win-howto.txt

Jon Jacky, last revised October 15 2000

I plan to turn this to HTML and add some additional introductory material someday. 
Meanwhile, I add items frequently as I think of them.  - JJ

Using Windows
 (But not configuring Windows, installing Windows software etc.)

Concepts and vocabulary

GUI

 In general, they have tried to make the same actions cause the same effects
 (or similar effects) in different contexts: on the desktop, in Windows utilities
 programs like Windows Explorer and Notepad, and in application programs.
 However this is not always the case and some programs (browsers for example) 
  may have their own conventions which are different from the Windows conventions.

 Mouse
  Two button mouse (not one button like Mac or three-button like Unix/Linux).

  "Left click" means click left button once. "Right click" means click right button once.
  "Click" means left-click.
  "Double click" means left-click twice, rapidly.
  Double click is different from click, then click again -- speed matters
  On the desktop and in many programs, single click usually selects an item for some 
   subsequent operation (such as rename or copy, selected item usually turns blue)
   while double click activates the item (opens the file or starts the program).
  However in some contexts single click activates the item:
   in browser, click on link goes to that link.

  Right click on icon or item to bring up "context menu" of additional options 
   Usually context menu has Properties entry that brings up useful information
  
  Often just resting cursor on icon for a moment (without click) causes useful 
   description to appear.

 Desktop 
  The Desktop is the entire Windows screen
  Large windows on the desktop represent running programs or open documents
   (these come and go)
  Smaller icons on the screen remain "behind" the windows (these persist)
  Icons represent programs (double-click to start), folders (double-click to 
   display contents) or files (double-click to open)
  Right click on desktop background for menu: "Arrange Icons" etc.

  Collection of icons on desktop is arbitrary - most programs, files do
   not have icons on the desktop and most computers have different icons on the desktop.
   You can add/remove icons from desktop yourself (see customization, below)
 %  Most computers come with many icons that are advertising for Microsoft
 %   and its minions; you can safely get rid of these (see below)

 Taskbar
  Taskbar is usually at bottom edge of screen, but you can drag it to top or sides 
   if you prefer (easy to do by mistake -- why is this provided?)
  Taskbar has a button for each window (running program or open document) on desktop
   may be additional buttons for windows that were minimized
   click button once to bring its window to the top or un-minimize it.
  Start button at left (or top) - brings up cascading menus to start some programs
  Right of start button (left end of taskbar) are small icons for a few commonly 
   used programs (IE etc.), click *once* to start (instead of usual double click)
   (This is called the Channel Bar (?) Windows 98 "feature" (?))
  Right end of taskbar shows System Tray: status indicators for some programs
   right click for information, double-click to start interaction
  Clock is at right end of System Tray
   rest cursor over to see date also
   Double-click to reset date, time (also to see calendar and analog wall-clock display)
  Somehow taskbar can move offscreen. How to get it back!?

 Start button
  Brings up cascading menus to start some commonly used programs
  List of programs on Start menus is somewhat arbitrary - many programs are not listed
   start menus on different computers contain different items (another customization)
  Start -> Run brings up dialog box where you can type name of any program to start
   including those not listed on start menus

 Windows
  Each window represents a running program or open document
  For each window, there is a button on the taskbar
  Title bar 
   At top edge of window 
   Shows name of program and/or file, sometimes other information as well
   Minimize, Maximize/Restore, Close buttons in title bar upper right corner [_|-|X]
    Minimize causes window to disappear from desktop but 
     it is still running (or open) and its button remains on the taskbar.
    Maximize expands window to fill entire screen, then Restore shrinks it back down
    Close stops program or closes file, window disappears from desktop, 
      button disappears from task bar
     alternative to File -> Close (see menus, below)
     unsaved work will be lost, most programs warn about saving changes
   System menu button (usually a little folder icon) in title bar upper left corner,
    menu entries just provide alternative to Min, Max, Close buttons 
    (why do they call it system menu when it only applies to one window?)

