Computer Skills I

Unit One
Concepts of Information Technology (IT)
1.1 General Concepts

Hardware, Software, Information Technology
Hardware is the physical components of your computer such as the system unit,
mouse, keyboard, monitor etc.
Software is the collection of instructions that makes the computer work.
Information Technology (IT) is the use of computers as an aid in creating and

maintaining data, i.e. information.
1.2 Types of Computer

mainframe computer, PC, networked computer, laptop, palmtop computers, Personal
Digital Assistant (PDA)
Comparing computer types:

Mainframe
Capacity: Very powerful computers often connected to many individual PCs over
a network.
Speed: Much faster than PCs used for processing large amounts of data such as
mail-shots, salaries, tax etc.
Costs: Very, very expensive, only affordable by large companies.
Typical Users: Only used by large companies including banks, building societies
etc.
PC
Capacity: Large hard disks combined with a work working memory (RAM)
Speed: Fast. Normally measured in GHz.
Costs: Getting cheaper by the day.
Typical Users: Home users, large and small offer users. Education, Doctors. In fact
just about everyone needs to know how to operate a PC these days.
Networked PC
Speed: Fast. Normally measured in GHz.
Costs: A PC only requires an inexpensive card to be added to it to connect it to a
network.
Typical Users: Due to ease of networking a PC these days just about anyone can
network PCs together.
Laptop
Often less powerful than for a PC of equivalent price.
Speed: Fast. Normally measured in GHz. Often speed specifications are less
than for a PC of equivalent price.
Costs: Components need to be much more compact so there is a price overhead
when compared to a PC of equivalent power.
Typical Users: Business users, people on the move, educational users.
Palmtop
Capacity: Much smaller storage capacity compared to a PC.
Speed: Much less than a PC unless you pay a lot extra.
Costs: In relative terms expensive when compares to a PC.
Typical Users: Mostly business users.
PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)
Capacity: Much smaller storage capacity compared to a PC.
Speed: Much less than a PC unless you pay a lot extra.
Costs: In relative terms expensive when compares to a PC.
Typical Users: Mostly business users.
1.3 Hardware
www.muslimengineer.net
The System Unit

The main PC box that houses the various elements that go together to make up the
PC.
The System (Mother) Board

The system board houses the CPU, the hard disk and all the other electronic
components.
Central Processing Unit (CPU)

A microprocessor is the brain of the computer. It consists of :
Control unit Coordinates and controls all parts of the computer system
Arithmetic-logic unit Performs arithmetic or logical operations
Registers Temporarily store the most frequently used instructions and data
It determines how fast the computer will run and is measured by its Hz speed. Popular
CPUs are made by companies : Intel, AMD, Cyrix.
Memory
Program instructions and data are stored in memory chips for quick access by the
CPU, there are two main types of memory : RAM and ROM.
Function
Volatility
Changeable
RAM
Random Access Memory
Store the currently active
programs and their data.
Volatile: When the computer is
switched off, the contents are lost.
Its contents can be changed or
deleted.
ROM
Read Only Memory
Stores certain fixed routines such as
the boot-up routines.
Non-volatile: When the computer is
switched off, the contents are not lost
Its contents cannot be changed or
deleted.
Memory Measurements
Bit (Binary digit) On or off state; the basic unit of information; represented by 1s
and 0s
Byte Eight bits grouped together to represent a character (an alphabetical letter, a
number, or a punctuation symbol).
Units of memory
KB
MB
GB
TB
kilobyte
Megabyte
Gigabyte
Terabyte
210= 1 024 bytes

220 = 1 048 576 bytes
230 bytes
240 bytes
approx. 103 bytes

approx. 106 bytes
approx. 109 bytes
approx. 1012 bytes
ASCII or American Standard Code for Information Interchange
A system of representing all the characters of the western alphabet and certain special
characters in a single byte.
Peripheral devices and ports
A peripheral device is any device that is connected to the computer.
Types of Ports (Connectors):
PS/2 : used to connect devices such as mouse and keybord

COM1 : Serial Port, used to connect devices such as modem.
LPT1: Parallel Port, used to connect devices such as printer.
VGA: used to connect devices such as Monitor
USB : any device designed for USB such as scanners and digital cameras.
Modem
Signals can be:
Analog data is in continuous waveforms, measured in cycles per second
(Hz).
Digital data is in discontinuous pulses (0s & 1s), measured in bits per
second (bps).
A modem (MODulate/DEModulate) is a device that is used to transmit data over

telephone lines.
Modulation converts digital (from computer) to analog to cross telephone
lines
Demodulation converts analog (phone lines) to digital for computer
Input Devices
Input devices allow you to input information to the computer and include things such
as the keyboard and mouse.
The Mouse
An Input device. the mouse is used to select drop down menus, to point and click on
items, to select items and to drag and drop items from one place to another.
The Keyboard
An Input device. The keyboard allows you to type information into the computer.
Tracker Balls
Is an upside down mouse.
Scanners
A scanner is similar to a photocopier, except that instead of producing a paper copy of the
document you place on it, you get an electronic copy which appears on your computer
screen.
Touch Pads
A touch pad responds to pressure. Used with a special pen they can be used by
graphic artists.
Light Pens
A light pen is used to allow users to point to areas on a screen and is often used to
select menu choices.
Bar code reader

A bar code is a pattern of vertical lines in which the spacing and thickness can be used
to represent data. A bar code reader is a device that can read and interpret bar codes
and input the data into the computer.
Joysticks
Many games require a joystick for the proper playing of the game.
Voice input for PCs (microphones)

A microphone translates speech into an electronic signal. If you have a microphone and
suitable software, you can record sounds.
Web Cams
You can now use a small digital movie camera (a Web cam) mounted on the PC
monitor to allow two-way communication involving not just text communication but
sound and video communication as well.
Digital Cameras
In a digital camera the images are stored digitally in memory within the camera.
These pictures can easily be transferred to your computer. Currently they are limited
by the quality of the image recorded and the number of pictures that you may store
within the camera.
Output Devices
Output devices allow you to output information from the computer and include the
printer and the monitor.
The VDU (Visual Display Unit), computer monitor or screen

The monitor is the screen that is used for outputting information in an understandable
format for humans. They are supplied in different sizes, screen size is measured
diagonally, common sizes range from 15" to 21" screens.
There are two categories of screen:CRT and LCD.
More recently, flat screen computer monitors (LCDs) have become available, these
take up a lot less room on a desk and use less energy than the traditional, more bulky
CRTs.
Resolution: An important characteristic of all screens is their resolution. Each point
of light on the screen is called a pixel. The resolution of a screen is the maximum
number of pixels that the screen can display. For example, 800 x 600. The greater the
resolution the better. Modern screens can display 1024 X 768 or better.
Computer presentation projection devices

Projection devices can be attached to computer and are useful for displaying
presentations to a group of people.
Printers
Outputs a hard copy of the files and documents, printers speed is measured by ppm
(page per minute), the quality is measured by dpi (dot per inch).
Dot matrix
Inkjet
Laser
Low
Medium
High
Initial cost
Cost per printed
Low
High
Medium
page
Low
Medium
High
Speed
No
No
Yes
High volumes
High
Low
Low
Noise level
Low
Medium
High
Print quality
No
Yes
Yes
Print graphics
Ink ribbon
Ink Toner
powder
Print source
Plotters
A plotter is a printer, but normally allows you to print larger images. These are used in
everything from the design of ships and machines to buildings.
Speakers
Many computers are now supplied with sound cards and speakers that mean that when
you run 'multi-media' programs, you can listen to sounds that are played back via your
computer.
Input/Output Devices
Some devices are both input and output devices. A modem can be used for download
information from web sites and receiving emails. It can also be used for uploading
and sending emails. A touch screen can display a menu system (output device), and
accept input when people touch the menus displayed on the screen.
Storage Devices
Hard (Fixed) Disk

Hard disks are the main, large data storage area within your computer. Hard disks are
used to store operating system, application programs and data.
What is the difference between internal and external hard disks?
Internal hard disks are located inside the main computer unit, while external hard
disks are joined to the main computer by plugging it into the back of the computer
unit. Internal hard disks are faster, bigger (higher capacity) and cheaper than the
external hard disks.
Diskettes (floppy disks)

Their speed is very slow, hold relatively small amounts of data (1.44 Mbytes), very
cheap.
Zip disk
A removable magnetic disk . It comes in a number of capacities: 100, 250 and 750 Mb. The
speed of a zip drive is faster than diskettes. Its robustness and speed make it an excellent
backup device.
Magnetic Tape
A tape very similar to the tape recorder, only much higher quality. These are used to record
data (for backup), these tapes can store a vast amount of data at a low cost. Its the only
storage device that considered to be a sequential device.
CD-ROM
a CD-ROM (Compact Disc - Read Only Memory). Much slower than hard disks. The
advantage of a CD-ROM is that it can hold a vast amount of data around 650 Mbytes
(equivalent to the storage capacity of over 450 floppy disks).
There are three types of CD ROM used for storage:
CD-W (Writeable) : can only be written to once. Once data has been written to part of the
surface, this part can no longer be used.
CD-R (Recordable) allows you to record data, music or video to your own CDs.
CD-RW : are designed so that one set of data can overwrite another. This allows the disks to
be re-used many times.
DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)

are similar to CD-ROM but contain vastly more information than a traditional CDROM disk. Much faster than CD-ROM drives but not as fast as hard disks. A doublesided DVD increases the storage capacity to 30 GB (or over 45 times the data storage
capacity of a CD-ROM).
Flash memory
connects to the computer via the USB port It provides a very fast and reliable method of
storing data externally.
Computer performance
The performance of a computer is determined by a number of factors :
CPU: The model of the CPU and its speed (measured in HZ).
RAM size: the more memory you have the faster the PC will appear to
operate.
Hard disk speed and storage: Hard disk speed is defined by the disk access
time, measured in milliseconds. The disk storage capacity is measured in
Gigabytes (GBytes).
Graphics cards: its the unit that converts the signals from the CPU into a
form that can be displayed on the monitor. A good graphics card can take over
many of the tasks of the CPU in generating the output.
De-fragmenting Files : When you use a PC, over a period of time the files get
broken up into separate pieces that are spread all over the hard disk. Defragmentation means taking all the broken up pieces and joining them back
together again.
Multitasking considerations : The more programs that are running at the
same time, the slower each one will run.
1.4 Software
Software is divided into two broad categories: systems software and application
Software.
System Software
The programs that enable the computer to function, improve its performance and
access the functionality of the hardware. Its subdivided into :
Operating System : the set of programs that perform certain basic functions
with a specific type of hardware.
System Utilities. programs that helps and supports the operating system.
Some of popular operating systems :
Applications Software
The programs that enable the user to achieve specific objectives. Examples include
word-processing programs, spreadsheets, databases, web browsing, presentation,
accounts / payroll and graphics programs.
User Interface
Graphical user interface or GUI :

Uses graphics to create a desktop environment
Icons (small pictures) represent computer resources
Programs run within on-screen windows
Examples of operating system that use a GUI include Windows and IBM's OS/2.
Command-Line Interface or CLI:

The user is required to type keywords or commands in order to enter data or give
instructions. MS-DOS is an example of operating system that use a CLI.
1.5 Information Networks

LAN and WAN
A LAN (Local Area Network) is individual PCs are connected together within a
company or organization. In a similar way, other devices such as modems or
scanners can be shared. The main benefit is to share information.
A WAN (Wide Area Network) allows you to connect to other computers over a
wider area (i.e. the whole world).
The World Wide Web (WWW) and the Internet
The internet is the collection of all computers across the world which can access each other in
some way. The links between computers might include telephone, fibre optic cable, radio,
microwave or satellite
The World Wide Web is just a small part of the Internet. The WWW is basically the
text and pictures that you can view using your web browser.
1.6 The Use of IT in Everyday Life
Email allows you to send a message to another person almost instantly, anywhere in
the world. It requires both computers to be connected to the Internet. As well as
sending a text message, files can be sent as email attachments.
e-commerce is means buying or selling via the Internet.

e-banking relates to managing your money online.
1.7 Computer Viruses
Viruses are small programs that hide themselves on your disks (both diskettes and
hard disk). Viruses can spread from one computer to another, either via use of
infected storage media, or over a computer network
Antivirus software protects the computer from computer viruses.
Some Types of Viruses
Trojan: is a virus that hides itself inside another program. When the program
is used, the virus is released and can begin its work of replication and
annoyance or damage.
Worm: A program that replicates itself over and over in the computer's
memory until the computer can barely function. One of the signs of invasion
by a worm is the slowness of computers.
Time bomb: A virus activated when a certain date or time occurred. For
instance, the famous Friday the 13th virus will activate only when it is both a
Friday and the 13th of the month.
Anti-virus Precautions
You should have an anti-virus program installed on your computer. This should be
updated on a regular basis, so that the anti-virus program is aware of new viruses
that are in circulation.
Make sure that your virus checker is configured so that as well as scanning your
computer for viruses when you first switch on your PC.
Take care when opening emails: Be very cautious about opening unsolicited
emails, especially if they contain file attachments.
Beware of Internet Downloads: Any file that you download from the Internet
may in theory contain a virus. Be especially careful about downloading program
files (files with a file name extension of .COM or .EXE).
1.8 Copyright and the Law

Types of copyrighted software:
Commercial software Buy before using it
Shareware Try it before you buy it
Freeware Free software, but it cant be copied and/or sold
Public domain software is not copyrighted. There are no restrictions on using,
copying, altering, or selling the software
Using the Computer and Managing Files (using

Windows XP)
2.1 Computer Environment
Windows XP allows more than one user to sign on to the same computer and maintain their own
profile.
Click your user name or icon to start Windows in your profile.

If the computer you are working is networked (joined to other computers), a Log on to
Windows dialog box may appear. Enter your User name and Password, then click on
OK.
--Mouse techniques:
Point position the mouse pointer until the tip of the pointer rests on the required position
Click press and immediately release the mouse button without moving the mouse
Double click click the mouse button twice in rapid succession without moving the
mouse
Drag press the mouse button and hold it down while the mouse is moved, then release
the button at the appropriate location
--The desktop
The Desktop is divided into two parts. Along the bottom of the screen is a bar known as
the Taskbar. This bar usually remains on screen at all times. The remainder of the
Desktop is taken up by icons.
These icons (small graphics with text underneath) represent programs saved on the
Desktop or shortcuts that lead directly to a program, folder, file, etc.
The Taskbar is displayed across the bottom of the screen. The Start button is on the left
(This button is used to start any program that is loaded on the computer and has been
included in the menus).
More than one program may run at the same time (multi-tasking). As each program is
started, a button appears on the Taskbar, with the program's name and a small icon.
Clicking on the Start button displays the Start menu.
The Start menu has two areas. At the left are the most recently used programs, which
will vary as different programs are used, and at the right are the permanent Start
options, which vary depending on how the computer has been set up.
2.2 First Steps with the Computer

--Start the computer.
Ensure that all cables are plugged securely into the rear of the machine. Make sure that there is no
disc inserted in the floppy drive. Locate the power switch and turn the computer on (the booting
process begins). After a few seconds, you should see something on the screen. If not, ensure that
the monitor is switched on.
--Shut down the computer properly

Use the movie
The Shut Down option allows the user to close down the Windows operating system cleanly.
Several options are available when shutting the system down:

Log off: Allows you to log off as the current user. The PC will not shut down. Later you can log
back on, or another user may log on.
Turn off: Saves any unsaved data to disk and closes the system.
Restart: Saves any unsaved data to disk and totally restarts the system.
Stand by: Places your computer in power saving stand by mode. To re-awaken your computer
simply press a key or move the mouse.
--Shut down a non-responding application.

You need to press the Ctrl+Alt+Del keys simultaneously, which will display a dialog box. Click
on the Task Manager button. Select the program that is no longer responding (from a list within
the dialog box). Click on the End Task button.
2.3 Basic Information and Operations

The System Properties can be viewed to show information relating to the computer
1. Right click on the My Computer icon from the Start menu or from the Desktop.
2. Select Properties from the shortcut menu.
General tab : shows the operating system and version number under System and the
type of chip, the processor and the amount of memory under Computer.
Computer Name tab : displays information on the computer name and workgroup
Hardware tab : the Device Manager button displays information on the different parts of the
computer.
--Display Options
To open the Display Properties dialog box:
Right-click on an empty part of the Windows Desktop (i.e. the screen). This will display a popup
menu, from which you need to click on the Properties command.
Or from the Control Panel, select the Appearance and Themes category and then
click the Display icon.
THE FOLLOWING TABS ARE AVAILABLE:
Desktop : Includes options for selecting an image to be used as background wallpaper.
Screen Saver: Choice of screen saver to be used and monitor power conservation options (if
supported by the monitor).
Appearance:Color schemes for all windows components such as Title Bars, Icons, Message
Boxes etc.
Settings: Allows you to set the number of colors used by your system and also to set the
screen resolution.
2.4 What is the Control Panel?

Start > Settings > Control Panel.
The Control Panel contains tools- that control how the Windows environment looks and
performs, The default view of the Control Panel is the Category View, Categories
include:
To change Desktop appearance, apply a theme or screen

saver, customise the Start menu and Taskbar
To create or view Internet and network connections

To add or remove programs or Windows components
To change sound schemes, configure settings for

speakers and recording
For maintenance and optimisation of the hard disk drive
To change settings for printers, keyboard, mouse and other

hardware
To change user accounts, passwords and pictures
To change date, time, time zone, language and number

display
To adjust settings for hearing, vision and mobility.
--To change the Date and Time

From the Control Panel, double click on the Date, Time, Language and Regional Options
category then click
. This opens the Date and Time Properties dialog
box. You can now change the date and time, you can also change the Time Zone.
--To configure the volume setting

From Control Panel find a Sounds and Multimedia icon. Double clicking on this icon will allow
you to access a volume control.
Or You can click on the volume control icon on the Taskbar

Volume slider.
to display a simplified
--To format a removable drive

Select the drive within the Windows Explorer, right click, and from the popup menu displayed,
select the Format command.
--Learning about Windows

Click on the Start button; select AllPrograms, Accessories then Tour Windows XP.
--Help within the Start Menu

The on-line Help feature in Windows is easy to learn and to use. When you select Help and
Support from the Start menu, the Windows Help dialog box is displayed. Click on items of
interest to learn more.
You can click on the Search tab and enter a keyword (or phrase) to find specific help with a
problem. In the example shown we entered 'keyboard shortcuts' and pressed the Enter key.
2.5 Work with Icons
--The My Computer icon
--The Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin contains files that have recently been deleted. It is there for safety reasons. As
files are moved to the Recycle Bin rather than physically deleted this allows you to change your
mind and retrieve deleted files.
--Arranging Icons
Move the mouse pointer over a blank part of the Desktop and click once with the right
mouse button. A Shortcut Menu is displayed:
By Name: Icons are arranged on your Desktop by name, alphabetically.

