Basic Commands
By basic commands, we mean any command directly related to the windows operating system.
Some examples are: keyboard shortcuts, or certain tasks done via the command prompt.
The newbie or novice can also find explanations on how to save files or folders, and the several functions that can be controlled via the mouse.
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ShortCut Keys
There are many very practical short cut keys that can be used on your keyboard. Here are some of the main ones.
Explanation
The + sign means that you will have to push down simultaneously on the combination of keys. The resulting command is shown in the rectangle
Shortcut list
ctrl + c : copy
ctrl + v : paste
ctrl + z : undo the last change
ctrl + y : restore the last change
alt + tab : Go to next window
alt + shift + tab : Go to previous window
crtl + Print Screen : copy screen
Depends on the program
These are function keys.
F1 : As a general rule, this means: Help
F5 : Normally, this means: Refresh or Reload your window.
RUN Command
To get to the run command you will have to follow these steps: and you will see it at the bottom right.
and the run window will open up.
In the window to the right of "Open" type your command and then OK
Windows commands
As we are novices, we will not go through every windows command, but simply enumerate the main ones that you may need or run across. Most of these are beyond our scope.
cmd
This opens a MS-DOS window
msconfig
This utility opens the system configuration utility.
regedit
With this command you can open the registry editor, and as a general rule, we recommend stay away from making any changes here. They will all be at your own risk.
sysedit
Opens the system configuration editor.
charmap
Opens the character and fonts that are available in windows, along with the ascii code, which developers use.
Mouse Clicks
The mouse is really just an extension of your keyboard. Its use is very practical, and operating without it would be very difficult.
Review of our symbols
Movement of the mouse
1 Left click of the mouse
2 Quick left clicks of the mouse
1 Right click of the mouse
Wheel spin up or down
1 Click on the wheel
Mouse functions
The functions of the mouse can change depending with the environment or the program they are in.
Two choices exist within windows: the traditional double click, and the single click.
To change from one to the other, simply open a folder as follows:
This opens up the mouse selection page amongst other things.
Double click functions
When Double-click is selected as in the illustration above, the mouse will behave as follows in most cases.
The single left click selects an item. It becomes highlighted, or in windows darkened. In the example below, we selected Local Disk (C:).
If we right click, then a multitude of options open up.
Some of the options are Open, Explore, Copy etc. To select those, you will have to
In the Double-click mode, double licking the left side of the mouse will Open the item that is double clicked. You will notice that this is identical to the first or top selection of a , as shown in the right click picture above.
Single click functions
The single click functions are strictly a personal preference. Some people prefer the double click to open items, other prefer the single click.
In the Single-click mode, placing the mouse pointer over an object and leaving it there for a short while will Select the item. This is the same as the in the double-click mode.
The single left click will now Open the item selected. Similarly, this is the old .
Common functions
These are functions that behave the same under Single or Double-click modes.
The purpose of the mouse wheel is to facilitate scrolling up and down a page. It is probably the most commonly used method of scrolling up and down a page. This applies to all pages, whether web pages, document pages, or viewing pictures that are bigger than your monitor screen.
This is perhaps the least used way of scrolling up and down a page. When one pushes down on the wheel once, just like a single click of the mouse, this symbol appears on the page, and now the whole mouse becomes the scroller. As you move the mouse up, the page will scroll up, and the further up you move the mouse the faster the page will scroll up. The opposite is true for scrolling down. The scroll is controlled by the relative position of the mouse relative to the symbol on the page.
To return to normal, simply click on the wheel one more time, and the symbol disappears.
Save, Save As
This command is used to save or store your document or program to a specific location, such as your hard drive, your floppy disk, a CD or DVD disk, a flash drive (USB stick) or to a server or network location,...
Save
If your document already has a stored name, in other words, if this is a file that you have opened, worked on and then want to save again, simply selecting the save option will store all the changes in the current location of your document, or the default location that windows assigns to your document, which is us usually in the My Documents folder.
Save As
This function gives you more options.
With the save as selection you can chose where to store your document, what to name your document, and sometimes what format to save it as.
Where
At the top of the above picture, the top line next to Save In is a drop down menu that will give you choices as to where you can save your document. The left side also offers choices that open up in the center part of the Save As window.
Name
In our illustration, at the bottom next to File Name, we simply called the document: Example word document. You can change this and assign it any name you wish.
Format
For format we show part of the Save as type drop down menu, and we chose to save this document as a Word document type.