Ignore This Chapter on Computer

Ignore This Chapter on Computer
Parts
In This Chapter
B Finding out the names for the gizmos and gadgets on your computer
B Understanding what all those things do
B Finding out what stuff your computer needs in order to use Windows XP
his chapter introduces computer gizmos and gadgets. Go ahead
and ignore it. Who cares what all your PC gadgetry is called? Unless
your PC’s beeping at you like a car alarm (or not beeping when it’s supposed
to beep), don’t bother messing with it. Just dog-ear the top of
this page, say, “So, that’s where all that stuff is explained,” and keep
going.
In Windows XP, you just press the buttons. Windows XP does the dirty
work, scooting over to the right part of your computer and kick-starting
the action. In case Windows XP stubs a toe, this chapter explains where
you may need to put the bandages. And, as always, the foulest-smelling
technical chunks are clearly marked; just hold your nose while stepping
over them gingerly.
The Computer
The computer is that box, usually beige, with all the cables poking out
its back. Officially, it probably answers to one of two names: IBM (often
called True Blue when people try to dump their old ones in the classifieds)
or an IBM compatible or clone.
Today, most people just call their computers PCs because that’s what
IBM called its first personal computer back in 1981. In fact, IBM’s first PC
T
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 18
started this whole personal computing craze, although some people lay
the blame on video games.
The concept of a small computer that could be pecked on in an office or
den caught on well with the average Joe, and IBM made gobs of
money—so much money, in fact, that other companies immediately
ripped off the IBM design. They cloned, or copied, IBM’s handiwork to
make a computer that worked just like it. These computers, made by
companies such as Dell, Gateway, and others, are compatible with IBM’s
own PC. They can all use the same software as an IBM PC without spitting
up.
IBM-compatible computers generally cost less than IBM’s official brand
of PCs, and they usually work just as well (or better) than IBM’s own
line of computers. In fact, more people own compatibles than own
IBM’s own line of personal computers.
A Windows XP runs equally well on IBM-compatible computers and
on IBM’s own brand of computers; the key word is IBM. Computers
from other planets, like the Macintosh, don’t run Windows XP, but
their owners don’t care. They just smile pleasantly when you try to
figure out how to create a Windows XP file association.
A Okay, so a Macintosh can run some versions of Windows software,
but they require special (and expensive) Windows-emulating software.
(Head for www.connectix.com.) These days, you’re probably
better off sticking with either a Mac or a PC—don’t try to
interbreed their brands of software.
A As other companies built compatible computers, they strayed
from the original IBM design. They added sound, color, and dozens
of exciting new internal parts. Luckily, Windows XP usually identifies
what computer parts it’s dealing with, so it knows what tone of
voice to use when speaking with them.
A Laptop and notebook computers can run Windows XP with no
problems—as long as they buy a separateversion of Windows XP
for each of them. (That’s because Windows XP includes
Microsoft’s irritating new copy-protection scheme called Activation;
it’s covered in Chapter 3.)
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 19
A Different brands of computers often tweakWindows subtly, adding
different programs and sticking extra buttons on their keyboards.
Don’t be surprised to see some slight differences between the
instructions in this book and the computer in front of you.
A Palmtops and other handheld computers can’t run Windows XP.
They use an itty-bitty version of Windows called Windows CE.
(Windows CE Version 3.0 powers Microsoft’s new Pocket PCs,
designed to compete with the Palm handhelds.)
The Microprocessor (CPU)
The computer’s brain is a chunk of silicon buried deep inside the computer’s
case. Over the years, the CPU has grown from the size of a
cracker to a mammoth chocolate bar. This flat computer chip is the
microprocessor, but nerds tend to call it a central processing unit, or
CPU. (You may have seen flashy microprocessor TV commercials that
say “Intel Inside.” Intel is a leading CPU developer.)
The computer’s microprocessor determines how quickly and powerfully
the computer can toss information around. Windows XP isn’t
happy unless it rides on a Pentium III microprocessor or an even faster
one. You can also use Intel’s speedier Pentium 4 and Itanium microprocessors,
as well as a speedy AMD Athlon. Yep, if you’re looking to use
Windows XP, you’ll probably want a new computer.
A A microprocessor is the current evolution of the gadget that powered
those little 1970s pocket calculators. It performs all the computer’s
background calculations, from juggling spreadsheets to
swapping dirty jokes through office e-mail.
A Microprocessors are described by several numbers. Generally, the
bigger the numbers, the faster and more powerful the chip.
A Don’t know what microprocessor lives inside your computer?
Right-click on the Start menu’s My Computer button and choose
Properties from the pop-up menu. When the System Properties
window appears, the processor’s name appears near the bottom. If
the numbers still look confusing, Intel offers free software to identify
your Intel CPU at www.intel.com.
