|
|
|
Microsoft Windows 98:Windows 98
replaced Windows 95 as the new operating system. Most of the
functions in the two operating systems resemble each other.
However Windows 98 does have added features as follows:
Microsoft
Windows 98 Features:
Windows 98 Second Edition (SE) provides
an average of 28 percent more disk space, thanks to a feature
called FAT32 that enables more efficient use of your hard
drive.
Windows 98 SE loads your most
frequently used applications up to 36 percent faster, thanks
to Windows 98's new disk defragmenter.
Windows 98 also had added support
for DVD players which Windows 95 does not.
|
Windows 98 Start Button:
|
Windows 95 and the subsequent operating systems
including Window 98 and Windows Me from Microsoft use the
Start Button as the starting point for most applications.
We'll spend a little time discussing the Start button first.
It is located on the left bottom part of your computer screen.
Also on the new keyboards, you will see a key that has the
Windows logo on it.
Go ahead and click on the Start
button now. You will see a new pop-up menu similar to the
drop-down menu. Depending on your installation, you may see
different menu options. We have included a screen shot of the
Start button right below.
|
 
|
We will discuss the more common options under the
Start menu here. In order to use the Program option, use the
left button on the mouse or use the keyboard
option.
Programs:
This
option lets the user select what applications to run on the
computer system. If you want to work on word processing, you
can click on Programs and then select Microsoft Word. If you
want to run the internet, you can click Programs and then
Internet Explorer. Sometimes it is easier to create a short
cut on the Desktop instead of using the Programs
button.
|
Windows 98
- Documents:
Microsoft
Windows 98 keeps track of the documents that you have recently
worked on. The easiest way to work with these documents is to
use the Documents options. When you click on it, a list of
documents will appear. You can then select the appropriate
document or file you want to work with.
|
|
Windows 98
- Settings:
This menu
option under the start button is used to configure the
settings on your computer. You can add and remove software
applications using this option. In addition you can change the
desktop settings and also the Start Menu options.
The
most important item under the settings menu is the Control Panel. Using control panel,
one is able to change the configuration on the computer.
|
Windows 98
- Find:
This is one of my
favorite options under the Start Menu. This one lets you find
files and folders on your computer. If you vaguely remember
the name of the file you are looking for lets say vacation
something, use this option. A new
window will pop-up. Go ahead and enter vacation*
* is a wild character that will look for documents
starting with vacation and ending with any other
characters.
Finally click Find Now to do the search.
To
find a file or folder in Windows
98
1 Click the Start
button, and then point to
Find.
2 Click Files Or
Folders.
3 In the Named box, type
all or part of the file's
name.
If you do not know the
name of a file or want to refine the search, click the Date
Modified or Advanced tabs.
If you want to
specify where Windows should begin its search, click Browse.
4 Click Find
Now.
To copy a file or folder in
Windows 98
1 In My
Computer or Windows Explorer, click the file or folder you
want to copy.
2 On the Edit menu,
click Copy.
3 Open the folder or
disk where you want to put the
copy.
4 On the Edit menu, click
Paste
We have included a screen capture of Find functionality right below.
|
|
Windows 98
Help:
This is a fast way to
look up information about the Windows operating system. There
are three ways to get the information you need.
-One
is to use the Contents which lists all the topics in order.
-I tend to use the Index options which lists
everything alphabetically.
-You can also do an
exhaustive search by Find option. This creates a search engine
within the Microsoft Windows 98 OS.
|
|
Windows 98 Run command:
This option lets you
execute programs directly from the Start Menu. A lot of time
this is a fast way to install new software on your machine.
Also you can test an exe file by using the Browse option if
you can find the right file.
Shut
Down:
This is also one of my favorite options.
When things go wrong, it is a good idea to restart your
computer. One of options under the Shut Down menu is Restart
the Computer.
|
|
Windows Explorer in Windows 9 |
In Windows Explorer, you can see both the hierarchy of
folders (aka directories) on your computer and all the files
and folders in each selected folder. Go ahead and start
Windows Explorer by doing the following
Start  Programs Windows Explorer
|
|
You will see the new window is split into two
sections. The one on the left is the folder window as it shows
only the folders including your hard drive (C) and other
system folders like Control Panel, Network Neighborhood etc.
The window on the right side is the file window as it contains
the files in addition to any other folders. Go ahead and click
on Windows folder in the left window. You will notice that a
new set of files appear on the right side. These are the
contents of Windows folder and show all the file and folders
included.
Windows Explorer is
especially useful for copying and moving files. You can open
the folder that contains the file you want to move or copy,
and then drag it to the folder you want to put it in. Lets try
the following exercise. First we will find a file in the
Windows folder and then move it to the Program Files folder.
As you have Window selected in the left window, look for the
Win.ini file in the right window. Once you find it, move the
mouse on it, click the left button. Now comes the hard part.
While you have the left mouse button pressed down, move the
cursor to the Program Files folder in the left window and then
release the mouse button. You just moved Win.ini from Windows
folder to the Program Files folder! Congrats. Remember this is
just practice, so lets move the file back to the Windows
folder. You can either repeat the above steps or just select
Undo move from Edit menu.
Another useful feature of
Windows Explorer is to locate files and folder. Lets say that
we were looking for Win.ini file but did not know what folder
to look in. We can do the following. From the menu, select
Tools, Find and Files and Folders. A new window will appear.
Type the following
Named Win.ini
Look in Drive C
and select
Find Now. The utility searches the hard drive and locates the
file in C:\Windows folder.
It also gives you other
information like the file size, file type and the date it was
modified. This is useful if you are working on a big document
and have saved multiple copies on the hard drive. You can
easily find the latest copy by using the Find
utility.
|
|
Windows 98
- Control Panel:
The control panel is a short cut to the details about your computer system. It lets you add and remove software from your machine. You can view and update the hardware on your system. You can even change the default settings to your customized way. It lets you set up your network and configure the adapters. You can start control panel by doing the following.
Settings
Control Panel
You will get something that looks like this
|
5
|
You will see a number of icons in this window. I will discuss a few of the important ones here.
Add New Hardware:
If you want to add new hardware to the system, use this icon.
Add/Remove
Programs:
If you want to add or remove software programs from your personal computer, this is where you want to be.
When you click on this icon, you will see a new dialog box that looks like the
one below
|
|
Lets say you wanted to remove Microsoft Excel 97.
After you select Microsoft Excel, the Add/Remove button will become enable
and you would click on it to delete the software. Just follow the
instruction and you can delete the appropriate software.
Display:
If you want to change the settings for your monitor, you have come to the right place.
When you click on Display, you will open a new dialog box that looks like the
one below. You can change the resolution and modify screen savers under the
Display option.
|
|
Printers:
This is how you
add or remove printers from your computer
System:
This is one of my favorites as it has a sub section called Device Manager. This one lets you browse what kind of hardware is present on your machine in case you want to upgrade a few things.
Recycle Bin:
Recycle Bin is where all the deleted
files on your computer are stored before they are deleted
permanently. Lets take a look at contents of the recycle bin
|
Links
|
|
