Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ‫ا ا اد‬

Royal Commission at Yanbu %&' ‫ا)( ا‬

University College – Yanbu %&'-./0‫ا ا‬
Department of ACS & AIT
Yanbu Al-Sinaiyah 3/'4‫ ا‬%&'

2ND Semester 2007-08

LAB SHEET 3 (Week No. 3)

PREPARATORY COMPUTERS I

INTRODUCTION TO WINDOWS XP
[Windows XP Basics]

OBJECTIVE
This lab is centered on demonstrating to the students how to use Windows XP and how to utilize
the Help and Support Center of Windows Operating System in order to get help when needed.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of this laboratory exercise, the student will learn how to:
• Start and shut down Windows
• Move around in Windows
• Change the computer time
• Change windows properties

MATERIAL REQUIRED
a. PC With MS Office 2003 Installed
b. Lab Sheet 5

FOR MORE INFORMATION

[1] Timothy J. and Linda I. O’Leary, “Computing Essentials”, McGraw-Hill/Irwin New York,
2004.
[2] Shelly C. V. “Office 2003, Introductory Concepts and Techniques”, US, 2003.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
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1 WINDOWS

1.1 About Windows

By far the most popular microcomputer operating system today is Microsoft’s Windows with
over 80 percent of the market [1]. Windows is designed to run with Intel and Intel-compatible
microprocessors such as the Pentium IV. It comes in a variety of different versions.

Windows provides a graphical user interface called the desktop as shown in Figure 1. Windows
gets its name from its use of rectangular boxes called windows. These boxes are extensively
used to display information and run programs. Multiple windows can be open at the same time,
making it easy to multitask, or work with different programs simultaneously. Windows uses
icons, small graphical representations of programs or functions, to aid you in navigating the
operating system. Icons are usually found on the desktop.

Figure 1: Windows XP’s Desktop

Like a traditional filing cabinet, Windows and many other operating systems store information in
a system of files and folders. Unlike the traditional filing cabinet, the information is stored on a
secondary storage device such as your hard disk.

1.2 Folders
Files are used to store data and programs. Related files are stored within a folder, and for
organization purposes, a folder can contain other folders. For example, to organize your
electronic files including those you have created (or will create) for this class; you might use the
My Documents folder on your hard disk. This folder could contain other folders, each named to
indicate their contents.

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One of the most common ways for users to interact with files and folders on the Windows
operating system is by selecting icons. For example, you could use icons to list the contents of
your My Documents folder by taking the steps shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Accessing the My Documents folder

Step 1: Click the My Computer icon on the desktop

Step 2: Click the My Documents folder in the Other Places section in the Web View panel

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1.3 The Start Menu
The Start menu (or Start button) provides access to a variety of functions including e-mail,
frequently used programs and your documents. Additionally, it provides operations to change
hardware settings, get online help, run programs, and more. For example you could use the Start
menu to run the Internet Explorer program as shown in Figure 1.

2 USING WINDOWS XP

2.1 Starting and Shutting down Windows XP

When you turn on the computer, an introductory black screen consisting of the Microsoft
Windows XP logo, progress BAR, COPYRIGHT MESSAGES (Copyright © Microsoft
Corporation), and the word, Microsoft, are displayed. The progress bar indicates the progress of
the Windows XP operating system launch.
After launching Windows XP, before working with the operating system you must log on to the
computer. Logging on to the computer opens your user account and makes the computer
available for use.
To log on to the computer:
• Point to your account icon on the welcome screen
• Click the icon
• Type your password in the Type your password text box
• Click the next button or press the Enter key

To shut down the computer:

• Click the Start menu
• Click on Shut Down
• Select Shut down in Shut Down Windows dialog box then
• Click OK

2.2 Moving around in Windows

As explained in section 1.1, Windows gets its name from its use of rectangular boxes called
windows. One can open as many windows as possible Figure 2, and he can move from one
window to another. He can equally copy things from one window to another. To open a window
using a desktop icon you simply need to Double-click (this means to quickly press and release
the left mouse button twice without moving the mouse).

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 Figure 2: Opening a window

In Figure 2, the My Computer window is the active window. The active window is the window
you currently are using or that currently is selected. Any window can be minimized, restored or
closed using the buttons on the right of the Title bar as shown in Figure 3. Each window may
have two scroll bars (horizontal and vertical) that can be used to move around in the window.

Figure 3: Minimize, maximize and close buttons

3 WINDOWS PROPERTIES

3.1 Changing the Computer Time/Date

To change the computer time/date:
• Double-click the Date/Time Control on the task pane
• Set the time and date then
• Click Apply or OK

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 Figure 4: Date and time properties

3.2 Changing the Windows Background

To change your desktop background:
• Open Display in Control Panel.
• On the Desktop tab, do one or more of the following:
o Click a picture in the Background list. In Position, click Center, Tile, or
Stretch.
o Click Browse to search for a background picture in other folders or on other
drives. In Position, click Center, Tile, or Stretch.
o Select a color from Desktop color. The color fills the space not used by a picture.
Note:
To open Display:
• Click Start
• Click Control Panel and then
• Double-click Display.

3.3 Changing the Windows Screen Saver

To set or change a screen saver:
• Open Display in Control Panel.
• On the Screen Saver tab, under Screen saver, click a screen saver in the list.

Note:
• After you select a screen saver, it will automatically start when your computer is idle for
the number of minutes specified in Wait.
• To clear the screen saver after it has started, move your mouse or press any key.
• To view possible setting options for a particular screen saver, click Settings on the
Screen Saver tab.
• Click Preview to see how the selected screen saver will appear on your monitor. Move
your mouse or press any key to end the preview.

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3.4 Changing the Windows interface from English to Arabic and Vice Versa
To change the computer interface from English to Arabic:
• Click the Start menu
• Select Control Panel
• Double-click on the Regional and Language Options icon
• Click on the Languages tab
• Change the from the English to Arabic in the Language used in menus and dialogs combo
box
• Click OK
• Click OK again in the Change Regional Options

Note: (1) the changes will not take effect until you restart the computer or at least log off and log
on again. (2) to change from Arabic to English, we follow the same steps.

4 EXERCISES
4.1 EXERCISE 1
1. Change your computer background and screen saver to Azul and Starfield respectively.
2. Change the interface of the windows XP on your computer from English to Arabic and
then change it back to English.
3. Using Windows XP Help, find out the meaning of the term firewall.

4.2 EXERCISE 2
Take the animated version of Windows XP tour.

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