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 20
A Don’t be afraid to buy a fast AMD Athlon microprocessor for your
new computer. It’s just as fast, cheaper, and just as good as Intel’s.
(Disclosure: I have stock in Intel, but I’m considering a trade to
AMD.)
A CPU manufacturers assign several numbers to their chips. Intel
usually places a number after the chip’s name: Pentium II, Pentium
III, and Pentium 4. A CPU’s processing speed is measured in megahertz,
or MHz. The cache size (pronounced “cash”) is measured in
kilobytes, like 512K. When comparing microprocessors, just
remember that the bigger the number, the faster Windows performs.
Disks and Disk Drives
The computer’s disk drive, that thin slot in its front side, is like the
drawer at the bank’s drive-up teller window. That disk drive enables
you to send and retrieve information from the computer. Instead of
making you drop information into a cashier’s drawer, the computer
makes you send and receive your information from disks. The most
popular types—the floppy disk, the compact disc, the DVD, the Zip
disk, and the hard disk—appear in the next five sections.
Not sure what kilobyte (K), megabyte (MB), and gigabyte (GB) mean?
Head for that section in Chapter 3.
Floppy disks
You can shove anything that’s flat into a floppy drive, but the computer
recognizes only one thing: floppy disks. Things get a little weird here, so
hang on tight. See, by some bizarre bit of mechanical wizardry, computers
store information on disks as a stream of magnetic impulses.
A disk drive spits those little magnetic impulses onto the floppy disk for
safe storage. The drive can slurp the information back up, too. You just
push the disk into the disk drive and tell Windows whether to spit or
slurp information. That’s known as copy to or copy from in computer
parlance.
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Floppy disks are sturdy 3 1/2-inch squares that are losing popularity in
favor of the compact disc, or CD, which I describe in the next section.
A A disk drive automatically grabs the 3 1/2-inch disk when you push
it in far enough. You hear it clunk, and the disk sinks down into the
drive. If it doesn’t, you’re putting it in the wrong way. (The disk’s
silver edge goes in first, with the little round silver thing in the middle
facing down.) To retrieve the disk, push the button protruding
from around the drive’s slot and then grab the disk when the drive
kicks it out.
A Computer stores sell blank floppy disks so that you can copy your
work onto them. Unless your new box of blank disks has the words
preformatted or IBM formatted, you can’t use the disks straight out
of the box. They must be formatted first. I cover this merry little
chore in Chapter 11.
A Computers love to copy things. When you’re copying a file from
one disk to another, you aren’t moving the file. You’re just placing a
copy of that file onto that other disk. (Of course, you can move the
files over there, if you want, as I describe in Chapter 11.)
Compact discs (CD-ROM drive stuff)
Computer technicians snapped up compact disc technology pretty
quickly when they realized that the shiny discs store music in the form
of numbers. Today, most companies sell their programs and information
on compact discs. A single compact disc holds more information
than hundreds of floppy disks.
To use a disc, your computer needs its own compact disc drive. The CD
player with your stereo won’t cut it. (The CD player with your computer
will play music, however, provided your PC has speakers.)
CDs enter your computer in a more dignified way than a floppy disk.
Push a button on your compact disc drive, and the drive spits out a little
platter. Place the CD on the platter, label side up, and push the little
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 22
button again. The computer grabs the CD, ready for action. (If the button’s
too hard to reach, just nudge the platter, and it’ll retreat.)
A For years, you couldn’t copy files onto a compact disc—you could
only read information from it. Only the people at the CD factory
could copy files to CDs, and that’s because they had a whoppingly
expensive machine. Now, many cheap compact disc drives let you
read and copy files and music to your own discs. In fact, copyright
attorneys are holding international conferences to make sure that
nobody can create copies of their favorite Pearl Jam albums and
give them to their friends.
A Windows XP comes with software for writing information to blank
CDs. To create copies of your favorite Pearl Jam albums, head for
Chapter 13.
A A CD that stores information until it’s full is known as a CD-R. A CD
that can read, write, erase, and then write more information is
called a CD-RW. Naturally, the CD-RW discs cost much more than
their limited cousins.
A Compact disc is spelled with a c to confuse people accustomed to
seeing disk ending with a k.
A Multimedia computers need a sound card as well as a compact
drive; the drive alone isn’t enough to make music. This requirement
is the computer industry’s special way of making people
spend more money. (Most of today’s computers come with a builtin
CD-ROM drive and sound card.)
A Windows XP’s Media Player can play MP3 files—tiny files containing
songs from your CDs. For the latest information about MP3,
pick up my book, MP3 For Dummies, 2nd Edition, published by, er,
Hungry Minds, Inc. (Hey, I didn’t choose the name.)
A The latest compact disc drives play both CDs and DVD discs—the
discs with movies on them. DVD players get their own section
coming up next.
