ICT101
Computing Skills
Fundamentals
Lecture 03 – Introduction to
Windows OS
Department of Computer Science
B. Gopolang1(247-275)
Previous Lesson
• Definitions: Technology, IT & computer
• Shown the difference between Data vs Information
• Looked at the data processing cycle
• Discussed brief History of computers & various categories
of computers
• Described main computer components (s/w & h/w), and
how they relate with each other
• Looked at the computer’s basic functions
• Advantages and disadvantages of computers
2
Learning Objectives
At the end of the lecture, students should be able to:
• Understand the role of a Desktop in Windows
• Understand various icons in the Desktop and that they are
associated with some computer resource
• Understand that while using a computer in Windows, one
has to work with icons at some point (e.g. add, delete,
move, hide, etc)
• Understand the basic functionality of a Window in
Windows OS
• Understand various operations of a Recycle bin 3
1. Windows Desktop
• Main screen area we see after logging in to Windows
• Windows OS’ main working surface area
• Like the top of an actual desk
• Computer resources can be accessed from the desktop
• All opened/running programs or folders appears on the
desktop
• On the Taskbar
• You can arrange desktop items (e.g. files and folders)
however you want.
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Windows 7 Desktop
Desktop
icons
Desktop
Start Quick Notification
button Launch Taskbar Area
5
Windows 9 Desktop
Desktop
Start Quick Taskbar Notification
button Launch Area 6
After clicking the Start button:
Desktop User Shutdown Search
icons
Desktop
Applications Scroll bar 7
After clicking the Applications icon:
8
2. Desktop icons
• Small pictures on the desktop representing files, folders,
programs, and other items
• When Windows starts for the first time, at least one icon
appears on the desktop
• The Recycle Bin
• Below are some examples of desktop icons
• How to open/start resource it represents?
• Double-click the icon 9
3. Notification area
• Area at the far right of the taskbar
• Has a clock and a few icons
• Moving mouse over any icon will display icon-specific
information
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4. Adding and removing icons
• Which icons should appear on the desktop?
• Add or remove icons at any time
• Most people
• Keep clean uncluttered desktop with few or no icons
• But others place dozens of icons on the desktop for quick
access to frequently used programs, files, and folders
• Want easy access from the desktop to your favourite
files/folders/programs?
• Create shortcuts to them.
11
5. Shortcut
• An icon that represents a link to a resource, rather
than the resource itself.
◦ When double-clicked, the linked resource opens.
• Shortcut identification?
◦ A blue arrow on the icon.
12
6. Adding shortcut to the desktop
• Locate resource you
want to create a
shortcut for.
• Right-click on the
resource
• Click Send to
• click Desktop (create
shortcut).
• Shortcut icon appears
on your desktop.
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7. Removing an icon from desktop
• Right-click the icon
• Click Delete
• Click Yes to confirm
• Or No to cancel
• If icon is actual resource
• Resource deleted
• If icon is a shortcut
• Shortcut removed
BUT
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• Linked resource is not deleted
8. Adding/removing common
desktop icons
• E.gs. Of common desktop icons:
• Computer, Recycle Bin & your personal folders
• Right-click an empty area of the desktop,
• Click Personalize.
• In the left pane, click Change desktop icons.
• Under Desktop icons, select the check box for each icon
that you want to add to the desktop,
• Or clear the check box for each icon to be removed
• Click OK.
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9. Moving icons around
• By default, Windows space icons evenly on an invisible
grid.
• Icons are stacked in columns on the left side.
• Not rigid: we can move icons by dragging them
• You can have automatic icon arrangement
• How?
• Right-click an empty area on the desktop,
• Click View
• Then click Auto arrange icons. 17
10. Selecting multiple icons
• Required when moving or deleting a group of icons at once
• How?
• First select all of them
• Click on an empty desktop area
• Drag the mouse
• Surround icons that you want to select with the
rectangle that appears.
• Release mouse button.
• Perform required action
• Drag or delete 18
11. Hiding/Showing Desktop Icons
• Right-click on
any blank
portion of the
Desktop.
• Click View on
the appearing
pop-up menu • If there was a tick next to this option:
it will disappear and the desktop will
• Click Show
be have no icons
desktop icons.
• If there was no tick, a tick will appear
and icons will be displayed 19
12. The Recycle Bin
• When a resource is deleted
• it is not deleted right away
• it goes to the Recycle Bin Empty Not empty
• Temporary storage of unwanted resources
• A brilliant idea,
• We can recover accidentally deleted resources
• If certain that we no longer need the deleted resources:
◦ Simply empty the Recycle Bin.
• Resources deleted permanently & disk space
reclaimed 20
13. Window functionality
• Each Window has these:
• Title Bar
• Window control buttons:
◦ Minimize
◦ Maximize
◦ Restore
◦ Close
• Menu Bar
• Toolbar
• Scroll Bars 21
Sample Window
22
Summary
• Desktop in Windows
• Using icons
• Shortcuts
• Activities to perform on icons
• Recycle bin
• Windows functionality
23
Next lesson
• File Management
24
Q &A
25