  Menu bar (File, Edit, View etc.)
   Below title bar at top of window
   File Edit View etc.
   Left click menu name on menu bar to show menu
   Left click menu entry to activate operation
   Left click anywhere outside menu to make menu disappear
   Menu path notation used here and in many books:
    "File -> Save As..."  means click "File" on menu bar, 
      then click "Save As..." on File menu
   Menu entries (from menu bar)
    Grayed-out ("shadow") indicates operation is not enabled at this time
    Little arrow on right edge means resting cursor on entry will pop up a cascaded menu
    Three dots ("Save Project As...") indicates selection will pop up a dialog box

   View menu options usually provide useful customization or configuration
    they generally persist (they are the same the next time you 
    run the program, they needn't be selected each time)

  Toolbar (shortcuts to menu items)
   Below menu bar
   Row of icons (little pictures): open folder, floppy disk etc.
   Icons are just shortcuts for menu paths: VB open folder icon is shortcut for 
     File -> Open Project etc.
   Place cursor over icon for a moment (without clicking) to see spelled-out 
    name of operation  
   Click icon to perform operation

  Status bar
    At bottom edge of window 
    Often shows useful information
    If you don't see status bar, try View -> Status Bar

  Usually Toolbar and Status bar can be customized from View menu to reduce clutter

 Drag-and-drop
  Drag file icon into open program window to open that file in that program:
   drag .txt file into Notepad, drag .html, .txt, .gif, .jpeg file into IE etc.

 Keyboard shortcuts or "accelerators" 
  Especially useful on notebook computers with no mouse
  
  Desktop								
   Alt-Esc brings the next window to the top (current window goes to bottom of pile)
    (also cycles through buttons on task bar - Enter to open)
   Alt-Tab brings up row of icons for open windows (including minimized windows)
    sort of a keyboard alternative to the task bar
    Tab to select next icon
    release Alt to bring selected window to top
   Ctrl-Alt-Del brings up Close Program dialog with task list (for shutting down 
    unresponive program)
    Ctrl-Alt-Del again to reboot
   (Is there any way to select icons on desktop without using mouse "My Computer" etc.?)
   Window-M - Minimize all open windows (so you can see all desktop icons)
   Shift-Window-M - Restore all previously open windows

  Start 
   Windows-logo key (usually left of space bar) brings up Start menu
    (when you release it)
   Ctrl-Esc brings up Start menu just like Windows key
   (Ctrl-Esc is *not* a general-purpose equivalent to Windows key -- is there one?)

  Window
   PgUp, PgDn scrolls window contents - usually much more convenient than mouse, 
    scroll bar
   up, down arrows also scroll but with finer control - usually easier than mouse
   Home - top of document, page, list ...
   End - end of ...
   (Is there any way to select toolbar items without using the mouse?)
   Tab moves to next field (pane in Explorer, link in browser, button in dailog box, etc.) 
    Shift-Tab moves backward
   Arrow keys move among items within a field (file icons in Explorer, menu items, etc.)
   Enter selects item (like click)
   Backspace backs up in hierarchy (return to parent folder in Explorer, 
    previous page in IE, etc.)
   Space bar toggles check box
   Alt-F4 closes window (exits program)

  Menus
   Alt by itself when no menu displayed selects menu bar (but does not open any menu) 
    so arrows can select (but not open) menus
   Alt-(letter) brings up menu from menu bar (Alt-F file menu, Alt-E edit, Alt-V view etc.)
   Alt-space brings up system menu (Minimize, Maximize, Restore, Close)
   Alt by itself when menu displayed dismisses menu (all cascaded menus)
    without making selection
   Up/down arrow keys move among menu items (like mouse)
   Enter selects item (like click)
    or just type underlined letter that appears in menu item to select that time
     (C for Copy or P for Paste, less obviously T for Cut, R for Properties)

  Selections (icons on desktop, but also file icons or filenames in My Computer, 
    Explorer, Find)
   Shift-F10 - Display context menu of selected item
   Alt-Enter - Display properties of selected item

  Find
    Ctrl-F - Brings up text search (IE) or file all files (Explorer)

  Start particular programs (alternatives to finding Icon or Start Menu entry)
    Window-E Windows Explorer
    Window-F Find All Files 
    Window-R Run dialog box
   
  There are even more of these keyboard shortcuts, but who can remember them all?