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 23
A Windows XP offers technology called Autoplay. Just pop the CD
into the CD-ROM drive, and Windows XP automatically revs it up,
whether the disc contains music, programs, or trendy videos of
glassblowers in Italy. Autoplay is one more step toward eliminating
installation hassles.
DVD discs
Although it’s hard to tell the difference between a DVD disc and a compact
disc by looking, the computer certainly knows. A DVD disc can
hold up to 25 times more information than a CD—enough information
to hold an entire movie in several languages and extra perks, such as a
director’s voiceover explaining why a certain actress giggled during certain
shots.
DVD drives cost a bit more, but they play back music CDs as well as
DVDs (the kind you rent or buy in video stores). Most DVD drives can’t
write to CDs, though, although writeable DVD drives are starting to
appear on souped-up multimedia PCs.
DVD drives are great for computer nerds who love watching movies on
a 15-inch computer monitor with tiny speakers. Nearly everybody else
prefers watching DVDs on their living room TV or home theater.
Although nearly every sound card works with a DVD player, only special
DVD-compatible sound cards can play the extra surround sound
stored on a DVD.
Iomega drives
Tired of the void between floppies and CDs, the Iomega company created
its own breed of disks and drives. The robotic-sounding Zip and
Jaz are plastic disks that hold up to 2GB of information, making them
convenient for backing up garage-sized boxes of data.
The company’s latest disk, the shirt-pocket-sized PocketZip, holds 40 to
100MB of data, usually music stored as MP3 files for the HipZip MP3
player.
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 24
Iomega’s drives are very convenient—not only for people who always
run out of data space, but also for people who’ve been burned a few
times and always like to keep plenty of backups.
A Iomega’s Zip drives are the small, portable gadgets that look sort
of like Sony Walkmans. PocketZip disks store music and data, letting
the HipZip MP3 player double as a file transporter: Spreadsheets
hold hands with Britney Spears.
A Zip, Jaz, and PocketZip disks provide an easy way to move data
from the office to home and back—if you’re forced to even consider
such a thing.
Hard disks
Not every computer has a compact disc drive, Iomega drive, or even a
floppy drive, but just about everybody has a hard disk: little spinning
donuts inside the computer that can hold thousands of times more
information than floppy disks. Hard disks are also much quicker at reading
and writing information. (They’re a great deal quieter, too, thank
goodness.)
Windows XP insists on a hard disk because it’s such a huge program. It
grabs more than a gigabyte of space for itself.
A The point? Buy the largest hard disk you can afford. A 20GB drive
certainly isn’t excessive.
A If a program has a lot of multimedia —sounds, graphics, or movies—
you need an even bigger hard disk or perhaps a second one.
That type of information eats up the most space on a hard disk.
What does write-protected mean?
Write protection is supposed to be a helpful safety feature, but most
people discover it through an abrupt bit of computer rudeness: Windows
XP stops them short with the threatening message shown in Figure
2-1 while they are trying to copy a file to a floppy disk or CD.
A write-protected disk has simply been tweaked so that nobody can copy
to it or delete the files it contains. Write protection is a simple procedure,
surprisingly enough, requiring no government registration. You
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 25
can write-protect and unwrite-protect disks in the privacy of your own
home.
A To write-protect a 3 1/2-inch floppy disk, look for a tiny black sliding
tab in a square hole in the disk’s corner. Slide the tab with a
pencil or your thumbnail so that the hole is uncovered. The disk is
now write-protected.
A To remove the write protection on a 3 1/2-inch floppy disk, slide
the little black plastic thingy so that the hole is covered up.
A All CDs come write-protected. That’s why you must use Windows
XP’s special CD writing tool that prepares the CD and writes the
information. (Copying information to a CD is covered in Chapter
18.)
A If you encounter the write-protect error shown in Figure 2-1, wait
until the floppy drive stops making noise. Remove the disk,
unwrite-protect the disk, and put it back in the drive. Then repeat
what you were doing before you were so rudely interrupted.
A Write-protection messages are different than Access Denied messages.
If Windows XP denies you access to something, head to
Chapter 9 to understand its reasoning for your slap in the face.
The Mouse and That Double-Click
Stuff
The mouse is that rounded plastic thing that looks like a child’s toy.
Marketing people thought that the word mouse sounded like fun, so the
Figure 2-1:
Windows
XP sends an
error
message if
a disk is
write-protected.
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 26
name stuck. Actually, think of your mouse as your electronic finger,
because you use it in Windows to point at stuff on-screen.
Most mice have little rollers, or mouse balls, embedded in their bellies.
(Where were the animal-rights people?) When you push the mouse
across your desktop, the ball rubs against electronic sensor gizmos.
