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Basic Windows For Newbies
Posted 30th October 2006 at 3:49pm by M1ke, tagged as Technology, Tutorial | Commenting Closed

Since coming to college I find that the largest majority of computer users are those who aren't quite sure what they're doing. They can use the PCs, know how to browse the web, watch videos, listen to music and such, but don't really have much knowledge as to the way computers work or know much about how to keep them working well. I plan to write a series of larger guides about the best software to use for different applications in the near future, but for now here's a handy run-down of the stuff you should and shouldn't do with your PC.

Making Windows Better

Assuming you've never messed with any of the defaults in Windows before you should be able to do all of this stuff. If you haven't messed with the default settings but things that I say should be there are not (and vice versa) then either some software has already messed with it for you or someone else on your PC has.

Remember, the best way to learn is messing about, and don't be afraid to look in options and try and change things to see how it happens - just remember the following rules

• If you delete something, make sure to wait a few days before emptying your recycle bin - this means if things start to go screwy you can get stuff back
• Never go into the registry unless you know what you're doing. Don't trust instructions unless you understand them.
• Always remember/note the steps you take if you're messing with a lot of things in a row, that way it's a lot easier to retrace if necessary.

Having got these ground rules in place we can now progress with making your machine better.

• Firstly the few simple things to help Windows work for you. If you have a little box that says 'EN' on the taskbar to the left of the clock right click it. Assuming the option appears in the menu click 'Close language bar,' tick the box in the prompt that appears and click OK. The language bar is pointless, takes up taskbar space and indicates to many that you are a newbie.
  
• Right click your taskbar -> Move your mouse over 'Toolbars' -> Tick 'Quick Launch. Buttons will appear next to the start menu. Moving your cursor over them will show the function of the button. I recommend you right click -> 'Delete' all of them except for the one which says 'Show Desktop.' If you find yourself wanting to use it for other applications later it's quite easy to get shortcuts back onto it - for now it's very handy for the Show Desktop function.
  
• Moving further along right click on your 'Start' button -> Click 'Properties'. On the 'Taskbar' tab make sure that 'Lock the taskbar,' 'Keep the taskbar on top' and 'Show Quick Launch' are all ticked. In the bottom of the two frames it's your choice whether or not to show the clock, but I recommend that 'Hide inactive icons' is unticked. This is because if you have so many icons next to your clock (the System Tray) that you need to hide them then you have too many things running and your PC is likely to be slowed down as a result.
  
• Back on the Start Menu tab make sure the topmost of the two radio buttons is selected, and click the 'Customize' button. I recommend choosing 'Small Icons' in the top frame, putting '0' in the counter box in the second frame and leaving the bottom frame untouched.
  
• Now we come to a more complex part; click on the 'Advanced' tab, in the top frame the 'Open submenus...' box should be ticked and the other unticked. Now for the big list in the middle box which consists of tick boxes and lists of three radio buttons for a few options:
  • Control pannel -> Display as link
  • Enable dragging and dropping -> Ticked
  • Favourites menu-> Unticked
  • Help and Support -> Ticked (once or twice it may be useful)
  • My Computer -> Display as link
  • My Documents -> Display as link
  • My Music -> Display as link/menu (personal preference here)
  • My Network Places -> Ticked (at some point you'll probably need it)
  • My Pictures -> Display as link/menu (again, your choice)
  • Network Connections -> Link to Network Connections Folder
  • Printers and Faxes -> Ticked (if you don't have one, you probably will one day)
  • Run command -> Ticked (we'll use it later)
  • Scroll programs -> Unticked
  • Search -> Ticked (Unless you use Google Desktop Search)
  • St Program Access and Defaults -> Unticked
  • System Administrative Tools -> Display on the All Programs menu

  Ok, I hope we enjoyed that one. In the final box of this it's really up to you whether you want the 'Recent Documents' thing on. That's it for now with the start menu. Click OK on that window and Apply followed by OK on the window beneath.
  

• A lot of people don't know that the thing you use to look through files and folders is called Explorer. This is, of course, different from Internet Explorer. Opening My Documents, My Computer or any folder is opening a new Explorer window. So open a new explorer window and click onto the 'View' menu on the top bar. Make sure 'Status Bar' and 'List' have ticks next to them . Now open the 'Tools' menu. Click 'Folder Options' in the menu, then click the 'View' tab in the window that's just opened. Ignore the top box for now, instead have a look at another big list of options, and here we go:
  • Automatically search for.... -> Ticked
  • Display file size information... -> Ticked
  • Display simple folder... -> Unticked
  • Display the contents of system folders -> Ticked
  • Display the full path in the address bar -> Ticked
  • Display the full path in the title bar -> Unticked
  • Do not cache thumbnails -> Ticked (this frees small amounts of HDD space)
  • Hidden files and folders -> Show hidden files and folders
  • Hide extensions for known file types -> Unticked (this prevents you becoming stupid)
  • Hide protected operating system files -> Ticked (because they get in the way)
  • Launch folder windows in a separate process -> Unticked (unless explorer windows are always crashing, in which case tick it)
  • Managing pairs of Web... -> Show and manage...
  • Remember each folder's... -> Ticked
  • Restore previous folder windows... -> Unticked
  • Show Control Panel in... -> Ticked (we will use this later)
  • Show encrypted or compressed... -> Ticked
  • Show pop-up description... -> Ticked
  • Use simple file sharing -> Unticked

  Now click 'Apply to All Folders' in the top box, click 'Apply' and then 'OK at the bottom of the window and let out that breath you were holding. At this point I'd go to My Computer and set the View back to 'Tiles' because that's the one place where it's actually useful.
  

• Use the 'Show Desktop' button on the quick launch bar. Right click your Recycle Bin. Click 'Properties' and untick the box at the bottom. Sometimes you may end up accidentally deleting an item, but you can just nip to the bin and get it back and this saves you confirming it every time. Clumsy people need not follow this step.
  

So there's a little basic stuff about how to make your Windows experience a little bit easier. In the next article I'll deal with good and bad practices when it comes to your computer.

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