By Type: Icons are arranged on your Desktop by object type.
By Size: Icons are arranged on your Desktop by size.
By Date: Icons are arranged on your Desktop by the date that the object was created.
Auto Arrange: Icons are re-arranged on your Desktop automatically each time you drag an icon
from one part of the Desktop to another.
You may also select the Line up Icons command, which lines up icons.
2.6 Work with Windows

Each window is similar in its construction. A Title Bar is across the top, coloured blue by
default. On the Title Bar are three Window Control Buttons at the top right. These are
Minimize
, Maximize
( or Restore
), and Close
Note: To close a window using the keyboard Press Alt+F4.
, buttons
Sizing and Moving Windows

The size of the window can be changed. Move the mouse pointer over the right edge of
. Click and
the window, until the pointer changes to a black double headed arrow,
drag to the right, and then release the mouse button, to increase the width of the
window.
Placing the mouse over a corner of a window allows a two direction change in the size of
a window. The cursor changes to two headed diagonal arrow,
. Click and drag a
small amount in any direction to change the size and scale of the window.
What is the scroll bar?
When a program or folder needs to display information within a window two sets of scroll bars
may be displayed along the bottom and right side of the window.
Restoring a window from the Task Bar by single clicking on it
Within Windows, all windows that have been minimized are reduced down to the Task Bar.
In the example shown, Microsoft Word has been minimized and is displayed within the Task
Bar. If you wish to restore the Microsoft Word window, simply click on the Microsoft Word
button in the Task Bar.
Switching between programs

To switch between open application widows, simply click on the application icon, as displayed in
the Windows Taskbar. Alternatively you can use the keyboard shortcut Alt+Tab.
2.7 Managing Files

Concepts
--File Storage
Computer systems store their data and programs on a variety of Storage Devices.
Open the My Computer window to display the storage devices available on your
computer.
--Folders and Files

In order to assist in storing and finding files and programs on the hard disk, Windows
uses Folders
--The Explorer Window

The Windows Explorer permits you to explore all aspects of your system using a hierarchical
view.
The Windows Explorer window is split into two separate views as depicted above. On the lefthand side you can see all system folders (both Desktop and file system), on the right-hand side
the contents are displayed.
The folder has a
icon denoting that it has subfolders. Click once on it, the subfolders
are displayed underneath the folder and it changes to a
icon. This is called expanding
a folder.
Open the folder that was previously on view.
Open the sub-folder that you previously viewed.
Allows you to display a folder 'one level up'.
Allows you to select a different display view.
Large icons: Displays all objects as large icons.

Small icons: Displays all objects as small icons.
List: Displays all files/folders in list format split into multiple columns.
Details: Displays all files and associated file details such as name, size, type, and last accessed
date in a single column.
Thumbnails: Displays picture files as a series of small pictures. Thumbnails can be useful when
viewing picture files.
.
To sort the listing by name, click on the Name header
To sort the listing by size, click on the Size header.
To sort the listing by type, click on the Type header.
To sort the listing by date modified, click on the Date Modified header.
NOTE: To reverse the sort order, re-click on the header.
-
--Working with Files

Files has names, each can be up to 255 characters in length. Files are identified by
extensions, some common file types are listed here:
.doc Word document.
.mdb Access database.
.ppt PowerPoint presentation.
.xls Excel spreadsheet.
.avi, .mpeg Video files.
.exe Executable file, i.e. a program.
.jpg, .tif, .gif Image files.
.tmp Temporary file. One used by the system during a process and then deleted
automatically.
.txt, .rtf Generic text files.
.wav, .mp3 Audio or Sound files.
.zip A compressed (zipped) archive file. These are described in a later Section
Note that the icons shown for some of these file types will vary depending on what programs you
have installed on your computer.
--Selecting Multiple Files

To select a range of files, Click on the first file of the block that you wish to select, and then
while depressing the Shift key, click on the last file of the required block. When you release the
Shift key the entire block will remain selected.
To select multiple files that are not in a range, Click on the first file that you wish to select and
while keeping the Ctrl key depressed, click on the other files that you wish to select. When you
release the Ctrl key, the selected files will continue to be highlighted.
To select all the files and folders in the View window, select Edit | Select All. Click away from
the selection. Or press <Ctrl A> to select all the files.
--Folder properties
To view the properties of any object (folder or file), right click on it and select Properties. A
properties dialog box appears giving information about the Type, Location, Size, when Created,
Modified and the Attributes of the object.
Right click over the selected files and from the popup menus displayed, select the Properties
command
Renaming Files and Folders

Use The Movie
Deleting Files and Folders

Use The Movie
2.8 Searching for files and folders

The Search utility allows you to search for files by name, part of a name, contents, and even by
date of file creation. You may also search for a particular type of file such as searching for all
wave sound files (ending in an extension of .WAV). Lastly you can search for a file containing a
particular word or phrase. To open the Search dialog box, click on the Start button, click on the
Search command
In the All or part of the file name :

You can search for a file, by name by entering the name of the file that you wish to locate. Or
search for a file using wildcards instead of the full name, in some cases we may only know part of
the name.
FOR EXAMPLE:
To search for all files whose names start with L
- we would search for L*
To search for all files whose names start with La
- we would search for La*
To search for all files whose names start with La and contains 4 characters
- we would search for La??
To search for all Microsoft Excel files whose names start with La and contains 4 characters
- we would search for La??.xls
In the A word or phrase in the file :
You can find a file containing a specific word or phrase
To find a file created on or around a certain date
To find a file created by or around a certain size
To find files of a particular type
2.9 Compressing Files

File compression allows you to compress files so that the file size becomes smaller. This allows
you to save disk space. It is useful when sending files over the Internet.
WinZip is a commonly used compression program. First it creates archive files with a .zip
extension. Then one or more files can then be compressed and Added to the archive file which
can then be saved, copied, transmitted exactly like any other file. Because of the file extension,
the process of compressing files this way is sometimes called zipping and the archive file called a
zipped file.
For example a folder contains a total of 21 files occupying about 3 MB. Using WinZip, all
these files can be compressed to a single file of only 1.2 MB (which would now fit on a
floppy disk for example).
This file can be easily transmitted to another user who can then uncompress it and so recreate the
original files on their computer. This requires that the user who receives the zipped file has a copy
of WinZip installed.
Microsoft Word, basics of word processing

By Zaibnab alrahamnih
Learning objectives
First Steps with Word Processing.

Adjust Settings, Insert, Select and Edit Data.
Duplicate, Move and Delete operations.
Using Find` and Replace operations.
Paragraph and Document Formatting.
Insert Tables and Pictures.
Printing and page setup options.
3.1 First Steps with MS Word

Starting MS Word
Click on the Start icon to display the Start menu and then move the mouse pointer onto
All Programs. From the submenu select Microsoft Word.
Closing MS Word
Click on the Close icon displayed at the top right of the Word window OR press Alt+F4
If you have not saved your work, a dialog box will be displayed which asks you if you
wish to save your changes. Make your choice from one of the following:
- Yes: Saves the changes and exits the program.
- No: Does not save the changes and exits the program.
- Cancel: Cancels the command and stays in the Word program.
3.2 Basic Operations on Files

--Opening Files
To open a file click on the Open icon (as in Fig. A), OR select open from
File menu (as in Fig.).
Fig (A)
Fig (B)
A Dialog box will be displayed to select the required file
Tools to help you with opening files
A. Look in
B. Up one level
C. Search the web
D. Delete
E. Create new folder
F. Views
G. Tools
H. File name
I. Files of type
The previous icons must be explained to students inside the lab
--Saving Files
To save a document click on the Save icon (as in Fig A) OR select save as
from File menu (as in Fig B).
Fig (A)
Fig (B)
* After Clicking on the Save icon and from the dialog box displayed select
the required folder. Enter a file name and then click on the Save button
* After you have saved the file for the first time, clicking on the Save icon
will automatically save your document with the filename you gave it. It does
not give you the option to rename.
Saving a document under another name
The Save As command can be used to save a file under a different name, to
save a file in a different word processor format, or to save a file to a different
drive and/or folder. From the File menu choose Save As command, or press
F12. This will rename the document on the screen so that you can keep the
earlier version, as well as saving any changes you have made.
Creating a new Document
To create a new document, click on the New icon (as in fig A) and a new
blank document will be displayed on the screen, or select New from the File
menu
Fig (A)
--Saving a File in another file type or in a different word version format

To Save a File in another file type or in a different word version format,
select Save As From the File menu.
Click on the down arrow to the right of the Save as type: box, and select the
type of file format that you wish to save the file as, i.e. HTML, RTF etc.
Enter a file name and then click on the Save button to save it in the required
format. Some formatting information that is contained in the original may be
lost in the process.
Important information about extensions of some files
An RTF file
An RTF (Rich Text Format) file is a generic file that can be read and used
by a wide range of different programs. Thus if you have Word 2000 installed
on your PC and wish to send a document to someone who has a different
version of Word or maybe a word-processor other than Word, you might
wish to send the file in RTF format. Beware that if you have used a lot of
complex formatting within your document that a RTF file can be a much
larger file size compared to a normal Word file. This may be relevant if you
are moving a file over an Internet or Intranet.
A Text file
If you save your file as Text Only, the file will be saved with a .TXT instead
of the normal .DOC file name extension. Also all of your formatting
information will be lost in addition to any pictures. Only the text will be
saved.
Saving your file in a different Word version format
Later versions of Word will be able to read documents saved in earlier
versions. However if someone using say Word 6, received a document
formatted in say Word 2000, they would be unable to open the file. The
solution, in this case, is for the person using Word 2000 to save the file in
Word 6 format.
Saving a file in HTML format
converting your Word document to HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language)
format will enable you (or your IT staff) to use the HTML version on a Web
server and it will be visible as a web page. This Web page can be viewed on
either the WWW (World Wide Web) or your local LAN/Intranet.
--Closing a Document
To close a document in Word click on the Close icon displayed at the topright of the document window. Be sure to click on the Close Window icon,
(not on the Close icon).
3.3 Using Help functions

Click on the Help drop down menu and select the command that you require.
Microsoft Office Word Help (F1)
Choosing Microsoft Office Word Help will display the following figure
Explore the options that are in this window and

learn how you can search for specific topic,
how you can display the table of contents and
how you can connect to Microsoft office on
line using this window.
3.3.2 The Office Assistant
This friendly little creature, will watch what
you do and offer tips on how to work more
productively. You can ask it questions in plain
English! Occasionally the Office Assistant will
display information on the screen.
To hide the Office Assistant, select Hide the office assistant from Help
menu.
Detect and Repair
Choosing this option (Detect and Repair) from Help menu will display the
following dialog box. Click on the Start button and follow through the onscreen prompts.
This option will automatically find and fix errors in all Office files. During
this process you may be asked to provide the installation CD or source.
3.4 Getting into Editing

There are different basic operations that must be learned to be able to use
MS Word.
-Inserting Text
A)
In Insert mode, text is inserted into the document at the insertion point. This
is the default mode. Text that already exists is moved forward to make way
for the new text.
Alternatively, Word can function in Overtype mode that will overwrite
existing text with any new text that you type in. The status bar at the bottom
of the Word window indicates that you are in Overtype mode by
highlighting the OVR indicator.(Use the insert button on your keyboard to
switch between Insert mode and Overtype mode)
B)
To insert a new paragraph, you press the Enter (Return) key. Word
automatically creates a new paragraph. It is important to realize that
Microsoft Word treats the area between depressions of the Enter (Return)
key as a paragraph for formatting purposes. Normally you will press the
Enter (Return) key twice so that a blank line is inserted between your
paragraphs.
C)
To insert special symbols: Position the insertion point at the location within
the document that you wish to insert a special symbol. Click on the Insert
drop down menu and select the Symbol command.
This displays the Symbol dialog box. You can select a

symbol and then click on the Insert button to insert
the symbol into the document. Clicking on the drop
down arrow in the Font section of the dialog box allows you to view and
select other fonts containing symbols.
Font section of the dialog box allows you to view and select other fonts
containing symbols
D)
AutoCorrect:
Using AutoCorrect to insert symbols allows you to enter information such as
(c). This will automatically be changed to the copyright symbol.
Examples for some common symbols:
when you write (c), it will automatically be changed to
when you write (r), it will automatically be changed to
and when you enter (tm), it will automatically be changed to .
To reverse the automatic changing of text by AutoCorrect, suppose that you
enter (c) and it changes to the copyright symbol, then pressing the
Backspace key immediately will reverse the change.
(Hands on lab) 24 ***
E)
AutoText:
AutoText items are pre-built text and objects that you can quickly insert into
a document. When Word's AutoComplete option is turned on, these items
appear as pop-ups when you type. You can insert the complete entry simply
by pressing Enter .
If you don't want to insert Word's AutoComplete suggestion, simply
continue typing.
F)
Select Undo from the Edit menu to reverse your last actions
OR press Ctrl+Z
OR click on the Undo button on the Standard toolbar.
Select Repeat from the Edit menu to redo a command, action, or typing
OR press F4
OR click on the Redo button on the Standard toolbar.
-Copying, Cutting, Pasting and Deleting
To copy text (duplicate it)

Select the text that you wish to copy.
Click on the Edit drop down menu and select the Copy command or press
Ctrl + C.
Click at the position within the document that you wish to copy the
selected text to.
Click on the Edit drop down menu and select the Paste command or press
Ctrl + V.
To cut text (move it from one place to another)
Select the text that you wish to cut (move).
Click on the Edit drop down menu and select the Cut command or press
Ctrl + X.
Click at the position within the document that you wish to move the
selected text to.
Click on the Edit drop down menu and select the Paste command or press
Ctrl + V.
To delete text
Place the insertion point to the left of the text to be deleted and press Delete
on the keyboard, OR place the insertion point to the right of the text to be
deleted and press Backspace.(Note: This rule is correct when the direction
of the used language is from left to right, but when the direction of the used
language is from right to left as Arabic language, you have to place the
insertion point to the right of the text to be deleted and press Delete on the
keyboard, OR place the insertion point to the left of the text to be deleted
and press Backspace.
(
-Find and Replace
To find text in a document:

* Place the insertion point where you want to begin the search.
* Select the Find command from the Edit menu, or press Ctrl+F to display
the Find and Replace dialog box.
* Type the text you wish to find in the Find what text box. Click on the
Find Next button to find the next occurrence of the text you are looking for.
To find and replace text in a document

* Place the insertion point where you want to begin the search.
* Select the Find and Replace command from the Edit menu, or press
Ctrl+H to display the Find and Replace dialog box.
* Type the text you wish to find and replace in the Find what text box, this
can be up to 255 characters in length. Type the replacement text in the
Replace with text box. Depending on the function you wish to perform, you
can select from the following:
- Find Next: Finds the next occurrence of the selected word, phrase, or
format.
- Replace: Replaces this instance of the word, phrase, or format.
- Replace All: Will replace all occurrences of the selected word, phrase, or
format.
If you started searching in the middle of the document, a message appears

when Word reaches the end of the document asking if you want to continue
the search at the beginning of the document. Select Yes to search the rest of
the document, or No to stop searching. Select Cancel to stop the search or to
close the dialog box.
3.5 Text Formatting

* Text formatting allows you to change the font type at the insertion point of
the document or, indeed, to change the font for any amount of selected text.
This enables you to give the text in your documents different looks and
styles.
* A quick way to change the text formatting is to use the icons on the
Formatting toolbar
* By default, formatting toolbar will be on the top of the page, anyway, if it

is not exist, and you want to display the formatting toolbar, select Toolbars
from View menu and then activate Formatting choice.
The following figure represents the formatting toolbar
Using the formatting toolbar enables you to give the text in your documents
different looks and styles. The following points represent an explanation for
the icons that exist in this toolbar:
(Your instructor will explain for you in practical way the implementation for
each icon, and how you can reach to these options using the menus)
1. Styles and Formatting
2. Style
3. Font
4. Font Size
5. Bold
6. Italic
7. Underline
8. Align Left
9. Center
10. Align Right
11. Justify
12. Line Spacing
13. Left to Right
14. Right to Left
15. Numbering
16. Bullets
17. Decrease Indent
18. Increase Indent
19. Outside Border
20. Highlight
21. Font Color
22. Grow Font
23. Shrink Font
24. Superscript
25. Subscript
26. Language
After exploring all of the icons in the formatting toolbar, we will present to
you some other text formatting.
--Using the font dialog box
From the Format menu, select the Font command. The Font dialog box
will be displayed.
The Font Dialog Box contains different options hat can be used:
Font: Also called a typeface, specifies the overall look of the character set.
Font Style: Determines the emphasis given to a character, i.e. Bold or Italic.
Size: Determines the size of the character in points.
Underline: Determines whether you have None, Single, Double, or Words
Only underlining etc.
Color: Determines the color of the text as it appears on the screen.
Strikethrough: A strikethrough line is drawn through selected characters.
Double Strikethrough: Two strikethrough lines are drawn through selected

characters.
Superscript: Text is raised above its normal position on the text line.
Subscript: Text is lowered below its normal position on the text line.
Shadow: Adds a shadow behind the text.
Outline: Displays the inner and outer borders of each character.
Emboss: Text appears to be raised off the page in relief.
Engrave: Text appears to be printed or pressed into the page.
Small caps: Text is formatted in small capital letters.
All Caps: All text is formatted in capital letters.
Hidden: Characters are hidden on the page.
Preview: The effect of the font is displayed before you apply it
Applying case changes to text
* Select the text that you wish to change the case of.
* Click on the Format drop down menu and select the Change Case
command. From the dialog box displayed, select the required case, and then
click on the OK button.
* Note: you can get help about each of these options by clinking on the
question mark icon (top-right of the dialog box) and then clicking on an
option within the dialog box.
Using the Format Painter
* Select some text that has been previously formatted.