The gizmos record the mouse’s movements and send the information
down the mouse’s tail, which connects to the back of the computer.
As you move the mouse across your desktop’s rubber mousepad, you
see an arrow, or pointer, move simultaneously across the computer
screen. Here’s where your electronic finger comes in: When the arrow
points at a picture of a button on-screen, you press and release, or click,
the left button on the mouse. The Windows button is selected, just as if
you’d pressed it with your finger. It’s a cool bit of 3-D computer graphics
that makes you want to click buttons again and again.
A You control just about everything in Windows XP by pointing at it
with the mouse and clicking the mouse button. (The mouse
pitches in with a helpful clicking noise when you press its button.)
Sometimes you need to click twice in rapid succession. The last
sections in Chapter 5 explain mouse-click mechanics.
Disk do’s and doughnuts
A Do label your disks so that you know what’s
on them. (You can write on the top side of
compact discs with a permanent felt-tip
pen.)
A Do at least make a valiant effort to peel off a
floppy disk’s old label before sticking on a
new one. (After a while, those stacks of old
labels make the disk too fat to fit into the
drive.)
A Do feel free to write on the label after it has
been placed on the disk.
A Do not write on the disk’s sleeve instead of
the label. Disks always end up in each
other’s sleeves, leading to mistaken identities
and faux pas.
A Do copy important files from your hard disk
to floppy disks or compact discs on a regular
basis. (This routine is called backing up in
computer lingo.)
A Do not leave floppy disks lying in the sun.
A Do not place 3 1/2-inch disks next to magnets.
Don’t place them next to magnets disguised
as paper clip holders, either, or next
to other common magnetized desktop items,
such as older telephones.
A Do handle compact discs and DVDs by their
edges, not their surfaces. Keep the backside
of the discs as clean as possible, and place
them in their cases when you’re not using
them. Don’t use them for coasters unless
they’re in their cases.
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 27
A The plural of mouse is mice, just like the ones cats chew on. It’s not
mouses.
A Some laptops come with a touch pad—a little square thing for you
to slide your finger over. As you move the tip of your finger across
the pad, you move the mouse pointer across the screen. Other laptops,
like IBM’s suave black ThinkPads, have a TrackPoint, a little
pencil eraser that sticks up out of the keyboard, wedged above the
B key and below the G and H. Just push the eraser in the direction
you want the mouse to move, and the mouse pointer scurries.
A Microsoft’s IntelliMouse has what looks like a tiny waterwheel protruding
from the mouse’s neck. By slowly rolling the waterwheel
back and forth with your index finger, you can scroll up or down in
your current work, line by line. Fun! Plus, pushing down once on
the waterwheel creates an automatic double-click, depending on
how the mouse is set up.
A Not all mice roll atop balls. Some use little light sensors to track
their movement. Dave Chapman sent me a letter about his optical
mouse that worked intermittently. A replacement mouse worked
similarly, sometimes behaving properly, other times uncontrollably.
The problem worsened as spring approached. At his wits’ end,
he noticed his computer-illiterate wife sitting at the desk, holding a
piece of printer paper over the mouse as she worked. “You won’t
believe this,” she said. “But when the sun shines in the window
and onto the mouse, it won’t work.” Dave fixed the mouse by pulling
down the window shade when he worked.
The mouse arrow changes shape, depending on what it’s pointing at in
Windows XP. When it changes shape, you know that it’s ready to perform
a new task. Table 2-1 is a handy reference for the different uniforms
the mouse pointer wears for different jobs.
Don’t worry about memorizing all the various shapes that the pointer
takes on. The pointer changes shape automatically at the appropriate
times. I describe the shapes here so that you won’t think that your
pointer’s goofing off when it changes shape.
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 28
Table 2-1 The Various Shapes of the Mouse
Pointer
Shape What It Points At What to Do when You See It
Just about anything Use this pointer for moving from
place to place on-screen. Then
click to bring that place to Windows’
attention.
A single window Uh-oh. You’ve somehow
selected the annoying size or
move option from the Control
menu. Pressing the keyboard’s
little arrow keys now make the
current window bigger or
smaller. Press Enter when you
finish, or press Esc if you want
to get away from this uncomfortable
bit of weirdness.
The top or bottom
edge of a window
Hold down the mouse button
and move the mouse back and
forth to make the window grow
taller or shorter. Let go when
you like the window’s new size.
The left or right side
of a window
Hold down the mouse button
and move the mouse back and
forth to make the window fatter
or skinnier. Let go when you like
the window’s new size.
The corner of a window
Hold down the mouse button
and move the mouse anywhere
to make the window fat, skinny,
tall, or short. Let go when you’re
through playing.
A program or box that
accepts text (this
pointer is called an Ibeam)
Put the pointer where you want
words to appear, click the button,
and start typing the letters
or numbers. This only works in
areas that accept words,
though, like word processors or
forms.
