WINDOWS XP TUTORIALS

Free Windows XP Tutorials

Most basic computer users only need to know a few things about their operating system. In the Windows XP tutorials we will cover the basics of Windows XP. We will start with the Start menu, desktop and screen saver then move through the control panel and explore the topics of user accounts, display options, printers and mouse. We will then move onto file structure and windows updates . If you would like to jump around you can access each of these tutorials in the above in text links. Enjoy the easy to follow tutorials and please feel free to email me with any questions.
Lets get started with learning about your start menu and desktop.

The Windows start menu is where you will find and access all of your programs and settings. There are 2 looks to your start menu, classic and the XP version. Windows XP default Start Menu will look like this.

The left hand column is a list of recently used programs and will change as you use your computer. The right hand column is where you will see the classic options of the start menu.
Windows users that have worked with Windows 98 or Windows 2000 will recognize the classic look.
If you prefer the classic look you can change the look of your start menu by right clicking on the lower blue bar and clicking properties.

A window will appear and you will need to click on the Start Menu tab and click the Classic Start menu button then click ok to make the change.

Easy to Follow Windows XP Tutorials
Desktop Edition

In this Windows XP Tutorial on the Desktop I want to give you a brief description of what a desktop is. You can arrange the icons on the electronic desktop just as you can arrange real objects on a real desktop -- moving them around, putting one on top of another, reshuffling them, and throwing them away. Many users put files and shortcuts to programs on their desktop so they can find them easily. I would like to show you some fun features of the Windows desktop.
By right clicking any where on the desk top you can access the features menu.

Put your mouse over the Arrange Icons by. This will bring up another menu you can use to sort you icons on the desktop by name. When you click on Name it will sort your icons alphabetically. This is a useful tool when you start getting several icons on your desktop.
The other tool I find useful is the Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard. This will open a wizard that will walk you step by step through removing icons on your desktop that to rarely or never use. At the end of the wizard it will put all of the icons you select in a folder on your desktop so you can still easily access the programs but they are not spread out all of the desktop.

Now lets move onto the fun part, properties. The properties window is where you can change the look and feel of your desktop. Right click any where on the desktop to bring up the features menu. Then click on properties and a window will come up that looks like this.

I have found that many parents, grandparents, and pet owners like to have pictures of their loved ones on their desktop. To do this click on the Desktop tab.
You can scroll through the default items in the background section and click on each one to preview the backgrounds in the computer image above. To insert a picture of your own click on the browse button. A window will open for you to find an image. Browse through your folders to choose an image. (Most people save their pictures in the My Documents folder under My Pictures.) If your pictures show up in a list and you want to preview them before selecting one click on the view menu and select thumbnails.

Click on the image and click open. The picture will appear in the computer on the Display Properties Window. Sometimes the picture can appear distorted. To fix this Click on the position drop down menu and select the Center option to restore the picture to the original size and center it on the screen.

Now that you have your favorite picture on your desktop lets move onto Screen Savers.
A screen saver is a program which displays either a completely black image or a constantly changing image on a computer monitor to prevent a stationary image from "burning" into the phosphor of the screen. Screen savers usually start automatically after the computer has had no user input for a preset time.
If you do not currently have the Display Properties Window open, open it by right clicking any where on your desktop and selecting properties.
When the Display Properties window opens select the Screen Saver Tab.

There are many options for screen savers. You can browse these options with the drop down menu. A favorite of mine and many parents and grandparents is to put a slideshow of pictures.
To do this select the My Pictures Slideshow in the drop down menu. This selection will default to you’re my Pictures folder. If you have your pictures saved in a different location you can change the location by clicking the settings button.

The My Pictures Screen Saver Options window will open and give you many options to make changes to your picture slide show. You can change the amount of time each pictures displays on your screen by clicking and holding the mouse button down and dragging the slider bar back and forth in the How often should pictures change section.
You can do the same with the slider bar for the picture size.
If you have your pictures saved in a different location you can click on the Browse button and Browser folder will open for you to select a new location for the computer to get your pictures from for your screen saver slide show.