* Click on the Format Painter icon. You will notice that the mouse pointer
shape has changed to the shape of a small painting brush.
* Select the text that you wish to copy the formatting to, and when you
release the mouse button (and de-select the newly selected text) you will see
that the formatting applied to the first block of text has been copied to the
newly selected text.
* Notice that this icon is exist in standard toolbar
3.6 Document Formatting

Different formatting can be implemented on the document as a whole.
---Page Setup
Select Page Setup from the File menu
Inside this box, you will find different settings and options to format the
document:
A) Orientation : Portrait or Landscape
B) Change margins of entire document, top, bottom, left, right
C) Paper size
---Header and Footer
Headers and Footers allow you to insert information at the top or bottom of
every page. This information normally consists of chapter headings, page
numbers etc. You can see header and footer information on your screen
when in Print Layout View and Print Preview, but not in Normal view.
From the View menu, select the Header and Footer command.
(Hands on lab) 20 ***
---Page Numbering
Choose the Page Numbers command from the Insert menu to display the
Page Numbers dialog box.
3.7 Tables
Tables enable you to organize items in columns and rows, instead of
calculating tab settings. In many cases it is better to organize your data
within a table rather than using tab stops. The advantage of using a table is
that text will flow from one line to the next within the table.
After you watch the clip, and listen to the explanation from your instructor
about tables you have to be a good in the following points:
1. Create a table
2. Entering data into a table
3. Select rows, columns, cells and entire table
4. Insert and delete rows and columns
5. Modify column width and row height
6. Modify cell border width, style and color
7. Add shading to cells
3.8 Preparing Outputs

Always proof your documents prior to printing them.
Spell Checking
There are two options to check Spelling and Grammar:

1. By clicking Tools > Spelling and Grammar (F7)
Word will display incorrectly spelt words as underlined in red. You can run
the Spell checker program at any time by clicking on the Spelling icon in the
Standard toolbar (or pressing F7). You can also check the grammar used
within your document.
2. By clicking right mouse button.

If you enter an incorrectly spelt word and wish to correct it immediately,
then as soon as the red underlining is displayed, right click on the word and
a popup dialog box will be displayed suggesting alternative, correctly spelt
words.
** To disable automatic spell checking
Click on the Tools drop down menu and select the Options command.
Click on the Spelling & Grammar tab.
Remove the check next to Check spelling as you type.
Printing
Selecting Print from File menu enable you to choose print output options
such as: entire document, specific pages, number of copies.
- To print the entire document, click on All.

- To print only the page you are viewing, click on Current page.
- To specify the pages you wish to print, click on Pages and
enter the pages that you wish to print. For instance if you want to print
page 2, and also pages 5-7 inclusive, you would enter 2, 5-7
Microsoft Excel, Basic of spreadsheets

By Zainab alRahamnih
Learning objectives
First Steps with Spreadsheets.
Using cells, rows and columns.
Editing and sorting data.
Handling worksheets.
Inserting Arithmetic formulas.
Cell referencing.
Working with functions.
Using charts and Graphs.
4.1 First Steps with MS Excel

Microsoft Office Applications have different common features, properties,
windows and menus. In MS Excel, there are many features and menus as
same as these in MS Word. So, we will present these concepts to you briefly.
Starting and Closing MS Excel
* Starting MS Excel
Click on the Start icon to display the Start menu and then move the
mouse pointer onto All Programs. From the submenu select
Microsoft Excel.
* Closing MS Word
Click on the Close icon displayed at the top right of the Excel window OR press Alt+F4
Basic Operations on files
At the end of this part, your instructor will help you to be able to perform the
following tasks:
a. Opening Files
b. Saving Files
c. Saving a document under another name or in an earlier Excel format
d. Creating a new Spreadsheet and a new Worksheet
e. Switching between worksheets
f. Using Help menu
g. Closing files
h. Displaying or Hiding a toolbar
Select the Toolbars command from the
View menu
4.2 Cells, Rows and Columns

----Insert Data
* You can enter a number, a date, text in a cell

* Simply click on the cell and start typing the text that you wish to appear in
that cell. Remember that to move to the next cell use the Tab key. To
move down a cell press the Enter key
* To enter the current date, press Ctrl + ;
To enter the current time, press Ctrl + :
----Select Cells
To select a cell
Click on the cell you wish to select.
To select non-adjacent cells
Click on the first cell you wish to select.
Depress the Control key
Click on the other cells that you wish to select.
Release the Control key when you have finished.
To select a range of cells by dragging the mouse
Click on the first cell in the range.
Hold down the left-hand mouse button and drag over the cells you wish
to include in the selection.
To select a range of adjacent cells (making up a rectangular block)
Click on the first cell of the rectangular block that you wish to select (i.e.
the top-left hand corner).
Move down to the cell that marks the bottom-right corner of the
rectangular block.
Depress the Shift key (and keep it depressed).
Click once on the last cell of the required block.
Release the Shift key.
To select an entire worksheet
Click the Select All icon in the top, lefthand corner of the worksheet where the row
heading and column heading meet
OR press Ctrl+A.
----Select Rows and Columns
You can use the skills that you learned in the previous topic (Select cells) to
select rows and columns
To select a row
Click the row heading number.
To select a range of adjacent rows
Use Shift key
To select a range of non-adjacent rows
Use Control key
To select a column
Click on the column-heading letter.
To select a range of adjacent columns
Use Shift key
To select a range of non-adjacent columns
Use Control key
---- Insert rows, columns in a worksheet.
To insert a row into a worksheet

Select the row you want to move down when the new row is inserted
above it.
To select more than one row, drag the mouse pointer across the required
row headings (with the mouse button depressed).
Right click over the selected row(s)
to display a popup menu.
Select Insert. Any existing data will
move down to accommodate the
new rows.
After selecting insert from the popup menu, a new row will be added as in
the following figure.
To insert a column into a worksheet

Select the column you want to move to the right when the new row is
inserted.
To select more than one column, drag the mouse pointer across the
required column headings (with the mouse button depressed).
Right click over the selected column(s) to display a popup menu.
Select Insert. Any existing data will move right to accommodate the new
columns.
After selecting insert from the popup menu, a new column will be added as
in the following figure.
----Delete rows, columns in a worksheet.
To delete a row or column

Select the row(s) or column(s) you wish to delete.
Right click on a selected row or column and choose Delete from the
popup menu.
----Use AutoFill
Enter a starting value for the series that you wish to create.
Enter the second value in the next cell.
Move the mouse pointer to the "fill handle" (this is the small black square
at the bottom, right of the selected area). When the mouse pointer is over
the fill handle, it will change shape, from a large white cross to a small
black cross.
Depress the mouse button and drag as far as you wish to extend the
range.
When you release the mouse button the range will have been filled with
incremental values.
Autofill can be used for number sequencing, days of the week, or months
of the year.
---- Find and Replace
Select the Find command from the Edit menu, or press Ctrl+F to display
the Find and Replace dialog box.
---- Sort Data
* Select the data that you wish to sort
* Select Sort from Data menu
A box will be displayed to specify the

column that you wish to sort by
After pressing Ok on this box, the data will be sorted alphabetically
You can select the data another time, and then select Sort from Data menu.
Sort at this time will be in descending order according to mark
After pressing Ok on this box, the

data will be sorted according to
mark
----Insert, rename, delete Worksheet
To insert a worksheet tab
Right click on the worksheet that you wish to insert a new worksheet in front
of. In this case we have selected sheet one. From the popup menu displayed,
select Insert, as illustrated.
You will see a dialog box displayed, click on the OK button.
The effect is illustrated below; where the new sheet four has been inserted
before sheet one.
To rename a worksheet tab

Right click on the worksheet tab that you wish to rename. From the popup
menu displayed select the Rename command.
To delete a worksheet (by right-clicking)

Click on the relevant worksheet tab with the right-hand mouse button.
Select Delete from the popup menu displayed.
4.3 Formulas
Entering formulas into the cell
Place the cursor in the cell where the formula will appear.
Enter an = (equal) sign.
Enter the expression that will produce the result you want. This can consist
of operands, values, variables, and symbols which represent mathematical
procedures such as A1 + A3.
When the formula is complete, press Enter. The result of the formula will
be calculated and displayed in the cell.
You can display the formula itself in the Formula bar at the top of the
screen by placing the cell pointer on the cell.
If there is an error in a formula, an error message is displayed which will
begin with a # sign.
If you try to enter the following wrong formula, the result will begin with a #
sign
Common formula error messages
When writing formulas it is easy to make a mistake: listed below are some
common error messages.
The contents of the cell cannot be displayed correctly as the column is too
narrow.
Indicates that a cell reference is invalid. This is often displayed when
you delete cells that are involved in a formula.
Excel does not recognize text contained within a formula.
4.4 Working with Functions
A function allows you to calculate a result such as summing numbers
together, or finding the average of a range of numbers.
* Common functions
- AVERAGE: Used to determine the average number of the selected cells.
- COUNT: Used to count how many numbers are in the list of arguments.
- MAX: Used to return the maximum number from a list of arguments.
- M IN: Used to return the minimum number from a list of arguments.
- ROUND: Used to round off numbers to a specified number of decimal
points.
- SUM: Used to add the contents of selected cells.
IF Function
The general format for the function if is:

IF(Logical_test, Value_if_true, Value_if_false)
Where:
Logical_test evaluates an expression to see if it passes the test

Value_if_true: the result or the value that will be placed in the cell that
contains the IF( ) Function if the logical_test is true.
Value_if_false: the result or the value that will be placed in the cell that
contains the IF( ) Function if the logical_test is false.
Example:
The following data represent the marks for 5 students.
We want to add a column that contains the word Pass if the mark is greater
than or equal to 50, or the word Fail if the mark is less than 50
- Click the mouse inside the cell C2
- Select function from insert menu
The following figure will be displayed
- Select IF function from the list an then press OK

The following figure will be displayed.. fill it as in the figure
Then press OK
Cell C2 will be filled with Pass
Use the auto fill property for all the cells in column C
The cells will be displayed as in the following figure
4.5 Format Cells

There are different formats that can be modified.
1* Change the text size
2* Change the font type
3* Format text as bold, italic and underline
4* Change the color used by the text
5* Change the background color of a cell range
- Select the cell or range that you wish to apply a different background color
to.
- Right click on the selected range and select Format Cells. This will
display the Format Cell dialog box. Select the Patterns tab within the dialog
box and select the color you wish to use for the cell background and then
Press the OK button.
6* Align data within a cell range, to the left, to the right or to center data
7* Align data between the top and bottom of a cell
8* Merge and Center

The following figure represents an example before applying merge and
center
Select a range of cells then click on merge and cells icon on the formatting
bar
The result will be displayed as in the following figure
9* Apply text wrapping to contents within a cell

- Select the cell or range that you wish to apply text wrapping to.
- Right click and from the popup displayed select the Format Cells
command.
- Click on the Alignment tab within the dialog box.
- Within the Text control part of this dialog box, select Wrap text
10* Adjust cell content orientation

- Select the cell(s) that you wish to apply the rotation formatting to.
- Right click to display the popup box, and from the list displayed, select
Format Cells. This will display the Format Cells dialog box. Select the
Alignment tab.
- From the Orientation section either enter the exact amount of rotation
required into the Degrees box, or drag the Text dial to give the desired
level of rotation and then Select OK.
11* Apply a border to a cell range (using the Border icon)
4.6 Charts
To use the Chart Wizard to create a chart

Select the cells you want to include in a chart. If you want to highlight a
non-contiguous range, highlight the first range with the mouse, and hold
down the Ctrl key and click on any other cells.
Click on the Chart Wizard icon on the Standard toolbar.
A Chart Wizard dialog box is displayed
From within the Chart Type section of the dialog box, select the required
chart type, such as column chart, bar chart, line chart or pie chart. Click on
the Next button. The next page of the Chart Wizard is displayed. You can
make changes if required.
Click on the Next button. The next page of the Chart Wizard allows you to
add items such as chart titles, gridline etc.
and then click on the Next button. The final page of the Chart Wizard is
displayed.
The chart is displayed, as illustrated
To add a title or label to a chart

- Click on the chart that you have created.
- You will notice that when the chart is selected the drop down menus will contain a
menu called Chart instead of Data
Click on the Chart drop down menu, and select the Chart Options
command. Enter or modify a title as required.
To remove a title or label from a chart
- Click on a chart containing a title or label that you wish to remove.
- Click on the item that you wish to remove.
- Press the Delete key to remove the title.
To change the background color of a chart

- Click once on a chart to select it.
- Double click over a portion of the background that you wish to change the
color of. This will display the Format Chart Area dialog box.
- Select the required background color, and then click on the OK button.
Microsoft PowerPoint, basics of preparing presentations

Compiled by: Sulieman Bani-Ahmad
Microsoft PowerPoint is a powerful tool to create professional looking
presentations and slide shows. PowerPoint allows you to construct presentations
from scratch or by using the easy to use wizard.
Learning objectives
By completing this part, the student should be able to
Learn the basics of making professional presentation for scientific work.

o
Preparing an outline for his/her presentation
Organizing his/her thoughts
Use PowerPoint, a presentation preparation tool by Microsoft.
Use OLE feature to enrich presentations. That is; embedding multimedia

objects into presentations.
Publishing presentations in different forms and formats (PDF, web files,

images).
Making hardcopies of presentation to fit different objectives (printing

handouts, outlines)
5.1 Starting Microsoft PowerPoint
Two Ways
1. Double click on the Microsoft PowerPoint icon on the desktop.
2. Click on Start --> Programs --> Microsoft PowerPoint
Creating a Presentation
After you open up Microsoft PowerPoint, a screen pops up asking if you would
like to create a New Presentation or Open An Existing Presentation.
AutoContent Wizard
o
Creates a new presentation by prompting you for information about

content, purpose, style, handouts, and output. The new
presentation contains sample text that you can replace with your
own information. Simply follow the directions and prompts that are
given by Microsoft PowerPoint.
Design Template
Creates a new presentation based on one of the PowerPoint design

templates supplied by Microsoft. Use what is already supplied by
Microsoft PowerPoint and change the information to your own.
Blank Presentation
o
Creates a new, blank presentation using the default settings for text
and colors. Go to next step: Creating A Blank Presentation
Opening An Existing Presentation

1. Select Open An Existing Presentation from the picture above
2. Click on your presentation in the white box below step 1
o If you do not see your presentation in the white box, select More
Files and hit OK.
o Locate you existing Presentation and hit the Open button
Create a Blank Presentation

After you select Blank Presentation a window pops up asking you to select the
layout of the first slide.
Pre-Designed Slide Layouts (Left to Right)
Title Slide
Bulleted List
Two Column Text
Table
Text & Chart
Chart & Text
Organizational Chart
Chart
Text & Clip Art

Clip Art & Text
Title Only
Blank Slide
NOTE:If you already know what you want in your next slide, it is a very good
idea to choose one of the pre-designed layouts from above. However if you do
not, then you can still insert what you want in throughout your Presentation
anytime you desire. Just choose Blank Slide and insert items as you see fit.
5.2 Different Views That PowerPoint Demonstrates

There are different views within Microsoft PowerPoint that allow you to look at
your presentation from different perspectives.
Normal View
Outline View
Slide View
Switches to
normal view,
where you can
work on one
slide at a time or
organize the
structure of all
the slides in your
presentation
Switches to
outline view,
where you can
work with the
structure of your
file in outline
form. Work in
outline view
when you need
to organize the
structure of your
file.
Switches to slide
view, where you
can work on one
slide at a time
Slide Sorter
View
Slide Show View
Displays
miniature
versions of all
slides in a
presentation,
complete with
text and
graphics. In slide
sorter view, you
can reorder
slides, add
transitions, and
animation
effects. You can
Runs your slide

show in a full
screen,
beginning with
the current slide
if you are in slide
view or the
selected slide if
you are in slide
sorter view. If
you simply want
to view your
show from the
first slide:
also set the

timings for
electronic slide
shows.
1. Click
Slide
Show at
the top of
the
screen
2. Select
View
Show
5.3 Slide Manipulation
Inserting A New Slide

1. Click Insert at top of screen
2. Select New Slide
.
Formatting A Slide Background

o
You can format your slide to make it look however you would like,
whether it be a background color, picture, or a design template built
into Microsoft PowerPoint. The next step will show you how to
apply a Design Template, but the other items mentioned above can
be accomplished the same way.
1. Click Format at the top of the screen
2. Select Apply Design Template
3. Select Design you wish to apply
4. Click Apply Button
Inserting Clipart & Pictures

0.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Display the slide you want to add a picture to.

Click Insert at the top of the screen
Select Picture
Select Clip Art
Click the category you want
Click the picture you want
Click Insert Clip on the shortcut menu
When you are finished using the Clip Gallery, click the Close button
on the Clip Gallery title bar
8. Steps 1-4 are very similar when inserting other Pictures,
Objects, Movies, Sounds, and Charts
5.4 Adding Transitions to a Slide Show

You can add customized transitions to your slide show that will make it come
alive and become appealing to your audience. Follow these steps when adding
Slide Transitions.
1. In slide or slide sorter view, select the slide or slides you want to add a
transition to.
2. On the Slide Show menu at the top of the screen, click Slide Transition
3. In the Effect box, click the transition you want, and then select any other
options you want
4. To apply the transition to the selected slide, click Apply.
5. To apply the transition to all the slides, click Apply to All.
6. Repeat the process for each slide you want to add a transition to.
7. To view the transitions, on the Slide Show menu, click Animation Preview.
5.5 Viewing The Slide Show

You can view your slide show by any of the following ways:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Click Slide Show at the lower left of the PowerPoint window.