A word with a hidden
meaning in Windows
or the Internet
Click the mouse, and Windows
XP trots out some more helpful
information about that particular
subject.
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 29
Video Cards and Monitors
The monitor is the thing you stare at all day until you go home to watch
TV. The front of the monitor, called the screen or display, is where all
the Windows XP action takes place. The screen is where you can watch
the windows as they bump around, cover each other up, and generally
behave like nine people eyeing a recently delivered eight-slice pizza.
Monitors have two cords so they won’t be mistaken for a mouse. One
cord plugs into the electrical outlet; the other heads for the video card,
a special piece of electronics poking out from the computer’s back. The
computer tells the video card what it’s doing; the card translates the
events into graphics information and shoots the pictures up the cable
into the monitor, where they appear on-screen.
Nothing (Windows is
busy ignoring you)
Move the mouse in wild circles
and watch the hourglass spin
around until Windows catches
up and lets you do something
constructive. The hourglass
often appears when you are
loading files or copying stuff to
a floppy disk.
Anything Keep working. This pointer
means that Windows XP is
doing something in the background,
so it may work a little
more slowly.
Anything By clicking the little question
mark found in the top-right corner
of some boxes, you create
this pointer. Click confusing onscreen
areas for helpful informational
handouts.
Something forbidden Press the Esc key, let go of the
mouse button, and start over.
(You’re trying to drag something
to a place where it doesn’t
belong.)
Table 2-1 The Various Shapes of the Mouse Pointer
(Continued)
Shape What It Points At What to Do when You See It
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 30
A Like herbivores and cellulose-digesting gut microorganisms, monitors
and video cards depend upon each other. Neither can function
without the other. In fact, your monitor only displays pictures as
nicely as your video card can dish them out. Also, LCD monitors
require special cards capable of feeding them the right signals.
A Unlike other parts of the computer, the video card and monitor
don’t require any special care and feeding. Just wipe the dust off
the screen every once in a while. (And at least try to keep the cat
off the monitor.)
A Spray plain old glass cleaner on a rag and then wipe off the dust
with the newly dampened rag. If you spray glass cleaner directly
on the screen, it drips down into the monitor’s casing, annoying
the trolls who sleep under the bridge.
Ignore these awful graphics terms
Some people describe their monitors as ‘boxy’
or ‘covered with cat hair’; others use the following
strange scientific terms:
A Pixel: A pixel is a fancy name for an individual
dot on-screen. Everything on-screen is
made up of bunches of dots, or pixels. Each
pixel can be a different shade or color, which
creates the image. (Squint up close, and you
may be able to make out an individual pixel.)
If your thin new LCD monitor has a tiny dot
that doesn’t match the colors on the rest of
your screen, that pixel is “out.” Complain,
loudly, when you first take it out of the box. It
occasionally results in a replacement.
A Resolution: The resolution is the number of
pixels on a screen—specifically, the number
of pixels across (horizontal) and down (vertical).
More pixels mean greater resolution:
smaller letters and more information packed
onto the same-sized screen. People with
small monitors usually use 800 x 600 resolution.
People with normal-to-larger-sized
monitors often switch to 1024 x 768 resolution
so that they can fit more windows onscreen.
A Color: This term describes the number of
colors the card and monitor display onscreen.
Today’s speedy video cards can easily
display Windows XP in millions of colors.
A Mode: A predetermined combination of pixels,
resolution, and colors is described as a
graphics mode. Right out of the box, Windows
XP uses a mode that works for just
about everybody. You don’t need to know any
of this stuff. If you’re feeling particularly
modular, however, you can change the Windows
XP graphics modes after reading the
“Appearance and Themes” section of Chapter
14.
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 31
A Some glass cleaners contain alcohol, which can cloud the antiglare
screens found on some fancy new monitors. When in doubt, check
your monitor’s manual to see if glass cleaner is allowed. My Nanao
monitor came with its own special rag for wiping off the glass.
A When Windows XP first installs itself on your computer, it interrogates
the video card and monitor until they reveal their brand
name and orientation. Windows XP almost always gets the correct
answer from them and sets itself up automatically so that everything
works fine the first time.
A Windows XP may be dominating, but it’s accommodating, too. It
can handle a wide variety of monitors and cards. In fact, most monitors
and cards can switch to different modes, putting more or
fewer colors on-screen and shrinking the text so that you can cram
more information onto the screen. Windows XP enables you to
play around with all sorts of different video settings, if you’re in
that sort of mood. (If you are, check out Chapter 14.)
Keyboards
Computer keyboards look pretty much like typewriter keyboards with a
few dark growths around the perimeter. In the center lie the familiar
white typewriter keys. The grayish keys with obtuse code words live
along the outside edges. They’re described next.
