.3).
7. Type Mr., Miss or Mrs. in the Personal Title text box (Fiq.W-4.4).
8. In the E-mail text box, type the email address of the contact and click the Add button. Repeat this step to add other email addresses of the contact (Fiq.W-4.4).

N.......In case a contact has multiple email addresses but you want to use only one email address, then select the preferred email address and click the Set preferred button. The preferred email address appears in boldface among the email addresses added for the contact, as shown in Fiq.W-4.5.

Use the Edit button to make corrections in already included email addresses. For this, just select the email address, click the Edit button and make the required corrections. If an email address is no longer useful to you, then select it from the list of email addresses and click the Remove button (Fiq.W-4.5).

      9. To add a picture of the contact, click the empty picture frame in the Name and E-mail tab. A shortcut menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-4.6.

      10.Select the Change Picture option from the shortcut menu Fiq.W-4.6.

    11. A Select a picture for Contact dialog box appears. From the  Navigation Pane, select the location from where you want to select the pictures (Fiq.W-4.7).

    12. On reaching the destination folder or location, select the picture by clicking it(Fiq.W-4.7).

    13. Next, click the Set button (Fiq.W-4.7).

The selected image will appear in the picture frame under the Name and E-mail tab, as shown in Fiq.W-4.8.

        

        14. Now, enter the remaining information under appropriate tabs. Once you have entered all the information, click the OK button (Fiq.W-4.9).

          15. The Contacts folders re-appears with a list of contacts. Double -click the newly created contact (s) from  this list to view their details (Fiq.W-4.10).

        16. A Properties dialog box with the name of the newly created contact appears. This Properties dialog box now appears with one an additional tab named Summary. Click this tab to view the summary of the contact, as shown in Fiq.W-4.11.

        17. Now, click the OK button to close the Properties dialog box (Fiq. W-4.11). The Contacts window re-appears with the updated information of the contact. After creating a new contact, let us find out how to create a contact group.

      

Creating a New Contact Group

            A Contact Group is a group that contains a number of contacts and has detailed information of all the contacts. The advantage of creating a contact group is that you can send an e-mail message to each member of that group at once, without having to go through the laborious process of adding the email address of each contact, thus saving your time. For creating a new contact group, follow these instructions:

1. Click the New Contact Group button present on the Toolbar of the Contacts window (Fiq.W-4.10). An Properties dialog box for a contact group appears, as shown in Fiq.W-4.12.
2. Under the Contact Group tab, type to the name for the group in the Group Name text box. In our case, we have given the name Comdex Group to the group  (Fiq.W-4.12).
3. Click the Add to Contact Group button (Fiq.W-4.12). The Add Member to Contact Group dialog box appears, as shown in Fiq.W-4.13.
4. The Add Member to Contact Group dialog box has contacts of different persons. You can add the contacts to the Contact Group from this dialog box. To do this, select the contact person from the dialog box (Fiq.W-4.13) and click the Add button.

A Comdex Group Properties dialog box appears, as shown Fiq.W-4.14. In Contact Group tab of this dialog box, you can see that all the added members displayed  in the box below the Add to Contact Group button.

N...... Use the Create New Contact button to open an empty Properties dialog box enter information for the new contact. On the other hand, if you want to exclude contact (S) from the group, select the contact from the display box and then click the Remove Selected Contacts button. You can use the Contact Name and E-mail options for including new people in the contact group by clicking the Create for Group Only button without having to create them as individual contacts.

        5. Now, click the Contact Group Details tab, as shown in Fiq.W-4.15. Various text boxes related to details of the contact group appear.

       6. Enter the detailed information about the group such as address and phone number of the contact group(Fiq.W-4.15).

        7. Once the contacts are finalized for the group, click the OK button (Fiq.W-4.15).

The Contacts windows re-appears with the newly created group, as shown in Fiq.W-4.16.

Now that you know how to create a new contact group, Let's learn how to edit a contact.

Editing a Contact

          You may sometimes make a mistake while entering the information of a contact. It may also happen that your friends, business or office associates move to a new address, resulting in change of email or mobile phone numbers etc. In such situations, you have to keep your records updated so that you remain in touch with them. On way one doing this is by editing and updating the contact's information. Let us now learn how to do this by undertaking the following steps:

1. In the Contacts window, double-click the contact you want to change, as shown in Fiq.W-4.17.
2. A Properties dialog box of the selected contact appears, In the Properties dialog box, change the information as required. In our case, we have edited the contact's Phone number and cell number under the Home tab, as shown in Fiq.W-4.18.
3. When you have made the required changes, click the OK button (Fiq.W-4.18).

The Contacts windows appears with the updated information of the contact. If a contact is located under some group, then the changes made to the contact will be automatically updated in the group.

Deleting a Contact or Contact Group

          You can easily delete a contact in Windows Contacts by undertaking the following steps:

1. In Contacts window, select the contact or contact group by clicking it.
2. Then, click the Delete button in the Toolbar of the Contacts window, as shown in Fiq.W-4.19.
3. A Delete File dialog box will appear. Click the Yes button in this dialog. box to delete the contact, as shown in Fiq.W-4.20.

Let's now discuss another feature of Windows Vista, called Pople Near Me.

People Near Me

           People Near Me is a new feature in Vista technology. With this technology, you can locate other people who are in the same network. When a person is signed  in to people Near Me, you can identify him in the network and send an invitation to him to join a meeting using the Windows Meeting Space program. Only those user who are signed in to people Near Me can conduct an online meeting using the Windows Meeting Space program.

Let's us undertake the following steps to sign in to People Near Me:

1. Click the Start button. The Start menu appears.
2. Select the Control Panel options in the Start menu. The Control Panel windows appears (Fiq.W-4.21).
3. Select the Network and Internet options in the Control Panel window (Fiq.W-4.21).
4. The Network and Internet window appears. Select the People Near Me option (Fiq.W-4.22).
5. The People Near Me dialog box appears with the Settings tab in the forefront. Click the Settings tab if it not already selected (Fiq.W-4.23).
6. Type your name in the edit box under the Type the name you want other people to see option. Users over the network will identify you by the name you type here (Fiq.W-4.23).
7. Next, select the  check box beside the Make my picture available options. This will enable you to display a thumbnail of your picture to network user along with your name(Fiq.W-4.23).                                                                                            N.......In case you do not have a picture to display on the network or want to change it, then click the Change picture button (Fiq.W-4.23) on the peolpe Near Me dialog box. A change your picture window will appear with some images. Select an image from this window and click the Change Picture button (Fiq.W-4.24).

              IF THE DESIRED PICTURE IS NOT PRESENT IN THE AVAILBLE LIST, then click the Browse for more pictures link. An Open dialog box appears. Specify the locations where the picture is located on your computer and select it. Then, click the Open button of the Open dialog box. The selected pictures get inserted beside the user account and the same can also be seen on the Welcome screen and on the Start menu.

            After finalizing the picture, either through the available list of pictures in the Change your picture window or the Open dialog box, the User Account window will appear. Close this window to reach the people Near Me dialog box.

          8. Next, under Invitation click the down arrow button beside the Allow invitation from option(Fiq.W-4.25). A drop-down list appears.

          9. In the drop-down list, you will  find three options - Anyone, Trusted contacts,  and No one. Select the Trusted contacts option to receive meeting invitations on Windows Meeting Space only from those user with whom you have already exchanges contact information through e-mail or removable media (Fiq.W-4.25).

N..... The other two options in the drop-down list are Anyone, and No one. If you select the Anyone options, you will receive meeting invitations from those user with whom you may or may not have exchanges information. If you want to block a meeting invitation so that no one can send an invitation to you, then select the No one option.

            10. Under Options, select the check box besides the Sign in me automatically when Windows starts option if you want to start People Near Me and sign in it automatically every time Windows starts (Fiq.W-4.25).

          11. Now, click the Sign in tab in the People Near Me dialog box. Options available under the Sign in tab appears, as shown in Fiq. W-4.26.

        12. Select the radio button beside the Sign in to People Near Me option (Fiq.W-4.26).

        13. Click the Apply button to implement the selected options (Fiq.W-4.26).

        14.Lastly, click the OK button to close the People Near Me dialog box (Fiq.W-4.26).

        You can see an icon that looks like a person's head and shoulders in the Notification area of the Taskbar. You can directly open the People Near Me dialog box by clicking this icon in the Notification area.

Windows Meeting Space

       Windows Meeting Space is a new program included in Windows Vista. With the help of Windows Meeting Space, you can perform live meetings with a group of Vista users. Sharing and working on files with group is easier using Windows Meeting Space than with traditional methods such as sending files through e-mails or uploading files to common network shares. Windows Meeting Space allows sharing of the Desktop or programs running on your computer with other network user running Windows Meeting SPACE AND ATTENDING MEETINGS. Besides shading the Desktop or programs, you can distribute documents or perform collaborative editing of them, as well as pass notes to other participants.

1. Click the start button. A Start menu appears.
2. In the left pane of the Start menu. click the All Programs option. A list of programs appears (Fiq.W-4.27.
3. In the list of programs, select the Windows Meeting Space option (FiqW-4.27).           A Windows Meeting Space window appears (Fq.W-4.28). To view and participate in any meeting taking place in your network, just select the join a meeting near me option.                                                                                                                                 We will discuss about joining a meeting later in the chapter. Let's learn how to create a meeting first.
4. In the Windows Meeting Space window, select the Start a new meeting option (Fiq.W-4.28).                                                                                                                     On the right hand side of Windows Meeting Space, two edit boxes appear in which you have to type the name of meeting and password to join the meeting. (Fiq.W-4.29).
5. By default, the computer's administrator account name with the system time appears in the textbox under the Meeting name option. Type a meeting name under the Meeting name edit box, if you want to change the name of the meeting (Fiq.W-4.30).
6. Type the password in text box under the password option. The password should contain at least eight characters (Fi.W-4.30).
7. After typing the password, click the Create a meeting button or press the Enter key (Fiq.W-4.30).                                                                                                                     A new Windows Meeting Space window appears with the Title bar showing the name of the meeting (Fiq.W-4.31). By default, this name is the name of the current user along with the system time.                                                                                       After setting up the meeting, let is now know how to share a file, programs or Desktop so that the attendees can see the file, programs or Desktop shared by the organizer of the meeting. The organizer of the meetings share the document, program or Desktop from within the Windows meeting space windows. The attendees of the meeting can look at the shared document, programs or Desktop on their computers and view each mouse movement performed by the organizer. If there is more than one attendee, the Take Control option appears in the Window Meeting space windows, which allows you to give or take back control of the meeting to an attendee.                                                                                                     Let us undertake the following steps and learn how to share a document from within the Windows Meeting Space window so that other participants in the meeting can view it.
8. Click the Share button present in the Toolbar of the Windows Meeting Space (Fiq.W-4.31).
9.  A Window Meetings Space dialog box appears asking whether you want other people to the see the items (Desktop, program or document ) shared by you. Click the OK button (Fiq.W-4.32).
10. The Start a shared session dialog box appears. This dialog box displays a list of programs and documents already open on your computers. Click a program or document you want to share with the attendees. For example, Click the Microsoft word document listed in the dialog box (Fiq.W-4.33).
11. After selecting the document or program, click the Share button. If you select the Desktop options then the entire Desktop will be visible to all the participants (Fiq.W-4.33).

The Window Meeting Space window displays the shared item selected by you (Fiq.W-4.34). In this figure, a message in the middle of the windows informs you that a word file is in sharing mode (Fig. W-4.34).

After creating a meeting and sharing an item, let us now proceed ahead and learn how to invite people to join the meeting and see your shared item.

Inviting People to Join the Meeting

            After creating the meeting space, you can invite people to your meeting and allow them to see the Desktop of your computers, all or specific programming running on your computers, and share documents. Let's us undertake the following steps to invite people for attending the meeting:

1. In the Windows Meeting Space window, click the Invite People icon, You can also invite people by clicking the Invite button in the Toolbar (Fiq.W-4.34).                        An Invite people dialog box appears, as shown in Fiq.W-4.35. The names of all those users in the network who have signed in to people Near Me will appear under Name in this dialog box. In our case the Invite people dialog box displays three persons who are already singed in on people Near Me under Name, as shown in Fiq.W-4.35.
2. Select the checkbox beside the person's name you want to send the invitation to join the meeting (Fiq.W-4.36).
3. After selecting the person, click the Send invitations button (Fiq,W-4.36).                                                                                   N........... You can make your meeting more confidential by selecting the check box beside the Require participants to type the meeting password option (Fiq.W-4.36). WHENEVER A USER ATTEMPTS TO JOIN THE MEETING, HE WILL BE Prompted to type the password before joining the meeting. The user can procure the password from the owner or organizar of the meeting.                               The Windows Meeting Space screen re-appears, as shown in Fiq.W-4.37. In this screen, you can see the icon of the person to whom you have sent the invitation. When the person accepts your invitation, he/she will become the participant or attendee of the meeting.
                 