On the Slide Show menu, click View Show.
On the View menu, click Slide Show.
Press F5 on the keyboard
5.6 Navigating While In Your Slide Show
Forward Navigation
o Simply click on the left Mouse Button or hit the Enter Button on
your keyboard
Reverse Navigation
o Hit the Backspace on the keyboard
Exiting the show
Hit the Esc Button on the keyboard
Using Microsoft Access and Microsoft Outlook
Creating a Database Using Access
6.1 Starting Access 2003

Double click on the Access 2003 icon on the Windows desktop (see right),
or click-on the Start button in the lower left corner of the screen, then
click-on Programs, and then click-on Microsoft Access.
The following Access 2003 Getting Started Task

Pane will appear on the right side of your Access
2003 screen.
For Access 97 and 2000 users, the Task Pane is

something new in Office XP/2002 and 2003. It is
used in all of the Office modules. It replaces many
of the Microsoft Menu Screens, Wizards, and
Catalogs that were a part of the Office 97 and 2000
screens. Once you get used to the Task Pane, and its
flexibility, we think youll like it. There are a lot of
Task Panes in PowerPoint 2003, FrontPage and
Publisher 2003 because they are so graphic in
nature. There are few Task Panes in Excel and
Access 2003.
In the Open area of the Access 2003 Getting Started
Task Pane, click the left mouse button on Create a
new file.
Left Mouse Button

In this tutorial, whenever we indicate that you need to click the mouse, it will
mean to click the left mouse button unless we indicate that you should click
the right mouse button. So, always click left unless we tell you otherwise.
The New File menu screen at the on the right will

appear when you click the left mouse button on Create
a new file.
Clickon Blank database.
6.2 Saving your work

One of the unique things about Access database is that it requires you to save your database as
soon as you enter the program.
You can save your work on a floppy diskette in the A: Drive, or on your C: Hard Disk, or in
some other drive, please save to these areas and substitute your Drive in the instructions.
A File New Database menu screen, similar to the one below, will be on your screen. Well
have to do several things to set-up this screen to save your database.
In the upper left corner of the File New Database menu screen that appears, you will see a
Save in: area (see upper left arrow above). Click-on the small down arrow on the right and it
will show you the various disk drives available on which you can save (see right upper arrow
above). Point to the drive on which you want to save your database, and click-on it. If you
choose the 3 Floppy (A:), make sure you have a formatted disk in the A drive. If you choose
the C: drive, choose the folder in which you want to save by double clicking on the folder. Your
selection should now appear in the Save in: area
Next click-in the area to the right of File Name:. Delete any text that is entered in the area and
then type-in the word PERSON as shown at the bottom of the above image (see lower left
arrow).
Now click-on the Create button or tap the Enter key as shown on last page (see lower right
arrow on last page).
The following person: Database menu screen should now appear.
6.3 Creating a Table

You will notice, in the person:Database menu screen, in the left border: Tables, Queries,
Forms, Reports, Pages, Macros, and Modules. You will notice at the top of the screen:
Open, Design and New. You may create multiple Tables (Databases), as well as multiple other
items associated with the items in the left border. As you create them, they will be shown in the
"white" area. In other words, the PERSON database can be made-up of, or contain, many other
databases (tables), reports, queries, etc.
For now, we'll do a basic database (table) creation. Later, you can try Table Wizards when
you have the "feel" for creating a table.
To begin designing the database, please click-on the Design button at the top
person: Database menu screen (see arrow on last page).
of the
You should now see a Table1: Table design screen similar to the one
below. If the Table: Table1 image does not fill the screen, click-on
the small square between the minus and the X in the upper right
hand corner of the screen (see arrow and image on right).
Notice, under the Blue Bar at the top of the design screen that there are (3) things: Field name,
Data Type, and Description, and, in the lower half of the window; Field Properties (see
arrows in image below).
Next you will be creating the fields that make up a database. This is similar to creating a blank
personnel form (on paper) that will be "filled-in" for each employee (Name, Address, Phone
Number, etc are called fields in a database). These "forms" are called records in a database.
There will be a record, or form, for each employee. All the forms, together, make up a Table
(database). So lets create a personnel database.
4
Significant Note: When creating a database it is always best to break down a field into
its smallest parts. For example Name would break down into First Name, and Last Name
(you could also have Middle Initial, Title, etc.) Address would break down into Street Address,
City, State, and Zip (you could also have Apartment Number, etc). Because we are working in
Access 2003 it will be very simple to put the fields back together with a few mouse clicks
when we need to do this. Trust us. This will save you a lot of time later on.
Look at the image on the right. Click-in the

area or space under Field Name and type-in
Last Name. Tap Enter or click-in the area to
the right under Data Type. The cursor now
moves to the right under Data Type. Notice, that
Text appears as the default (and a box with a
down-arrow appears in the right side of the
box). Click-on the down arrow. Your design
screen should look like the one on the right.
Now well talk about Data Type.
6.4 Data Type

Memo
Number
Date/Time
Currency
You may type in any alphabetical/numerical data that you desire

- up to a maximum of 255 characters. As indicated, this is a text
field, so you can't do mathematical calculations. Examples of
Text data are: names, addresses, stock numbers, room numbers,
zip codes, etc.
This field is for lots of text. You can have up to 32,000
characters.
This field is for numbers where you want to add, subtract,
multiply, divide, average, and do numerical calculations. This
field can be a very large size, so when we get to Field Properties,
we'll talk about "sizing" this field so it doesn't take up to much
"space" in storage.
Dates and Times. You may format these later, as you may desire.
AutoNumber Dollars ($). You may format these later, as you may desire.
Yes/No
OLE Object
Memo
This field is an "automatic" counter that assigns a number each

time you put data into a new field.
This is a "True/False" or "Yes/No" type of field.
This means "Object Link Embedding" which indicates you can
insert a graphic, picture, sound, etc. Pretty neat to put a
photograph in a personnel record or a picture of an inventory
item in the stock record (advanced stuff).
We'll leave Last Name as a Text Data Type. To the right under Description you may make any
remarks you feel are appropriate to someone who may want to know how/why you designed the
field as you did.
Now notice in the lower part of the screen, under Field Properties, that a box appeared when
you selected the Text Data Type. This box is "tailored" to the Text Data Type that you selected
above. Your Field Properties should look like the one below when you finish doing the steps
indicated below.
6.5 Field Properties

Field Size
Is currently set to 50 characters. That's pretty large for a name. So, clickin this area and change the number to 25 (you can make this larger or smaller
later if you have to).
Format
Now click-in the Format Area. Next tap the F1 function key to activate Help.
Since you are in the Format area, Help will be "tailored to" this area. When the
Help Window appears, click-on Text and Memo Data Types (Notice that you
click-on different Data Types, depending on the Data Type you select). This
gives you an idea of some formats. We'll use one later. Now click-on the X in
the upper right corner of the Microsoft Access Help Format Property
Window to close it.
Input Mask
We'll come back to this feature later.
Caption
Look at the Gray Help area to the right. It explains about Caption.
Default Value
Validation Rule We'll come back to this feature later.

Validation Text
Required
Look at the Gray Help area to the right.
Allow Zero Length
Look at the Gray Help area to the right.
Indexed
Look at the Gray Help area to the right and tap F1 (Help)
Unicode Compression Look at the Gray Help area to the right.

IME Mode
IME Sentence Mode

Smart Tags
Now well repeat this process and create different Field Names and Data Types (as
necessary). Type-in the Field Names as indicated below and set them to the Data Types and
Sizes indicated.
Field Name
Last name
First name
Social Security #
Data Type
Text
Text
Text
Size
25
20
15
(Already Completed)
We'll use an Input Mask for our Social Security Number. Click-in the Input Mask
area in the Field Properties area at the bottom of the screen (see left arrow below).
Notice there are three "dots" (...) in a box on the right. Click-on the three dots (see
right arrow above). An Input Mask Wizard will appear: "Must Save Table First.
Save Now?".
Click-on Yes.
A Save As Window will now

appear. We'll save our Table as
Personnel, so type-in
Personnel in the area under
Table Name:, and click-on OK.
Next, a Microsoft Access menu box will appear indicating There is No Primary Key defined.
Click NO. (Keying, or indexing, is somewhat advanced. You can get a good description by
searching in Help for Keying.)
The Input Mask Wizard will show you some Sample Masks (you may scroll up/down to view
them). We'll use Social Security Number, so click-on it. Your screen should look like the one
below.
Now click-on Next at the bottom of the Input Mask Wizard screen.
8
You will now see a default number of 000-00-0000 using dashes (-) between the numbers.
You can use anything you want.
We'll leave it as is, so click-on Next> again (at the bottom of the Input Mask Wizard screen).
On this Input Mask Wizard screen youll see two choices. Click-in the little circle to the left of
With symbols in the mask, like this:. Sometimes, when we use Access data as a part of mail
merges or in labels, if we dont save the dashes, they wont appear in our document. So, it
always a good idea to save dashes.
Click-on Next> again.

Now click-on Finish. You will see some special numbers written in the Input Mask area
for Social Security #. When you begin to enter data in this field, youll see how this works.
Your Field Properties area should look like the one below.
Now continue entering the following information in the Field Name and Data Type areas as we
did above.
Street address
City
State
Text
Text
Text
25
20
2
Here we'll use a Format. First make the Field Size 2 then click-in the area to the right
of Format.
A down pointing arrow, like the one above (see arrow), will appear on the right side
of the Format area. If you click-on the arrow, the area will appear blank (that's because
we haven't entered a Format). Tap the F1 key in the row of Function Keys at the top
of the keyboard. A Help menu screen tailored to Format will appear )like the one
below).
Since we are working with a Text Data Type, click-on Text and Memo Data Types (see
arrow above).
10
Notice that a > will change any alphabetic character you type into all upper case letters.
Now point and click the X in the upper right hand corner of the Format Help Screen
(notice that the Help Window closes "automatically").
Now type a > in the Format area. Your Field Properties area should look like the one below.
Continue entering the following information in the Field Name and Data Type areas as we did
above.
Zip
Gender
Text
Text
5
1
Insert a > in the Format area to make all gender entries become capitals (like you just
did for State).
Favorite Number
Number
(Note: this is the first Number field)
Here we'll learn about Numbers, the Validation Rule and Validation Text. We'll limit
the person's favorite number to a number between 1 and 999. Leave the Field Size set to
Long Integer (Tap the F1 Function Key [Help] to view the different Number Field Size
descriptions). After you have viewed the Number Help screens, click the small X in
the upper right hand corner of the Help screen to close the Help screen.
11
Now click-in the area to the right of Decimal Places. It currently indicates Auto. When you
click there you will see a little down arrow on the right side of the area. Click-on the little
arrow. Select 0. This indicates that decimal places are not allowed in the Favorite Number.
Next, click-in the Validation Rule area. We'll "build" a mathematical expression that will
only allow numbers from 1 to 999. Type in the following expression (in the area to the right
of Validation Rule):
> 0 and < 1000
This tells Access that the number entered must be between 1 and 999.
Youll notice that when you click-in the Validation Rule area that three periods () appear
just like they did in Input Mask. If you want to click-on the three periods they will bring up an
Expression Builder which you can use to create the mathematical formula above. Please note
that frequently, if you are really not great at math, the Expression Builder can cause problems.
Sometimes, the Expression Builder will insert an <<expr>> in the formula. If it does this,
delete the <<expr>>. This will confuse Access, and will frequently cause the program to stop
until you remove <<expr>>. So, if you want to look at Expression Builder, please do so. But
be careful.
If someone does not enter a number correctly, an error message will appear. Now we'll create
an appropriate error message. Click-in the Validation Text area and type-in:
Favorite Number must be between 1 and 999.
12
When you finish all of the above, your Field Properties should look like the one below.
Continue entering the following information in the Field Name and Data Type areas as we did
above.
Date hired
Date/Time
In Format click-on the small down arrow on the right side of the Format
area and choose Short Date. In the Input Mask area click-on the three dots
(...), save the table, and again choose Short Date, click Next>, click Next> again, then
click Finish. (This will insert a / between the day, month, year).
Your Field Properties should look like the image below.
Salary
Currency
In the Decimal Places Field Properties area click-on the small down arrow on the right
side and select 0 (zero) this indicates no cents. Notice the Default Value of 0
income will be inserted if no Salary figure is entered. We'll leave it at zero. Your Field
Properties screen should look like the one below.
13
Application Received
Yes/No
Well make this a Yes/No or check box field. When we begin entering data in the
database, youll see how this box works.
Point to and click on File in the Menu Bar then click on Save As. The Save As Window will
appear and Personnel should appear under Table Name: Click-on OK. You could also click-on
the small diskette Save Button if you desire.
6.6 Entering data in the database

At this point you will still be in the design window. You
have two choices. If you look at the Button Bar just
below the Menu Bar Area (File, Edit, View, etc.) you will
see that the first button on the left that has a small sheet
of paper with some data on it (see arrow on the right).
Point to this button with the mouse and pause, you will see a "Tool Tip" that indicates that this
button is the View Button. This is logical because you have been designing your table and now
want to view the data that you have placed in the database (table). If you are familiar with
spreadsheets it looks like a tiny version spreadsheet. You can click-on the View Button and go
right into entering data in your table. However, it might be good to see how to enter data
when we first open Access.
So, point and click-on File in the Menu Bar, then click-on Close. You will return to the main
database window where we started (PERSON: Database).
You should see the Tables choice

highlighted and Personnel Table
highlighted. Notice that there are
three Buttons at the top portion
of the window which indicate:
Open, Design, New. If you clickon New you can add another table
to the Person database. If you
click-on the Personnel Table
(make sure that it is blue) and
then click-on Open you will open
the table you created. You can
now enter data. If you click-on Design, you will be back in the design window and can alter
your design. Note: if you find, as youre entering data, that if you made a field too small, you
can go to Design View and make the field a larger width at any time you desire.
14
So let's click-on Open. The Personnel Table will appear on the screen. If
the window does not fill the screen, point to the Expansion square in the
upper-right corner directly to the right of Personnel: Table in the blue
bar. This will expand your Table to fill the desktop.
Move the cursor arrow over the buttons below menu bar. As you do, notice that the "Tool
Tips" will tell you what each button does.
Notice, below the Button Bar, that the fields you created in your Personnel
Table are displayed in what is called Datasheet View (see above). Notice the
small button under File in the menu bar. It shows a small blue triangle,
pencil, and a ruler (like the one on the right). This is a toggle which will
take you back to Design View - if you need to make design changes while you are in Datasheet
view. If you go back to Design View, you can then toggle back to Datasheet view when you
have made your corrections. Under Last Name you will see a flashing cursor; this means that
you are ready to begin entering data. You may type the data and tap Enter, or click with
the mouse in each field. If you make a mistake you may retype the data. If you see a mistake
later you can come back at any time and correct it.
Under each field, type the following in the area below the Field Name:
Field Name
1. Last Name
2. First Name
3. Social Security #
4. Street address
5. City
6. State
7. Zip
8. Gender
9. Favorite Number
10. Date Hired
11. Salary
12. Application Received
To be typed
Butler
Greg
123-45-6789
100 Main Street
Lynchburg
va
24501
m or f (your choice)
2003
7/01/1993
40000
Point the mouse to the little square and click the left mouse
button. You will see a check mark appear in the square. A click
in the square indicates that the application has been received. If
you do not click, then that will mean the application has not been
received.
15
As you are entering this data you will notice several things.
Social Security Number and Date Hired Youll see your Input Mask work.
State and Gender you typed in small letters notice how the Format ( > ) forced the
letter(s) to be capitals.
Favorite Number since the Favorite Number is too big you will see your error message
appear. Click-on OK in the message screen and then create a Favorite
number that will work.
Salary -
notice how your Currency formatting created a $, commas and periods.
When you have completed typing the information, tap Enter so the cursor will move down to
the next record. You are now ready to insert your second entry.
Note: When you tapped Enter, Access automatically saved your first record. This can be
confirmed by the display of the hourglass.
Also note: As you began typing your first record a small pencil appeared in the left margin.
This indicates that you are "writing to" this record (editing). Below the pencil an * (asterisk)
also appeared. This indicates that your next record will go below the first.
There are (2) methods for entering data into the database:
1. The method you just used is called Datasheet View method.
or
2. You can use the Form View method (well create a Form in a bit later in the tutorial).
6.7 Exiting and Saving

Note: Anytime you want to take a break and exit Access, simply point to File in the Menu
Bar, and click-on Exit. If it asks Do you want to save?, click-on Yes. If it gives you a save file
screen, give it a name of your choice and click on OK. You should then exit to the Windows
Screen with no problems. Since you have already named everything for this exercise, you
should not have to name any files as you exit.
16
6.8 Opening Access Database

If you decide to Exit Access 2003, and then return to continue the tutorial, refer to the
instructions at the beginning of this tutorial (Page 1).
A neat thing about Access 2003 is the Task Pane on the

right side of the screen. We used the Task Pane at the
beginning of the tutorial (Page 1) to create a new database.
Once you have created a database, you will see your
database in the Open portion of the Task Pane (see arrow
and image to the right). You can simply click-on the file,
in this tutorial Person, and it will open.
Or, you can open the database the way you open
many files. When Access 2003 opens, click-on File
in the Menu Bar, and click-on Open.
When the Open menu screen appears,

click-on the small down arrow to the
right of the Look in area and choose the
drive on which you saved your database
(A: 3 Floppy or your C: Hard Disk
Drive). Then click-on the name of your
database (e.g. person.mdb) and then
click Open (at the bottom of the menu
screen).
Now follow the instructions at the bottom of Page 14 to open your personnel table and to
continue entering data.
You are now ready to continue entering the data.
17
6.9 Form View and Datasheet View