Typing and Editing text
  In Notepad editor, but also other MS programs: IE browser address box, 
   names under file icons, Outlook/Exchange mail, VB code etc.
  However not all of these work in all programs, it's hit or miss, just try it

 Entering text
  To insert characters just type
  To delete before cursor press Backspace key
  To delete after cursor press Delete key
  Insert key toggles between insert/overstrike modes 
   (insert or overstrike mode sometimes selected or toggled implicitly by programs)

 Cursor movement
  arrow keys: one character or line at a time
  Ctrl-arrow (left, right): one word at a time (Notepad and most other contexts)
  Ctrl-arrow (left, right): next (previous) slash or dot in URL etc. (IE address box)
  Ctrl-arrow (up, down): one paragraph at a time 
  Pg Up, Pg Dn: larger vertical movements (screenful)
  Home, End: start, end of current line
  Ctrl-Home, Ctrl-End: start, end of document
  Can also move cursor with mouse but sometimes click selects instead of positions 

 Selecting text
  Blue background, white letters indicate selected text
  Click on text selects it - selected text turns blue
  Shift while moving cursor (see above) selects traversed text
   newly selected text turns blue
  Unselecting selected text: move cursor back while Shift *not* pressed - blue disappears
  Click again on selected text often unselects it, places cursor at click point
 
 Processing selected text
  Del Delete
  Ctrl-Z Undo (restores deleted text)
  Ctrl-X Cut (removes text from file, puts it in paste buffer)
  Shift-Del Cut also
  Enter Cut also (some contexts)
  Ctrl-C Copy (copies text to paste buffer but does not remove it from original location)
  Ctrl-V Paste (inserts contents of paste buffer back into file, cut or copied)
  Shift-Insert Paste also
  also available on Edit menu (Edit -> Copy etc.) but menu is usually more cumbersome

 Moving text between windows, programs (from IE Address box to Notepad etc.)
  You can Copy or Cut from one program, Paste to another (see above for Copy, Cut, Paste)

Utilities

My Computer and Windows Explorer (file utilites)
 Two similar utilities for displaying and manipulating folders and files
   nearly identical menu bars and menu options
 Work best with these View options checked (almost useless without them, in fact):
  View -> Folder Options -> View
   check "Display the full path in title bar" (otherwise you just see current folder name)
   check "Show pop-up description for desktop and folder items"
   *un*check "Hide file extensions for known file types" -- you need to see .txt, 
    .html etc.
   Hidden files: check "Show all files"
  View -> Status bar: checked (bar at bottom of window shows number of items and size)
  Other View options control appearance, order of file icons (see under My Computer
   and Windows Explorer below)

 My Computer and Explorer both show one folder (directory) at a time 
  Shows files (including folders and programs) as icons
   icon appearance is determined by file extension, indicates type of file
  Shows all files (programs etc.) in folder, not just a few (like on desktop)
 Double-click on icon to start program or open file/folder
 Can create new folders and files in currently selected folder by Edit -> New
 Can rename, move, copy files and folders by menus or drag-and-drop BUT
  this is sometimes hard to understand and can require very accurate mouse positioning.
  Often easier to use command line for rename, copy, move, also new (see below)
 If you must drag and drop, best way is:
  Open *two* "My Computer" windows, one for source folder and one for destination folder
  Right-drag (hold down right mouse button) file icon from source to destination
  Release right mouse button in destination
  Menu appears. Select Copy Here, Move Here, or Cancel
 Also edit menu copy-and-paste to copy, cut-and-paste to move file

 Keyboard shortcuts, My Computer and Windows Explorer
  Selecting files (in Explorer this also shows information about the selected file)
   arrow keys - select next file icon in that direction
   letter keys - select file that begins with that letter
   Home, End - select first, last file
   PageUp, PageDn - select item at top (bottom) of page
  Shift-F10 - Display context menu of selected file
  Enter - open or start selected file
  Backspace - back up to parent directory
  Tab (Explorer only) - move from directory tree window to detail window
  Ctrl-F - Find all files, starting in current folder
  Also keyboard copy-and-paste to copy, cut-and-paste to move file

My Computer (file utility)
 Simpler than Windows Explorer, does not show directory tree structure, 
  just current folder contents
 Works best with these View options checked to keep it simple, use Explorer for more info
  View -> Large Icons to make it easy to read
  View -> Arrange Icons -> By Name to sort icons in alphabetic order
 To prevent wild proliferation of My Computer windows:
  View -> Folder Options -> General 
   check "Custom...", click Settings
    under "Browse folders as follows" 
     click "Open each folder in same window" (not "own window" -- opens too many windows!)

