( a) THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF WINDOWS DESKTOP, (b)Windows Explorer & (c) Main Features of Word Pad

( a) THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF WINDOWS DESKTOP

Once Windows is loaded into the memory of the computer, the focus is placed on the desktop. The desktop is designed to act just like an actual desktop. The desktop is a window that covers your entire computer screen. It is the interface through which all of the programs are accessed. All other programs run on the top of the Windows desktop.

The Windows desktop is comprised of three key elements:
1) Icons 2) Start menu & 3) Taskbar

1) Icons:
Icons can be further classified into five categories:
Ø Folder Icons: When a folder icon is double clicked, a folder window is opened displaying the contents of the folder.

Ø Program Icons: When a Program icon is double clicked, the corresponding program is loaded into the memory of the computer and the application starts running in a Window.

Ø Document Icons: When a document icon is double clicked, the document itself is opened. For e.g., (Word processing program, spreadsheet, database etc.

Ø Shortcut Icons: Shortcut icons provide an alternate way to open programs, documents, and folders

Ø System Icons: System icons are mandatory programs or files that are located on your desktop. User is not allowed to delete the system icon, since deleting the system icon would mean deleting the actual program from the hard drive of the computer. Examples of System Icons are Recycle Bin, My Computer, and Network Neighborhood etc.

? Recycle Bin: Any file that is deleted from the hard disk of the computer is moved to a separate folder called Recycle Bin. The files stored in the bin can be restored to their original location by using the 'Restore' option of Recycle Bin. To empty the Recycle Bin, simply right click on this icon and-select 'Empty Recycle Bin' option.

? My Computer: Double clicking the "My Computer" icon will open a window that displays the contents of the computer. All the files and folders available in the computer can be viewed here. It also allows you to display the system and hardware information.

? Network Neighborhood: "Network Neighborhood" icon displays windows from other computers and resources, like printer, connected to the network.


( b) WINDOWS EXPLORER

Windows Explorer is a utility that represents the contents of the computer in a graphical form. It allows you to do various file and disk management tasks like copy, rename, move and delete file(s) and create folder(s) and sub-folder(s), format floppies etc. It is the quickest way to get a complete view of the contents of computer.
Windows Explorer can be accessed:

Start -+ Programs -+ Windows Explorer

Ø Elements of window explorer:
Standard Toolbar: Gives access to the commonly used functions.

Address Bar: Displays the path of the selected document. Document could be a file, folder, sub-folder or a drive itself. The selected item is usually displayed in blue colour.

Tree View: Windows Explorer displays all the items in a tree view structure. Items can be expanded and contracted by clicking on the plus and minus signs that appear next to some of the icons. 'Plus' sign indicates that there are more items within the folder. 'Minus' sign represents the expanded view. Icons that have neither a plus sign nor a minus sign indicate that there are no additional items inside them.

Left/Right Pane: The left pane of the Windows Explorer is used to select a folder or drive so that its contents can be displayed in the right pane. The name of the selected folder is displayed in the window's title bar. As soon as you select a different folder in the left pane, the contents of the right pane change to reflect that folder's contents.

Ø Features of Windows Explorer
Following are the few features of Window Explorer
1) Creating Folders and Files: We can create various folders & files in the same explorer

2) Creating Sub-folders: Sub folders can be created within original folder.

3) Opening Folder: From the left pane, we can select any folder to explore further for sub-folders, files etc.

4) Opening files: Desired double clicking on that particular folder and files can open file of any application.

5) Copying files: We can copy folders files into the other folder by selecting & pasting it to the desires place. Copying can be done using various methods in Window explorer e.g. Click & Drag method, Copy & Paste method, Selecting range of files & pasting method, selecting selected files with the help of control key & pasting

6) Renaming files/Folders: Files and folders can be renamed using window explorer

7) Deleting files/Folders: Selected files & folders can be deleted.

8) Changing folder views: Folders in Windows Explorer can be viewed in different views. E.g. Large Icon View, Small Icon View, List View, Details View. Details view displays information like item name, size, type and the date item was last created or modified. We can sort all files and folders by date wise, type wise and name wise.

(C)MAIN FEATURES OF WORDPAD

WordPad is a simple word processor that is included with almost all versions of Microsoft Windows from Windows 95 upwards. It is more advanced than Notepad, but not as advanced as Microsoft Word.
WordPad is the one of the commonly used accessory. It is a the text based editor that supports more features than Notepad. WordPad can be for files larger than 64 KB. It supports all the features than Notepad. Some of the features of the WordPad are as under.


1) Allows formatting of text using different font style, colours and bullets.
2) Different alignment options (Left, Right, and Centre) are provided for the paragraphs.
3) Allows to set page margins and a preview of the page can be seen of how document would appear in print.
4) Toolbars are provided that provide quick access to commonly used functions. User has option to View/hide the toolbars.
5) Allows to embed/link an object into a WordPad document from the another file.
6) Find and replace can be used to locate a particular piece of text within a document.
7) It can be used to automatically replace a particular piece of text with something else.

WordPad can be accessed from:

Start Programs Accessories WordPad