4. If you want to invite people other than those whose names appear in the Invite people dialog box, then just send an e-mail to them. To do this, click the Invite button in the Toolbar of Windows Meeting Space (Fiq.W-4.37).
5. An Invite people dialog box appears. Click the Invite others button. (Fiq.W-4.38).
6. A Window Meeting Space dialog box appears with two options. Of these, select the Send an invitation in e-mail option to send the invitation file to the participant via e-mail (Fiq.W-4.39). Windows Meeting Space automatically creates an invitation file and attaches it in the e-mail message.
7. A Message window of the default e-mail program used for sending and receiving e-mails appears. Type the e-mail address of the recipient beside the To option (Fiq.W-4.40).                                                                                                                                   The Windows Meeting Space automatically decides the Subject of the message and appends necessary file to join the meeting as Attachment in the e-mail message. The instructions to join the meeting appear in the Message window.
        
    
8. Now, click the Send button (Fiq,W-4.40).

N........ If you use the Create an Invitation file option to send the invitation then you have to first save the invitation file (having the wcinv extension) on your system and then send this invitation file through an instant message (Fiq.W-4.41).

Opening an Invitation

         When the organizer of the meeting sends you an invitation file through e-mail, it first arrives in the Inbox of the participant's e-mail account. The participant needs to open the message from the Inbox and save it. To save the invitation, double-click the attachment file. An Open Mail Attachment dialog box appears. Click the Save button in the dialog box. A Save As dialog box appears. Click the Save button in this dialog box to save it on the desired location in the computers. Once the invitation file is saved on the computers, open the invitation by undertaking the following steps:

1. Open the Windows Meeting Space programs.
2. In the start-up window of windows Meetings Space, click the Open an invitation file link (Fiq.W-4.42).
3. An Open dialog box appears With the help of the Navigation pane present in the open dialog box, select the location where you have saved the Invitation file from your Inbox.
4. Now, select the invitation file (Fiq.W-4.43).
5. Next, click the open button (Fiq.W-4.43).
6. The Windows Meeting Space window re-appears. Type the password in the text box under the A password is required option (Fiq.W-4.44).                                                  N............. The password is known to the organizer (Who sent the invitation file) of the meeting. You cannot participate in the meeting until you get the password. In case you don't know the password then contact the organizer of  the meetings and ask him for it.
7. After typing the password to join the meeting, click the Join a Meeting button, as shown in Fiq.W-4.45.

Joining a Meeting

         By selecting the join a meeting near me option from the start-up window of Windows Meeting Space, you can view and join a meeting created by users on their computers across the local network. The list of meetings appears when the user on the network is logged in to people near Me and the Windows Meeting Space programs is rnning on his computers. In case the list of meetings does not appear even after fulfilling all the necessary pre-requisites then click the Update List link in the Windows Meeting Space window (Fiq.W-4.42). TO DISPLAY THE LIST.

1. Open the Windows Meeting Space program.
2. In the start-up window of Windows Meeting Space, select the Join a meeting near me option.                                                                                                                          Meetings created by different users across the network appear in the Windows Meeting Space window, as shown in Fiq.W-4.46. In our case, two meetings, that of sonali and suchita respectively, appear in the Windows Meetings Space window.
3. In the list of meetings, click a meeting name. In our case, we have selected the meeting name sonali (Fiq.W-4.46).
4. The Windows Meeting Space now looks like the one shown in Fiq.W-4.47. Type the passwork to join the meeting. You cannot participate in the meeting witout typing the password.
5. After typing the password, click the Join a meeting button, as shown in Fiq.W-4.47. 

                                                                                                                                        

     You have now joined the meeting. The participants of a meeting can see the shared files or programs of the organizer of the meeting on their respective computers, as shown in Fiq.W-4.48.

Adding Handouts 

            Handouts are files that are shared in a meeting session. When you add a file to the session, a Windows Meeting Space makes a copy of it, associates it with the session, and replicates it to the other participants. One  at a time, participants can edit files in the session. The original file will not be modified. Changes are saved by the last person to save the file. If two participants  open the at the same time, and one saves it before the other, the second person's changes will overwrite the file and the first person's changes will be lost.

Let us learn to add a Handout by using the following steps:

1. Click the Add button present in the Toolbar of Windows Meeting Space, as shown in Fiq.W-4.49.
2. A Windows Meeting Space dialog box appears displaying the result of adding a handout and instructions on making chnages to it. Click the OK button (Fiq.W-4.50).
3. The Select files to add dialog box appears. From the Navigation Pane, select the location from where you want to add a file as a hanout (Fiq.W-4.51).
4. After selecting the location, select the file (Fiq. W-4.51).
5. Click the Open button (Fiq.W-4.51).

You now return to the meeting area of Windows Meeting Space. The selected file appears as a handout (Fiq.W-4.52.)

 

Saving Handouts and Leaving the Meeting

              The organizer and participants of a meeting can leave the meeting at any time. However, before leaving the meeting they have to ensure that they save the handouts used during the meeting session. Leaving without saving the handouts prompts Windows Meeting Space to display a message telling the participant to save the handouts. To avoid this message, it is always better to save handouts before leaving the meeting:

Let us now undertake the following steps to save the handouts and leave the meeting:

1. On the Toolbar of Windows Meeting Space, click the Meeting button . A drop-down menu appears (Fiq.W-4.53).
2. In the drop-down menu, select the Save handouts option (Fiq.W-4.53).
3. A Browse For Folder dialog box appears. In this dialog box, select the location where you want to save the handout (Fiq.W-4.54).
4. After selecting the location, click the OK button (Fiq.W-4.54). The handout is saved at the selected location.
5. Once again, click the Meeting button located on the Toolbar of the Windows Meetings Space window (Fiq.W-4.55). A drop-down menu appears.
6. In the drop-down menu, select the Leave meetings option (Fiq.W-4.55).
7. A Windows Meetings Space dialog box appears prompting you to save handouts Since we had already saved our handout, click the No button (Fiq.W-4.56).
8. The start-up window of windows Meeting Space appears. Click the Close button to close the program. After learning about Windows Meetings Space, let us now move on to another interesting program available in Windows Vista - Windows Mail.

Windows Mail

          Windows Mail is an e-mail client that comes with Windows Vista. Windows Mail is the successor to Outlook Express. Windows Mail has some enhancement features like junk e-mail or spam fitering and protection against phishnig messages. If Windows Mail is your default e-mail client, you have to first set up the user account. Only then will you be able to send / receive your mails in Windows Mail.

1. Click the Start button. A Start menu appears (Fiq.W-4.57).
2. In the left pane of the Start menu, click All Programs. A list of programs appears (Fiq.W-4.57).
3. In the list of programs, select the Windows Mail option (Fiq.W-4.57).

A Windows Mail window appears, as shown in Fiq.W-4.58.

Skip any wizard that might appear by clicking the Cancel button. We will first look at the Windows Mail window and then move towards setting up an e-mail account. The Window Mail window is divided into the following sections:

Skip any wizard tha might appear by clicking the Cancel button. we will first look at the Windows Mail windows and then move toward setting up e-mail account. The Windows Mail windows is divided into the following sections:

       A. Menu Bar: This bar is located just below the Title bar. Each menu contains different commands or options to mange your e-mail account and messages.

       B. Search box: This box is located on the extreme right corner of the Menu bar. You can use this box to quickly filter your message list so that it only displays the message having specific words, characters, or e-mail address. For finding your desired message, type the search text in the Search box, and click the Search button. The message that contains the text that you have typed appears as a search result.

     C. Folder pane: This pane is a collection of default folders available in the e-mail account as well as those folders created by the user. The main purpose of the folders is to provide efficient management of  e-mail messages. Messages from different senders arrive in the Inbox folders; the Outbox folder shows the messages that are in the process of being sent and also those that have to be sent; incomplete or yet to be sent messages are kept in the Drafts folders, the Junk E-mail folder contains unwanted e-mails.

    D. Message Area: This area displays a list of message stored in a particular folder, By default, messages stored in the Inbox folder always appear first. To View the messages of other the folders, simply click the folder name in the Folders pane:

   E. Preview Area: This area is located just below the Message Area and displays the contents of the selected message.

Setting up Your E-mail Account

          Before you start using Windows Mail for sending and receiving e-mail message, you need to setup an e-mail account and specify some networking details (Path of servers to receive and deliver e-mail message). In case you have any confusion over netwoking then contact your Internet Service Provider (Company that has provided you the Internet connection) or administrator of the network.

Let us first get acquainted with the following terms, which you will encounter while setting up your e-mail account.

• Display Name: The user has to enter his name here while setting up the e-mail account. This name appears at the top of your e-mail messages.
• E-mail Address: You need to provide the e-mail address at the time of setting up the account.
• Incoming E-mail Server: This server collects all e-mail messages sent at your e-mail address and displays them in your e-mail programs.
• Outgoing E-mail Server: This server is responsible for sending messages at their addresses.
• E-mail Username: The e-mail username is required to sign in to the e-mail server.
• Password : For security, a password is assigned so that only authorized persons can access the e-mail account. This password is either assigned by the user himself or given to the user by ISP or the Network Administrator.

You will get to know more about these terme in the following section of the shapter.

  

Equipped with this important information, you can now go ahead and learn to setup an e-mail account in Windows Mail by undertaking the following steps:

1. Click the Tools menu. A drop-down menu appears (Fiq.W-4.59).
2. In the drop-down menu, select the Accounts option (Fiq.W-4.59).
3. An Internet Accounts dialog box appears. Click the Add button (Fiq.W-4.60).
4. The Select Account Type dialog box appears (Fiq.W-4.61). By default, the e-mail account should appear  highlighted. In case it is not, just click it. 
5. Click the Next button (Fiw.W-4.61).
6. The Your Name dialog box appears. Type your name beside the Display name option. Whenever a user opens a message sent by you, he or she will see the same name typed in this dialog box beside the From field in the message (Fiq.W-4.62).
7. After specifying the name, click the Next button (Fiw.W-4.62).
8. The Internet E-mail Address dialog box appears. Type your e-mail address beside the E-mail address option, as shown in Fiq.W-4.63.
9. After typin the e-mail address, click the Next button (Fiq.W-4.63).
10. A Setup E-mail Servers dialog box appears. Type the address of your incoming e-mail server under the Incoming mail (POP2 or IMAP(server option, as shown in Fiq.W-4.64.                                                                                                                        N................  By default, the most commonly used type of Incoming server, POP3, appears under the Incoming e-mail server type option. In case you want to use some other type of Incoming server, just click the down arrow and select a different type of incoming server from the drop-down list. Three different types of Incoming e-mail server are available. These are as follows:                                            1. POP3: Stands for post office Protocol version 3. It holds incoming e mail message until you sign-in your e mail account and check messages. As soon as you check a meassage, a download session starts and messages start reaching your computer. Once the download session is completed, the server deletes the messages.  2. IMAP: IAMP Stands for for Internet Message  Access Protocol.  Here, you can preview, delete, and organize messages directly on the e-mail server. The copies of your e-mail are stored on the server until you choose to delete them. It is used for business e-mail accounts.                                                                                                    3. HTTP: HTTP stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. This protocol helps transfer text messages only.       
11.  Next type the address of the outgoing e-mail server under the Outgoing e-mail server (SMTP) name option, as shown in Fiq.W-4.64.
12. After typing the addresses of incoming and outgoing e-mail, servers, click the Next button (Fiq.W-4.64).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      N............ If you want that only you or an authorized person on your behalf should be able to send the e-mail then select the check box beside the Outgoing server requires authentication option. This ensures that a dialog box will appear the next time an e-mail is sent. The user needs to type the user name and password in this dialog box. A wrong user name or password will cancel the task.
13. The Internet Mail Logon dialog box appears. By default, Windows Mail picks letters or words (appearing before the @ character) From the e-mail address and display them deside the Enter your e-mail option. In  case you want some other user name then just type it (Fiq.W-4.65). In our case, the name is Ram Naresh.
14. Press the Tab key to move the cursor to the Password text box. Type the password to protect your e-mail account and allow only authorized persons to use it (Fiq.W-4.65).
15. After typing the user name and password, click the Next  button (Fiq.W-4.65).                                                                                                                                                        A Congratulations dialog box appears informing you that all the information required to set up your account has been entered successfilly. Select the check box deside the Do not download my e-mail at this time option if you do not want your e-mail to download at this time. In our case, we have decided not to select this option.
16. Click the Finish button (Fiq.W-4.66).

