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Sams Teach Yourself Computer Basics in 24 Hours, 3rd Edition

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Sams Teach Yourself Computer Basics in 24 Hours, 3rd Edition

Book

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Description

  • Copyright 2001
  • Dimensions: 7-3/8" x 9-1/8"
  • Pages: 512
  • Edition: 3rd
  • Book
  • ISBN-10: 0-672-32301-X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-672-32301-0

Sams Teach Yourself Computer Basics in 24 Hours is the replacement documentation that you don't get with sub-$1000 computers.

It's designed to be an "all-in-one solution" to help users to get up and running on their computer and learn all the software applications that came pre-loaded on their system.

This book is a cost-efficient alternative for the user who will probably not purchase separate books on general PCs, Windows, the Internet, Word, and Excel.

Sample Content

Online Sample Chapters

Getting Organized with Windows

Getting Organized with Windows

Table of Contents



Introduction.

I. PC BASICS.

Hour 1. Beyond the On Switch….

What in the World Is an Operating System? So What's Behind the Name “Windows”? How Can I Tell If I Have Windows XP? The New and Improved Windows XP. What's What on the Windows Desktop. Making (Mouse) Tracks. Learning All the Moves. That's All, Folks!

Hour 2. Windows Your Way.

Rearranging the Desktop Icons. Making It Big: Enlarging Your Desktop Icons. Maximize Screen Size by Hiding the Taskbar. Banishing the Desktop Blues. Defining Your Own Desktop Shortcuts. Customizing the Windows XP Start Menu. Flying Toilets and Swirling Colors (Screen Savers).

Hour 3. Getting Organized with Windows.

Thinking About Getting Organized. Getting to Know Windows Explorer's Filing Headquarters. Creating a New Folder. Good File Naming Techniques: Another Organizational Aid. Once You Create It, Know Where to Store It. Relocating Files on Your Machine. Using the Search Companion to Find Files on Your Computer.

Hour 4. Health Care for PCs.

Archiving Your Files. Defragmenting Your Hard Drive. Cleaning Your Disk. Protecting Yourself Against Computer Viruses. When Bad Things Happen to Good Systems: Using System Restore.

Hour 5. Sending Out an S.O.S..

Computer Chaos. Disk and Drive Dilemmas. Monitor Messes. Printing Problems. Internet Irks. Help Is Right There in Front of You! Putting Your Computer's Fate in Someone Else's Hands.

Hour 6. Sharing Your PC with Others.

Modifying the Primary User's Account. Creating a New User Account. Switching from One Account to Another. Using Fast User Switching. Deleting an Account. Just Waiting: An Annoyance or Safety Feature?

II. MAKING THINGS HAPPEN WITH SOFTWARE.

Hour 7. It's All About the Software.

Software Defined. Purchasing a New Program. Where to Buy Software. Registering Your Software. Upgrading Software. Installing New Windows Programs. Uninstalling Software. Some Unfinished Business. Resizing and Relocating Program Windows.

Hour 8. Jumpstart Word Processing.

Anatomy of the Word 2002 Work Space. Common Menus and Menu Options. The Shared Standard Toolbar. Tweaking the Toolbars. Keystrokes: Another Way to Get the Job Done. Selecting Text. Manipulating Text. Viewing Your Documents. Keys to Finding Your Way Around a Document. Creating Bulleted and Numbered Lists. Checking Spelling and Grammar. Saving Your Documents. Opening an Existing Word Document. Printing a Word Document.

Hour 9. Polish Those Documents.

Templates and Wizards: An Overview. Achieving Professional Results Using Word 2002 Templates. For a More Customized Document, Use a Wizard. Adding Page Numbers, Titles, and Other Information with Headers and Footers. Creating Tables in Word. Emphasizing Content with Borders and Shading. Working with Columns in Word. Using Shrink to Fit. Organizing Your Thoughts by Building an Outline. Using AutoText to Lighten Your Workload.

Hour 10. The Numbers Game.

Learning the Spreadsheet Lingo. Anatomy of the Excel 2002 Workspace. Moving Around in Excel. Moving Between Sheets. Entering Worksheet Labels. Entering Numbers into Excel. Selecting Cells. Editing Cell Contents. Copying, Cutting, and Pasting Excel Data. Inserting and Deleting Rows and Columns. Inserting a Single Cell. Adding and Deleting Worksheets. Copying and Moving Worksheets. Adding Your Data with AutoSum. Make Your Worksheets Look Good Using AutoFormat. Supplying Headers or Footers for Your Worksheets. Printing Excel Worksheets.

Hour 11. When Only a Database Will Do.

Planning Your Database. Building a Database in Excel 2002. Using a Data Form to Enter Excel Database Records. Editing Data with the Data Form. Resizing Cells with AutoFit. Sorting Excel Database Records. Grouping and Subtotaling Your Database. Using AutoFilter to Find Specific Data. Calculating Simple Statistics on a Cell Range. Applying More Complex Functions. Using ChartWizard to Visualize Your Data.