Once you have selected the folder click ok and you will be brought back to the My Pictures Slide Show Option window. There are 4 check boxes at the bottom of the window.
The first check box is Stretch small pictures. Be careful when selecting this box because pictures that are smaller might have less pixels or image quality and when stretched it will be very blurry.
The second check box is show file names. If you select this box the name and location of the file will appear on each picture in the upper left hand corner when it is displayed on the screen.
The third check box is Use transition effects between pictures. This will make the pictures fade in and out slide across the screen and more visual effects. If this check box is unchecked it the pictures will change with no effect in between.
The fourth check box is Allow scrolling through pictures with keyboard. When this box is checked it will let you hit the right and left arrow keys on your keyboard to manually change the picture before it changes automatically without turning off the screen saver.
Once you have made you selections and changes click the OK button to return to the Display Properties window.
To preview the selections you made click the preview button and your screen saver will start and you can play with the settings. Once you move your mouse or hit a button on the keyboard it will go off and return you to your Display Properties window.
The last thing I would like to cover before moving onto the Appearance tab is the timing before your screen saver comes on. You change this where it says wait under the screen saver drop down menu. You can change this by clicking on the up and down arrows. You don’t want the time to be too long because that defeats the purpose of the screen saver.
Set the Wait time between 1 and 15 minutes.

Lets move on to the Appearance tab in the Display Properties window. The Appearance tab is used to customize the look of windows, menus, fonts, and icons. This tab can be very useful if you have poor eye site and have trouble seeing small font and icons on the computer screen. Click on the Appearance tab and lets get started.

We will start at the top and work our way down. The display at the top of the window is a preview of how your windows, fonts, and icons will look after you are finished making the changes.
Click on the drop down menu under Windows and buttons: This will give you the option to select classic style or Windows XP style. For all of the windows 98 and 2000 users you may prefer the familiar look of the classic style.
Moving on down the window to the Color scheme. Color scheme is just a fun thing to play around with to change the look and feel of your computer. Click on the drop down menu under Color scheme. If you have choosen the XP style you will have 3 color options to choose from. If you choose classic style from the menu above you will have many choices. Pick your favorite color by clicking on it and lets move onto the Font size menu.
Click the Font size drop down menu. You will be given 3 choices; Normal, Large, or Extra Large. Click on each one and choose the font that is easiest for you to view.
Now lets change the size of the icons on your computer. Click on the Effects button on the right hand side of the Display Properties Window.

The Effects window will appear then check the Use large icons check box and click ok to return to the Display Properties window.
That is all a basic user will need to worry about for this section of the Windows XP tutorials. Click the ok button in the Display Properties window to apply the changes you have made. If you have any question about any features we did not cover you are always free to email me with you questions at airscholar@gmail.com

Windows XP Tutorials
Control Panel Edition

In the Windows XP tutorials Control Panel Edition we will only cover the features that a senior or beginner user would be interested in. The Control Panel is full of tools to change the way Windows looks and behaves. We will cover the topics of user accounts, Appearance and Themes, and printers, mouse, and keyboard. You can click on any of these topics to jump ahead.
We are going to start with User Accounts. To open the Control Panel Click on Start then Control Panel in the right hand column. if you are using the XP version of the Start menu, if you have your start menu set to Classic the control panel is under settings The Control Panel window will open and look like this.

If your control panel looks different you are probably in Classic View. Click on the Switch to Classic View link in the upper left corner. We will be continuing the tutorials in the Category View.
User accounts is a place where you can add or delete users, change a password or password protect your user account, change administration options, Change the picture by your name when you log on, or change the way you log on and off.
User Accounts is a beneficial tool because it allows each user of the computer to have there own look and feel for the Windows desktop, customize their own favorites on the web, and have their own My Documents folder.
Click on User Accounts and we will get started.

When the User Accounts Window opens you can see it is pretty straight forward. We go through each of the three options. Now click on the Change an account. Then click on one of the accounts in the list.
You can get to this same screen by clicking on one of the accounts at the bottom of the User Account Window.

Now let’s go one by one through these options. You do not have to make any changes to your computer but I would like you to get a feel for all of the windows if you do need to make changes in the future.
Click on the Change my name link.

If you have a grandchild or child that no longer uses your computer or you purchased a used computer from someone you can put your name here or type the name of someone else that would use that account. If you did not make any changes click cancel to return to the User Account window.
Click the Change My password link.