Now that you have created your e-mail account, it's time to move to the next stage and learn how to send and receive e-mails.

Sending an E-mail message

          After setting up your Windows Mail account, you can start sending e-mail messages to your friends, colleagues, family members, etc. To do this, undertake the following steps:

1. Click the Create Mail button in the Toolbar of Windows Mail, as shown in Fiq.W-4.67.                                                                                                                                     N......... Click the down arrow on the right to the Create Mail button. A drop-down menu appears. You can select any option from this menu for an artwork background for your message.                                                                                         A New Message window appears, as shown in Fiq.W-4.69.
2. Type the e-mail address of your primary recipient or recipients beside the To option. In our case, we have typed msi@hightindian.com beside this option (Fiq.W-4.70). You have to insert a semicolon to separate multiople e-mail addresses. Press the Tab key to move to the next option.
3. Type the e-mail address for each of the seccondary recipients to whom you want to send a copy of your e-mail messages, beside the Cc option. Leave this option blank If there is no secondary receipt (Fiq.W-4.70). Press the Tab key to move to next option.
4. Type the title for your e-mail message beside the Subject option (Fiq.W-4.70). The subject of the message appears on the Title bar of the Message windows.
5. If you want to attach a picture, video or any document file with your message, click the Attach File to Message button in the Toolbar (Fiq.W-4.70).
6. An Open dialog box appears. From the Navigation Pane, Select the location where the file to be attached is located (Fiq.W-4.71).
7. Next, select the file. (Fiq. W-4.71).
8. Now, click the open button (Fiq.W-4.71).                                                                        The selected file appends onto th Message window and appears beside the Attach option, as shown in Fiq.W-4.71.
9. Click the text region in the Message window and type your messages (Fiq.W-4.72).
10. Finally, click the Send button present on the Toolbar of the Message windows (Fiq.W-4.72).

In few moments, the message will reach the e-mail account of the recipient and you will return to the Windows Mail window.

Opening an E-mail Message and Downloading the Attachment

          The e-mails that people send you arrive in the Inbox folder of your e-mail account. Each time you log on to your e-mail account, the Inbox folder displays the number of un-read e-mails that have arrived in your Inbox. The Inbox will display no number in case of no un-read e-mails. On accessing the Inbox, an un-read messages appears with a closed envelope icon followed by the sender's name or e-mail address. In case there is some attachment in the messages then the clip sign appears beside the message. Let us now undertake the following steps to identify an un-read messages with attachment in the Inox of your e-mail account and download the attachment on your computers.

1. Click the Send/Receive button present on Windown Mail Toolbar to refresh the status of sent and received messages, as shown in Fiq.W-4.73.
2. In the Folder pane, click the Inbox folder. All messages sent to you arrive in this folder (Fiq.W-4.73).
3. In the list of displayed messages, double-click an un-read messages, which usually appears with a closed envelope icon (Fiq.W-4.73).
4. A Message window appears. Right-click the attachment file name (bike-stunts.wmv in our case) appearing beside the Attach option. A shortcut menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-4.74.
5. In the shortcut menu, click the Save As option (Fiq.W-4,74).
6. A Save Attachment As dialog box appears. If yu want to save the attachment with a different name then type the new name beside the File name option (Fiq.W-4.75).
7. Next, click the Save button (Fiq.W-4.75).

Clicking the Save button closes the Save Attachment As dialog box and takes you to the Windows Mail windows. You are now familiar with downloading and saving attachments. Let's find out how to block the unwanted e-mails and spam next.

    
Blocking Unwanted E-mails

        An increasing number of people have started using e-mail as an easy and convenient tool for exchanging information and data. However, accessing the Internet has its own perils and the simple task of sending and receiving e-mails has a certain amount of risk attached to it. Unscrupulous elements may misuse your e-mail address to send unwanted e-mails, also knows as junk mail. A jun e-mail is a commercial or promotional e-mail sent into the e-mail account of the user without seeing the user's permission. These mails consume space and thus reduce the storing capacity of your e-mail account. The harm is not limilted to this, howerver. Junk e-mail are  the most popular way of spreading virus. The sener of the junk e-mail tries to gain the attention of the user by using enticing text or images. The moment the user falls into the trap and opens the message, the virus hidden in the message is set free to play have in your system.

       To combat the problem of junk e-mail, software vendors and websites hosting e-mail services across the world have developed a line of defense, knows as E-mail Filter. An E-mail Filter comes built-in with every e-mail management program and is provided free of cost by the website. Users can use this filter to set the protection level for junk e-mail and prepare a list of truted and restricted e-mail addresses. Messages from trusted addresses reach the Inbox whereas meassage from restricted addresses are quarantined into a separated folders.

In the Windows Mail program, you can get rid of junk e-mail by the following methods:

• Preparing the list of safe senders
• Preparing the list of bloced senders
• Changing the level of junk e-mail protection
• Blocking country level domain

In Windows Mail, you can access all the these listed options by clicking from a common location. Let us explore them one by one.

Preparing the List of Safe Senders

        By preparing a list of safe senders, you make a sort of firewall for the Inbox. Whenever an e-mail reaches your e-mail account, the e-mail program checks its address and only those e-mails addresses included in the safe sender list reach your Inbox. Let us learn to include a sender's e-mail address in the list of safe senders by follow the steps given here:

1. In Windows Mail, select a message from a sender you want to include in your list of safe senders (Fiq.W-4.76).
2. Click the Message menu in the Windows Mail window. A drop-down menu appears (Fiq.W-4.77).
3. In the drop-down menu, place the mouse-pointer over the Junk E-mail option. A sub-menu appears (Fiq.W-4.77).
4. In the sub-menu, select the Add Sender to Safe Sender List option (Fiq.W-4.77).
5. A Windows Mail dialog box appears, Click the OK BUTTON (Fiq.W-4.78). The e-mail address of the selected sender gets included in the list of safe senders. Now all future message from this  sender will come into the Inbox without any restriction.

  In case you don't have any message of a sender in your e-mail account but want to include his e-mail address in the list of safe senders, you can do so manually by undertaking the following steps:

1. Click the Tools menu. A drop-down menu appears (Fiq.W4.79).
2. In the drop-down menu, select the Junk E-mail Options option (Fiq.W-4.79).
3. A Junk E-mail options dialog box appears. Select the Safe Senders tab (Fiq.W-4.80).
4. Under the safe senders tab, click the Add button (Fiq.W-4.80).
5. An Add address or domain dialog box appears. In the text box of this dialog box. type the e-mail address or domain name you want to include in the safe senders list (Fiq.W-4.80).
6. • Click the OK button in the Add address or domain dialog box(Fiq.W-4-80).                                                                                                                                         If you want Windows Mail to automatically include all those addresses to which ypu have sent e-mail to the safe senders list, then select the check box beside the Automatically add people I e-mail to the safe senders List options present in safe senders tab in the Junk E-mail dialog box.                                                                      
   • In the Jun E-mail Options dialog box, the address of the sender appears under the safe senders tab. click the Apply button to include the address in the list of safe senders (Fiq.W-4.81).
   • Click the OK button to close the Junk E - mail dialog box (Fiq.W-4.81).

   
   Preparing the List of Blocked Senders

           The presence of a blocked senders lst help you maintain distance from un-wanted senders. On receiving an e-mail, the e-mail program performs a check to verify whether the address of the snder belong to the safe list or the blocked list. If the address od sender is found in the safe list then the e-mail is allowed to enter the Inbox; otherwise, it is blocked from entering the Inbox and instead sent to an isolated place - the Junk E-mail folder. Let us now undertake the following steps to include a sender's e-mail address in the list of blocked senders;
   1. In windows Mail, select a message from the sender you want to include in your list of blocked senders.
   2. Click the Message menu (Fiq.W-4.82). A drop-down menu appears.
   3. In the drop-down menu, place the mouse - pointer over the Junk E -mail option. A sub-menu appears (Fiq.W-4.82).
   4. In sub-menu, select the Add Sender to Blocked Senders List option (Fiq.W-4.82).
   5. A Windows Mail dialog box appears. Click the OK button (Fiq.W-4.83). The e-mail address of the selected sender gets included in the list of blocked senders. All future message of this blockes sender will automatically move to the Junk E-mail folder.

   In case you don't have any message of a sender in your e-mail account but still want to inculde his e-mail address in the list of blocked senders, you can do so manually by undertaking the following steps:
   1. Click the Tools menu. A deop-down menu appears (Fiq.W-4.84).
   2. In the drop-down menu, select the Junk E-mail Options option (Fiq.W-4.84).
   3. A Junk E-mail Options dialog box appears. Click the Blocked Senders tab (Fiq.W-4.85).
   4. Under the Blocked Senders tab, click the Add button (Fiq.W-4.85).
   5. An Add address or domain dialog box appears. In this dialog box, type the sender's e-mail address or domain name you want to include in the blocked sender list (Fiq.W-4.85).
   6. Next, click the OK button to close the Add address or domin dialog box(Fiq.W-4.85).
      
7. The blocked e-mail address or domin name appears under the Bloked Senders tab. Click the Apply button to include the e-mail address or domain name in the list of blocked senders (Fiq.W-4.86).
8. Click the OK BUTTON TO CLOSE THE JUNK E-mail Options dialog box (Fiq.W-4.86).

 Changing the Level of Junk E-mail Protection

        Besides making a list of safe and blocked senders, you can use the protection levels provided in Windows mail against junk e-mails. These protection levels are built-in setting designed to catch junk e-mail and move them to the Junk E-mail folders. Depending upon the level of junk e-mail you receive, you can select any one of these protection levels:

• No Automatic Filtering: Selecting this level of protection will not filter your junk e-mail, which will reach your Inbox freely. 
• Low: By selecting this option, only the most obvious mails will move to the Junk E-mail folder. Select this option when you are not receiving many junk e-mail messages.
• High: Select this level of protection if you receive a large volume of junk e-mails. While working with this security level, you need to check your junk E-mail folders frequently because sometimes this security level catches regular e-mail as well and moves them to the Junk E-mail folders.
• Safe List Only: Select this level when you want to receive e-mails only from those e-mail addresses mentioned in the list of safe senders. Thus, before using this protection level, the safe sender list must be in place.

 Let us now undertake the following steps and learn to change the level of junk e-mail protection:

1. Click the Tools menu. A drop-down menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-4.87.
2. In the drop-down menu, select the Junk E-mail Options option (Fiq.W-4.87).
3. A junk E-mail Options dialog box appears, Under the Options tab, you will find different protection level options, as shown in Fiq.W-4.88.                                                                                                                                                                               N...... If you select the permanently delete suspected junk e-mail instead of moving it to the junk E-mail folder options, then all junk e-mails will be automatically deleted without even reaching the junk e-mail folders.
4. Select a radio button beside the protection level name as per your requirement (Safe List only, in our case), as shown in Fiq.W-4.88.
5. Next, click the Apply button to inplement the selected protection level (Fiq.W-4.89).
6. Click the OK button to close the junk E-mail Options dialog box (Fiq.W-4.89).

 Moving an E-mail from the Junk E-mail Folder to the Inbox

          The implemented protection level catches junk e-mail and moves them to the junk E-mail folders Sometimes during this process, regular or informative e-mail come under the cluches of the protection level and moved in the junk E-mail folder However, you can retrieve such e-mails from the junk E-mail folders and send them to the Inbox.

1. In the Folder pane, click junk E-mail. A list of blocked messages appears, as shown in Fiq.W-4.90.
2. Select the message you want to move into the Inbox from this list (Fiq.W-4.90).
3. On the Toolbar, click the Not junk button (Fiq.W-4.90).
4. In the Folder pane, click the Inbox. The selected messages appears in the Inbox (Fiq.W-4.91). All future messages from this sender will not be treated as junk e-mail and will instead arrive directly into the Inbox.