In the Button Bar (just below the Menu Bar, to the right of Help, is a button with a lightening
bolt and a small form. This is the New Object: AutoForm Button. Point to it - make sure
you have the correct button - then click-on it (see image below). A New Data Entry Form will
automatically be created and appear.
New Object: AutoForm
The Personnel Form should look

something like the one on the left.
Since you are in the Personnel Table,

the form will automatically be
created, just like the Personnel
Datasheet. You will now see a data
entry form window. If the form
does not fill the screen, click-on the
expansion square (see arrow above)
to increase the size. Notice your first
record appears.
You may enter data in Form View

the same as in Datasheet View. To
save this form click-on File in the
Menu Bar, then on Save As. The
Save As screen will appear with
Personnel already in the Save
Form Form1 To: area (see image
to the left). Click-on OK.
18
The data entry form is now saved as Personnel, just like the Table. Notice, at the bottom of the
Form screen, that there is a status area (see below) that tells you what record you are on. You
can use the arrows to move from one record to another, or select a new record in which to
enter data. Click-on each of the arrows to see how they work. Some will take you forward are
back to the next or previous record, and some will take you to the beginning or end of your
records. The arrow with an asterisk will take you to a new blank record. Enter a few records
to see how the Form View works.
When you first open your Person Database, you may choose your
favorite screen to enter data: The data Form or Datasheet. Click-on
either the Tables selection or Forms selection on the left of the window.
Then, click-on Personnel, and then click Open to begin entering data in
your choice. You can switch back and forth from the Datasheet entry
to the Form entry by clicking on Window in the Menu Bar.
At the lower left corner of the menu screen, you will see some text that indicates that you
are either using Form or Datasheet View to enter your data.
This text indicates that you are currently in Form View (or
Datasheet View) using the Personnel database. You can shift
back and forth between Datasheet View and form View by using
the View button in the upper left corner of the Access screen.
The View button on the right indicates what view you are using:
Design View, Form View, or Datasheet View. You can move
back-and-forth between views by clicking-on the down triangle to
the right of the button (see arrow and image to the right) and then
choosing either Form or Datasheet to enter your data.
Note: When you are finished entering data and preparing to exit Microsoft Access, or Close the
form, if you did not save before exiting, the program will ask if you want to Save the
Form. This is up to you. You may save it with your choice of names and it will then
show-up as a form when the Person Database Main Window appears. Or, you can
indicate No, and re-create the form again with the Wizard.
Important
To record enough information so that you can see what a database does enter 24 or
more records now. You may use either Form View or Datasheet View.
19
6.10 Querying the Database

This is what a database is designed for: finding specific information about some
of the data in the table(s) very quickly. A query is a search for general or specific data in a
field or fields in your database (e.g. the first and last names and birth dates of all employees, just
the Joness, the people from CA, salaries > $10,000, etc.). In order to do this, we need to click
on the fields we want to query. So, lets start by finding just Last Names in our table.
If you are not in the Database: PERSON screen which shows the Tables, Queries, etc., go
there by clicking-on Window in the Menu Bar and then on PERSON: Database. Also, if you
have the Personnel Datasheet or Personnel Form open (to add data), close them
before you begin your queries. The Access program sometimes becomes logically confused
when you try to do queries when it thinks you also want to add data. You may see error
messages if you leave the Form or Datasheet open.
Notice, at the left of the Person: Database

screen there is a selection that indicates
Queries. Click-on it. Since we have not
done a query before, double-click quickly
on Create query in Design view or click-on
Create a query in Design view and then
click-on the Design button.
Two new windows will now appear: Query 1: Select Query and Show Table. You will first
have to select the table(s) you desire to query. The Show Table screen should look like the
one below.
Click Add First
Then click Close

Make sure the blue highlights are on Show Table and Personnel. Click-on Add (we'll talk
about Wizards later).
Then click-on Close.
20
The Show Table window will disappear, and the Query 1: Select Query window, behind the
Show Table window, will appear by itself.
Click-on the expansion square in the upper right corner
to enlarge the Query 1: Select Query window.
Your screen should now look similar to the one below.
These areas
are
magnified
below
Notice, in the upper half of the window, a small box on the left indicates: Personnel. At the
top is an asterisk (* ) and below, in an elevator box, are the fields from the Personnel Table
(you can move up-and-down the list as you desire).
What we need to do next is place the Fields we want to query in the lower area of the screen.
Notice the lower area on the left border. The first row indicates Field:, followed by Table,
Sort:, Show:, Criteria:, and or:.
In the lower half of the screen click-in the first cell to the
right of Field:. We'll start with a query on Last Name, State,
Favorite Number and Salary. Now click-on the down
arrow and then click-on Last Name. Notice how Last
Name now appears to the right of Field: and a
(check) is seen in the Show: cell (The
means that you
will see Last Names in your query.). Notice also that, to the
right of Table:, that Personnel (the Table from which we
queried) is showing.
Your query screen should

now look like the one on the
right.
21
Now move to the next Field cell on the right and, using the down arrow click-on State. In the
next two fields to the right, insert Favorite Number and Salary. Your Query1: Select Query
screen should look like this:
Now, look in the Button Bar at the top of the screen. In the middle of the
bar you will see an exclamation mark ( ! ) like the one on the right. If you
move the cursor over it, the help text box will indicate "Run." Click-on the
( ! ). This click executes your query.
Your query screen should

look similar to the one on the
left.
Notice, the screen ONLY
shows the four fields that
you queried.
You can add or remove fields, as you desire. To do this we need to return to
the Design View where we created this query. To return to Design View
click-on the small button in the upper left corner of the screen that has the
blue triangle, pencil, and ruler (like the one on the right). Then, simply
click-in the Field area and select a new field and it will replace the old one.
Or, click-on the field you want to remove and tap the Delete key. Sometimes you may have a
lot of fields and it will be too large for a single sheet of paper.
22
To see how your query would look, if you print it, click on the
button that has a piece of paper and magnifying glass (Print
Preview - like the one to the left). While youre in the Print
Preview youll see a little magnifying glass that you can move over
your query. If you click the left mouse button once the magnifying
glass will zoom in and enlarge the view. If you click the left mouse button
again it will zoom out. To return to your query, click-on the Close button just
above the print preview piece of paper. This will take you back to the Normal
View of your query.
6.11 Sorting the Database

If you are not in the Query Design Screen, youll need to be in
that view. So, go to the Design Screen. Notice that the third
row, in the lower half of the screen, indicates Sort: (like the
image at the right). Click-in the Sort: area under Last Name.
A down arrow box appears; click-on the down arrow. Let's
sort the Last Names in Ascending order. Click-on Ascending. Notice that Ascending now
appears in the Sort: area. Click-on the ( ! ) to see the new query. Notice that the names you
entered are alphabetized. Click-on the Design View button (triangle-ruler-pencil). Now
change the Ascending under Last Name to (not sorted). On your own, try sorting some of the
other fields. When you are finished remember to set the fields to (not sorted) unless you do
want to sort on those fields.
You may also sort various fields in your database whenever you are in the Datasheet View,
whether you are viewing the entire Table, or a Query from the Table. Notice that the Field
Names are shown at the top of each column in gray cells.
If you click-on one of the gray area field names (like State), the entire column (Field) turns
black (like the image above). This indicates that you have marked the entire column
(Field).
23
In the button bar that appears, when you are editing the Datasheet
View, you will see two buttons with down arrows (like the image on
the right). When you move the cursor over these two buttons a text
help box will indicate: Sort Ascending or Sort Descending. If you
click-on one of the buttons, the Field which you selected (highlighted)
will be sorted in the order selected. Give this a try and see how it works.
So, there are several ways you can sort your Tables and Queries.
6.12 Specific Queries

So far we have listed everything under each Field Name that we selected. However, many
times you will probably want to find something specific in your Table (database - e.g. people
from a certain state or city, people whose favorite number is 7 or salaries between $ 20,000
and $ 50,000). This is fairly common sense, but it can get tricky.
To get an idea of various criteria, you might

want to use, click-on Help in the menu bar. Then,
click-on Microsoft Office Access Help.
The Access Help Task Pane will appear on the

right side of your screen. When your screen appears,
click-in the Search for: area in the Assistance
portion of the Task Pane. Type-in query criteria.
Then click-on the Green Arrow to the right of the
Search for: box. Your screen should look similar to
the one on the right.
A Search Results Task Pane will now appear on the right

side of your screen (like the one on the right).
Click-on the Enter criteria to retrieve certain records

(MDB).
A Microsoft Office Access Help Menu Screen will appear
similar to the one at the top of the next page.
24
When the Microsoft Access

Help screen for Enter criteria
to retrieve certain records
(MDB) appears, use the
elevator bar on the right side
of the screen to move to the
bottom of the screen.
When you get to the bottom

of the screen, click-on See
Also.
A number of bulleted
choices will appear. Clickon Examples of expressions
When the Examples of expressions

screen appears, click-on Examples
of expressions used in queries
and filters.
Your screen will expand to a

reveal a number of additional
choices (see image at top of next
page)
25
One of the new choices will be

Examples of criteria to
retrieve records. Click-on this
selection. Your screen will
expand some more, like the
image on the left.
Well be using several of these
choices in a few minutes. If you
would like to see what some of
the choices do, click on them.
Choices that we use a lot are:
Ranges of values
Text, partial , and matching values
Dates
A blank fields value.
When you are finished, click-on the X in the upper right corner of the
Microsoft Access Help Topics menu screen to close the screen.
Also, click-on the X in the right hand corner of the

Search Results Task Pane.
You may return and explore more of these help screens as you become more accomplished with
Access 2003 database. These help screens are like having a complete Access 2003 manual on
your computer.
Now we'll try a few specific queries. First let's find a specific state.
You should now be back in the Query1: Select Query menu Design window.
It should look like the one at the top of the next page. If youre not then click
the Design button in the upper left corner of the screen (like the one on the
right).
26
Click-in the cell to the right of Criteria: in the State column. You will see a flashing cursor
(Make sure you are in the State column.). Type-in the abbreviation for one of the states
you entered in your Personnel Table. Your Query should look like the image below.
Now click-on ( ! ). A
new query window will
appear. Only persons
from the state you
selected should show.
This is a SPECIFIC query for that state.

Click-on Design View Button (triangle-ruler-pencil) to return to Design
View. Now delete the state you entered.
Now we'll look for Favorite Numbers larger than 600. Type-in >600 in the Criteria cell
under the Favorite Number Column. Click-on ( ! ). Everyone with a favorite number larger
than 600 should show. If no one is indicated you don't have a person with a number larger
than 600, or you might have typed the >600 incorrectly. Return to the Design View. Delete
the >600 and run the query with no criteria. You should see all the fields again. Return to
the Design View again.
Make sure all the Criteria: cells are empty.
Next we'll look for persons with salaries equal to or larger than $ 20,000 and equal to or less
than $ 50,000. In the Salary field column, in the Criteria: cell type-in:
>= 20000 and <= 50000

Click-on the ( ! ). You should now see a specific query that indicates those persons in the range
we chose. Go back to Design View. Delete the criteria you entered under Salary. Now, on
your own, if you desire, add or delete some fields to your query and experiment. Don't get
frustrated if no specific items appear. Frequently you might query for something that can't
exist (e.g. states of VA and CA a person can't be from both states at the same time) or there
just isn't anything that matches. For fun, notice the or: just below Criteria to the left of the
Design View. Try one state in the Criteria: cell under State and another in the or: cell.
27
When you have a good feel for queries youre ready to end your query session. First, click-on
File in the Menu Bar, and then click-on Close. A Microsoft Office Access Window will
appear and ask: "Do you want to save changes to the design of query 'Query1'?
Click-on Yes and a Save As window will appear. Name the Query anything you like, were
going to name our query Test Query 2003. Click-on OK. When the Query1: Select Query
view closes you will return to the person: Database screen. Notice that the Query Selection is
active and your new query is available to use again, as you desire. You can activate this query
and change things just like you did in the tutorial. If you want a printout of your query (at
anytime), simply click-on the Printer Button in the button bar or on File in the Menu Bar and
Print.
6.13 Reports
Reports can be very complex. In this tutorial we'll learn the basics. A good manual or
some knowledgeable assistance will be essential to mastering reports.
There are several types of reports. We'll use the Wizards to design some.
If you are not in the Person: Database main

window screen with the Table, Queries, Forms,
Reports, etc., click-on Window in the Menu
Bar and then on Person: Database at the
bottom of the menu. Also, make sure that
you have closed any Tables, Forms, or
Queries on which you are working.
In the Person: Database widow click-on

the Reports button. Then, click-on the
New Button. See the arrows on the image
at the right.
28
The following New Report menu

window will appear.
First, click-on Report Wizard in the
New Report menu screen. Then, in
the area to the right of: Choose the
table or query where the objects
data comes from:, click-on the
down arrow and select Personnel.
Then click-on OK.
The following
Report Wizard
Menu screen
should appear:
Read all the information in the Report Wizard screen. Only the fields you select from your
table will show-in the report. To bring fields into the report individually you click-on the
name of the field (in the list of fields in the area under Available Fields:) and then click-on the
>. The order which you click-on the fields will be their order in the report. The >> brings
over all of the fields. The < brings back one of the fields which you have selected and <<
brings back all of the fields. If you make a mistake, or want to start over, click the <<
selection to bring back all of the fields and try again.
29
So let's begin. Click-on First Name, then click-on > (notice how the First Name field went
from the Available Fields: to Selected Fields:). Now do the same with the Last Name, State,
Gender and Salary fields. These are the fields that will appear in our first report.
Your Report Wizard screen should look like the one below.
If it does, click-on the Next> Button.
30
6.14 Grouping in Reports

This Report Wizard menu screen asks if you want to add Grouping. Grouping simply groups
records by an item in the report you are designing. Well group by state. This means that
records from a state will be in a group (e.g. people from Virginia will be in one group, the
folks from Washington in another, and so on). This will be easy to see when we look at the
report. So, click-on State, then click-on >. If you make a mistake, no problem, just use the <.
Your screen should now look like the one below.
Click-on Next> again. Another Report Wizard menu screen will follow.
31
First, the above screen requests that you indicate a Sort Order. This simply means that within
each group, the alphabetic order in which you want the fields sorted. Well sort by Last
Name and then First Name. This way youll have the names, grouped by state, in Last Name
order and, where you have several people with the same Last Name, theyll be sub-sorted in First
Name order. Notice the Ascending button to the right of the Sort box. This indicates that the
Field that you select is in A to Z or ascending order. If you click-on this button, it will reverse
the order from Z to A, or descending order. So, click-on the small down arrow to the right of
the first box and select Last Name. Leave the order as Ascending. Now, select First Name in
the second box. When you are finished, your Report Wizard menu screen should look like the
one above.
Notice a Summary Options button below the sort fields you have selected. Access 2003 is
really smart. Whenever you see the Summary Options box it is because Access 2003 knows
that you selected a number field for your report. The Summary Options box ONLY appears
when a number field is selected! Click-on the Summary Options button.
32
The Summary Options menu box allows you to enter calculations for numerical and
currency fields if you have selected any. It will summarize these calculations by each group,
and in total. So, since Salary is a currency field, we can obtain calculations. Click-in the boxes
under Sum and Avg; this will furnish these calculations, as you will see in the report. If you
want percentages as well, click-in the box next to Calculate percent of total for sums.
Click-on OK. This will return you to the previous Wizard screen. Click-on Next> again.
This Report Wizard screen allows you to select a layout for your report. Click-in the small
circles to the left of each choice in the layout area and observe the results. For the moment,
well stay with the default: Stepped. So click-again it that circle. Leave the report in Portrait
Orientation.
33
Note: At the bottom of the last Report Wizard menu screen there is a check in the small box
to the left of Adjust the field width so all fields fit on a page. This is a very
important check. This means that no matter how many fields you place in your report, they will
all fit on one page. With a few fields in the report, this is no big deal. However, if you have a lot
of fields, they will be all scrunched up and youll notice that sometimes the Field Names and
data for these fields are cut-off a bit. As mentioned at the beginning of the Reports section of
the tutorial, this is where an advanced course or manual are almost essential.
Click-on Next> again.
The next Report Wizard will appear.
This menu screen allows you to select the Style that you would like for your report. Click-on
the choices (Bold, Casual, etc.) and see what each looks like. Choose whichever style you
desire and click-on Next> again.
34
The next Report Wizard screen is the last screen in the sequence. It allows you to select
a title different from the name of your database - if you so choose. Note that the small
circle in front of Preview the Report is dotted. When we click-on the Finish button
Access 2003 will go to a preview copy of your report. Well title this report State
Report. Use this name, or any name you desire, and click-on Finish.
This is a report in Tabular (Columnar) format. Your screen should look something like
the one below.
35
Notice in the lower left corner of the report screen that you are on Page 1 of the report.
Notice the triangle arrow buttons to the left and right of Page 1. These take you to
the first page of the report, the previous page, the next page, and the last page. Try
clicking-on them.
Notice that your cursor in this Preview Report screen is a magnifying glass. This
shows you how a page of your report will appear when you print it. Each time you click
the magnifying glass you will zoom in or zoom out making your report appear larger
or smaller. You will zoom to the place where you place your magnifying glass just
like if you were using a real magnifying glass and a real piece of paper. Youll magnify
the place where you are holding the magnifying glass. So, give this a try.
Notice, in the upper-left corner a button that has a small triangle, ruler and
pencil. Click-on it. This takes you to Design View. This time, however, the
Design View is for Reports instead of Tables or Queries. This is where the Wizard
created the Tabular report design. Click-on the Design View button. Look at
this screen for a few minutes it should look similar to the image below.
36
First:
each
The Button Bar. Run the cursor arrow over the buttons to get an idea of
button function. Just like queries, we'll be going back and forth between
Design
(triangle-pencil-ruler) and Print Preview (magnifying glass).
Second:
Notice, to the left, in the gray part of the screen, it indicates: Report
Header, Page Header, State Header, Detail, State Footer, Page Footer
and Report Footer (see arrows on the last page).
Report Header:
If something shows here, it will only be shown on the first page of

the report.
Page Header:
If something shows here, it will show on each page of the report at

the top of each column.
State Header
This sets-off the State Grouping.
State Footer
This ends the State Grouping.
Detail:
These are the field names from our database. Access will pull
the data for the individual fields from our database records.
These are the database fields themselves. The fields print each time there is a person
in the database. This field information is drawn from the database. As you enter more
people in the database and run the report again, more people will be shown. The "size"
of the box you see on the screen was created when we created the field sizes.
37
Page Footer:
This is what shows at the bottom of each page.
Report Footer:
This is what shows only on the last page of the report.
Also note, the lower right corners of the State

and Report Footer area boxes indicate:
= SUM([Salary]). This is a calculation box the Wizard

created. This is what gave you the calculations for your
average and the sum of the salaries in the State area and
the grand total of all salaries in the Footer area.
6.15 Save Report