Windows Explorer (file utility)
 Windows-E starts it
 Not to be confused with Internet Explorer (browser) or explorer.exe (shell)
 Usually just called "Explorer"
 More complex alternative to "My Computer", shows directory tree structure 
  in left panel, shows currently selected folder contents in right panel
 Works best with these View options checked to show more detail than My Computer 
  View -> Small Icons (so more can fit in the panel at one time)
  View -> List (arrange files in one vertical column, not rows and columns)
  View -> Details (show name, type, size, modified date)
 To sort file list in right panel
  View -> Arrange Icons -> By Name, or By Size, Type, Date 
  Alternatively, in right panel just click on column headings Name, Size, Type,
   Modified (date) to sort, click again to reverse sort order
 Select file icon in right panel to show additional information about it
  shows subset of File icon's Context menu -> Properties information
  If file is HTML or graphic, also shows thumbnail picture of contents (may need to 
   wait a moment for graphic to appear if large graphic file)
   (Windows 98 only feature?)

Find (find and search utility)
  Find files by name or contents; limit search by dates, file size
   (find those files you misplaced by inaccurate drag-and-drop)
  Start -> Find
  Windows-F
  In Explorer: Tools -> Find
  In Explorer or My Computer: Ctrl-F
  Name & Location tab for selecting disk, file name, search text in file
  Date tab for selecting range of dates to search (easy to select "today")
   and type of access: Modified, Created, Last Accessed
  Search results appear in scrolling list at bottom of Find window
   This scrolling list works like mini-Explorer file viewer window
    View menu selects detail view or...
    Click on column headings to sort etc.  Click on Modified column heading
     to sort in reverse chronological order, see most recent files at the top
   Find window default size is so small that Modified column in search results 
    is not visible - must make window larger on the right side to see it
   Path to file often too long to fit in narrow little "In Folder" column 
     (indicated by ... at right end of path) so you must:
    Right-click on file icon or file name to get context menu, select Properties
     on Properties display, Location: gives full path to file
    (Alternatively, use shortcut: select file icon, Alt-Enter brings up properties)
   File icons in search results can be selected, opened, dragged etc. just like
    in file viewer windows
   
Internet Explorer (web browser)
 Not to be confused with Windows Explorer (file utility) or explorer.exe (shell)
 Often just called "IE"

 URL: Address bar or textbox
  arrow on right: drop-down list of recently-visited URL's
  URL abbreviations
   foo instead of http://www.foo.com often works
  to edit, move cursor into URL textbox - cursor turns to vertical line
  click in URL textbox - selects URL text, background turns blue,
     manipulate like any selected text (see above) 
   to clear URL and start over, press Delete key
   to edit URL from keyboard click in blue: puts text cursor (vertical line) 
     at mouse pointer, blue goes away.  Now you are in editing mode
   to move text cursor in URL use arrow keys or move mouse and click again
   to move text cursor in URL to next (previous) dot or slash use Ctrl-arrow
   to quit editing mode click outside URL textbox, vertical line cursor disappears
  autocomplete (or whatever they call it)
   adds text to URL to anticipate text you are typing 
    mixed blessing, can drive you nuts
    To turn off: (how?)
   autocompleted text appears in blue - it's selected, manipulate like any selected text
    to accept, press End (key) *or* (left) click - cursor moves to end
    to get rid of autocompleted text, type Delete (key)
    to override, just keep typing - it will disappear
  Can type ordinary Windows path (C:\... etc) into address textbox (need not type 
   file URL) - IE will browse local file system much like My Computer 

 View
   View -> Toolbars: *Uncheck* Links to get rid of space-wasting row of advertising links
   View -> Status Bar: *Check* this for useful info at the bottom
   View -> Explorer Bar: divides browser window into two panels,  
    links appear in bar at left, check *History* sometimes useful, shows recent URL's
      sorted by date, uncheck History again to restore single-panel browser window

 Viewing files
  Drag file icon (from Explorer or My Computer or ...) into IE to open and view file:
   works with .txt, .html, .gif, .jpeg files

 Saving 
  Right-click on link or other page contents to bring up context menu with Save entry
   Alternative to Save As...
   Right-click on inline image brings up Save Picture As...