Paint

       Paint is a graphic painting programs used for drawing and coloring shapes (Pre-defined as well as free hand) and images. Besides using it for drawing and coloring, you can also use the paint program to edit images and save them in different file extensions.

Let us no undertake the following steps to open the Paint program:

1. Click the Start button. A Start menu appears (Fiq.W-4.92).
2. In the left pane of the Start menu, click the All Programs option. A list of programs appears (Fiq.W-4.92).
3. In the list of programs, select the Accessories option (Fiq.W-4.92). A list of programs under Accessories appears.
4. Select the Paint option under Accessories (Fiq.W-4.92). The paint window appears with an empty drawing area, as shown in Fiq.W-4.93).

Observe that the paint window is divided into different parts. These parts are now described briefly.

• Menu bar: The menu bar display various menu options such as file, Edit, View and so on.
• Tool box: The tool box situated on the left of the paint window contains various tools used to draw and edit paintings.
• Color box: The Color box is situated below the Menu bar and contains different color boxes for you to use in your createds.
• Drawing Area: The Drawing area is situated at the right of the Toolbar and below the Color bar. This is where the actual drawing takes place.
• Options box: The Options box is situated below the Toolbar.When you setect a tool from the Toolbar, you can see the varoius options related to the selected tool in the Options box.

Drawing a Shape in Paint

         Let us now learn how to draw a shape in the Paint program by undertaking the following steps:

1. Select a Line tool from the Tool box (Fiq.W-4.94).
2. From the Options box, select the appropriate thickness of the line (Fiq,W-4.94).
3. Select a color from the Color box (Fiq.W-4.94).
4. Now, drag the pointer across a drawing area to draw something. In our case, we have drawn a triangle (Fiq.W-4.94).
5. For drawing a shape such as an ellipse, select the Ellipse tool from the Toolbar (Fiq.W-4.95).
6. Select an appropriate thickness for the ellipse from the Options box (Fiq.W-4.95).
7. Now, select a color from the color box (Fiq.W-4.95).
8. Next, drag the pointer across the drawing area to draw the required ellipse, as shown in Fiq.W-4.95).
9. To fill a color in ur drawing, select the Fill With Color tool from the Tool box (Fiq.W-4.96).
10. Next, select a color from the color box, and click incside the shape. The shape is filled with the selected color (Fiq.W-4.96).
11. To magnify the shape, select the Magnifier tool from the Toolbox and click the shape.
12. Next, to save the shae, click the file menu in the Menu bar. A drop-down menu appears (Fiq.4.97).
13. From the drop-down menu, click the Save as option (Fiq.W-4.97).
14. A Save As dialog box appears (Fiq.W-4.224). Enter the file name and file format type. In our case, the file name is paint -1 and the file format is 24-bit Bitmap (*.bmp:*.dib), as shown in Fiq.W-4.98.
15. After entering the file name file format, click the Save button to save the painting (Fiq.4.98).

After learning how to work with paint program, let's now learn about the calcultor, another program in WIindows Vista.

Calculator

          The Calcultor application is available in all versions of the Windows operating system. In his application, you can use two types of calculators - the simple calculator, used to perform simple mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, division and multiplication of numbers; and the scientific calcultor, used for more advanced and complex operations, Let's now undertake the following steps to open the Calcultor application:

1. Click the Start button. A Start menu appears.
2. In the left pane of the Start menu, click the All Programs option. A list of programs appears.
3. In the list of programs, select the Accessories folder. The Accessories folder expands to display a list programs under it (Fiq.W-4.99).
4. Select the Calculator option from this list (Fiq. W-4.99).

A Calculator windows appears, as shown in Fiq.W-4.100.

Performing Calculations 

             Let us now use this calculator to perform a simple calculation such as adding two numbers. You can do this by undertaking the following steps:

1. Click a number in the Calcultor winow, say 8 (Fiq.4.100).
2. Click the '+' operator (Fiq.W-4.101).
3. Next, click the second number, say 5 (Fiq.W-4.101).
4. Now, click the Equal to (=) operator, as shown in Fiq.W-4.102.

The result of the addition of the two numbers is displayed in edit box below the menu bar (Fiq.W-4.103).

Operating with Numbers Stored in Memory

   

To the left side of the Calculator window are various memory buttons such as MC, MR, MS, and M+.

Let us discuss these buttons in brief:

• MS: This button is used for storing a number in memory.
• MR: This button is used for recalling a stored number.
• MC: This button is used for clearing memory.
• M+: This button is for adding a displayed number to the number already stored in memory.
• When you store a number in memory, 'M' is displayed in a box above the MC button.

Changing the Mode of Calculator

            As already discussed, the Calculator application displays two modes of calculators - the Standard Calculator and the Scientific Calculator. The Standard Calculator has been discussed in the previous section. You can change the Standard Calculator to a Scientific Calculator by undertaking the following steps:

1. Click the View menu on the Calculator application menu. A drop-down menu appears (Fiq.W-4.104).
2. Select the Scientific option from the menu (Fiq.W-4.104).

The Scientific Calculator is displayed on your screen, as shown in Fiq.W-4.105. The figure dispalys the various buttons available in the scientific mode for performing complex or advanced arithmetic trigonometric, exponential, and logarithmic calculations.

Let's use the Scientific Calculator to convert a decimal number to binary number by performing these steps:

1. Click a number buttpn, say 8.
2. Select the radio button beside the Bin option (Fiq.W-4.106).

The equivalent binary representation of the decimal number (1000) appears in display box (Fiq.W-4.106).

Summary

     This chapter discussed the various built-in programs in Windows Vista, their application and uses. We learned how to use the programs and tools and also customized default programs used by Windows. The chapter also described a handy time management tool named the Windows Contact tool to store and maintain personal as well as professional information of your contacts.

         The chapter also covered people Near Me, a new feature in Windows Vista. which made it easy to licate and keep track of other people in the same network. Another new feature in Windows Vista, called the Windows Meeting Space, has  also been explained in detail in this chapte. The other feature also discussed in depth in the chapter include Windows Mail.

5: Working With The Internet

• New Features in Internet Explorer 7
• Setting up an Internet Connection
• Launching the Internet Explorer
• Understanding the Kayout of Internet Explorer
• Browsing the Web with Internet Explorer

Windows

         About ten years ago, people knew a little about the Internet, but today millions of people use it for various purposes. Internet is word wide, interconnected system of computer network. Internet was conceived by the Advance Research projects Agency (ARPA) of the U.S and was first know as ARPANET. people and organizations connect into Internet to access the stored share information. With the help of Internet. people can communicate by sending and receiving electronic mail (e-mail) messages.Through the computers application for instant messaging, you can communicate with the person who is sitting in the other part of the world in a fraction of a second. You can find information on thousands of topics on the Internet. You interact with Internet through a software application called wed browser. In this chapter, we will use Microsoft besad web browser named " Internet Explorer". As the chapter progresses, user get familiar with the various layouts of Internet Explorer and its features, and also learn browsing the web using Internet Explorer.

Let us understand some basic terms associated with Internet.

• WWW: www stands for the World Wide Web. It is a collection of online hypertext documents stored on a server around the world. To view the online documents stored on a server, a user can open a wed site by entering the web site address into the web browser. We can navigate between web pages through the hyperlinks on a web page.
• Hypertext: Hypertext means a document that contains the link to the other document on the World Wide Web.
• Hyperlink: Hyperlink is the reference in a hypertext document that takes you to some other part of the same document or in another document. We simply say that is an electronic connection between two part of the same web page or two different web pages. It may an underlined word or phrase or graphics, but clicking on it, the corresponding web page or web site will open.
• Web Browser: A Web browser is a software application that allows you to interact with the Information on the World Wide Web. Windows based operating system comes with a web browser known as Internet Explorer. Examples of some other web browsers are Netscape Navigator, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Opera.
• ISP: ISP stands for Internet Service Provider. ISP is a company or organization that provides access to the Internet. An Internet service provider usually has multiple access methods including dial-up, DSL, cable modem, ISDN etc.

Let us see a brief introduction about some new features in Internet Explorer 7.

New Features in Internet Explorer 7

         Internet Explorer, as you already know, is a web browser developed by the Microsoft and it comes in-built with every version of Windows besed operating system. In Windows Vista, the seventh version of Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 7, is introduced.

 

Let us first know about the new features in Internet Explorer 7:

• Streamline Interface: The streamline interface of the Internet Explorer 7 provides more room for displaying a web page.
• Phishing Filter: Phishing is a criminal activity in which the phishers (Fake websites) fool the user by falsely using the name, brand or logo of a genuine website and pretend itself as trustworthy entity in order to acquire sensitive information (username and password of email account, credit card details, and personal information) from the user. Internet Explorer 7 provides a new feature called phishibg Filter that help defend users against phishing attacks.
• Tabbed Browsing: This feature provides the facility to open more than one website in a single Internet Explorer window. You can open multiple tabs and switch between them easily and quickly.
• Feeds (RSS Feeds): A feed is a list of item in the form of a link. Each item may contain any number of sub item associated with it. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an XML based format that allows the syndication of list of hyperlinks. When you subscribe to a RSS feed, you can find the updated content without visiting a lists of hyperlinks. When you subscribe to a RSS feed, you can find the updated content without visiting a website.
• Instant Search Box: This feature is used to search the web immediately from the main window rather than looking for separate button. Instant Search is also called Live Search.

Setting up an Internet Connection

      For working on Internet, you should have an Internet connection. Internet connection can be subscribed from any Internet Service provider (ISP). You should confiqure some setting on your computer, which usually include the user name and password, to start browing the Internet. The user name and password are provided to you by the Internet Service Provider at the time you subscribe Internet connection from it.

           Internet connections can be of different type. Let us first know about the different kinds of Internet connection methods and essential hardware and software requirements for setting up an Internet connection.

Let us see a brief introduction of varoius kinds of Internet connection methods:

• Broadband Connection: In the broadband connection, your computer is connected straight to the bradband moderm. DSL and Cable Modem are Categories of broadband connection.
• DSL ( Date Subscriber Lines): DSL stands for Date Subscriber Lines. This connection method uses standard telephone wire.
• Cable Modem: Cable Modem is same as DSL but in place of telephone wire in the DSL, it uses co-axial cable that uses cable television service.
• Dial up Connection: Dial-up connection uses ordinary telephones line. A  dial-up connection supports either data transmission or voice calls at a time. It does not support both process data transmission and voice call simultaneoualy.
• ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network): ISDN stands for Integrated Services Digital Network..... ISDN connection serves to the customer with DSL like services and is popular than DSL....

Mandatory Hardware and Software Requirements for Using Internet Connection

          As we are using Windows Vista Business edition in your computer as an operating system, so we have already the mandatory hardware for the Internet connection... For using Internet, you will need some software, like web browser (In case Internet Explorer, you do not need to worry because it comes in-built with Windows operating system)) Security Center (Windows Firewall and Windows Defender), should be installed on your computer. You should also have antivirus software installed on your computer. It provides the secure environment for your files, folders of your system. We will learn about the security Center in detail.

Let us now learn to setup a new connection. You can undertake the following steps to set up a new connection:

1. Click the Start button. The Start menu appears.
2. In the right pane of the Start menu, click the Control panel option (Fiq.W-5.1).
3. A Control panel window appears (Fiq.W-5.2). In the Control Panel window, click on the Network and Internet option (Fiq.W-5.2).
4. A Control Panel window for Network and Internet appears. Click on the Internet Options, as shown in Fiq.W-5.3.
5. The Internet Properties dialog box appears, as shown in FiqW-5.4. Click the Connections tab (Fig.W-5.4).
6. Under the Connections tab, click on the Setup button, as shown in Fiq.W-5.5.
7. The Connect to the Internet window appears for setting up a new connection, click on the Set up a new connection anyway option (Fiq.W-5.6).
8. The Connect to the Internet window re-appears with the name of Internet connection method subscribed by you (Fiq.W-5.7). Click on the Internet connection method, like Broadband (PPPoE) in our case (Fiq.W-5.7).                                            The Connect to the Internet window for entering information from Internet service provider (ISP) appears (Fiq.W-5.8).
9. Type the user name provided by your ISP in the User name text box (Fiq.W-5.9).
10. Type the password provided by your ISP beside the password option (Fiq.W-5.9).
11. Click on the Connect button as shown in Fiq.W-5.9. Now, the Internet connection has been set up in your computer.