Groups of keys
Obtuse code-word sorters divvy those outside-edge keys into key
groups:
Function keys: These keys either sit along the top of the keyboard in
one long row or clump together in two short rows along the keyboard’s
left side. Function keys boss around programs. For example, you can
press F1 to demand help whenever you’re stumped in Windows XP.
Numeric keypad: Zippy-fingered bankers like this thingy: a square, calculator-
like pad of numbers along the right edge of most keyboards.
(You might have to press a key called Num Lock above those numbers,
though, before they’ll work. Otherwise, they’re cursor-controlkeys,
which I describe next.)
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Cursor-control keys: If you haven’t pressed the magical Num Lock key,
the keys on that square, calculator-like pad of numbers are usually the
cursor-control keys. These keys have little arrows that show which
direction the cursor moves on-screen. (The arrowless 5 key doesn’t do
anything except try to overcome its low self-esteem.) Some keyboards
have a second set of cursor-control keys next to the numeric keypad.
Both sets do the same thing. Additional cursor-control keys are Home,
End, PgUp, and PgDn (or Page Up and Page Down). To move down a
page in a word-processing program, for example, you press the PgDn
key.
Pressing the cursor keys doesn’t move the little mouse-pointer arrow
around on the screen. Instead, cursor keys control your position inside
a program, letting you type information in the right place.
The Windows key: Eager to make money from selling keyboards and
software, Microsoft came out with a bold new design: the Microsoft Natural
Keyboard, which includes special Windows keys. (The keys, which
straddle your spacebar, boast a little Windows icon like the icon on
your Start button.) Pressing the Windows key opens the Start menu,
which can be done at the click of a mouse, anyway. Ho hum. A little key
next to the Windows key—the one with the little mouse pointer and
menu—quickly opens menus. Table 2-2 shows more things theWindows
key can do—if you can remember them.
Table 2-2 Windows Key Shortcuts
To Do This Press This
Display Windows XP Help +F1
Display the Start menu
Cycle through the taskbar’s buttons +Tab
Display Windows Explorer +E
Find files +F
Find other computers on the network Ctrl++F
Minimize or restore all windows +D
Undo minimize all windows Shift++M
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 33
More key principles
These keyboard keys may sound confusing, but Windows still makes
you use them a lot:
Shift: Just as on a typewriter, this key creates uppercase letters or the
symbols %#@$—the traditional G-rated swear words.
Alt: Watch out for this one! When you press Alt (which stands for Alternate),
Windows does one of two bothersome things: It moves the cursor
to the little menus at the top of the current window, or it underlines a
single letter in your menus. To go back to normal, press Alt again.
Num Lock: Pressing this key toggles your numeric keypad (described in
the preceding section) from displaying numbers to controlling the cursor.
Ctrl: This key (which stands for Control) works like the Shift key, but it’s
for weird computer combinations. For example, holding down the Ctrl
key while pressing Esc (described next) brings up theWindows XP Start
menu.
Esc: This key (which stands for Escape) was a pipe dream of the computer’s
creators. They added Esc as an escape hatch from malfunctioning
computers. By pressing Esc, the user was supposed to be able to
escape from whatever inner turmoil the computer was currently going
through. Esc doesn’t always work that way, but give it a try. It sometimes
enables you to escape when you’re trapped in a menu or a dastardly
dialog box. (Those traps are described in Chapter 5.)
Scroll Lock: This one’s too weird to bother with. Ignore it. (It’s no relation
to a scroll bar, either.) If a little keyboard light glows next to your
Scroll Lock key, press the Scroll Lock key to turn it off. (The key’s often
labeled Scrl Lk or something equally obnoxious.)
Delete: Press the Delete key (sometimes labeled Del), and the unlucky
character sitting to the right of the cursor disappears. Any highlighted
information disappears as well. Poof.
Backspace: Press the Backspace key, and the unlucky character to the
left of the cursor disappears. The Backspace key is on the top row, near
the right side of the keyboard; it has a left-pointing arrow on it. Oh, and
the Backspace key deletes any highlighted information, too.
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 34
If you’ve goofed, hold down Alt and press the Backspace key. This
action undoes your last mistake in most Windows XP programs. (Holding
down Ctrl and pressing Z does the same thing.)
Insert: Pressing Insert (sometimes labeled Ins) puts you in Insert mode.
As you type, any existing words are scooted to the right, letting you add
stuff. The opposite of Insert mode is Overwrite mode, where everything
you type replaces any text in its way. Press Insert to toggle between
these two modes.
Ugly disclaimer: Some Windows XP programs—Notepad, for example—
are always in Insert mode. There’s simply no way to move to Overwrite
mode, no matter how hard you pound the Insert key.