 Keyboard shortcuts
  Home: top of page
  End: bottom of page
  PgUp, PgDn: scroll through page (much easier than mouse, scroll bar)
  up, down arrows: scroll through page (finer control)
  Tab: move focus forward to next link (like moving cursor to link with mouse) 
  Shift-Tab: move focus backward to previous link
  Enter: go to link (like clicking mouse)
  Ctrl-F: bring up Find (search for text) dialog

Notepad (text editor)
 File -> Open ...
  Open dialog box to select file, folder etc.
  Files of type: 
   click arrow on right of box for drop-down list
   select "All Files (*.*)" to list, open any file, for example .html files
   if select "Text Documents", can only list, open .txt files
 Alternatively can just drag file icon into notepad window to open it!
 File -> Save As ...
  ditto, same as Open
 Title bar only shows file name, not full path.  There is no Status Bar or other View menu entry to fix this!
  Only way to see where you are is to select File -> Open or Save As...
   then if you rest the cursor over folder icon or folder name Save in... textbox it shows path to folder
 Editing text in Notepad - see Editing text, above
 Lots of limitations: only one window, only one file at a time, only small files...
 Emacs for windows is available from (this URL)

Command Line/MS-DOS prompt
 Indispensable for Real Programmers or power users, but useful for everyone else too
  often the easiest and most efficient way to something done
  by far the best way to rename, copy, move files and folders
 Getting to MS-DOS prompt
  Double-click MS-DOS icon on desktop
  Start -> Run -> command
  The two methods bring up slightly different versions or configurations. Weird.
    Start -> Run -> command version is fixed 24 lines, 80 columns; no scroll bars
    MS-DOS icon version can be resized in usual way, has scroll bars
 Resizing MS-DOS command window
  grabbing sides or corners may or may not work (see above)
  change window size by changing font size from toolbar
  Alt-Enter toggles between windowed and full-screen MS-DOS prompt 
   (it's the *only* escape when MS-DOS prompt is full-screen)
 Command prompt shows current default directory (folder), for example:
  C:\Program Files\PLT\collects>
 Command format: command /option1 /option2 .. file1 file2 ..., for example:
  ...
  command is usually the name of a program (.exe or .com) or batch (.bat) file
   some commands are built into the command interpreter itself (they're not files)
   pathname issue...
  forward slashes indicate options that can modify command behavior
  command /? describes options for command
  file names indicates files, folders that command acts on
 dir and cd
 type and more
 Wildcards * and ? - what makes command line better than GUI
   *: match any group of zero or more characters in filename
       *.txt matches notes.txt, essay.txt etc.
       notes.* matches notes.txt, notes.html, notes.doc etc.
   ?: match any one character in filename
      notes.??? matches notes.txt, notes.doc and notes.htm but not notes.html
 Copying and moving files - can use wildcards to handle groups of files
 Long filenames
  examples: "C:\Program Files"
  more "..." vs. type "..." | more
 redirection and pipes - even more power than GUI
 Other commands
 running programs
  path
   setting the path in autoexec.bat (or however)
  start ...
 doskey
  command history, command editing
  how to install

Coping with problems
 Program unresponsive or won't go away
  Ctrl-Alt-Del brings up Close Program dialog box, select task from list, End Task
   (careful, do *not* end task "Explorer" which is explorer.exe, the whole desktop! 
    Task "Exploring" is the Windows Explorer file utility)
  Task Manager (Taskman.exe) 
   (differs from Close Program how?)
 Program takes over whole screen, covering all icons and buttons
  Press "Window" key or Ctrl-Esc to restore task bar and start menu
  MS-DOS command prompt covers screen - Alt-Enter shrinks it back to window

Customizing Windows
 Desktop icons, Start menu contents different on every system
 In a pinch you can get to programs you need from Start -> Run
 Installing program often adds Start menu entry, desktop icon
 Desktop icons/shorcuts - getting rid of (many are just advertising)
 Desktop icons/shortcuts - adding

Local Area Network (using, not setting up or configuring)
 Network neighborhood
 (Linking network drives and folders so they appear locally)
 Sharing (little hand icon) - security issues

Internet 
 FTP and Telnet clients are built in (yay!) 
  use Start -> Run or command line
 FTP and Telnet servers are *not* provided, not even with NT (boo! hiss!)

Other resources
 Books (all O'Reilly)
  Windows 95 in a Nutshell
  Windows 98 in a Nutshell
  Windows Annoyances
  Windows 98 Annoyances
 Programs not built in, but very useful
  Emacs
  Ghostview (GSVIEW32)
  Acrobat reader
  Tex/LaTeX
  AWK
  ssh

Jon Jacky, last revised October 15 2000