Let us now learn to launch the Internet Explorer.

Launching the Internet Explorer

           After the Internet Connection has been established on your computer, you can start surfing the Internet by using the web browser - Internet Explorer. Let us now undertake the following steps to launch the Internet Explorer and start surfing the Internet.

1. Click the start button . A Start menu appears (Fiq.W-5.10).
2. In the left pane of the Start menu, click the Internet option, as shown in Fiq.W-5.10.

An Internet Explorer window appears with the default home page of web site (Fiq.W-5.11). In our case, it is http://www.sms.com. The home page of a web site is the starting web page of a web site.

Let's now learn about the layout of the Internet Explorer window.

Understanding the Layout of Internet Explorer

        A brief introduction of the various component of the Internet Explorer window (Fiq.W-5.11). is described as follows:

• Title Bar: The Title bar displays the names of the web browser and the website.
• Back Button: This button is used to go to the previous viewed web page.
• Forward Button: This button is used to go to contiguous web page next to the current web page.
• Recent Pages: This button appears next to the Forward button. Click on this button to see the list of recently viewed web pages.
• Address Bar: This address bar is a place where you type the address of the web site. In the right end of the address bar, there are Refresh and Stop buttons.
• Search Box: Internet Explorer provides you Live Search box from where you can enter a word or phrase to search for associate website.
• Toolbar: The Toolbar is divided into three sections. The left section of this Toolbar contains two buttons Favorites Center and Add to Favorites button. You can view your favorite sites, and feeds, and browers history by using Favorites Center button. The middle part of the Toolbar contains the browser tabs and the right section of the Toolbar contains the group of Toolbar button (or Command Bar buttons) such as Home, feeds, print, and Tools for basic operation, for example, Home button is used to go back to home page of the web site or Print button is used to print a page.
• Web Page Viewing Area: In this area of an Internet Explorer windows, you can view the web page. 
• Status Bar: The Status bar is at the bottom of the Internet Explorer window. It displays the status of the web site that is currently open.

Adding /  Removing Command Bar Buttons

         The Commands Bar displays buttons like Home, feeds, print, and Tools. You can customize all these buttons, means you can add or remove the Command bar button as per your requirments. Let's learn how to add a command bar button.

Adding Command Bar Buttons

       Let us undertake the following steps to add new buttons on the Command bar.

1. In the Internet Explorer window, right-click on the Command bar (Fiq.w-5.11). A shortcut menu appears (Fig.W-5.12).
2. In the shortcut menu, move the mouse-pointer to the Customize Command Bar option. A sub-menu appears (Fiq.W-5.13).
3. In the sub-menu, click on the Add or Remove Commands option (Fiq.W-5.14).           A Customize Toolbar dialog box appears (Fiq.W-5.15). On the left hand side of this dialog box, there is a list box contaning list of the Available toolbar buttons, and on right hand side of the dialog box, there is a list box contaning Current toolbar buttons that are currently displayed on the Command bar.
4. To add a button on the Command bar, click on the button under Available toolbar buttons. For example, we have selected Full Screen button (Fiq.W-5.16).
5. After selecting the button, click the Add button (Fiq.W-5.16).
6. Click the Close button, Now you will and  see the new button is added in the Command bar of the Internet Explorer window. The selected button appears under the Current toolbar buttons list, as shown in Fiq.W-5.17.
7. If you don't see the newly added command bar button in the Command bar, then click on the more button present at the far right of the Command bar, as shown in Fiq.W-5.18, A SHORTCUT MENU APPEARS THAT DISPLAYS the new added button named full screen (Fiq.W-5.18).

After adding a Command bar button, let us now learn how to remove a command bar button.

Removing Command Bar Buttons

          Undertake the following steps to remove a Command Bar button:

1. Right-click on the Command bar button in an Internet Explorer window (Fiq.W-5.18). A shortcut menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-5.12.
2. Next, click on the Customize Command Bar option in the shortcut menu (Fiq.W-5.13). A sub-menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-5.13.
3. In the sub-menu, click the Add or Remove Commands option, as shown in Fiq.W-5.14.
4. A Customize Toolbar dialog box appears, as shown in Fiq.W-5.15. Now, if you want to remove any option from your Current toolbar buttons list, then select an option, and click on the Remove button, as shown in Fiq.W-5.19. We have selected Tools options to be removed (Fiq.W-5.19).                                                                                Reset button on the right side of the Customize Toolbar window is used to fix the Command bar buttons in their default settings. Move up and move Down button are used to alter the order in Which the options are displayed in the Current toolbar buttons list.
5. Click the Close button in the Customize Toolbar dialog box (Fiq.W-5.19). You can see in the Command bar that the tools buttons is remove (Fiq,W-5.20).

Let us now learn how to add the Menu bar in the Internet Explorer window. When you launch the Internet Explorer window for the first time, the menu bar is not added in your Internet Explorer window. Let us now learn how to add the menu bar in the Inernet Explorer window.

Adding the Menu Bar in the Internet Explorer Window

          By defalt, the Menu bar does not appear on the Internet Explorer window. Let us now undertake the following steps to add the menu bar in the Internet Explorer window:

1. In the Internet Explorer window, right-click on the Command Bar.
2. A shortcut menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-5.21. Click the Menu bar option.             The Menu bar appears on the Internet Explorer window. You can see that the Menu bar is added between the Addredd bar and the Toolbar (Fiq.W-5.22).

After adding the Menu bar, let us now learn about the browsing tabs and their purpose.

Concept of Tabs

         Internet Explorer 7 launches a new feature, tabbed browsing. By using tabs, you can open multiple web sites in the same window wth each web site appearing in a new tab. All the tabs appears on the Toolbar. The window shows only one web page at a time, but you can switch to different web page of another web site by clicking on the another tab. this makes switching to different sites easier.

Let us see how to open a tab in the Internet Explorer window:

1. Click the New Tab button in the Toolbar to open a new tab or press Ctrl + T keys. A new tab open in the Toolbar of the Internet Explorer window, as shown in Fiq.W-5.23.
2. Type the web site address in the Address Bar and press the Enter key. This opens a new web site, as shown in Fiq.W-5.24.
3. Repeat the first and second steps to open mre sites using tabs.
4. To see the thumbnail size of each opened sites, click the Quick Tabs button on the Toolbar. This Quick Tab appears on the Toolbar when at least two tabs are open in the Toolbar. Internet Explorer window looks like shown in the Fiq.W-5.25. You can see the list of opened web sites by clicking on the down arrow button beside the Quick Tabs button in the Toolbar.
5. To close a tab, select a tab on the Toolbar and click the Close icon present on that tab, as shown in Fiq.W-5.26. The web site corresponding to that tab will be closed.

After leaning about the tabbed browsing, let us now understand what live Search is.

Live Search

      The Live Search is another new feature added in the Internet Explorer 7. The Live Search box appears as a separate box on the upper right cornor of the Internet Explorer window. In this text box, you can type the keyword to be searched.

Let us now undertake the following steps to search information through Live Search:

1. Click the Live Search box on the top-right of the Internet Explorer window. Type a word or phrase in Live Search box press the Enter key (Fiq.W-5.27). We have written about internet explorer in the search box.                                                           When we press the Enter key, the search results appear in the form of various links of web sites, as shown in Fiq.W-5.28. For example, we click on Internet Explorer 7 Quick Reference Guide link, as shown in Fiq.W-5.29. The web site related to this link will open.
2. Click on the down-scroll arrow to move the scroll box down in the vertical scroll bar so that you can move down in the web page and can view various links that you are not able to view currently. Click on the appropriate link.

N....... To open a web site in a new tab, you first click on the New Tab button on the Toolbar and then type a word or phrase in the Live Search box, and finally press the Enter key.

After searching information through the Live Search, let us now learn about Favorite Center.

Favorites, Links, History

           Internet Explorer 7 now intergrated Favorites, feeds and History in one place called favorite center. The Favorite Center is located on left end of the Toolbar in the Internet Explorer. Let us first understand in brief the three main parts of the favorite Center.

• Favorites: Favorites contains your favorite and frequently used web sites. By using this button you can save your time and quickly access your favorite web sites.
• Feeds (RSS Feeds): A feed is a list of items in the form of a link. Each item may contain any number of sub items associated with it. RSS is an XML based format which allows the syndication of lists of hyperlinks. When you subscribe to a feed, you can find the updated content without visting a website.
• History: The History button presents you the list of the web sites visited by you. You can view your recently used web sites by using the History button.

Customizing Favorites Center

Let us now see how to open the Favorites, RSS Feeds, and History.

1. Click the Favorite Center button in the Toolbar of Internet Explorer window. The Favorite Center pane appears, as shown in Fiq.W-5.30.
2. Click the Pin to Favorite Center button to fix the Favorite Center pane along the web page, as shown in Fiq. W-5.30.                                                                                 The Favorite Center pane will be fixed, as shown in Fiq.W-5.31.
3. Next, click on a folder to view the sites within the folder. Folders contain the links of your favorite web sites. In our case, we click on the Microsoft websites folder, as shown in Fiq.W-5.32. We will later learn how to add the websites in your favorite lists.

Let us now learn how to customize the Links bar:

Customizing the Links Bar

          A Link is a reference that contains address of the web site, web page or a shortcut to a folder. You can add your favorite folders shortcuts or address of a web site and a web page's link in the Links bar so that you can quickly access your favorite folders and web pages.

You can undertake the following steps to enable the Links bar in the Taskbar:

1. Right-click on the empty area of the Taskbar. A shortcut menu appears (Fiq.W-5.33).
2. Click the Toolbar option in the shortcut menu (Fiq.W-5.34). A sub-menu appears (Fiq.W-5.34).
3. Next, in the sub-menu, click the Links option (Fiq.W-5.35).

The Links bar will appear beside the Show hidden icons button (<) on the Taskbar (Fiq.W-5.36).

Adding and Removing the Shortcuts

          You can add shortcuts and web sites links to the Links bar. Undertake the following steps to add the shortcuts to the Links bar:

1. To add shortcut of a web site address or Favorites folder or a link of a web page, move the mouse pointer over the appropriate shortcuts, drag it and then drop to the Links bar. For example. to add the shortcut of a web site address, move the mouse pointer over the address bar, drag the site's icon and then drop it to the Links bar. To add the shortcut of the Favorites folder, drag the Favorites folder from the Favorites pane and drop it to the Links bar. We have dragged Microsoft Web site folder from the Favorites pane which is under Favorites Center.                                  In the same way, you can add a link of the web page to the Links bar.
2. Click on the More option in the Links bar to display a list of shortcuts and links of the web sites, as shown in (Fiq.W-5.37).
3. To remove the website links or the shortcuts, right-click on the shortcut or the web site link. A shortcut menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-5.38.
4. In the shortcut menu, click the Delete option, as shown in Fiq.W-5.38. The selected web site link will be deleted. For example we have selected www.rssss.com. This link will be deleted from the Links.

Let us now understand how to add Links bar in the web browser:

Adding Links Bar in your Browser

         You can add the Links bar in your browser also, where you can add the shortcuts and the web sites links. The proceduress for adding and removing the web site links and the folder shortcuts is same as it is in case of Adding and Removing Shortcuts in the Links bar of the Tskbar.

Undertake the following steps to add links bar in the Internet Explorer Window.

1. Right-click in the Toolbar of Internet Explorer window. A shortcut menu appears (Fiq.W-5.39).
2. Click the Links options so that a check mark appears beside the Links option. Now the Links bar appears on extreme right of the Menu bar, as shown in Fiq.W-5.40.
3. Click on the more button on the Links bar to display the shortcuts and web sites links (Fiq.W-5.41).

Let us now understand how to open your browsing history.

Displaying Browsing History

          You can track the web sites that have been viewed by you. To display the browse history, undertake the following steps:

1. Click the Favorites Center button in the Toolbar. The Favorite Center pane appears having Favorites, Feeds, and History on the top of the Favorite Center pane (Fiq.W-5.42).
2. Click the History button, as shown in the Fiq.W-5.42. The day-wise browse history of web sites visited will be displayed.
3. Now, click on a day option to view the web site links browsed on that day. For example, we have clicked on the Monday. The browing sites visited on Monday will be displayed in alphabetical order, as shown in the Fiq. W-5.43.
4. Now, click on a site that you want to view (Fiq.W-5.43).
5. To change the browsing history details other than day-wise, click on the down-arrow button beside the History button (Fiq.W-5.43).
6. A shortcut menu appears displaying options like By Date, By, Site By Most Visited etc. Click on the most appropriate options as per your requirements. For example, we clicked on By Site option (Fiq.W-5.44).   