Let's save this report.
You can either click-on File (in the Menu Bar) and then Save, or Save As, or click-on
the small diskette button in the button bar. A menu window will open which says Save
As.
In the area under Save Report State Report To: type-in State Report then clickon OK. Now click-on the File in the Menu Bar and then click-on Close. You could
38
also click-on the lower X in the upper right corner of the screen. Be careful here.
The lower X closes whatever you are working on (report, query table, etc.). The
upper X closes the Access 2003 database.
You should now return to the main Access 2003 Person: Database screen. The
Person: Database window should appear on the screen. If it does not, then click-on File,
then Open Database. When the Open Database Window appears, click-on Person.mdb
in the File Name area, then click-on OK. In the person: Database window click-on the
Report area. A report named State Report will be there. Click-on it, then click on the
Design button. You are now in your report design screen. Close this report again as
you did previously.
6.16 Some more New Reports:

Now we'll create some other reports. This is similar, in process, to the report you just
completed. In the person: Database window make sure you have clicked-in the
Reports area - click-on the New button. When the New Report Window appears, click
on down triangle in the area to the right of Choose the table or query where the
objects data comes from:, then click-on Personnel.
Now click-on some of the different Wizards choices. Try Auto Report: Columnar
and Tabular, or go back to the Design Wizard again. Experiment with the different
types.
As you create reports you may save or not save, as you desire.
Reports can become very complex, very quickly. This is only an introductory tutorial,
which furnishes a simple guide to report design. You might want to purchase a book on
Access or try a separate tutorial on reports. Our favorite book is Microsoft Access 2003
39
Inside Out from Microsoft Press

Now File, Exit.
Now that you have the basics, you might want to try some things on your own. Try using
the Wizards in Table, Query and Reports.
40
The Internet and Basic Computer Networking

Compiled by: Sulieman Bani-Ahmad
Learning objectives
By completing this part, the student should be able to
Describe several uses of communication technology.
Explain the difference between local area, wide area & other types of
networks. And the difference between different topologies of computer
networks.
Name specific types of transmission media & explain how they transmit
messages from one device to another.
Identify different protocols that can be used to connect devices on a

network.
Discuss how the Internet has evolved into what it is today.
Describe the device, connection & provider options for connecting to the
Internet, as well as some considerations to keep in mind while selecting an
ISP.
Discuss censorship & privacy, & how it is related to Internet use.
Speculate as to the format, structure & the use of Internet in the future.
7.1 Overview
What Is a Network?
A network consists of a collection of computers and other hardware connected together to
share data, hardware, software, and programs, and to facilitate electronic communication.
7.2 Classification of networks based on topologies

Communications networks can be classified in terms of their topology, or pattern. Three
common topologies are the star, bus, and ring.
The star network -the oldest topology-often consists of a large host

computer that connects the other PCs in a star shape. Sometimes a hub is
used instead of a PC as the host. All data is sent to the host and then
transferred as needed.
A bus network has no host computer. Instead all PCs are connected to a
single cable in a linear fashion. Only one device can transmit at one time.
A less common and more expensive alternative to the star and bus is the
ring network , in which the computers or other devices are connected by
a loop. Data travels around the ring in one direction only.
Star topology
Ring topology
7.3 Classification of networks based on scope and scale

One way to categorize the different types of computer network designs is by their scope
or scale. For historical reasons, the networking industry refers to nearly every type of
design as some kind of area network. Common examples of area network types are:
LAN - Local Area Network
WLAN - Wireless Local Area Network
WAN - Wide Area Network
MAN - Metropolitan Area Network
SAN - Storage Area Network, System Area Network, Server Area Network,
or sometimes Small Area Network
CAN - Campus Area Network, Controller Area Network, or sometimes

Cluster Area Network
PAN - Personal Area Network
DAN - Desk Area Network
LAN and WAN were the original categories of area networks, while the others have
gradually emerged over many years of technology evolution.
Note that these network types are a separate concept from network topologies such as
bus, ring and star.
LAN - Local Area Network

A LAN connects network devices over a relatively short distance. A networked office
building, school, or home usually contains a single LAN, though sometimes one building
will contain a few small LANs (perhaps one per room), and occasionally a LAN will span
a group of nearby buildings. In TCP/IP networking, a LAN is often but not always
implemented as a single IP subnet.
In addition to operating in a limited space, LANs are also typically owned, controlled,
and managed by a single person or organization. They also tend to use certain
connectivity technologies, primarily Ethernet and Token Ring.
WAN - Wide Area Network

As the term implies, a WAN spans a large physical distance. The Internet is the largest
WAN, spanning the Earth.
A WAN is a geographically-dispersed collection of LANs. A network device called a
router connects LANs to a WAN. In IP networking, the router maintains both a LAN
address and a WAN address.
A WAN differs from a LAN in several important ways. Most WANs (like the Internet)
are not owned by any one organization but rather exist under collective or distributed
ownership and management. WANs tend to use technology like ATM, Frame Relay and
X.25 for connectivity over the longer distances.
LAN, WAN and Home Networking

Residences typically employ one LAN and connect to the Internet WAN via an Internet
Service Provider (ISP) using a broadband modem. The ISP provides a WAN IP address
to the modem, and all of the computers on the home network use LAN (so-called private)
IP addresses. All computers on the home LAN can communicate directly with each other
but must go through a central gateway, typically a broadband router, to reach the ISP.
Other Types of Area Networks

While LAN and WAN are by far the most popular network types mentioned, you may
also commonly see references to these others:
Wireless Local Area Network - a LAN based on WiFi wireless network

technology
Metropolitan Area Network - a network spanning a physical area larger

than a LAN but smaller than a WAN, such as a city. A MAN is typically
owned an operated by a single entity such as a government body or
large corporation.
Campus Area Network - a network spanning multiple LANs but smaller

than a MAN, such as on a university or local business campus.
Storage Area Network - connects servers to data storage devices through

a technology like Fibre Channel.
System Area Network - links high-performance computers with high-speed

connections in a cluster configuration. Also known as Cluster Area
Network.
7.4 The Internet

---- Evolution of the Internet
The Internet is a worldwide collection of linked networks that is used for personal and
commercial communications and for information exchange. It consists of thousands of
interconnected networks that are accessed by millions of people daily.
Today, the Internet is a worldwide collection of linked networks that is used for personal
and commercial communications and for information exchange, consisting of thousands
of interconnected networks that are accessed by millions of people daily.
----- Who is related to the Internet?

Users are people who avail themselves of the information content of the Internet in their
work or play.
Internet service providers (ISPs) -often called content providers-are individuals,

groups, companies, or government agencies that furnish the information that is
available on the Internet.
Internet content providers -often called service providers or access providers-are
organizations that supply people and other organizations with a connection to the
Internet.
Application service providers (ASPs) are companies that manage and distribute
software-based services to customers over a network-usually the Internet.
Infrastructure companies are the enterprises that own or operate the paths along
which Internet data travels.
A wide variety of software and hardware companies make Internet-related
products-browser and e-mail software, routers, and Web-publishing tools, for
instance.
Many other organizations affect the Internet and its uses. Governments, for
instance, make the laws that affect both content and behavior in the Internet
community. The Internet Society and ICANN are two other key organizations.
Last, but not least, are the many colleges and universities that support Internet
research.
----- Basics of using the Internet Explorer

This section will help you learn and understand the basic operations and functions of
Internet Explorer.
****Opening a the Internet Explorer Browser

1.
Click the Start button.
2.
Go to Programs, highlight and click Internet Explorer.
3.
Alternatively click the Internet Explorer icon on the Desktop or on the Taskbar
next to Start button.
****Beginning Basic Browsing
The important thing to remember when you first begin browsing the web is the Web
address of a site you wish to visit. Go up to the "Address Bar" near the top of the page,
and click on it. Now you can type in the Web address of the site you want, and then press
enter. Internet Explorer will go to this site directly from whatever document you were
currently viewing. This is much faster than going to a search engine and trying to locate
the site you want in their directories, or searching for it with a query. (Address Bar shown
below)
Alternatively you can go to specific search engines that you know their address.
****The Main Explorer Toolbar

The main toolbar is composed of eleven different buttons. Each of these buttons has a
different function and purpose in Internet Explorer. The individual buttons will each be
discussed in the following sections.
The Back Button : This button will take you back to whatever document you were
previously viewing. Pressing it immediately takes you back one document. If you have
browsed many pages, or are well into a multi-page document, pressing it repeatedly will
continue to back you up one page at a time. Once you reach your starting location, it will
be greyed-out and unavailable.
The Forward Button : This button will take you forward to the next document if you
have previously browsed multiple documents and had then backed-up to the page you are
currently viewing. (If you have not backed up at all, the forward button will be greyedout) Pressing it repeatedly will continue to move you forward one page at a time. You
can move forward until you reach the last page that you had browsed, at which time the
forward button will be greyed-out.
The Stop Button : The stop button stops ANY current operations by Internet Explorer.
It will stop any type of file from loading. It can also be used to stop animations from
continuing once a page is loaded. If you press it before a page has finished loading, the
page will display everything it had finished loading before the stop button was pressed. If
a document is completely loaded and there are no animations, movies, or other files still
running, the stop button will have no immediate function.
The Refresh Button : This button will reload the current document that you are
viewing. It is useful if the page updates very frequently so that you can view these
changes as soon as they are available. If you are loading a document and the transfer was
interrupted, you can reload the full document again by clicking here.
The Home Button : This button will return you to the page you have selected as the
default start-up page for Internet Explorer. It will not take you back to the beginning of
your web browsing, it will just return you to your home location from where you are. If
you press back after reaching your home page, you will go back to the page you left after
you hit the Home button.
The Favorites Button : This button will open up the Favorites menu. You can choose a
favorite that you wish to go to from the list, add a favorite to the list, or organize your
favorites from this menu.
The Print Button : The print button will bring up a Print dialog box. In the box you can
decide if you would like to print the contents of the page you are viewing, how many
pages you will print, and also how many copies you will print. Keep in mind that if you
try to print a page that is graphics intensive, you will need a printer that is capable of
printing graphics. Also, the more graphics and pages a Web site has, the longer it will
take to print.
**** Printing Web Documents

If your computer is connected to a printer, you can print out any Web document that you
wish whether you are viewing it on the Web, or if you are just viewing it from your hard
disk. Go to the file menu from the main menu bar. From this menu select "Print", the
Print dialog box will appear. (An easier way to open this box is to simply click the "Print"
button on the main toolbar or to press CTRL-P) In this dialog box you can decide how
you would like to print the contents of the page you are viewing, how many pages you
will print, and how many copies you will print. Keep in mind that if you try to print a
page that is graphics intensive, you will need a printer that is capable of printing graphics.
Also, the more graphics and pages a Web document has, the longer it will take to print.
****Setting Your Default Start-Up Page

The "Start-Up" page is the Web Site or document that Internet Explorer will open
automatically every time that you start the program. These steps will show you how you
can change this page to whatever location you prefer.
From the Tools dialog box, click on the "Internet Options" folder tab at the bottom of the
box. You can change the start-up page from here. (The customize section is outlined in
red for your convenience).
Click on "General" and then click in the Address box.
Type the address of the page you would like Internet Explorer to open each time you start
the program. If you are satisfied with your choice and are done setting options, click on
"Apply" then "OK" at the bottom of the Internet Options box.
-----Common uses of the internet
Email service
Email, or electronic mail, is sending electronic text messages between parties in a way
analogous to mailing letters or memos predates the creation of the Internet. By email, you
can send pictures and attach files on e-mail. Most e-mail servers today also feature the
ability to send e-mail to multiple e-mail addresses.
Remote access
The Internet allows computer users to connect to other computers and information stores
easily, wherever they may be across the world. They may do this with or without the use
of security, authentication and encryption technologies, depending on the requirements.
File sharing
A computer file can be e-mailed to customers, colleagues and friends as an attachment. It
can be uploaded to a website or FTP server for easy download by others. It can be put
into a "shared location" or onto a file server for instant use by colleagues. The load of
bulk downloads to many users can be eased by the use of "mirror" servers or peer-to-peer
networks.
Streaming media
Many existing radio and television broadcasters provide Internet "feeds" of their live
audio and video streams (for example, the BBC). They may also allow time-shift viewing
or listening such as Preview, Classic Clips and Listen Again features.
Internet Telephony (VoIP)

VoIP stands for Voice-over-Internet Protocol, referring to the protocol that underlies all
Internet communication. The benefit is that, as the Internet carries the voice traffic, VoIP
can be free or cost much less than a traditional telephone call, especially over long
distances and especially for those with always-on Internet connections.
Voice quality can still vary from call to call but is often equal to and can even exceed that
of traditional calls.
-----Basic search help: Search through Google

Search is simple: just type whatever comes to mind in the search box, hit Enter or click
on the Google Search button, and Google will search the web for pages that are relevant
to your query.
Most of the time you'll find exactly what you were looking for with just a basic query.
Guidelines for better search

Keep it simple.
If you're looking for a particular company, just enter its name, or as much of its
name as you can recall.
If you're looking for a particular concept, place, or product, start with its name.
Most queries do not require advanced operators or unusual syntax. Simple is good.
Think how the page you are looking for will be written. A search engine is not a human,
it is a program that matches the words you give to pages on the web. Use the words that
are most likely to appear on the page. For example, instead of saying [ my head hurts ],
say [ headache ].
Describe what you need with as few terms as possible. The goal of each word in a query
is to focus it further. Since all words are used, each additional word limits the results. If
you limit too much, you will miss a lot of useful information.
Choose descriptive words. The more unique the word is the more likely you are to get
relevant results. Words that are not very descriptive, like 'document,' 'website,' 'company,'
or 'info,' are usually not needed.
How to read search results

Google's goal is to provide you with results that are clear and easy to read. The diagram
below points out four features that are important to understanding the search results page:
The title: The first line of any search result is the title of the webpage.
The snippet: A description of or an excerpt from the webpage.
The URL: The webpage's address.
Cached link: A link to an earlier version of this page. Click here if the page you wanted
isn't available.
All these features are important in determining whether the page is what you need. The
title is what the author of the page designated as the best short description of the page.
Introduction to Microsoft Outlook 2003 Mail
8.1 Starting Outlook 2003

In this Microsoft Outlook 2003 tutorial, well discuss a number of the basic procedures used in creating, editing,
sending and receiving Outlook 2003 mail messages. In addition, well also introduce other features essential to
managing Outlook 2003 mail messages.
Starting Outlook Mail 2003

Double click on the Microsoft Outlook icon on the Windows desktop (see right), or
click-on the Start button in the lower left corner of the screen, then click-on Programs,
and then click-on Microsoft Outlook.
New Look
The first thing youll notice, if you have used Outlook mail previously (any version), is a whole new visual
appearance. Gone is the Outlook Bar on the left with the various icons. Youll also notice that there are more
items where the Outlook Bar used to be. Youll also notice the screen is more colorful. If you have never used
Outlook before, this wont cause any problems as we proceed through this tutorial.
Left Mouse Button

In this tutorial, whenever we indicate that you need to click a mouse button, it will mean to click the left mouse
button unless we indicate that you should click the right mouse button. So, always move the cursor over the
place we indicate and click left unless we tell you otherwise.
8.2 Inbox
When Outlook 2003 appears, you will be in the Inbox where the mail you receive is located. Your Inbox screen
should look something like the image at the top of the next page.
The mail messages that you receive will be listed in chronological order.
The first time you load Outlook 2003 you may see the
Office Assistant (A Paper Clip, or the assistant you
chose) may appear. You can click-on the various
choices to view the material, or if you do not want to
view the material now, you can click the RIGHT
mouse button on the Assistant and then click on
Hide and the Assistant will go away.
Anytime you desire to use the Assistant for help, you can clickon Help in the Menu Bar and then click-on Show the Office
Assistant.
8.3 Different Views in Outlook 2003

Navigation Pane
When you first open Outlook 2003 your screen will normally look like the one at the top of Page 2. As indicated
earlier, this is much different than previous versions of Outlook. Well start with the left side of the screen and
work to the right. On the left side of the screen youll see an image similar to the one on the right. This is called
the Navigation Pane. Youll notice in the top area that it indicates Mail. Below Mail there are two areas:
Favorite Folders and All Mail Folders. Well show you how to change things around in these areas, if you desire
to, in a little while
Below the Mail area youll see a series of Buttons: Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Folder List and Shortcuts. Notice
that the Mail button is orange. This means that this button has been selected (when you opened Outlook Mail).
If you click the left mouse button on Calendar, the Calendar will appear on the right side of the screen and the
Calendar button will turn orange. The same thing will happened when you click-on Contacts, Folder List and
Shortcuts.
Give this a try. When you are finished, click-on Mail once again.
The next logical question is how to change this Navigation Pane so that it looks like you want it to. The secret is
in the lower right corner of the Navigation Pane. Youll see two >> symbols. When you move your mouse over
the symbols your screen will look like the image on the right. Your
cursor will change to a little pointy hand and a Configure buttons
choice will appear. Click on the >>.
When you click, the drop down menu to the right will appear. Youll notice the choices: Show Fewer Buttons,
Navigation Pane Options, and Add or Remove Buttons.
First, if you dont want as many buttons to appear, click-on Show Fewer
Buttons. Watch what happens. Youll notice your buttons leave from
the bottom of the Navigation Pane. Youll have to click-on the >> each
time you desire to get this menu again. To bring the buttons back to the
Navigation Pane, click-on Show More Buttons. Give this a try and set your
Navigation Pane as you desire.
Now well see what occurs when we click-on Navigation Pane