Enter: This key works pretty much like a typewriter’s Return key, but
with a big exception: Don’t press Enter at the end of each line when typing
documents. A word processor can sense when you’re about to type
off the edge of the screen. It herds your words down to the next line
automatically. So just press Enter at the end of each paragraph.
You’ll also want to press Enter when Windows XP asks you to type
something—the name of a file, for example, or the number of pages you
want to print—into a special box. (Clicking a nearby OK button often
performs the same task.)
Caps Lock: If you’ve mastered the Shift Lock key on a typewriter, you’ll
be pleased to find no surprises here. (Okay, there’s one surprise: Caps
Lock affects only your letters. It has no effect on punctuation symbols
or the numbers along the top row.)
Tab: There are no surprises here, either, except that Tab is equal to five
spaces in some word processors and eight spaces in others. Still, other
word processors enable you to set Tab to whatever number you want.
Plus, a startling Tab Tip follows.
Press Tab to move from one box to the next when filling out a form in
Windows XP. (Sometimes these forms are called dialog boxes.)
PrtScrn/SysRq: Press this key, and Windows snaps a picture of your
desktop, ready to be pasted into a graphics program like Paint. Hold
down Alt and press PrtScrn, and Windows snaps a picture of only the
currently active window. Use the Paste function, described in Chapter 8,
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 35
to copy the snapped picture to another program. (SysRq doesn’t do
anything.)
Ctrl+Alt+Delete: Pressing all three of these keys at the same time brings
up the Windows XP Task Manager. Described in Chapter 7, the Task
Manager lets you switch from window to window and oust any misbehaving
programs.
A If you don’t own a mouse or a trackball, you can control Windows
XP exclusively with a keyboard. But it’s awkward, like when Darth
Vader tries to floss his back molars.
A The Scroll Lock and Pause/Break keys don’t do anything worthwhile
inWindows. However, if you hold down theWindows key and
press Break, Windows’ System Properties window appears, displaying
lots of technical mish-mash about your computer.
A Finally, some keyboards come with special keys installed by the
manufacturer. My Gateway’s keyboard lets me adjust the sound,
log on to the Internet, control my CD or DVD, or make the computer
go to sleep. Information about these keys lives in my computer’s
Control Panel under an icon named Multi-function
Keyboard.
Modems and the Internet
I admit it. I used my modem the other night to order Thai food from the
restaurant across town. How? My wife and I dialed up Food.com
(www.food.com) through the Internet, chose our items from the onscreen
menu, and punched in our address and phone number. An hour
or so later, we stuffed ourselves with Mee Krob and other unpronounceable
bits of yumminess.
Modems are little mechanical gadgets that translate a computer’s information
into squealing sounds that can be sent and received over plain,
ordinary phone lines. We clicked the check box next to Mee Krob on
our computer, a modem at the credit card company tabulated the
whole process, and the electric registers started ringing.
Most new computers include built-in modems for dialing up the Internet’s
World Wide Web. In fact, if you bought a new computer, you probably
already have all the parts you need to jump on the Internet
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 36
bandwagon. Windows XP comes with the software you need to power
those parts: Internet Explorer.
With Internet Explorer, you can browse the Web, or blanket your desktop
with Web pages, as shown in Figure 2-2. Elaborate Web site art will
fill your desktop like posters along the walls of Parisian streets.
A Even if you already have a modem and Internet Explorer, you must
pay monthly fees to an Internet service provider (ISP). The ISP
gives you a special name and password that let you access the
Internet.
A Chapter 12 covers the Internet and the Web. It doesn’t say what
Mee Krob tastes like, though.
A The computers on both ends of the phone lines need modems in
order to talk to each other. Luckily, most online services have hundreds,
or even thousands, of modems for your computer’s modem
to talk to over the phone lines.
Figure 2-2:
Windows
XP enables
you to
spread Web
pages
across your
desktop.
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 37
A Some speedy modems don’t use phone lines—they ride on special
cables installed by your cable TV company or phone company.
A Internet access is two-way—you can talk to other people, and they
can talk to you. To filter out evil people who take advantage of this
and try to break into your computer, Windows XP includes a firewall.
Chapter 12 shows how to install it.
A Your computer doesn’t have a modem? You’ll find complete installation
instructions in one of my other books, Upgrading and Fixing
PCs For Dummies, 5th Edition (IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.).
Printers
Realizing that the paperless office still lies several years down the road,
Microsoft made sure that Windows XP can shake hands and send
friendly smoke signals to hundreds of different types of printers. In fact,
Windows XP often recognizes new printers as soon as you plug their
cables into your computer.
If Windows XP doesn’t notice your efforts, Chapter 14 shows you how
to choose the name and manufacturer of your printer from Windows
XP’s massive list. Windows checks its dossiers, finds your printer information,
and immediately begins speaking to it in its native language.