The Browsing history  will be displayed by site wise, as shown in Fiq.W-5.45.

Let us now see how to add the web sites in your Favoritw list.

Adding Web Sites in Favorites List

      Let us undertake how to add web sites in your favorites link.

1. Click the Add to Favorite button in the Favourites Center, as shown in Fiq.W-5.46. A drop-down menu appears.
2. In the drop-down menu, click the Add to Favorite option (Fiq.W-5.47).                       Add a Favorite dialog box appears, as shown in Fiq.W-5.48.
3. Now, type name of your favorite web site beside the Name option to add in your favorite list. We have typed www.microsoft.com in this option (Fiq.W-5.49).
4. Now, Click on the down arrow button beside the Create in option to create in your favorite list. A drop-down list appears, as shown in Fiq.W-5.50.
5. Choose your favorite folder from the drop-down list, as shown in Fiq.W-5.50. We have chosen the Microsoft Website folders.
6. Click the Add button to create the web site as a link in your Favorites web sites list (Fiq.W-5.51).

To create a new folder in your Favorites list, use the New Folder button.  

Let us now discuss how to set Internet options in the Internet Explorer.

Setting Internet Options

        You can set various Internet options related to security, privacy or connection.

        Undertake the following steps to set Internet options:

1. Click the Tools menu in the Menu Bar (Fiq.W-5.52) of the Internet Explorer window (Fiq.W-5.50).
2. A drop-down menu appears (Fiq.W-5.53). Click the Internet Options option on it.      Internet Options dialog box appears having varoius tabs, as shown in Fiq.W-5.54. in the dialog box, by defeult, the General tab is selected. The other tabs, are Security, Privacy, Content, Connections, Programs, and Advanced. Under each tab, there are various options related to that particular tab.
3. Under General ytab, you can create your home page tab. This meas that whenever you launch the Internet Explorer, the home page of the web site that you set in the Home Page sections under General tab will appear as the default page. Type the web site address in the text box under Home Page section (Fiq.W-5.55).
4. Click the Use default bttuon (Fiq.W-5.55).                                                                      N....... The Use current button is used to set the currently open web page as home page. If you want to keep the home page section blank, then click on the Use Blank button.
5. To delete the browse history, click the Delete button in the Browsing history section (Fiq.5.56).                                                                                                                          From the Search section under General tab, you can set your default search provider. From the TABS SECTION, YOU CAN CHANGE HOW THE WEB PAGES ARE DISPLAYED IN TABS like open a new tab next to the current tab and a displaying message box when closing multiple tabs. From the Appearances section, the color of the text, or background of a web page, language and fonts of the web page can be changed.
6. Now, click the Security tab under the Internet Options dialog to display various setting option related to security (Fiq.W-5.57).
7. Select the appropriate zone to set the security. For example, if we want to restrict some sites then click the Restricted sites option, this enables the Sites button (Fiq.W-5.58).
8. Click the Sites button (Fiq.W-5.58).                                                                                 The Restricted sites dialog box appears (Fiq.W-5.59).
9. Type the address of the web sites under the Add this web site to the zone option (Fiq.W-5.59).
10. Click the Add button to add this site to the restricted sites (Fiq.W-5.59). The added sites are under Websites box (Fiq.W-5.59).
11. Having set the options on the security tab, now click on the privacy tab. Under Privacy tab, privacy settings are displayed. By moving the slider up or down, you can set the privacy level. Various Privacy levels are: Accept All Cookies, Low, Medium, Medium High, High, and Block All Cookies etc. Set a Privacy level like we have set Medium (Fiq.W-5.60).
12. After setting all the necessary options, click the Apply and then OK button. The Internet Options dialog box disappears.

N......... As we have set the options under General, Security, 'and Privacy tab, in the same way you can set the options under tjhe tabs - Content, Connections, Programs and Advanced. For example. under Content tab, you can set the default schedule for updating the RSS feeds that you have subscribed. Under Connection, you have already learned to set the option like setting up Internet connection. In the same way, under programs tab, you can set a web browser as your default web browser and setting the programs that you want to use fot the other Internet services, like e-mails. Under the Advanced tab, you can set your browsing settings such as to notify when downloading completes or closes unused folders in can set your browsing settings such as to notify when downloading completes or closes unused folders in history and Favorites, and also the multimedia settings like play sounds and animations in the web pages.

After setting the Internet Options, let us now learn how to browse the web with Internet Explorer.

Browsing the Web With Internet Explorer

          Browsing the web with Internet Explorer is quite  easy and simple. The Microsoft provides you with the Internet Explorer 7 that has a good user interface so that you can easily access the sites you want to visit. 

Let us see how to open a web site in Internet Expolrer 7.

Visiting a Site

        If you want to visit a site using the browser, the IE 7, the steps you can undertake are as follows:

1. To visit a web site in the Internet Explorer window (Fiq.W-5.61), Click the mouse pointer in the Address bar and type the address of a web site you want to visit, in the Address Bar. For example, we have typed www.kkkksssnnn.com in the address bar. Now press the Enter key.                                                                                     Note This......... When you type the web site address in the Address bar, a Go button appears beside the Address bar. To open the site either press the Enter key or click the Go button beside the Address bar in the Internet Explorer window (Fiq.W-5.61).                                                                                                               After you press the Enter key, the home page of the web site you have typed in the address bar, is displayed, as shown in the Fiq.W-5.62. THE HOME PAGE CONTAINS Various hyper links that contain the reference of the other web page. When you place the mouse pointer over the links, then either an underline appears on that link or the link appears in different colors.
2. Click on the links item as we have clicked the KNOWLEDGE SOLUTIONS links (Fiq.W-5.63).
   
3. The web page linked with the link KNOWLEDGE SOLUTIONS Options opens. The various hyper links are given in the left of the web page in Fiq.W-5.64. You can move to any of the web page.

Let us now see what pop-ups are and how can we block them.

Pop-up Blocker

          Pop-ups are small browser windows that appear / pop up on the top of an internet explorer window. The pop-ups, generally, are produced by advertisers. These pop ups hamper your work by slowing down the speed of the system. You can block these pop ups so that you can smoothly work with the web site you are visiting. The pop-up blocker prevents the unsolicited advertisements and unwanted pop-ups. You can turn to on/off pop-up blocker. If you turn on the pop-up filter, then you can also set the filter level to hight, medium, or low for blocking the pop-ups up windows up to that level. Set filter level to high if you want to block all pop-ups, or set it low or medium as per your perference to see the pop-up windows.

Let us now undertake the following steps to turn the pop-up blocker on/off:

1. Click the Tools menu in the Menu Bar of Internet Explorer window. A drop-dpwn menu appears (Fiq.W-5.65).
2. Now, click the pop-up Blocker options in the drop-down menu. A sub-menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-5.66.
3. To allow pop-up windows from any specific web site and setting the filter level, click the Pop-up Blocker Setting in the sub-menu (Fiq.W-5.67).                                           The Pop-up Blocker Settings dialog box appears, as shown in Fiq.W-5.68. On this dialog box, you can enter the names / address of the web site whose pop ups you want to allow to appear.
4. Under the Address of website to allow option, type the address of the website pop up of which you want to allow to appear (Fiq.W-5.69).
5. Click the Add button (Fiq.W-5.69).
6. Clicking the Add button, adds the web sites in the Allowed sites box (Fiq.W-5.70). Repeat the step 4, to add other websites in the Allowed sites box.                                                                                                                                                                              N....... For removing the web site from the Allowed sites box, select the site and click on the Remove button on the right to the Allowed sites box. To remove all the sites, click on the Remove All button.       
7. Next, click on the down arrow button below Filter level to set filter level. A drop-down menu appears, as shown in Fiq.W-5.71.
8. From the drop-down menu, select an option High, Medium or Low as per your preference. We have selected Low option.
9. Now, click the Close button (Fiq.W-5.72)                                                                                                                             

After learning how to block pop-up, let us now learn how to download Games and Songs, and Gadgets.

Downloading Games and Songs and Gadgets 

           The Games, audio and video songs, ringtones, software and various others things are available on the Internet free of charges. However, some web sites will not allow you to download games, or software free of charges. There are various web sites from where you can download the games, songs, etc as you require. If you know the web site name from where you can download the games and songs, you can directly enter it into the address bar of an Internet Explorer window, otherwise, search the sites from any search engines like Google or any other search engines.

N...... We will learn how search information through a search engine later in the section "Finding Information through Search Engine".

Let us undertake the following steps to learn how to download games and the songs:

1. Type the web site address into the Address Bar of the Internet Explorer window. (We have entered www.download.com in the address bar). Now press the Enter key.                                                                                                                                               The Internet Explorer window with the home page of the corresponding site appears (Fiq.W-5.73). You can see various links appearing on the home page.
2. Under the Downloads tab, there are three categories of downloading items like Software, Music, and PC Games. Click the PC Games options, as shown in Fiq.W-5.74.
3. A list of various popular games appears. Select a game of your choice. For Example, we have selected WarRock option. (Fiq.W-5.75).
4. The detailed information about the WarRock game appears in the webpage, as shown in Fiq.W-5.76. like its file size, License, compatible operating system etc. Click the Download Now option (Fiq.W-5.76).
5. The Security Warning dialog box appears, as shown in Fiq.W-5.77. Click the Save button to download the file in your computer.
6. The Save As dialog box appears (Fiq.W-5.78). With the help of Navigation Pane, select a folder where you want to save your gadget. If you want to save the gadget with different name then type the new name beside the File name option.
7. Click the Save button (Fiq.W-5.78). The downloading process start and the file will be automatically saved on your computer after the download computers.

Let us now understand how to download gadgets:

You already know that some Gadgets are already installed in your computers. You can download more Gadgets from the Microsoft's site (http://garll.lin.com).

Undertake the following steps to download the gadgets"

1. In the desktop, click the Gadgets button on top of the Sidebar. A window containing various gasgets appears, as shown in Fiq.W-5.79.
2. Next, click the Get more gadgets online option. as shown in Fiq.W-5.79.
3. Now, click on the down scroll arrow to move the scroll box down on the vertical scroll bar. Now you can view more gadgets icons. Click the Download option asscociated with the gadgets that you want to download, as shown in Fiq.W-5.81. We have selected the Compact Search NEW! option.
4. The Windown Internet Explorer dialog box appears. It alerst you to download the application from the developers you trust. Click OK button, as shown in Fiq.W-5.82.
5. A File Download dialog box appears. Click the save button on it (Fiq.W-5.83).
6. A Save As dialog box appears (Fiq.W-5.84).With the help of Navigation pane, select a folder where you want to save your gadget. If you want to save the gadget with different name, then type the new name beside the file name options.
7. Click the Save button, as shown in the Fiq.W-5.84.

Let us now understand what blogs are and what their purpose is.

Blogs

       The blogs or weblogs are personal Internet journals in which the visitors post their comments or any general information. The blogs are used to share facts, thoughts, and opinion, directly between people or company or product information given by the companies. The blogs also provide links to web sites. In order to create, submit, and post the comment, yu hane to be a registered member of the site

Let us now learn how we can create a blog, view the blogs, and post comments on blogs that are already created by someone in a web site. We will do it on www.hotnail.com.

