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If I can do it - so can you!

My first experience with a PC was when I bought my first one a few years ago, brought it home and sat in front of it trying to work out how to turn it on and make it work.

Though I clearly kept asking for the basic instructions, everyone assumed I knew more than I did. They kept telling me to go somewhere and do something but it meant nothing to me since I had no idea what that something was and where to find it. There is my reason for writing this section of my site - it is to assist all of you who, like me, are looking for what that something is and where to find it.

My initial fear was that if I turned the computer on at the switch or touched anything, it could break! It did not. It did get stuck sometime later and all I had to do to fix it was turn it off and than on again. (Caution: such action will cause all of your current work to be lost, if not saved first).

To ease this fear and build the beginners confidence in using his/her PC I have compiled listing of the very basic terms which are in frequent use by PC users.

* * * Most things which do go wrong can be easily corrected and even reversed or restorred to a specific day/time Good place to start and to get the most out of your PC (Personal Computer), is to learn the meaning of terms associated with it and get acquainted with names of parts used to operate your PC. The next important thing is to know where to locate those elements and to understand their purpose. ... Fear not what errors you'll make - all will be fixed; learning is like that *** All the individual pieces shown in this picture come in a variety of shapes, colours and with some differences in their functions from brand to brand. *** *** Basic processor units, upright or flat, if large enough, may have extra memory cards and other additional components with extra functions installed at later stages of it's use. *** PC (Personal Computer) is a machine able to be programmed to respond to specific instructions. It is made up of hardware, software (computer components) and peripherals. To display information it needs a monitor. To function it needs to have an operating system installed, such as windows. To carry out tasks and process data it needs to have software installed which is suitable for required tasks. Available disc space determines how much software you will be able to have installed. Disc space can be increased and this may be done in two ways: 1 - by installing additional memory card into your computer (providing there is enough space in the processor to do so) or 2 - by using a portable drive (a stick) ~~ Know It's Meaning And Where To Find It ~~ ** BROWSER It is a user interface, a software on a computer that allows you to browse. Your request can be something on the World Wide Web, online help or locally searched for file. It is presented as a window space for you to write you request in and then displays what you are browsing for. It allows you to navigate objects. Some type of browsers will allow you to send and receive emails, read and/or play video and sound files embedded in Web documents ** BYTE A unit of data that usually holding a single character, such as a letter, a digit, or a punctuation mark. Though some single characters can take up more than one Byte 1000 Bytes = 1 Kilobyte (KB) > 1000 KB = 1 Megabyte (MB) > 1000MB = 1 Gigabyte ** CD-R is a recognitionon mark used to write on a compact disk ** COMPUTER COMPONENTS Hardware and software are computer’s components. Both are needed for computer to be able to function **CONTROL PANEL It can be located in START. It is a program which offers features, represented by icons, relating to your system's operation and management. Each icon shown when clicked will open a page, or drop down a menu, with settings available for configuration on your PC. Those settings can be changed at any time but it is vital to understand the meaning of each function and how it will effect the operation of your computer before altering the existing setting. ** COMPUTER PERIPHERALS Common items like mouse, keyboard, monitor, printer, scanner, speaker, microphone or webcam etc., are all peripherals. Those are the additional hardware pieces that can be used to perform functions in conjunction with a computer and can only be fully operated as an extention of the host computer but not independently ** DESKTOP The screen of your Monitor   ** DISC SPACE Vacant space on your hard disk which is available for you to work with. Each installation of hardware or software takes up some of that space and if to have your computer running fast you are well advised to not install what you don’t really need. To check how much free space you have go to ‘My Computer’ located in START or on Desktop. This will take you to ‘My Computer’ where you will place your mouse pointer on the ‘Local Disk’ (no need to click). At that point available information will be displayed. ** HARDWARE Physical components of a computer. Parts that sit on the desk in front of you. The actual “body” of the computer system and all the elements which are able to be plugged or put into it ** ICONS Those are symbals representing various elements which are accessible and displayed on your computer ** KEYBOARD It resembles a typewriter and comprises of a set of keys. It allows you to perform many functions, but mostly is used to type text, such as letters and numbers ** LAPTOP All it’s components are in a single unit. Laptop’s screen and keyboard are smaller and the mouse is built-in as a touchpad or a small joystick. Laptops can be powered from the mains or by a rechargeable battery allowing you on the average about three hours of use from a single charge ** MENU Bar In most programs the menu bar sits across the top of the program window or though you can shift it to the side or up/down by dragging it with your mouse to where you want it to be. On it  usually you will see a selection of menus such as: -- FILE menu, which allows you options to save your work and  print ** MONITOR A ‘television like’ device. It houses the computer’s screen and uses it to display information such as text and/or graphics ** MOUSE: A device used to interact with items displayed on the monitor screen. A standard mouse  has a left and right button.  The left button is used to select items and provide instructions by clicking an active area on the screen.  The right button is used to display commonly used menu items on the screen.  Some will have wheels in the centre of the top part allowing you to conveniently scroll pages up and down. Instructions given to operate it : ... Click  (left click)   Press and release your left mouse button once.This action will position your mouse pointer in the desired place. ... Double-click Press and release your left mouse button twice in quick succession. ...Right click Press and release your right mouse button once (a pop-up menu will often appear displaying available functions). ... Drag Press your left mouse button and, keeping it pressed down, move your mouse so that your cursor ‘drags’ across the screen (this is used to highlight text or reshape an object) ** PIXEL The smallest unit with which all computer visible data is made ** RAM (Random Access Memory) The main computer memory which temporarily stores commands and data.  It is only available when the computer is turned on. All contents of RAM data  have to be copied to a storage device if it is to be saved ** RECYCLE BIN You will find it on the desktop. It is your disposal unit, though you can retrieve your deleted items until the final act of cleaning up your recycle bin. Items are put in it by deleting or being directly dropped in ** ROM (Read Only Memory) This is your work space memory. It retains it’s contents even after the computer is turned off. It is used to store commands such as to check if everything is working properly. It cannot be modified ** SOFTWARE Everything that appears on the computer screen.  All things needed by the computer to function. Software sends instructions to the hardware to perform the required tasks.  It is the recipe for the computer to perform pre-programmed functions. The most important software on any computer is it’s operating system (such as Microsoft Windows) which enables you to interact with the computer ** TASKBAR The bar that contains the Start button and appears by default at the bottom of the desktop. You can click the taskbar buttons to switch between programs. You can also hide the taskbar, move it to the sides or top of the desktop, and customize it in other ways ** TOOLBAR They feature options, a series of buttons,  that when clicked on to will access and activate certain functions, such as resizing your font or making it bold, etc. You will find them to be located at the top of the program window, just below the menu bar Look in your program's TOOLBAR and find Help. It is a part of most programs included to assist you with possible, common user delemas. Antivirus software is vital when connected to Internet. It provides protection against viruses infecting your PC and corrupting programs rendering them useless. eMail (electronic mail) is an Internet media used for communication by way of exchanging digital messages. Transmissions are only possible if there exists a connection to the e-mail infrustructure (an e-mail server system which will accept, store or forward and deliver messages on behalf of user), then message submission and delivery are made directly from one user's computer to the other. E-mail service is only possible to be carried out if originator's email address exists. Recipient's address is required for a successful message delivery. Internet Provider An Internet Service Provider (ISP, also called Internet Access Provider - IAP) is a business that offers it's customers access to the Internet for the purpose of communicating with one another by way of transmitting electronic messages through their ISP's servers. A customer may select one or more services from his server such as e-mail software package, internet service account or even for remotely storing data files.

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