After your machine has completed the start up process (booting up), the first thing you see is your desktop, yours may look different that the one pictured above due to the many different settings that are available. Some of the settings will be explained shortly, such as changing the background picture, the size of the desktop, and the size of the icons (the tiny pictures you see in the body of the desktop). If the web page you are looking at is too large to fit your screen, there will be a scroll bar on the right of your screen and possible at the bottom. Put your pointer on the bar and hold down the left click button, move the mouse up or down to move the page, if there is a wheel on your mouse, roll the wheel for the same result.
Locate an open area on the desktop (no icons) and right click, you will see a new menu. left click on PROPERTIES, a new page pops up called DISPLAY PROPERTIES, there are five tabs across the top, left click BACKGROUND, another windows opens where you will see a list of different pictures for your desktop, left click one to select it and see a preview. Find one you like, then left click APPLY and OK, you have a new desktop picture, the one displayed above is AZUL.
The next tab is SCREEN SAVERS, it works much the same as the background tab, except that you have to left click the little down indicator on the right to display the different ones. If you want a screen saver (not necessary) select it and left click the apply and ok buttons. Notice that there is another down indicator that allows you to change the time before your screen saver kicks in
The forth tab is APPEARANCE, here you can change the way the START button works, if you change to CLASSIC style, your start menu will look much like windows 98. Below that is the FONT SIZE, changing it to LARGE FONTS, increases the size of the desktop icons.
The last tab is called SETTINGS, the slider changes the size of your display, the higher the number, the smaller the display and the harder it is to see, however it increases the display area for the desktop, resulting in less scrolling. If your eyesight isn't perfect, you may prefer the lowest setting, which on newer computers is 800X600.
FINDING DISPLAY PROPERTIES
ICONS.
Icons are very small pictures that represent a program or application on your computer, when you click or double click the icon, the program opens or starts. They are very handy because they provide you a quick way to get started with a game or a project. Look closely at the lower left corner of an Icon, and in most cases you will see a small white arrow, which indicates that the icon is a shortcut.
Should you accidentally delete an icon, you haven't removed the program, only the easy access to it. Keep in mind that the main purpose of icons on your desktop is easy access, if you end up with 100, then you have defeated their purpose, because of the time it takes to locate what your looking for. A little later I'll discuss adding and removing icons to maintain an efficient desktop.
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START BUTTON
Left clicking the START button brings up a screen which allows you to navigate to different arrears of your computer, notice it is divided into two parts. The right side allows you to open things like your DOCUMENTS, MY COMPUTER, CONTROL PANEL, and several other common areas. The left side lists programs that you have recently used, this section changes when you open other programs that weren't already listed. At the bottom you see ALL PROGRAMS, put your pointer there and a list of many of the programs on your computer will appear. Placing your pointer over any item in the START directory will provide a brief description. I seldom use the START button, because using the shortcut icons on the desktop to open programs is faster and more efficient.
QUICK LAUNCH
Located next to the START button. It usually needs to be activated by doing this: Place your pointer in a blank area of the task bar (just before the TIME is a good choice), right click to get a menu, choose TOOLBARS, from the next menu, left click QUICK LAUNCH, that will place a check mark in front of it, and it will now be visible on your taskbar. This is a very useful area used to launch programs that you use very frequently, such as your browser, and the email application. Only three ICONS are visible, if you see a little double arrow(>>) it means there are more that are hidden, click the double arrow to view the others. If the following three are not the ones displayed, left click the double arrow, place your pointer on the one you want, hold down the left clicker and drag it to the quick launch bar, when you see a vertical black bar, release the clicker and there it is. The three ICONS I always keep visible are the DESKTOP, INTERNET EXPLORER, and my EMAIL PROGRAM.
The icons on the right represent active programs that run when you start up your computer. One that you should always see is your anti virus program, and the ever present clock. Place your pointer over the clock and you will see the day and date, double click the clock and you will see an adjustment screen. Most of the programs can be deactivated by right clicking the icon and choosing exit from the menu. (not recommended unless you have a good reason for doing so). This concludes the discussion of the DESKTOP and TASKBAR.