1. Enter a web site address in the address bar. In our case it is www.hotnail.com. So write this address in the Address Bar and press the Enter key.
2. Internet Explorer window appears with home web page of entered site (hotnail.com). First of all enter information such as your E-mail address and password to login to the website.
3. Your home page account will be appears. Now, click the Spaces option (Fiq.W-5.85).
4. A home page for Windown Live Spaces appears (Fiq.W-5.86). Now, click the Your Space button, as shown in Fiq.W-5.86.
5. A web page for Windows Live Space will be displayed, as shown in Fiq.W-5.87. On the left side of the page, varoius options like profile, Blog Guestbook, Photos, Lists, and Friends appears. Click the Blog option, as shown in the Fiq.W-5.87.                                                                                                                                                                Now, you will see all the created blogs in the web page displayed in the Internet Explorer window (Fiq.W-5.88). For example, in the Fiq.W-5.88. there are two blogs displayed named View and Reviews and 4 All.
6. Now to create a blog, click the Add option in the Blog pane on the left hand side of the window, as shown in Fiq.W-5.88.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          The web page with various blank fields for making entries for creating a bolg appears, as shown in Fiq.W-5.89.
7. Now, type the title name for the bolg beside the Tiltle (required option (Fiq.W-5.90). Press the Tab key to move to Category option.
8. Click the down arrow button beside the Category option. A drop-down menu appears 
   (Fiq.W-5.90).
9. Select category from the drop-down menu. In our case, it is Computers and Internet, and press Tab key (Fiq. W-5.90).
10. After selecting the category, type the blog content in the content area, as shown i Fiq.W-5.91.
11. Click the Publish entry option, as shown in Fiq.W-5.92.                                                 After clicking the Publish entry option, you can see the blog you have created, as shown in Fiq.W-5.93.
12. If you want to post your comment on an existing blog, then click the Entrirs option under Blog pane (Fiq.W-5.94).
13. Click the Add a Comment option under 4 All blog to post your comment, as shown in Fiq.W-5.95.
14. Fill in the enties for adding the comment in the web page that appears, as shown in Fiq.W-5.96. Type your e-mail address under your e-mail address (Fig.W-5.96).
15. Now, type the comment on the edit box under Comment option, and then click the Add button (Fiw.W-5.96).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Now you will see that your comment appears under the blog 4 All (Fiq.W-5.97).
16. Click the Summary option under Blog pane for the summary of the blog to appears, as shown in Fiq.W-5.98.
17. You can sign out after you have finished you work. For signing out, click the Sign out option, as shown in Fiq.W-5.99.

You may, sometimes, need information about something that you do not know much about. In such a situation, you can use search engines to find information for you through internet. In the next topic, we will learn how to find information through a search engine, say through Google engine.

Finding Information through Search Engine

            Search engine is used to find information from the Internet on the basis of the keyword or keyword phrase entered in to the search box. Google search engine or search providers are already added to the Internet Exlporer 7 Instant Search box for serving this purpose. The other search engines are Live Search (Formally know as MSN Search), Yahoo! Search, Gigablast, etc.

Let us now see how to search information through Google. You already know that Google is your default search box in Internet Explorer 7 Instant Search box. Here are the steps:

1. In the Internet Exlporer window, type web site www.google.com for Google search engine in the Address Bar, and press the Enter key.                                                                                                                                                                                                  The home page for Google site appears. To earch information, you have to type a word or phrase in the search box Fiq.W-5.100.
2. Now, type a word or phrase in the search box. For example, we have typed Delhi University in the search box (Fiq. W-5.100).
3. Click the Google Search button ( Fiq.W-5.100).                                                                The web page woth various links and web sites related to the phrase that you have types in the search box appears in the Internet Explorer window (Fiq.W-5.101). Use the vertical scroll bar to move to the all web pages.
4. Next, to open a link in another tab, right click on a link. A shorcut menu appears with Open in New Tab as an option (Fiq.W-5.102).
5. In the shortcut menu, click the open in New Tab option (Fiq.W-5.102).                     You can open thelink of a web page in the same tab, by clicking on the link.
6. A new tab for University of Delhi is created in the Toolbar. Click on the tab University of Delhi to open the corresponding web page (Fiq.W-5.103).        

As soon as you click on the tab University of Delhi, the web page for the corresponding page appeaRs, as sown in Fiq.W-5.104.

  

The web page in the Internet Explorer window (Fiq.W-5.105) Contains various hyper links. You just click on a link to get the information given in its corresponding page that will be displayed when you click it.

Google Earth

          Google Earth provides geographical and astronomical information like satellite imagery, maps, terrain, and 3D building schools, restaurant, and hotels, You can tilt and rotate the view to see the terrain and 3D building.

           We are assuming that you have already, downloaded and installed Google Earth in your system. Let us now learn to search and view the different things in Google Earth. We are currently working on Google Earth 4.2 version.

Let us first how Google Earth looks like:

Undertake the following the steps to open Google Earth:

1. Click the start button. The sart menu appears.
2. In the left pane of the start menu, click the All Programs. This opens a list of programs in the left pane of the start menu.
3. From the list of programs, click the Google Earth option, as shown in the Fiq.W-5.105.

The Google Earth window appears, as shown in Fiq.W-5.106.

Let us discus briefly about the layout of the Google Earth window (Fiq.W-5.106).

• Menu Bar: Menu bar is situated on the top of the window. The Menu Bar contains various menus like file, Edit, view, Tools Add, and help menu,
• Search Panel: The Search panel is on the left hand side of the Google Eath window and is used to search the locations and directions that you want to view in the 3D Viewer.
• Places Panel: Place Panel is on the left hand side of the Google Earth window and below the Search Panel. It used to save and organize the location or place that you have visited.
• Layers Panel: The Layer panel is below the Places panel. From the Layers panel you can include the various data point of the geographical interests. For example, you can include maps, roads, terrains, and Geographical web.
• Sidebar panel: The Search, Places, and Layers panel comprise the Sidebar panel.

• Navigation Controls: The Navigation Control is located on the top right corner of the 3D Viewer area. The Navigation control is used to title, zoom, and move around your viewpoint. A horizontal slider called tilt slider is used to tlit the image or view towards a horizon view and a vertical slider, called zoom slider is used to zoom the terrain.
• 3D Viewer: 3D Viewer is your displaying area through which you see the globe.
• Toolbar: The Toolbar is located just above the 3D Viewer. It contains the button, such as Show/Hide Sidebar, Add Placemark, Add Polygon, Add Path, Email, print and Switch between Sky and Earth buttons.
• Status Bar: The Status Bar shows you the imagery streaming Status.

Let us now first learn how to search a location by using the Search panel:

Searching a Location

          You know that through Google Earth, You can search the geographical information like location of hotels, schools, city, or any place in the world.

Undertake the following steps to learn how to search a location:

1. In the Search panel of the Sidebar, click on the search box (Fiq.W-5.108). Type a location which you want to see in the globe, in the search box of the Search panel and then press the Enter key. We have typed New Delhi, India in the search box. In the 3D Viewer of the Google Earth window, you can view your desired result, that is the New Delhi, as shown in Fiq.W-5.107.
2. Using the zom slider, zoom in or out the view as per your preference (Fiq.W-5.107).
3. To see the roads, border shopping and services, you have to select some options from the Layers panel. For Example, in the Layers panel, we click on the check box deside the Road option. You can see the roads on the 3D Viewer aera of the Google Earth window (Fiq.W-5.108).

You can add more things like 3D buildings, geographic features, geographic web etc on the search box to view them. For doing this, select that option from the Layers panel. The selected options will appears on the 3D viewer aera.

Tilting the Terrain towards a Horizon View

        To see the tilted view of terrain, you have to use the tilt slider of the Navigation Control. First, select a location, view or image and then the image by using the tilt slider. Undertake the following steps to tilt the view:

• Type a place on the search box of the Search panel or choose a place already stored in the Places panel. For example, we have selected Google Campus, US option (Fiq.W-5.109).
• Select the 3D Building option from the Layers panel to view the 3D view of the Google Campus, US (Fiq.W-.110) and then with the help of the tilt slider the view, as shown in Fiq.W-5.109.
  
  

E-mail a view or Image

          You can e-mail an image or a view. Undertake the following steps to mail an image:

1. To e-mail a view or image, click the E-mail butto on the Toolbar (Fiq.W-5.110). An E-mail dialog box appears (Fiq.W-5.111).
2. Select e-mail attachment option among the three options available in the Email dialog box. We have chosen Graphic of 3D View option (Fiq.W-5.111).
3. Click the Email button in the Email dialog box. The image will be sent by your default E-mail program or any other E-mail program that you choose.                                                                                                                                                                    Till now, you have worked on the Earth view in the globe. To view the Sky view in the globe:
4. To switch to the Sky view from the Earth view, click the Switch between Sky and Earth button on the  Toolbar. The Sky view appears in the 3D Viewer area, as shown in Fiq.W-5.112. From the sky view of the Google Earth, you can view the stars, constellations, galaxy, planets and the moon.

Summary

        In this chapter we discussed about the Internet Explorer 7, its new features, and its layouts. We have also discussed in detail about various bars on the internet explorer window, and how to customize them as per or requirement. You have learned about shortcut window and the pop-up blocker that helps prevent the pop-up windows.

         In the later section of this chapter you have learned how to download the games and songs, and gadgets. It also elaborates uopn the blogs that you can find on many websites, then it discusses how to create blogs, and write comments on an existing blog. Finally, searching information through Google search engine, and a brief description of Google Earth, has been given in the chapter.

Introduction To Microsoft Office 2007

• First View of Microsoft Office 2007
• Ribbon
• Live Preview and SmartArt
• Mini Toolbar
• New File Extension
• Using Help in Microsoft Office 2007
• Security in Microsoft Office 2007

       Microsoft Office 2007, the latest version of the MS Office, is quite different from its earlier versions. It has a rich look, smart tools, and enhanced security features that make it stand apart from its predecessors. But if you are switching to Office 2007 for the first time, then be prepared for fun ride with a little bit of patience as finding and getting used to the commands in the new interface may take a little time.

       In Microsoft Office 2007, menus and toolbars are completely replaced with Ribbon. All the meanus and tools are now arranged in entirely different way. The menu options or commands no longer appear in pull-downs list or toolbars, instead they now appear under the tabs and group. Not this much, the contextual menus are introduced in all application. A contextual menu appears only on-demand with additional commands or options. It means that now the contextual menu appears only when you perform some special task, and it disappears when the task finishes.

         Another outstanding feature of Microsoft office 2007 is Live Preview. In earlier versions of Microsoft Office, you were bound to apply an effect or style on selection or object even just to preview the after effect. In case, you don't like the effect applied, then you have to start from beginning again, and the preview appeared of the document would be small requiring a magnifiying glass. But with introduction of live preview feature, you can preview the after effects of an effect or style by just placing the mouse-pointer over effect or style without applying or undoing any command or option.

Install Microsoft Office 2007.

1.   Insert the Microsoft Office 2007 CD or DVD in the drive and wait for few moments. An Autoplay dialog box appears. Click the Run Setup.EXE option  (Fiq.MO-1).
2. When you click the Run SETUP.EXE option, the Select a Microsoft Office Prodcut dialog box appears. In this dialog box, click on the radio button beside a product name listed in the dialog box. If you want to install collection of Microsoft Office application then select the product type as Microsoft Office siute. For example, click on the radio button beside the Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 to select a type of M icrosoft Office suite. If you are interested in installing selected application then click on radio button beside the desired application name (Fiq.MO-2).
3. After selecting the product to be installed, click the Continue button (Fiq.MO-2).
4. The Enter you Product key dialog box appears. Type the product key provided with the software CD or DVD. Pay attention while typin the product key as wrong product key will halt the installation process (Fiq.MO-3).
5. After typin the product key, click on the Continue buuton (Fiq.MO-3).
6. The Choose the Installation you want dialog box appears. Click the Install Now button to start the installation process (Fiq.Mo-4).                                                                                                                                                                                                    N........ If you want the other options than the default installation options, then click on the Customize button in Choose the installation you want dialog box. A dialog box named after the selected product (in our case the dialog box is appearing as Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007) appears. The options available in this dialog box depand upon the type of product selected by the user. Make required changes in the dialog box and then click on the install Now button (Fiq.MO-5).
7. The Installation Progress dialog box appears with a progress bar showing the indicative amount of files copied to the computers (Fiq.MO-6).
8. Once the installation is complete, a dialog box appears with two buttons -Go to Office Online and Close. If your computers has a live internet connection then it is strongly recommended to visit the website and know about the lates trends, and if you are interested in viewing additions information then click the Go Office Online button (Fiq.MO-7).
9. In few moments the default web browser, usually Internet Explorer, displays the official website of the selected product. Browse through hyperlinks to view information select downloads (Fiq.MO-8).
10. If you are not interested in viewing any online information or if the Internet connection is not available, then click the Close button (Fiq.MO-9).                                                                                                                                                 

First View of Microsoft Office 2007

         When you launch any of the Microsoft Office 2007 applications, you will find a new layout with completely different arrangement of commands and options (Fiq.MO-10). Although the names, arrangement, and number of menus and commands differ from one application to another, still there are some common festures in each of these applications and therefore need to be considered.