That’s all there is to it—unless, of course, your printer happens to be
one of the several hundred printers left off the Windows XP master list.
In that case, cross your fingers that your printer’s manufacturer is still
in business. You may need to get a driver from the manufacturer (see
Chapter 15) before your prose can hit the printed page.
A Printers must be turned on before Windows XP can print to them.
(You’d be surprised how easily you can forget this little fact.)
A Windows XP prints in a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get)
format, which means that what you see on-screen is reasonably
close to what you’ll see on the printed page.
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 38
Networks
Networks connect PCs so that people can share information. They can
all send stuff to a single printer, for example, share a modem, or send
messages to each other asking whether Marilyn has passed out the paychecks
yet.
Some networks are relatively small—less than five computers in a home
or small office, for example. Other networks span the world. In fact, the
Internet runs on a huge computer network that sprawls through nearly
every country.
A Microsoft createdWindows XP on the shoulders of its Big Business
version of Windows. That means Windows XP handles networks
with finesse and delicacy. That also means it offers dozens of bothersome,
difficult-to-understand details about local area connections
and user names. Chapter 9 holds the full scoop.
A Windows XP Home version contains enough networking gusto that
it lets several different computers share a single printer, modem,
and files. Windows XP Professional version adds more-advanced
networking features that placate system administrators. Home and
small-business users will do fine with Windows XP Home version.
Sound Cards (Making Barfing
Noises)
For years, PC owners looked enviously at Macintosh owners—especially
when their Macs ejected a disk. The Macintosh would simultaneously
eject a floppy disk from its drive and make a cute barfing
sound. Macs come with sound built in; they can barf, giggle, and make
really disgusting noises that I won’t mention here.
But the tight shirts at IBM decided there was no place for sound on a
Serious Business Machine. The industry soon wised up, however, and
now nearly every PC comes with a sound card. Plug a pair of speakers
into the sound cards speaker outlet, and the accounting department’s
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 39
computers can barf as loudly as the ones in the art department down
the hall.
A A sound card looks just like a video card. In fact, all cards look
alike: long green or brown flat things that nestle into long flat slots
inside the computer. Speakers plug into sound cards like monitors
plug into video cards, only the speakers have smaller plugs.
A Although most new computers come with sound cards already
installed, most companies constantly release new software for
making them work better. (Chapter 15’s section on installing a new
driver can help knock a miscreant sound card back into action.)
A Windows XP comes with a wide variety of noises, but it doesn’t
have any barf noises. Windows Media Player, described in Chapter
13, lets you listen to music CDs, Internet radio stations, DVD
soundtracks, MP3 files, and just about anything else that makes
sounds.
A The latest, fanciest computers come with DVD drives, special
sound cards, software, and extra speakers so that you can hear surround
sound when watching DVD movies. Better clear off your desk
for the big woofer and extra speakers that go with it.
A Just like the Macintosh, Windows enables you to assign cool
sounds to various Windows XP functions. For example, you can
make your computer scream louder than you do when it crashes.
For more information, refer to the section in Chapter 14 on making
cool sounds with multimedia.
Ports
The back of your computer contains lots of connections for pushing out
and pulling in information. The deeper you fall into the Windows lifestyle,
the more likely you’ll hear the following words bantered about.
Plus, when something falls out of the back of your computer, Table 2-3
shows you where it should plug back in.
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 40
Table 2-3 What Part Plugs into What
Port?
This Port . . . . . . Looks Like This . . . . . . And Accepts This
Keyboard Your keyboard. (Some laptops
let a mouse plug into the new
style keyboard ports, too.)
Mouse Your mouse. (Known as a PS/2
port, some laptops also let a
keyboard plug into it.)
Video Your monitor’s smallest cable.
(The monitor’s biggest cable
plugs into the power outlet.)
Serial (COM) External modems.
Parallel (LPT) Your printer.
USB Universal Serial Bus (USB)
gadgets. (Used by digital cameras,
gamepads, printers, MP3
players, and more.)
Sound A sound card has at least
three of these ports for these
tiny plugs: one for headphones,
one for the microphone,
and the other for an
external sound source like a
radio, tape recorder, camcorder,
TV card, and so on.
Cable TV TV cards accept your TV cable
here; some cable modems use
an identical port.
Telephone Run a telephone line from the
wall to here on a modem. (The
modem’s second jack lets you
plug in the telephone. Look
closely for a label.)
New Style
Old Style (Pre-1994)
New Style
____________________Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 41
Parts Required by Windows XP
Table 2-4 compares what Windows XP asks for on the side of the box
with what you really need before it will work well.
Network Networks use one of two connector
styles. 10BaseT looks
like a telephone line, but
slightly thicker. Thin Coax is a
rounded metal cup that
pushes over a rounded metal
cylinder.