Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows XP in 24 Hours

By Greg Perry

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Author
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Introduction
  • Part I: Wake Up with Windows XP
  • Hour 1. Taking a Bird's-Eye Look at Windows XP
  • Hour 2. Getting Started with Windows XP
    • First Things First
    • Shut Down Before Leaving
    • I Do Windows!
    • Manually Changing Window Sizes
    • Moving Windows
    • Closing a Window
    • A Window's Menu
    • A Window's Toolbar
    • One Last Note About Windows
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • Hour 3. Managing the Windows XP Interface
  • Part II: Morning Windows Desktop Exploration
  • Hour 4. Working with the My Computer Window
  • Hour 5. Navigating Files with Windows Explorer
  • Hour 6. Calling for Help
  • Hour 7. Improving Your Windows Desktop Experience
  • Part III: Early Afternoon Windows Exploration
  • Hour 8. Installing Programs with Windows XP
  • Hour 9. Finding Files, Folders, and Friends
  • Hour 10. Using the Desktop Accessories
  • Part IV: Late Afternoon Internet Integration
  • Hour 11. Surfing the Web with Internet Explorer
  • Hour 12. Tying Windows into the Web
  • Hour 13. Networking with Windows XP
  • Hour 14. Managing E-mail and Newsgroups with Outlook Express
  • Part V: An Evening with Advanced Windows
  • Hour 15. Exploring Your Hardware Interface
  • Hour 16. Understanding Printing and Fonts
  • Hour 17. Using Windows on the Road
  • Hour 18. Giving Windows XP a Tune-Up
  • Hour 19. Managing Your Hard Drives
  • Hour 20. Tinkering with the Advanced System Tools
  • Part VI: Having Fun at Nighttime
  • Hour 21. Using Media Player
  • Hour 22. Picturing Windows XP Graphics
  • Hour 23. Making Movies with Windows XP
  • Hour 24. Advanced Windows XP Tips
  • Part VII: Appendixes
  • Appendix A. Differences Between the Windows Home and Professional Edition
  • Appendix B. Glossary
  • Appendix C. Answers to Quizzes

A Window's Menu

Most of Windows XP's windows contain a menu bar. Even non-program windows such as the My Computer window displays a menu bar. You can use the menu bar to close the window, open additional windows, copy, cut, and paste information from one window to another, get help, and even access the Internet for related information. (The Internet's never far away in Windows.)

As you progress over the next 22 lessons, you'll learn ways to use the window menu bar options to traverse windows and to find the information you need. When you select an option from a menu bar, that option's menu opens (drops down) to display a list of actions. For example, Figure 2.7 shows an open View menu. Throughout the remaining lessons, when asked to select View, Details, for example, you will click the View menu bar option and select Details with your mouse or arrow keys.

Figure 2.7 Windows contains menus that enable you to control operations on and within the window.

The menu bar enables you to control the way that the window looks and behaves. If the window's icons are too large to hold all of a window's contents, you can select smaller icons or change the window to a list view format as the following To Do item demonstrates.

To Do: Managing the Window Contents

1. From the open My Computer window, select View, Icons. The window's icons become smaller so that they can display in a smaller space. (Before, the icons were tiled and enlarged to show as much detail as possible.)
2. Select View, Details to see the window's contents compacted even further. The list view shows extra information about the window's contents such as the size, date created, free disk space, and other statistics relative to the item in the window.

Use a window's menu bar to change the window's appearance and behavior. More of the menu bar options will come in handy as you learn more about Windows XP.

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