Let us start exploring the common feartures of Microsoft Office 2007 applications, starting from top-left corner.

Microsoft Office Button

          Every Microsoft Office 2007 application contains a round button on the top left. This button is known as Microsoft Office button. It is replacement of file menu. The picture used in this button is simillar to the logo of Microsoft Office 2003. Clicking on this button bring up a partitioned Office menu. Fiq.MO-11 shown Office menu of Microsoft Powerpoint 2007.

            The left side of menu hoste some common options of old file menu such as new, open, save, print, etc. An option name followed by right arrow indicates that the option has a sub-menu which appears when you place the mouse pointer over the option's name. For example, Fiq.MO-12 shows the Print Preview command being selected in the Office menu of Microsoft PowerPoint 2007. The right sie of menu displays a list of recently open documents. Clicking on document name will open the document (Fiq.MO-13).

          At the bottom of the menu shown in Fiq.MO-12, you will find two buttons. Clicking the first button will open a window from where you can turn on or off features available for the application. The second button lets you close the application. The name of the Office application in which you are working appears on these buttons. For example, if you click on the Option button of Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 application then the menu will display Options and Exit buttons as PowerPoint Options and Exit PowerPoint (Fiq.MO-14).

Setting Options in Microsoft Office 2007 Applications

            You can set options for any Microsoft Office 2007 application by clicking on the Options button in the Office menu. For example, Fiq.MO-15 shows a user clicking on the Word options button in the Office menu of Microsoft Word 2007 application.    

              When you click the Options button, an Options dialog box appears. The left side of the Option dialog box displays the category names while the right side shows options available in the selected category. Options of a selected category having similar task or functionality are categorized under a heading in the right hand side. Some categories offer options which affect other Office applications and you can set them from any application. For example, Fiq.MO-16 shown the options of Popular category in the Word Options dialog box. You can set the options in Popular category to changes the color scheme, User name, and Language Settings for Word as well for other office 2007 applications like Excel and PowerPoint.

          Beside setting options for entire office, you can personalize the working of an application. For example, Fiq.MO-17 Shows the various options in the Formula category of Excel Options dialog box. You can use this category to set the working of formulas and error checking in Excel.

           The Save option is another important option to customize an application, By using the Save category in the Options dialog box, you can set options to decide how documents will be saved. For example, You can set default format, location, and auto-save time to save your documents. Not only this, you can even set options to preserve fonts and other visuals details at the time of saving documents. In Fiq.MO-18, a user is setting options in the save category of PowerPoint Options dialog box.  

Quick Access Toolbar

            In all Office 2007 applications, the Quick Access toolbar is located just beside the Office button and the name of this toolbar itself defines its purpose. By default, the Quick Access toolbar displays three buttons - Save, Undo, and Repeat  (Fiq.MO-19).

          You can customize the Quick Access toolbar for every Office 2007 application by adding, removing, and changing the order of button or commands through the Customize category of Options dialog box. Some commonly used buttons or commands can be included in the toolbar without accessing the Customize category. Just click on down-arrow button beside the toolbar and select the desired button name in the drop-down menu. If you want to include button other than the ones listed in the drop-down menu, then select More Commands options in the drop-down menu (Fiq.MO-20).

       The Options dialog box appears showing options available in the Customize category (Fiq.MO-21). As you can see from figure, the right side is divided into two columnar headings - choose commands from and Customize Quick Access Toolbar.

            The Choose Commands from lets you add buttons or commands from a command category (menu name, commonly used Office buttons and formattind commands) to the Quick Access toolbar. In order to select a command category, click on the down-arrow button under the heading name and select a commands category from the drop-down menu. Buttons or commands available in the selected location appers in the list box, located just below the name of selected location. By default, buttoms, or commands available under Popular command category appear first. To add a button or command to the Quick Access toolbar, fiest select a command category and then double- click over button or command name appearing in the list box. The selected buttons or command name appears under the heading Customize Quick Access. 

          On the other hand, the Customize Quick Access Toolbar displays commands or buttons already present or recently added in the Quick Access toolbar. You can decide whether to diaplay the customized Quick Access toolbar in all documents or in the currently open documents only by clicking on the down-arrow button and selecting the desired options. By default, the For all documents options appears under the heading which means that all the modofications done to the Quick Access toolbar, will be application for all the documents. After importing buttons or commands from various command categories, you can change their sequence by clicking on Move up or Move down buttons.

           At any moment, if you feel to restore the toolbar to its earlier state, then click the Reset button, All modifications made to the toolbar disppear and the Quick Access toolbar comes to its default state with save, undo, and repeat buttons, After having done all the necessary modifications to the Quick Access toolbar, click the OK button (Fiq.MO-21).

A Customized Quick Access toolbar is shown in Fiq.MO-22.

Title Bar

          A Title bar in Microsoft Office 2007 applications displays the name of document and application you are currently working with, Fiq,MO-23, For example, displays the name of the document as Placements Cell at Kogent and the name of the application as the Microsoft PowerPoint.

If you open or save a file created in older version of MS Offuce, then the Tilte bar displays Compatibility Mode between file and application names. For example, in Fiq.MO-24 the Title bar is displaying Compatibility Mode between file name (Customer Care at Kogent) and application name (Microsoft Word).

Ribbon

         The Ribbon is the most significant change in Microsoft Office 2007. The fluent interface of Ribbon lets you do work more while viewing commands all the time. In Ribbon, commands and tasks are clubbed under task oriented Tabs. Groups within each Tab break a task into subtasks, and command buttons in each group carry out a command or display a menu of commands. The presence of down-arrow on a button means there are more commands under this button. Sometimes a down-arrow buttons is used to split the button horizontally or vertically. Clicking the down arrow button of a split button will display a list of additional options. You can choose options from the list and set them as default to carry out tasks. For example, in Microsoft Excel 2007, clicking the down-arrow button of the fill color button will display a list of colors with some additional options. You can choos a fill color and set it as default color for filling cells (Fiq.MO-25). Thus, the next time you click the fill color button, the color selected last time gets applied to cell or range of cells.

            You can minimize the Ribbon to view more working sapce. Just right click on the Ribbon and select the Minimize the Ribbon option in the shortcut menu (Fiq.MO-26). As a result the ribbon gets minimized.

          You can see in Fiq.MO-27 that the ribbon has been minimized. Clicking the Tab name in minimized Ribbon will re-display the entire Ribbon. And no sooner, the mouse-movement reaches outside the Ribbon, it gets minimized once aganig. To restore the minimized Ribbon just right-click on the Ribbon and once again click on the Minimize the Ribbon option.          

Using Keyboard Shorcut Keys For Executing Commands

           While working in Microsoft Office 2007 applications, pressing the Alt key displays shortcut keys on the Ribbon. To access commands under a tab, first of all you have to press the shortcut key assigned to he Tab. After pressing the shortcut key for, Tab, the shortcut keys for executing commands will appear over each button, option,or group. press the corresponding shortcut key to execute the command.

         For example, in Microsoft Excel 2007, the Ribbon is displaying commands and options available under the Formulas tab and you want to insert a SmartArt in Worksheet by accessing required command or option in the Insert tab.  To do so, First of all press the Alt key, as a result, the shortcut keys for accessing Tabs appear Taps appear fiest on the Ribbon. Press the shortcut of Insert tab, i.e N, as shown in Fiq.MO-28.

          Now to insert an SmarArt use the Commands and options available under the Insert tab that appears in the Ribbon. Press the shortcut key for inserting SmarArt.i.e. M, as shown in Fiq.MO-29. Thus the shortcut key for executing the SmartArt command turns out as Art+N+M.

           When you press the Alt + N + M Keys, the dialog box for choosing a smartArt appears over the worksheet. Make necessary selection and click the OK button to place the SmarArt (Fiq.MO-30).

Live Preview and SmartArt

           The induction of Live Preview in Microsoft Office 2007 application lets you preview the after effects of any kind of formatting well in advance and before actually applying it. Thus Live Preview completely overwrites the old concept - apply, view and undo. For example, in older version of Microsoft Office, if you are applying  a style to a heading then first you have to apply it then view the after effect and in case you do not like the style then undo the entire process or modify the style. But with Live Preview in Microsoft Office 2007, you can peview formatting by just placing the mouse-pointer over the formatting option and see effects side by side in the document. Live preview works with text as well as objects. Fiq.MO -31 shows the preview of table style in the document as user moves the mouse over a table style.

             SmartArt is all new range of objects available in most of the Microsoft Office 2007 applications. SmartArts are used to depict relationship or hierarchy involved in a process / task. Once SmartArt is placed in the document, you can add required information to it; modify its existing appearance and resize it. Fo easy to use purpose, SmartArts are placed under different categories. Choose a SmartArt from a category and make your document more impressive, as shown in Fiq.MO-32.

Mini Toolbar

             Mini Toolbar is another interesting feature of Microsoft Office 2007. On making a selecting a feded Mini Toolbar appears on the screen with some basic formatting commands. Just move the mouse-pointer over the feded Mini toolbar to bring it into limelight and then select the desired formatting option. By using the Mini Toolbar you do not have to struggle in moving the mouse at distances within the fixed boundaries of mouse-pad. Fiq.MO-33 Shows the use of Mini Toolbar in Microsoft Office 2007 window.

New File Extensions

            In Microsoft Office 2007, new file extensions are introduced. Any file created in older version of Microsoft Office can be opened in Microsoft Office 2007, but vice-versa is not possible with Microsoft office 2007 application's files. To maintain compatibility between different versions of Microsoft Office you need to save file from Microsoft Office 2007, exactly in those file extensions which are supported by earlier Microsoft Office versions. The following table helps you understands the difference between the old and new file extensions that come with Microsoft Office 2007.

Application Name:  Earlier Version ( Microsoft Office 2003 - 2007)

Microsoft Word                           .doc      -        .docx

 Microsoft Excel                          .xls      -         .xlsx

Microsoft PowerPoint                 .ppt     -         . pptx

Microsoft Access Database         .mdb   -         .accdb

Using Help in Microsoft Office 2007

         For round the clock assistance, Help remains available in all applications of Microsoft Office 2007. Functioning of Help in Microsoft Office 2007 applications is same as it was in earlier versions of Microsoft Office  - Click on the Help button present on the top right corner of application's Ribbon; type the keyword and press the Enter key to view result. You can also use the help function by clicking the? sumbol in a dialog box which appears after exacuting the command. Clicking the? symbol in a dialog box directly displays the help for the commands due to which dialog box appears, plus help on how to use options available in the dialog box.

            The comprehension level of Help in Microsoft Office 2007 applications is far much better than it was earlier. Searching resultes on keywords now bcome more precise followed by detailed explanations with visual elements. With option to seek Online Help, updates and new up coming can be viewed through the Help. Fiq.MO-shows the Help of Microsoft Excel 2007.

Security in Microsoft Office 2007

          Security cover in Microsoft Office 2007 helps you in safeguarding important files from being copied or modified by other users. Password to open and password to modify are two ways to protect your document from being copied or modified. Depending upon your requirement, you can set either one or both types of passwords on a same file. Fiq.MO-35 show the dialog box to type both types of passwords.

Not only this, the Security cover maintains a firewall which blocks the malicious macros hidden in the files. There are two security features in Word, Excel and PowerPoint that are essential to help protect you against macro viruses:

• Mscro detection using macro security levels
• The Trust all installed add-ins and templates feature

These two features interact with each other and you need to set up both to reduce your computer's vulnerability. Before looking at these features in greater depth, you need to know more about deciding who to trust to. You can do this by looking at the marco creator's credentials on a digital certificate.

Digital certificates are issued by commercial certification authorities, such as verisign, Inc., who do background checks to verity that the writers or producers of marcros (know as publishers) are reputable. Although it's also possible to "self-certify," self certificates are not considered "trusted". However, they can be handy for internal use.

Summary

          The all new fluent interface of Microsoft Office 2007 is far better than its earlier versions. The all new Ribbon with Office button and Quick Access Toolbar makes easy to view and execute the commands. The induction of Mini Toolbar and  Live Preview removes lots of formatting hurdles; and the SmartArts gives new scopes in making impressive documents. Against all odds and challenges, the comprehensive Help in Microsoft Office 2007 applications remove common maisconceptions over "how to use and deal" with new interface.

Conclusion :  We hope that our humble effort to inspire, encourage and ignite the minds of our students will be appreciated by teachers and parents. That is the ultimate aim of this series.

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