If your account is currently password protected and you would like to change the password you would enter the information in each text box and click the Change Password button at the bottom. If you have forgotten your password you can click the Show password hint and your hint to help you remember will appear in a little box. Click Cancel if you have not made any changes to return to the User Account Window.
Click on the Remove My Password link.

If your computer is currently password protected you can type your current password into the text box and click the Remove Password button and you will no longer need a password to log into your computer. Click Cancel if you did not make any changes to return to the User Account window
Now we are going to move on to the fun link, click on Change My Picture.

In this window you can change the picture that appears next to your name in the Start Menu and when you log on. To scroll through the default Microsoft pictures click the up and down arrows to the right of the pictures click on the picture you would like, or if you would like to pick a picture from your own click on the Browse for more pictures link and select a picture from one of your folders. Then Click open and click the Change Picture button. If you did not make any changes click Cancel to return to the User Accounts window.
Moving on down the list click Change My Account Type.

If you are doing this tutorial with your account you are probably set up as the administrator. As the administrator you can access all programs and files and install programs on the computer. If you are set up as a Limited user you might not be able to install certain programs. You will still be able to change your own password, picture and desktop settings.
You cannot change an account to a Limited user if they are set up as an administrator and there is only one administrator. You would need to create another administrator account before changing an administrator to a limited user.
If you made changes click the Change Account Type button, if no changes were made click Cancel to return to the User Accounts window.
Click on Change my .Net passport

A .Net Passport is a way for you to log into a variety of services and web sites in a secure way with only one user name and password. The most typical way I see seniors and beginner computer users using .Net Passport is with Microsoft Windows Live Messenger.
If you are interested in setting up a .Net Passport you can click the Use a Different Passport button and the .Net Passport Wizard will take you step by step through setting it up.

If you currently have a .Net Passport you can make changes to it by clicking the Change Passport Attributes button which will open a webs for you to sign in and make any necessary changes.
If no changes were made click Cancel to return to the User Accounts window.
We have completed the change user account section. To return to the main User Account Window either click the back arrow icon at the top of the window or the Home Icon.

Now we are back at the Main User Accounts Menu click on Create a New account.

The New account window will open and take you through a mini wizard to set up a new account. Type a name in the text box. If you don’t want to set up a new user we will cancel out of it in the next window. Once you have type a name click the Next button

Choose the type of account you would like the user to have. Remember that not everyone should have administrator rights. If this is a real user click Create Account. If it is not a real user click Cancel to return to the Main User Account Menu.
Click the Change the way Users log on or off link for the last section of User Accounts.

Depending on your selection it will change the appearance of the screen when you turn your computer on. If you check the Use the Welcome screen check box your screen when you turn on your computer will look like this. If you like this option I would recommend also clicking the Use Fast User Switching.
	If you do not click the Use the Welcome Screen check box your screen when you turn on your computer will look like this.

Make your selection and click the Apply Options button. If there are no changes click cancel to return to the Main User Account Window.
That wraps up the User Account section of this tutorial click the Back arrow button in the upper left corner to return to the Control Panel window and we will move onto Appearance and Themes.
Click on the Appearance and Themes icon

I will only touch on this topic briefly because all of the options in this window we have covered in the desktop tutorials. I had you open this window just to show a different way to get to the same options. Please feel free to click each link see if you recognize the windows.
The only topic we have not covered in the Appearance and Themes Window is the Folder Options and this will be covered in the next tutorials section.
When you are finished exploring the Appearance and Themes Window click the back arrow in the upper left corner to return to the Control Panel.
We will now move on to the Printers and Mouse options. Click on the Printers and Other Hardware icon.

In this section we will briefly cover printers, a few tabs in the mouse window and 1 tab in the keyboard window.
We will start with printers. Printers have never been one of my favorite topics. There are so many different brands and types of printers, and they all install and work differently. The best advise I can give you is to follow the instructions that come with the printer for easy installation.
Click on the Printers and Faxes icon link at the bottom of the window. The top View printers and fax printers will take you to the same place.

The Printers and Faxes Window will open. This window gives you all of the information you need to know about the printers you currently have installed on your computer.
The Printers and Faxes Window will tell you the name of your printer. If there is any number other than a 0 in the documents column there are print jobs that are either in the process of being printed or are stuck in the print queue.
Double click on one of your printers to view the window with the list of print jobs.

