Ok, I have a new PC, but now what? How do I do this? Or, how do I do that? If this sounds like you, then this page is for you. I will try to cover some basic areas here. This page does not assume anything about what you may or may not already know. If any of the following does not help you, then feel free to leave any replies here for the purpose of asking questions to help clear up anything that you are currently concerned with. This page is not for problems, if you are having real problems, refer to the problems page.
1. How do I install software? Simply insert the CD or DVD into the drive. The installation procedure should start immediately. If nothing happens, click on start, then click on Run and type in d:\setup.exe and if that doesn’t help, type in d:\install.exe. Please note that when doing this, the d:\ could be a different drive such as e: depending upon how your computer is set up. After the installation procedure begins, simply follow the instructions on the screen.
2. How do I create shortcuts? Do a right click with your mouse anywhere on the desktop and select new and then select shortcut. You will first be asked to type in the location of the program or internet address you want the shortcut to be assigned to. The next thing you will be asked for is what you want to call the shortcut. That will be up to you depending upon what it is. You can also change the icon of the shortcut. To do this, simply right click on the icon and select properties. Then select change icon and browse through and select the appropriate icon and then click ok or cancel. Then click apply and/or ok.
3. Creating & saving documents. When creating and saving or accessing saved documents, it’s best to save them in My Documents directory. This way you always know where they are. Being consistent in where you keep your files will help you find them when you need them. This way if you click start and then My Documents, the files you created are already there to access. When saving documents, click on File, then click on save or save as and type in a filename that applies to what you are doing.
4. Never, never turn your computer off before doing a shutdown! The computer must be shutdown before turning it off. Not adhering to this rule could bring about corrupt or damaged files on your computer.
5. How do I back up my files? There are many ways to do this. You can download a program from Download.com to aid you in this process. If you do this, look for Backup in the Utilities and Drivers section. You can create your own program using DOS to do this (for those who are DOS savvy) You can copy and paste or drag and drop files manually to a CD or DVD. Unfortunately not all Windows based systems come pre-installed with backup software. Some use something called System Restore, which is not the same thing. If you are familiar with using archiving programs such as Pkzip, you can create your own batch files to aid you in this process. Check out this link for additional information.
6. A note about deleting files that most may not be aware of. If you delete files from within windows such as right clicking on a file and selecting delete, after you confirm you want to delete it by clicking yes, the files you are deleting go to the recycle bin. However, if you are in the black DOS command prompt window and you choose to delete some files, the files do not go to the recycle bin. They are gone unless you use a utility to undelete them. Be careful where and how you delete files.
7. How do I play music on my computer? You can either use downloaded software such as Windows Media Player, Winamp and/or some other type of software to play music. You can even put a CD in the drive and Windows Media Player can play them.
I can go on here as to what other conditions you would need to know. But, as requests come in, if any, I can update this page accordingly. If you are not sure how to do something, feel free to leave a reply here and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. If need be, you can check out either of these sources:
1. Courses (available through this blog)
2. Internet Help for PC Users