Options Click-on Navigation Pane Options and the below
Navigation Pane Options menu screen will appear.
There are a number of choices with this screen. First, notice that
there are little green check marks in some of the boxes. These
are the buttons that currently appear in the Navigation Pane. If
you dont want a box to appear, click the check mark and it will
disappear and the box wont show.
If you want to change the order of the buttons, notice the Move
Down and Move Up choices on the right side of this menu screen.
If you click-on one of the buttons (like Mail above which is blue),
and click the Move Down button, you will see Mail move down your
button list.
Give both of these options a try and set your buttons as you desire.
Most folks who use the Show Fewer Buttons and Navigation Pane Options like the Navigation Pane Options better,
as it allows you to set your buttons just like you desire.
Now well choose the last option in the Configure

Buttons list Add or Remove Buttons. Click-on the
Add or Remove Buttons choice and you will see a
pop-up menu appear to the right of the choice. Here
again, you can click on a button (like Mail) and it will
disappear, or appear when you click. This is called
toggling. Its like a light switch On or Off. Each
time you click, the button appears or disappears.
You have a lot of choices on how to show/add,
hide/remove buttons from your Navigation Pane. You
choose the method you like best from the ones we have
just shown you.
Now well concentrate on viewing you e-mail messages.
Mail Views
You will notice that you can see a small portion of your incoming e-mail in the middle portion of the screen and
a greater portion in the right side area of the screen. This is the default view depending on how you set up your
Outlook 2003. There are several different ways to set-up a view that you like best. The image you see at the
top of Page 2 on this tutorial is the one that someone thought youd like best. It is a combination of two things Preview Pane (the name for the middle portion of the screen), and Reading Pane (the name for the right side of your
screen). NOTE: depending who set up your Outlook 2003 program, your screen may not look like this. This
is not a problem, as well now show you how to set up the view that you like the best. The first page of this tutorial
shows this Preview Pane and Right Side Reading Pane. Most users like this a lot this seems to be the most popular
view thats why its the default. However, many prefer to view each e-mail message, individually, without the
Preview Pane, Reading Pane or anything else.
Well show you how to set several different views and you can choose the one you like best. New in Outlook 2003
is a combination of Auto Preview and Reading Pane.
First, well work with the Reading Pane. To view the Reading Pane selections, click-on View in the Menu Bar
and then click Reading Pane. You will see three suggestions to the right of Reading Pane Right, Bottom, and
Off. Normally, Right is the default. The choice for your Outlook mail will be highlighted a bit you can see in our
image (below) that Right has a little square around it.
Well start with Right. Click-on Right.

Microsoft added this view to Outlook 2003 as
another way to read your messages. You will see
the text of a message displayed on the right side
of your screen like the image at the top of the
next page.
Message on Left
Text on Right
Now well repeat what we did on the last page, but place the reading page on the Bottom.
Message on Top
Text on Bottom
Now for the last choice. Repeat what you did on the last two pages, but choose Off.
All of your messages on one

screen NO Reading Pane
6
You choose the Reading Pane that you like the best.
Next, well work with the Auto Preview. To do this youll need to
click-on View in the Menu Bar. When the drop down menu appears
youll see a selection called Auto Preview. This is called a toggle
button as it can either be on or off. Click-on the Auto Preview
button. When you do, Auto Preview will appear or disappear from
your screen.
On the next page well show you examples of Auto Preview working with Reading Pane Right, Bottom and Off
views.
The below image has Auto Preview on the left and Reading Pane on the right. You can see a few lines of the
message in Auto Preview, below the incoming message data.
The below image has Auto Preview on the top and Reading Pane below the message. You can see a few lines of
the message in Auto Preview, below the incoming message data.
The below image has Auto Preview ONLY no Reading pane. You can see a few lines of the message in Auto
Preview, below the incoming message data.
As you can see, there are a great number of combinations for reviewing your messages using the Reading Pane and
Auto Preview together. Experiment and choose the combination you like the best.
8.4 Reviewing messages in the Inbox

To view a message, simply double-click quickly on the message and the following screen will appear.
You could also click-once on a message and

then click-on File (in the Menu bar), then
click-on Open, then click-on Selected Items.
You will now see a screen similar to the one below.
This screen is designed to review and respond to mail messages received.

If this is the first time that you are looking at this Outlook screen, it would be a good idea to click-on each item in
the Menu bar. So go ahead and click-on File, and then Edit, etc. Next, move the cursor over each of the buttons
below the Menu bar.
8.5 Replying to a message

Look at the button bar at the top of the screen (it will look
like the image on the left). Notice that you can click-on
Reply, and, automatically reply to the person who sent
the message, or Reply to All (everyone included in the
To: or Cc:). When you click-on Reply and Reply to All,
you will notice that Outlook 2003 automatically
completes the To: and/or Cc: in your outgoing message.
You then click-in the white message area below the To, Cc, and subject, and supplement the original message
with any additional comments you desire to make regarding the message to which you are replying.
After you have made any comments, you can click-on the small Send box below File in
the Menu bar and your Reply will be mailed.
8.6 Forwarding a message
If you desire to forward a message to someone or others, click-on the Forward button (next to the Reply and
Reply to All buttons), then click-in the To: or Cc: areas. We will be covering Address Books later in this
tutorial. At this point, type-in the e-mail address or addresses of those to whom you want to forward the mail
message. If you have more than one address, separate them with a semi-colon (;). You can move down to the
Address Book section if you desire.
8.7 Envelopes
Now that you have the feel for looking at messages in your Inbox, replying to and forwarding
them, please take a moment to look at the little envelops next to each message. When a
message first arrives in your Inbox, and has not been read, youll notice that the envelope is
closed.
Once you have read the message, but not replied, the envelope will appear opened.
When you reply to or forward a message in Outlook 2003, you will notice, when you view the
message again in Inbox, or Sent Items, it will now have a small arrow attached to a small box
by the message. These arrows indicate that the message has been forwarded or replied to. A
purple arrow pointing to the left indicate you have replied to a message, a blue arrow
pointing to the right indicates that you forwarded that message. The arrows will be the same
as on the Reply, Reply to All, and Forward buttons.
8.8 Deleting unwanted messages
If you do not want to keep the message, you can click-on the X button, in the button bar, to send the message to
a Delete folder.
Note: This is NOT the x button in the upper right corner of the screen. If you do click-on the upper right
corner X, it will simply close the message and return you to the Inbox, etc.
Well discuss this in more detail later in Folders. When you delete a message in the Inbox, it is sent to the Deleted
Items folder to be really deleted or recovered later.
8.9 Moving from message to message in the Inbox

Notice the large blue Up and Down arrows in the button bar below the Menu bar. They are only visible when
you are in a message. These allow you to move forward and backward (Previous Item and Next Item)
between messages in the Inbox. Click-on these arrows to see how they work.
10
8.10 Printing a message

If you desire a printed copy of the message you can click-on the Printer in the button bar.
Or, you can click-on File in the Menu Bar and then on Print.
11
8.11 Creating and sending a new e-mail message

If you are in the Inbox and desire to send a new e-mail message to a person or group of persons click-on the New
Mail Message button in the button bar.
If you are in some other part of Outlook

2003 and do not see the New Mail
Message button, you can always (in the
Inbox as well) click-on File in the Menu
Bar, then click-on New, and then click-on
Mail Message.
In both cases, the below screen should appear.
First, click-in the area to the right of To:. For now, type-in the e-mail address of the person, or persons, to whom
you desire to send this e-mail message. Next, click-in the area to the right of Cc:. Again, type-in the name or
names of others whom you would like to receive copies of this message. If you type-in more than one e-mail
address, separate the addresses with a semi-colon (;). If you desire to use the Address Book, move down to the
Address Book section (Page 14).
Now click-in the area to the right of Subject:, and type-in a subject for your e-mail message if you desire. You do
not need a Subject description if you do not desire one.
Finally, click-in the white area below Subject:, and type-in your e-mail message as you would any memo to
someone. You may move around, edit and change your message just like you would do if you were in a word
processor. Later in this tutorial, we will show you how you may use Microsoft Word as your e-mail editor, with
all the Microsoft Word features, if you choose to do so.
12
When you have completed your e-mail message, click-on the Send button in the
upper left hand corner of the screen.
8.12 Quick note on folders

This is simply a quick note to tell you what happens when you send an e-mail message. When a message is sent, a
copy of your e-mail is automatically placed in your Sent Items folder. So, you can access your sent message (by
clicking-on the Sent Items folder then opening your message), edit it, and forward it, etc., until you decide to
delete it later on. If you desire to keep the e-mail you will be able to move it to another folder if you desire. Well
go into detail on all of this later. For now, just be aware that you have not lost your message. You do not need
to copy yourself in Outlook unless you want to get an additional copy of your e-mail.
8.13 Address Books

When you have clicked-on Reply, Reply to All, or Forward as indicated on pages 9 and 10 or created a new email message, page 12, you will see a screen similar to the one below:
If you are
Replying or Replying
to All on an e-mail message in your Inbox, then the addresses from that e-mail will automatically appear in the To
and Cc areas. If you dont want to send the e-mail to some of these addresses, you can simply click-on them and
tap the Delete key. If you are Forwarding a message from the Inbox or Sending a new e-mail message, then you
can either type-in the address in the To or Cc area, or use the Global Address List or Contacts Address Book.
There are several Address Books in Outlook 2003 that you can utilize to send and respond to e-mail messages. In
addition, there are a number of options for entering e-mail addresses into an Address Book. You will, in all
probability, use two address books: Global Address List and Contacts Address Book.
To access these address books/lists click-on the To: or Cc: buttons (see arrows on the
picture above). The Global Address List menu box (at the top of the next page) will appear.
13
8.14 Global Address List

Well look at several Address Lists and explain how each is utilized. First, well look at the Global Address List.
When you have clicked-on either the To: or Cc: buttons the below screen will
appear:
When you are in the Reply, Reply to All, Forward or create a New e-mail message screen, and need to add
additional e-mail addresses, you can still type-in the addresses or use a Global Address List like the one above.
The Global Addresses List that you see above is created, and updated, when a person at the institution/business
selects to use Outlook mail. The Information Technology Staff places the new user in the Global Address List.
Thus, this address list is a current list of all Outlook mail users (and it may also include other users who are not on
Outlook depending on your on campus/business).
To use this list, simply click-on the person whom you want to receive the e-mail (their name will turn blue
see arrows above). Or, you can type their name in the area below Type name or Select from list, and you will
notice that the list of names, below where you typed the name, moves to all of the persons with that name. Most
systems are in last name order. Some are in first name order. By looking at the name list you can determine how
your system is set-up. Then, click-on the To, Cc or Bcc (Blind copy) buttons. This will add the address to those
already in the e-mail (you will see it appear in the area to the right). You can do this for as many addresses as you
desire. When you have finished, click-on OK, and you return to your message. Arrows in the image above point to
each of these items.
14
8.15 Contacts (in older versions of Outlook Personal Address Book)

How can you create your own automatic address list for someone who is not on the campus/business Outlook
2003 mail system (especially off campus/business addresses)? There is a feature called Contacts to take care of
this. A contact is just what it indicates. You create your own Contacts (like a personal address book). First well
show you how to get to Contacts and then how to add and delete addresses.
When you click-on the To: or Cc: buttons (Page 13) the Global Address
List appears. In the upper right corner of the Show Names from the:
you will see an area that indicates that this is the Global Address List.
To the right of the title is a small down arrow, click-on the down arrow
and a menu screen similar to the one at the right appears.
Now, click-on Contacts, and the screen below appears, which contains
the addresses that YOU have already placed in your old Personal
Address Book if you had one.
Notice, the Select Names menu

screen (left image) now indicates
Contacts in the upper right corner.
Also, notice the e-mail addresses on
the menu screen. These are e-mail
addresses that you would add to your
Contacts list.
Now well show you how to add
Contacts.
15
To add the addresses in Contacts, to an e-mail message, simply repeat the procedure outlined in the Global
Address List. Click-on the name, to whom you desire send the e-mail (on the left side), then click-on the To or Cc
buttons to add that name to these areas. Again, you can add as many names as you wish. When you have finished,
click-on OK and you will be taken back to the e-mail that you want to send. You can then continue to creating a
new e-mail or editing the contents of one that you are working with.
Adding Names to Contacts (like Personal Address Book in older versions)

There are many ways to add names to Contacts. Well show you several of the more popular procedures. You will
also discover other methods, as you become more familiar with Outlook 2003.
Adding names as you type the e-mail addresses in the To or Cc areas of the
message
If a persons e-mail address is not currently in your Global Address List or Contacts, you can add it while you are
in the process of sending them a message. In the area to the right of To or Cc, type-in the e-mail address for the
person or persons you wish to receive your e-mail. If you type-in several addresses, separate them with a semicolon ( ; ). Click away (somewhere else on the screen) from the address you typed. You will notice that, in a
few moments, the addresses will become underlined.
To add an address to your Contacts, simply right-click

on a name, that you typed, and a menu box will appear
(image at left).
Click-on Add to Outlook Contacts and the Contacts entry
menu screen will appear (image at top of next page).
16
The Contact entry menu screen appears below.
Normally, the first part of the e-mail address you entered before the @ symbol will appear in the full name
box. To change this to a logical full name click-on the Full Name button (as indicated by the arrow above).
When the Check Full Name box appears

(image on left) you can then fill in the entire
name by filling in the appropriate areas
(First:, Middle:, Last:, etc.)
When you are finished, click-on OK.
You can now fill in the applicable areas for the persons mailing
address, if you desire. To do this click-on the
Address down triangle (see arrow at right). Click-on Business,
Home or Other.
17
You will notice that your Address area

changes to your selection (we chose
Home). After you make your selection
(Business, Home, Other), type the
address in the small box to the right of
your selection.
When you have completed everything, you can click-on the

Save and Close button (arrow on right).
You will not return to your message. To add additional names to

your Contacts Address Book repeat the above process again.
When you are in the Contact screen (at the top of the last page) notice that there are a lot of other tabs and areas
which may also use to enter information about a person (General, Details, Activities, Certificates and All Fields).
To observe that the contact you entered has been added to your Contacts, click-on either the To or Cc buttons in
your message screen. When you have clicked-on one of the buttons, you will go to the Global Address List screen
again. Click-on the down arrow in the upper right corner, and move down the menu and click-on Contacts.
You will see the address you added. When you have a lot of addresses, you will have to use the up and down
elevator bar to view your addresses.
Outlook automatically alphabetizes
the names as you enter them.
Your Contacts screen should look
something like this:
18
Adding Names to your Contacts as you receive e-mail in your Inbox
Big Note: Right-click on an e-mail address also works when you receive a message from
someone! If you know that an address is not in your Contacts, right-click on the address and add it as you did
above. This really saves a lot of time. You know its a good address, because you received their message!
To the left is an image of the

address area of an e-mail in the
Inbox. We simply right clicked-on
the person and then moved down
the pop-up menu to Add to
Contacts just like we did when we
typed-in and address in our New
Mail To: area.
Once you have clicked-on Add to
Contacts you will go back to the
same process that is outlined
above on pages 17 & 18.
Manually adding e-mail address to your Contacts

Many times, friends will write you (the old fashioned way) or call you on the phone and furnish
their e-mail address. So, there is still another way to add their e-mail address to your Contacts.
In the button bar below the Menu bar you will notice a small book (like the one on the
right). When you run your cursor over the book it will indicate: Address Book. You can clickon it and add names to your Contacts. So, click-on the book and the following screen will appear.
Click-on the down arrow on

the right of the Address Book
screen (see arrow) and select
Contacts from the drop down
menu that appears.
Next, click-on the small Calling Card button, in the button bar below the Menu bar (a small text help will appear
indicating New Entry).
19
A New Entry screen will appear.