If you are having printer trouble this is the window you need to be in to see what is going on. Most of the time you have a print job stuck in the queue and it needs to be deleted before you can print another document or re-print the current document.
To delete a document out of the print queue click on the print job to select it and press the delete key on your keyboard. Sometimes you are able to restart the print job to make it work to restart a print job you select the print job you want and click document in the top tool bar. Then click restart.
Click the x to go back to the Printers and Faxes Window.
The last topic on printer I want to cover is Add a printer. Click on the add a printer link in the left hand tool bar.

This will open the Add a Printer wizard. You can follow this wizard to install a printer. I am not going to go into detail here because every printer is different. If you have specific questions you can email me and I will send you an individual tutorial.
Click the back arrow in the upper left corner to return to the Printers and Other Hardware window in the control panel
The next topic is the mouse. The mouse options will let you change your curses, change the mouse buttons if you are left handed, and change the click speed if you have trouble doing double click.
Click the Mouse icon link and we will get started.

When the Mouse Properties window opens click on the Buttons Tab. If you are left handed you can click the left handed radio button in the Button Configuration section of the Button Tab. This will reverse the function of the left and right buttons on your mouse so you can put your mouse on the left side of your computer.
If you have trouble with double clicking play with the slider in the Double Click Speed section of the Button Tab. Move the slider either faster or slower and then try double clicking on the folder to the right of the slider until you feel comfortable with the speed.
If you have trouble holding the mouse button down due to carpal tunnel or arthritis the Click Lock section will help you. Click lock allows you to highlight or drag objects without having to hold the mouse button down. If you would like to use this option check the box then click settings.

The Settings window lets you choose how long you need to hold the mouse button down before locking the cursor in place so you can drag or highlight. When you have made your selection click OK to return to the Mouse Properties window.

To use the Click lock function place your cursor or pointer over the object and hold the mouse button down just a little longer than a regular click. This will lock the pointer in that location and the pointer will move with the motion of your mouse without having to hold the mouse button down.
If you made any changes click apply and we will move onto the Pointers Tab
Click on the Pointers Tab. The Pointers Tab is where you can have a little fun or change the mouse pointer to be larger if you have trouble seeing it.
In the first section Scheme click the drop down arrow

You will get a list of all the different pointer schemes. Some people like to have fun and put cute pictures like the dinosaurs or if you have trouble seeing the pointer click on the magnified selection.
If you really want to have some fun with your pointers you can customize each one individually in the customize section by clicking on the type of cursor and then clicking browse and hand pick your pointer.
If you made any changes click apply and we will move to the Pointer Option tab. Click on the Pointer Option tab

The first section is Motion. If you find that the mouse pointer moves to fast and you have trouble getting it to stop where you want drag the slider toward slow to slow the mouse down. Play with the slider for a minute to see how it affects your mouse pointer.
If you click the check box in the Snap To section every time you open a new window the mouse will automatically go to the windows default button. For example the OK button in a new Window.
In the last section of the Pointer Options tab, Visibility you will see check boxes, The first check box puts a tail on your mouse pointer that will trail behind the pointer as you move it across the screen. The next check box will hide the mouse pointer when you are typing. Some people like this and some don't. If your pointer gets in the way of you reading while you are typing check this box. If not I would leave it unchecked. The last button is useful if you are a person that has trouble finding the mouse pointer. When this button is checked you can press the CTRL key on your keyboard and a bullseye will appear around your pointer to make it easier to find.
That wraps up the mouse section. Now click the OK button to get back to the Mouse and other Hardware Window. Then click on the Keyboard icon link.

There are only 2 options in the Keyboard Window. These 2 options are useful if you are typing and when you press a key the character types more than once. Repeat delay is how long you need to hold a key down before it will type more than once. Repeat rate is the speed that the character will repeat if you hold the key down too long.
Play with the sliders on both options and click in the test text box and hold down a key on the keyboard to see how the changes affect the keyboard.
The third option is how fast your cursor will blink when you are typing. You can play with the slider if you wish but the default usually works fine.
When you are finished click the OK button to return to the Mouse and Other Hardware Window.
That completes our tutorials on the Windows XP Control Panel. Click the next arrow to continue to the Windows XP Updates tutorial or click one of the links below to return to the home page or select another tutorial.