The start button (see fig 1.1) is a very important part of Windows XP, clicking on the start button opens up what is called the start menu, the start menu is used to access your programs, settings, printers and more, we will take an indepth look at the start menu and its functions in part 2 of our Windows XP tutorial.
In fig 1.1 above is an example of a typical start menu.
Here is an overview of the different options:
Log off - Log off the current user.
Turn Off Computer - shutdown, restart and standby.
All Programs - Access to installed programs.
Run - Used to manually start executable files (programs).
Search - Search your PC for pictures, music, documents, files and folders.
Help and Support - Opens the built-in Windows help including various help topics, windows updates and also allows you to request remote assistance from a friend/colleague via the internet or network.
Printers and Faxes - Access to your printers and faxes folder, allows you to add and configure printers/faxes.
Control Panel - The control panel is used to configure various Windows XP settings, we will be looking at the Win XP control panel in detail later in the tutorial.
My Computer - Gives you access to your computer's disk drives and files, we will be looking more closely at the My Computer function later in the tutorial.
My Music - Links to a folder created by Windows XP which is used (by default) to store any music files on your hard drive.
My Pictures - Links to a folder (again created by Windows XP) used (by default) to store any pictures/images on your hard drive.
My Recent Documents - This folder contains any recently viewed documents.
My Documents - Gives access to a folder created by Windows XP which is used (by default) to store any documents on your hard drive.
Tour Windows XP - Starts the built-in tour of Windows XP's features.
Windows Movie Maker - Opens Windows XP's movie editing software.
Outlook Express - Opens the Outlook Express mail program.
Files and Settings Transfer Wizard - Allows you to import or export your files and settings from or to a different installation of Windows XP.
Note: some of the options have a small black arrow to their right, this means that another submenu will appear when you hover your mouse pointer over it.
Turn off Computer
If you click on the Turn Off Computer option on the start menu you will see a dialogue box like that shown in fig 1.2, below is a summary of the options available:
Standby - This will put your computer into standby mode, basically it will power down components like the monitor and hard drive to preserve energy.
In fig 1.1 above is an example of a typical start menu.
Here is an overview of the different options:
Log off - Log off the current user.
Turn Off Computer - shutdown, restart and standby.
All Programs - Access to installed programs.
Run - Used to manually start executable files (programs).
Search - Search your PC for pictures, music, documents, files and folders.
Help and Support - Opens the built-in Windows help including various help topics, windows updates and also allows you to request remote assistance from a friend/colleague via the internet or network.
Printers and Faxes - Access to your printers and faxes folder, allows you to add and configure printers/faxes.
Control Panel - The control panel is used to configure various Windows XP settings, we will be looking at the Win XP control panel in detail later in the tutorial.
My Computer - Gives you access to your computer's disk drives and files, we will be looking more closely at the My Computer function later in the tutorial.
My Music - Links to a folder created by Windows XP which is used (by default) to store any music files on your hard drive.
My Pictures - Links to a folder (again created by Windows XP) used (by default) to store any pictures/images on your hard drive.
My Recent Documents - This folder contains any recently viewed documents.
My Documents - Gives access to a folder created by Windows XP which is used (by default) to store any documents on your hard drive.
Tour Windows XP - Starts the built-in tour of Windows XP's features.
Windows Movie Maker - Opens Windows XP's movie editing software.
Outlook Express - Opens the Outlook Express mail program.
Files and Settings Transfer Wizard - Allows you to import or export your files and settings from or to a different installation of Windows XP.
Note: some of the options have a small black arrow to their right, this means that another submenu will appear when you hover your mouse pointer over it.
Turn off Computer
If you click on the Turn Off Computer option on the start menu you will see a dialogue box like that shown in fig 1.2, below is a summary of the options available:Standby - This will put your computer into standby mode, basically it will power down components like the monitor and hard drive to preserve energy.
Turn Off - Shuts down the PC, always use this option to turn off your PC.
Restart - this will restart the computer.
The All Programs Menu
When you hover the mouse over All Programs you will see a menu appear similar to that shown in fig 1.3, from this menu you can access the programs currently installed on your PC.
Your menu will be different from our example as you will have different programs installed on your PC.
To open a program simply left click on it, some options have a small black arrow to the right hand side, this indicates that it contains another sub-menu. For example, the accessories folder has a sub-menu, if you wanted to open a program from within the sub-menu, then you would hover the mouse pointer over accessories (for example) and then click on the program you want from the sub-menu.
You can rename any program on the menu by right clicking on it and selecting rename from the menu that appears.
After installing new software it will (normally) appear on the programs menu, to remove any program just from the All Programs menu simply right click on it and select delete, if you want to uninstall a program then use the control panel (covered later in the Win XP tutorial) to uninstall it, simply deleting it from the programs menu will not uninstall the software.
It's possible to create a desktop shortcut for any of the programs, see related pages at top of this page
Restart - this will restart the computer.
The All Programs Menu
When you hover the mouse over All Programs you will see a menu appear similar to that shown in fig 1.3, from this menu you can access the programs currently installed on your PC.Your menu will be different from our example as you will have different programs installed on your PC.
To open a program simply left click on it, some options have a small black arrow to the right hand side, this indicates that it contains another sub-menu. For example, the accessories folder has a sub-menu, if you wanted to open a program from within the sub-menu, then you would hover the mouse pointer over accessories (for example) and then click on the program you want from the sub-menu.
You can rename any program on the menu by right clicking on it and selecting rename from the menu that appears.
After installing new software it will (normally) appear on the programs menu, to remove any program just from the All Programs menu simply right click on it and select delete, if you want to uninstall a program then use the control panel (covered later in the Win XP tutorial) to uninstall it, simply deleting it from the programs menu will not uninstall the software.
It's possible to create a desktop shortcut for any of the programs, see related pages at top of this page
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