It should look similar to the one on the
right. Make sure that New Contact is
highlighted in blue in the Select the
entry type: in the top portion of the
screen.
And, also make sure that Contacts is
selected in the Put this entry area in
the lower part of the menu screen. If
Contacts is not the choice, click the
down arrow on the right side of Put this
entry and select Contacts from the
choices that appear.
When everything looks like the screen
above, click-on OK.
An Untitled Contact screen like the
one below will appear.
Notice that the Untitled - Contact screen is similar to the one you used to enter e-mail addresses as you typed
them into messages, or used when you copied addresses from you Inbox again appears with a notable exception
there is no name in Full Name or E-mail address in E-mail.
So, fill in the name of the person in Full Name and enter their e-mail address in the E-mail area. You can
enter other information as you did previously, as you desire.
20
When you have entered the information, your screen should look similar to the one below. When you have the
information you desire, entered in the appropriate areas, click Save and Close to add this person to your Contacts
list.
8.16 Personal Distribution Lists

Now that you have an idea of how to add individual names to Contacts, and are familiar with the Global Address
List, you may want to create a group of addresses to which you frequently send e-mail. In Outlook 2003 this is
called a Personal Distribution List. To create a Distribution List, you will follow several steps, similar to those
above.
To create a Personal Distribution List you will need to be in the Inbox, Sent Items, or Deleted
Items (you can be in other main screens when you are more familiar with Outlook 2003). You
will need to be in a main screen where you can see the little Address Book button, click-on it.
21
When the Address Book screen appears, click-on the New Entry Calling card button,
just like you just did before.
The New Entry screen appears, clickon New Distribution List in the area
below Select the entry type.
Make sure that Put this entry is set on

Contacts. If it is not set on Contacts,
click-on the small down arrow to the
right of this area and select Contacts.
Then, click-on OK.
The following screen will now appear:
In the area to the right of Name:, type-in a name for your

Distribution List (e.g. Lunch Bunch).
Next, click-on the Select Members button.
22
This will display the Select Members screen.
Youll notice that this screen

looks almost exactly like the
Select Names screen you used to
address your messages. Youll
notice that the Select Members
screen only has a Members
- > button. So, you can, at this
moment, only add persons you
desire to be in your Distribution
List to the group. Later well
show you how to remove and add
members as you update your list.
23
By using either the Global Address

List, or your Contacts you can create
your Distribution list. Click-on the
small down arrow in the upper
right corner of the Select Members
screen and select the group you want.
In the example on the right we chose
our Contacts group, and selected the
person you see highlighted at the
bottom of the Menu screen.
We then clicked-on the Members->
button this person was added to
our Distribution list on the right.
You may switch between the
various lists as often as you like,
and add as many names as you like.
Note: You do not need to have
someone in either the Global
Address List, Contacts or another
list to have them in your
Distribution List. If they are in
neither, simply type a semi-colon (;)
at the end of the last address on the
right side, and then type-in the
persons e-mail address. They will be included in your list.
When you have added all the names you desire, click-on OK.
8.17 Note for Outlook 98/2000 users who upgraded to Outlook 2003
When you upgraded, you should have saved a file called a PAB (Personal Address Book) and incorporated it in your
Outlook 2003 setup. This file contained all of the names that you placed in your Personal Address Book in Outlook
98/2000. So, for you old hands, you may use not only all of the files in your Global Address Book and Contacts,
you may also use your Personal Address book that you used previously. If you did not save the PAB file and
replace the PAB file that was loaded with Outlook 2003, the Personal Address Book names will not be available.
Your technical staff may have also indicated that they removed the Personal Address Book option and included
these addresses in your Contacts. If you have a question here, ask you technical staff for assistance.
You should now return to the Distribution List screen. Your screen should look similar to the one below. Youll
see the name of your Distribution List in the Name: area and the names of the Members in the area below.
Notice that the Remove button is now active.
24
To remove members from the list simply click once on the member and then click-on the Remove
button. Youll notice that they are removed from your list.
To add new members, simply repeat the steps on pages 21 to 24. Click-on the Select Members button
and add them as you did before.
When you have made all the changes you desire, click-on the Save and Close button in the screen above.
The next time you visit Contacts, your screen will look something like the one on the right.
The name will be in bold, and
there will be a teeny icon of a
woman and a man on the left.
Any time you desire to make

changes to this Distribution
List, just double-click quickly
on a list and youll be taken to
that Distribution List screen
that you used to create the list.
25
8.18 Sending Messages using your Distribution List

To send a message to everyone on your Distribution Lists, use the same steps that you used for sending a message to
a single person. Either type in the name of the Distribution List in the To: or Cc: areas of your message (e.g. Lunch
Bunch), or use the Select Names box, like you did on pages 13 to 15, but select your Distribution List like you
would select a name.
8.19 Folders
NOTE: For Outlook 98, 2000 and XP/2002 users, you probably noticed that the Outlook Bar, on the left of
the screen, had been replaced by a whole new folder and icon area (Navigation Pane). No longer are there
Outlook Shortcuts, My Shortcuts and Other Shortcuts areas. The prior Outlook Today icon has been
replaced by a mailbox with your name on it. Well review the new Navigation Pane, that we introduced at the
beginning of the tutorial, that replaces the Outlook Bar.
When you first opened Outlook 2003, the area to the left of the screen
looked something like the image to the left. The icons you see take you to
different features of Outlook (Calendar, etc.) or contain e-mail.
The icons we are concerned with in this tutorial are the ones that pertain to
e-mail and hold messages (e.g. Inbox, Sent Items, Deleted Items).
When your Technical Support staff set-up your Outlook 2003 account, they
create limits for the amount of mail messages you can have in your Inbox,
Sent Items, and Deleted Items folders. When you get near this limit, you will
receive a cautionary message, indicating that you need to delete messages
that are no longer needed. Frequently, you have certain messages that are
related to a topic or group, and you would like to retain them for some period
of time, and not have them count against your size limit. The next area of
this tutorial will address this situation
You can create special folders called Personal Folders

for various groups of e-mail (some of these on the right are Microsoft, Dell, Verizon Server,
etc). As you receive or send e-mail related to this group you can move the e-mail to that
folder so that you can find the items easily, without having to search all of your mail. You can
still delete these items when they no longer apply and delete the folder when you are
finished with it.
Creating Personal Folders

To create a Personal Folder, do the following:
26
Click-on File in the Menu Bar, then click-on New in the drop down menu, and then click-on Folder
The following Create New Folder screen will

appear:
First, select a logical name for the folder. For

this tutorial well use the title My Junk. Type
the name you desire in the Name: area.
Next, move down the Create New Folder
screen with the elevator arrows (on the right of
the menu screen) until you see: Personal
Folders. Click-on Personal Folders.
Now, click-on OK.
This will place the created folder in your My

Shortcuts area.
Notice that a new Personal Folder (My Junk) has been added to your
Personal folder area.
Placing e-mail messages in your Personal Folders
Moving a single message

You will notice, in the Preview Pane All
Mail Folders area, that when you click-on
Inbox, Sent Items, or Deleted Items, that
the Personal Folders you created can still
be seen in the Preview Pane on the left
side of the screen.
To move an e-mail from one folder
27
(Inbox, etc.) to another folder (Personal Folder), you simply click-on the e-mail message, you want to move,
hold down the left mouse button, and drag the message to the Personal Folder.
In the image above we clicked-on the highlighted message, held down the left mouse button, and dragged the
message from the Inbox to the Dell folder. You will notice, as you are dragging your e-mail message, a small
box appears attached to the cursor arrow. The cursor changes to a circle with a line through it (when you
are over an area where you cant drop your mesage), and then changes again to the box with the arrow when you
have the cursor over a Personal Folder icon. When you have the box symbol over your Personal Folder, release
the left mouse button. This will move the message from one folder to another. Try this with one of the messages in
your Inbox.
28
Moving Several Messages
You can also move several messages with

this drag technique.
To highlight several messages you need to
learn a new skill. If you hold down one of
the Ctrl keys (at the bottom of the
keyboard one either side of the Space Bar)
and then click-on several messages, youll
notice that as you click each message it is
highlighted (like image on left).
When you are ready to move the group of

messages you highlighted, simply click-on
any of the highlighted messages, and
immediately hold down the left mouse

button, and then drag all the messages to the folder where you want the messages. If you click-on one of the
messages and dont drag the cursor immediately, this will turn-off the multiple message selections and youll have
to start again. Its kind of tricky the first time that you try this.
If you ever desire to turn-off the multiple highlights, you simply click-on any message and that will remove the
highlights and select the message on which you clicked.
You can still delete the messages when you no longer desire to retain them.
8.20 Moving, Deleting, and Recovering Mail Messages

You should now have a feel for Outlook 2003. Having just completed folders, you can see that we can move a
message from any folder to any folder simply by clicking-on it and dragging the message to another folder. You
could also click-on a message and, either using Edit (in the Menu Bar), then Copy or Cut in the Menu bar, and
then Paste, to move or copy a message in this manner. You can also use the Cut, Copy and Paste buttons in the
button bar.
To delete a message, you have already learned that you can click-on the message and then on the X in the button
bar (not the X in the upper right hand corner). If you click-on the upper right hand corner X this will simply close
the message and return you to the Inbox, etc.
29
When you delete an e-mail message in your Inbox, Sent Items, or a Personal Folder, this places the message in the
Deleted Items trash can. You can drag an item from Deleted Items to any folder to retrieve it, or use the
methods above to recover a message to a folder.
Really Deleting Messages

To really delete an e-mail message in the Deleted Items trash can, you can click-on the message and click-on
the X button, or tap the Delete key. Outlook 2003 will ask you if you really want to delete the message.
When you say yes, its gone. To delete several individual messages at once, click-on the first message, then
hold down the Ctrl key, and while holding down Ctrl, click-on the other items. You will see that they turn
blue, indicating that you are marking them (just like we covered before). Now click the X button or tap the
Delete key. If you want to delete ALL of the items in the Delete Items trash can, click-on Edit in the Menu bar
and then Select All. Then, click-on the X button or tap the Delete key.
A message box will appear asking if you really want to delete all the items. If you do, click-on Yes.
8.21 Adding, Sending, Receiving, Viewing, and Saving Attachments

There are many times when you want to send a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentation,
picture, or file of some type to someone, or be able to receive one. Outlook 2003 makes this relatively simple. The
items indicated above are sent as attachments to your e-mail.
When you are sending an e-mail message and want to
include an attachment its relatively easy. When you are in
the Untitled-Message, the Forward or Reply screens, you
will notice a paperclip in the button bar.
To add a file (attachment) to you message, you must be

in the text area to do so.
30
You cannot add an attachment if you are in the To, Cc, or Subject areas. You will see your cursor
flashing in the text area so you will know you are in the correct area. If you are in the To, Cc, or Subject
areas, you will not see the paperclip clearly. You will see a definite outline of a paperclip (like the one above)
when you are in the text area.
This paperclip is the button that allows you to insert an attachment in your e-mail message. Go to the place, in
your e-mail message, where you want the attachment located (in the Text Area). Most often, people place
attachments at the beginning or end of their messages. When you are at the point where you want the file
(attachment) located, click-on
the paperclip.
The following Insert File menu screen will appear.
When this Insert File screen appears, choose the location

of your file (attachment) on your computer (A or C drives,
etc., or on a network drive) by using the Look in: area (see
the arrow above we have chosen My Documents on the
C: disk drive). Then choose the file by clicking-on it (we
chose a PowerPoint file called How to make a great 2003
PBJ for our attachment). Click-on OK. Your e-mail
message, with attachment, will look similar to the image on
the right.
When you or, another person, receives this attachment, all

you have to do is double-click on the attachment and it
will load into the proper program! Or, you can right click
the mouse on the attachment, and a menu will appear
that you can use. Once you have the document in its normal environment, you can save it, etc. Pretty neat!
8.22 Calendar
31
There is a personal calendar you can use that is included with

Outlook 2003. You can access the calendar by clicking-on the
calendar icon in Outlook Shortcuts area on the left of your Outlook
screen. You can learn how to use this calendar by clicking-on Help
or the Office Assistant.
8.23 Out of Office Assistant

If you are going to be away from your office computer for a
period of time, and you want to leave a courtesy message for
folks to let them know that youll be away, you can use the Out
of Office Assistant to do this. To activate the Out of Office
Assistant click-on Tools in the Menu bar and then click-on Out
of Office Assistant
You will need to be in the Inbox, Sent Items, Deleted Items or

one of your folder screens to do this.
The Out of Office Assistant menu screen at the top of the next
page will appear.
32
Type the message that you want others to receive when they send an e-mail message to you. Then click-in the
small circle to the left of I am currently out of the Office. This message will be sent to each person the first
time that they send you an e-mail message telling them that you are away from the office.
When you return (to your office), and load
Outlook 2003, you will see a screen prompt
reminding you that Out of Office Assistant is
active. You can turn off the Assistant when you
see this message.
8.24 Auto-Signature
There is an Outlook 2003 feature, which allows you to place a
designed signature at the end of your e-mail messages. You will
need to be in one of the Main areas of Outlook 2003 to create a
signature (Inbox, Sent Items, Deleted Items, etc.).
To activate this feature, click-on Tools in the Menu Bar. When the
drop down menu appears, click-on Options.
The Options menu screen at the top of the next page will appear.
33
When the above screen appears click-on the Mail Format tab (see upper arrow above). In the lower portion
of the Options menu screen you will see and area called Signature. Click-on the Signatures button in this
area (see lower arrow above).
The following Create Signature menu screen

will appear.
Click-on the New button in this screen (see
arrow to the right).
The Create New Signature menu screen at the
top of the next page will appear.
34
When the Create New Signature screen

appears, type a name for your signature in the
area under - 1. Enter a name for your new
signature: (see the top right arrow we used
Greg Butler).
Well leave 2. Choose how to create your
signature as the default choice Start with a
blank signature (see middle left arrow).
Now click-on the Next Button (see lower left
arrow).
When the Edit Signature

menu screen appears, type
your Signature in the space
under Signature text like
we have done on the right.
You can type anything you
desire for your signature. You
can type just your name, or
name, title, phone, FAX, etc.
Its your signature.
Notice that there are several
buttons below the Signature
text Font, Paragraph, etc. If
you desire to change the font
of your signature, highlight
the text that you desire to
change, and then click-on the
Font button and select your
font then click OK in the
Font menu screen. You can
have several different fonts in
your signature if you desire
as well as color.
When you have the signature
you desire, click the Finish
button.
35
This will take you back to the Create Signature menu screen. Click OK. The bottom portion of your Options
menu screen should look similar to the image below.
From
now
on, when you create a new message, reply to one, or forward one, you will see that you signature is automatically
added at the end of the message.
If you desire to edit your signature or create a new one follow the process above, an choose the logical buttons to
Edit, Remove, or create a New signature.
When you are satisfied with your signature, click OK.
8.25 Using Microsoft Word as your e-mail Editor
You may use Microsoft Word, if you have it installed on your computer,
as your e-mail editor, if you desire. To activate Word, make sure that
you are in the Inbox, Sent Items or Deleted Items screen. Click-on
Tools in the Menu Bar, then click-on Options in the drop down menu
that appears.
36
When the Options menu screen appears, click-on the Mail Format tab
If you want to use Word as
your editor (with all of the
full word processing
features), in the Options
menu screen that appears,
click-in the boxes to the left
of Use Microsoft Word
2003 to edit e-mail
messages and Use
Microsoft Word 2003 to
read Rich Text e-mail
messages (see arrow on left
of the image).
Then click-on the Apply
button and then click-on the
OK button.
The next time you create a
new e-mail, or reply or
forward an e-mail you will
see a little message appear
that indicates that Word is
being loaded as your
editor. At the top of the
screen youll see additional,
new toolbars for using
Word.
When you are typing your email messages you will have
all of the power that is
inherent in Microsoft Word
2003.
8.26 Accessing you e-mail at home through a web browser

If you desire to use your Outlook e-mail at home, using a modem and an on-line service provider (e.g. MSN, AOL),
check with your Technology Department and see if they have this service available.
If you do, an Outlook Web Access tutorial has been created similar to this one to assist you. Simply send an email to address below to request a copy.
8.27 Other interesting features in Outlook 2003

Multi-colored Flag selection
37
In Outlook 2003 you can mark each message, individually,

as you desire, with a different colored importance flag.
You can then view your flags by color groups.
In the preview screen, simply click the RIGHT mouse
button on the small blank flag on the right of the
message. A flag list will appear as a drop-down menu.
Click-on the flag color you desire.
Multi-colored flag grouping and Message Order

You can group/arrange your messages by Date, From, To, Subject, Flag and many
other choices. In one of you folders (Inbox, Sent Item, a folder you have created)
look just below the folder title (Inbox, etc.), and you will see an area that defaults to
Arrange By: Date.
Place your cursor over Arrange By: Date and click the RIGHT mouse button. A
drop-down Arrange menu (like the one on the right) will appear. You can clickon any choice. If you click-on Flag, your messages will be placed in Flag order
(from the colors in the above Flag menu). Anytime you desire to change how your
messages are arranged, simply RIGHT click on the Arranged By: area and choose
another order (Date, Flag, etc.).
38

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Unit One

Concepts of Information Technology (IT)

1.1 General Concepts

Software is the collection of instructions that makes the computer work.

Information Technology (IT) is the use of computers as an aid in creating and

1.2 Types of Computer

Comparing computer types:

The System Unit

The System (Mother) Board

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

210= 1 024 bytes

approx. 103 bytes

ASCII or American Standard Code for Information Interchange

Peripheral devices and ports

A peripheral device is any device that is connected to the computer.

Types of Ports (Connectors):

PS/2 : used to connect devices such as mouse and keybord

A modem (MODulate/DEModulate) is a device that is used to transmit data over

Bar code reader

Voice input for PCs (microphones)

suitable software, you can record sounds.

The VDU (Visual Display Unit), computer monitor or screen

Computer presentation projection devices

Hard (Fixed) Disk

What is the difference between internal and external hard disks?

Diskettes (floppy disks)

DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)

Some of popular operating systems :

Graphical user interface or GUI :

Command-Line Interface or CLI:

1.5 Information Networks

The World Wide Web (WWW) and the Internet

1.6 The Use of IT in Everyday Life

e-commerce is means buying or selling via the Internet.

1.7 Computer Viruses

Some Types of Viruses

1.8 Copyright and the Law

Using the Computer and Managing Files (using

Click your user name or icon to start Windows in your profile.

Clicking on the Start button displays the Start menu.

2.2 First Steps with the Computer

--Shut down the computer properly

Several options are available when shutting the system down:

--Shut down a non-responding application.

2.3 Basic Information and Operations

THE FOLLOWING TABS ARE AVAILABLE:

Desktop : Includes options for selecting an image to be used as background wallpaper.

2.4 What is the Control Panel?

To change Desktop appearance, apply a theme or screen

To create or view Internet and network connections

To change sound schemes, configure settings for

For maintenance and optimisation of the hard disk drive

To change settings for printers, keyboard, mouse and other

To change date, time, time zone, language and number

To adjust settings for hearing, vision and mobility.

--To change the Date and Time

--To configure the volume setting

Or You can click on the volume control icon on the Taskbar

--To format a removable drive

--Learning about Windows

--Help within the Start Menu

2.5 Work with Icons

--The My Computer icon

--The Recycle Bin