III. LOGGING ON TO THE INTERNET.

Hour 12. Connecting to the Internet.

Finding an Internet Service Provider. Information to Gather from Your New Internet Service Provider. Setting Up Your Connection Using the Windows XP, Home Edition's New. Connection Wizard. Configuring Your E-mail Server. Setting Up Your News Server. Connecting to the Internet.

Hour 13. The Savvy Net Surfer.

What Is Netiquette Anyway? Top 10 E-mail Rules of the Road. Top 10 Newsgroup Rules of the Road. Mysteries of the Net. Protecting Your Privacy by Using a Screen Name. Shopping on the Information Superhighway. When It Comes to the Web, All That Glitters Is Not Gold. Questioning Your Sources.

Hour 14. Navigating the Information Superhighway.

The Web Surfing Primer. Seeing the Sites. Revisiting History with the History Button. Working with Favorite Web Sites. Organizing Your Favorites. Sharing Your Favorite Sites with Others. Searching the Web Using Internet Explorer's Search Companion. Finding Things on a Web Page. Introducing AutoComplete for Forms.

Hour 15. Finding Things Online.

Where's the Good Stuff? Staying On-Topic: The Value of Subject Indices. The Least You Need to Know About Search Engines. Tips for Refining Your Search Criteria. Conducting Product Research Online. Prices That Can't be Beat. Facts by the Fistful.

Hour 16. Sending and Receiving E-mail.

The Anatomy of the Outlook Express Workspace. Composing an E-Mail Message. Assessing What You Have in Your Inbox. Reading a Message. Checking for New Messages. Reading File Attachments. Taking Action on a Message. Saving a Message. Adding Information to Your Address Book. Composing a New Message Using Address Book Information. Editing a Contact's Information.

Hour 17. Browsing Online Newsgroups.

How Do I Find the Good Stuff? Subscribing to a Newsgroup. Before Jumping In…. Reading a Newsgroup. Posting Your Own Message to a Newsgroup. Canceling an Article You Posted. Finding a Newsgroup Message. Viewing Replies to Your Post. Conserving the Space Consumed by Newsgroup Messages.

Hour 18. Downloading Goodies from the Internet.

Finding Free Stuff for Your Web Pages. When You Find Something You Want to Use. Locating Shareware or Game Demos Worth Downloading. Dealing with Downloadable Programs. Working with Zipped or Compressed Files. Working with an Executable File.

Hour 19. Make Your Own Web Page in an Hour.

Choosing Your Web Authoring Tool. Using Word 2002's Web Page Wizard. Adding Text to Your Web Site. Including a Hyperlink on a Web Page. Adjusting the Background of Your Web Page. Including an Image on Your Page. Adding Background Music to Your Page. Doing it My Way. Where Do I Go from Here? Announcing Your New Web Page.

IV. THE MULTIMEDIA PC.

Hour 20. Spiffing Up the Ol' System.

All About RAM. Types of CD Drives. Video Cards: Making Your Display Behave. Sound Cards and Speakers: Do You Hear What I Hear? The Key to Keyboards. Of Mice and Menus. Printers: What's Right for You May Not Be Right for Me!

Hour 21. Getting Sights and Sounds on Your Computer.

The Computers are Alive, with the Sound of Music! Burning Music CDs. Music and Videos on the Web. Tuning into the Radio Online. For the Record. What Is DVD Anyway?

Hour 22. The Instant Messaging Primer.

What Is Instant Messaging? Configuring Windows Messenger. Adding Contacts to Your Windows Messenger List. Sending an Instant Message. Temporarily Changing Your Windows Messenger Availability. Perking Up Your Instant Messages. Changing Your Display Name. Restricting Instant Messaging Accessibility. Operational Options. Hearing Voices.

Hour 23. Digitally Yours: Working with Electronic Images.

Selecting a Scanner. The World of Digital Cameras. Your Scanner or Digital Camera and Windows XP. From Digital Camera to…. Scanning Images into Word. Redefining Scanner Defaults. Safely Removing the Hardware from Your Computer. Managing Your Images from the My Pictures Folder. Viewing Your Virtual Filmstrip.

Hour 24. Star in Your Own Movie or Music Video.

The Bare Minimum. Planning for a Great Video. Presenting Windows Movie Maker. Getting Video for the Movie. Pasting Clips Together. Saving Your Work. Creating a Soundtrack for Your Movie.

V. APPENDIXES.

Appendix A. Optimizing Game Performance.

Let the Fun Begin: Joysticks and Other Game Controllers. Adding a New Game Controller to Your Machine. Solving Game Problems. Introducing the Program Compatibility Wizard.

Appendix B. So You Want to Purchase a Computer?
Appendix C. Getting Your New Computer Ready for Action.
Index.

Updates

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