Important Tips - Windows XP (III)

Important Tips

Adding New Hardware

Introduction

It is possible to add new physical components to our computer like a modem or a new monitor. For the new component to work, our operating system needs to detect it. Usually, Windows will detect the new hardware automatically, but in the event that it does not, Windows provides us with the Printers and Other Hardware tool that lets us install the new hardware correctly.

Currently many of the components that we install incorporate Plug & Play technology. This consists of transfering all the responsibility to the operating system, thus the operating system is in charge of detecting the new hardware and installing the neccessary programs for it to work properly. It also detects if we uninstall a component and uninstalling programs to free space.

This is all possible because Plug & Play components incorporate common protocols that allow the operating system to communicate with them.

Many Plug & Play components can be connected and disconnected without having to turn the computer off, specially the ones that use the USB system.

The Plug & Play allows WindowsXP to control their power use so that you can turn them off or minimize their power consumption when not in use.

When new hardware is installed, the computer needs the files that descibe the hardware and allows the computer to communicate with it. These files are known as drivers.

Windows XP already has the drivers for the most commonly used equipment. There are thousands of hardware manufacturers, so it is impossible for Windows to have all the drivers in the install CD. Sometimes it will not be necessary to insert the disk provided by the manufacturer.

In addition, Windows XP is now capable of going online to search for driver updates through Windows Update.

When we want to add new hardware to our computer, a monitor for example, two things can happen: either the component is Plug & Play or it is not. In the first case, as we have mentioned, simply connect the hardware and Windows will recognize and install it automatically. The Plug & Play elements are conveniently labeled, but in case of a doubt, we can find out by plugging it into the computer. If the window recognizes it, this means it is Plug & Play and if it does not, it is not.

From the Start menu access the Control Panel, and as you can see above, there are various options for configuring hardware. WindowsXP has divided the hardware into various groups, and there are different ways to configure each group.

These groups are:

Network, Sounds, Printer and other hardware etc.

Adding Hardware

To install a new element the first thing you need to do is to connect it to the computer, unless it has a USB cable, and turn it off. For many hardware elements it is not necessary to open up the computer. For example, in order to connect a mouse, screen, printer, or scanner we simply need to plug in the cables to the corresponding ports on the PC. In the majority of the cases there is no confusion because of the fact that a given cable will only fit into one designated port, and they are also color coded.

In other cases, such as installing a sound card or a hard drive, it will be necessary to open the computer and look for the corresponding slots.
Warning: In these cases refer to the instructions provided by the manufacturer.

Once everything has been placed where it needs to go, turn on the computer, keeping in mind that a few different things can occur:

a) The operating system recognizes the new hardware element.

Windows will begin to install the hardware and we will not have to do anything more. In some cases it may ask for the CD with the drivers.

b) The operating system does not recognize the new hardware element.

This will be obvious because nothing will happen.

In this scenario, there are two possibilities:

b.1) We have the CD with the drivers.

Insert the CD and the installation process will begin. Follow the instructions that become displayed. If this does not happen look for a file like install.exe, instalar.exe, setup.exe, setup.bat and double-click on it so that the installation will begin.

b.2) We do not have the CD with the drivers.

In this case we should follow the process that is explained in the following point. Through this process Windows can find the driver needed.

Note: If this does not produce any results, the only thing left is to personally look for the drivers on the manufacturers web page and download them to our hard drive. From there on follow the steps starting with b.1).

Adding hardware that is not Plug & Play

To add a hardware element that has not been automatically recognized by the operating system or an element that we do not have the drivers needed to install it.

Window offers the following option:

From start choose Control Panel, double-click on Printers and Other Hardware, and a screen like the one below will appear.

Now click on Add hardware.

To Install Windows XP

To install Windows XP to a new hard disk:

1. Read the End-User License Agreement, and then press F8.

Note: If your Windows XP CD-ROM is an upgrade, you are prompted to insert a CD-ROM of a previous operating system to verify upgrade compliance. Remove the Windows XP CD-ROM, and then insert the CD-ROM from your previous operating system into the CD-ROM drive.

You can use the CD-ROM to upgrade from the following versions of Windows:

Windows 98
Windows 98 Second Edition
Windows Millennium Edition
Windows NT 4.0
Windows 2000 Professional

2. When you are prompted for the Windows XP CD-ROM, remove your previous operating system CD-ROM, and then insert your Windows XP CD-ROM.

3. To install Windows XP by starting the computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM, insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.

4. When you see the "Press any key to boot from CD" message, press any key to start the computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM.

5. At the Welcome to Setup screen, press ENTER to start Windows XP Setup.

6. Follow the instructions on the screen to select and format a partition where you want to install Windows XP.

7. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete Windows XP Setup.

Printer

Installing a Printer

As we have already seen in the unit before, it is very easy to install new hardware, such as printers, since the majority use Plug & Play technology. This allows the operating system to recognize the new printer by simply plugging it in.

Nevertheless, in some cases we may need to do the process manually. When we plug a printer into our computer it is necessary to install the appropriate drivers so that our computer will recognize it.

Next we will learn to install a printer manually and to customize it to our needs.

1. Open the Start menu.

2. Select the Printers and Faxes option.

3. If you do not have the option Printers and faxes on your Start menu, you can also reach it through the Control Panel, and then Printers and other hardware.

A screen like this one will appear

A screen like this one will appear

If you select a printer on the contextual panel to the right, it will show you some other options

You will see there: Add a printer, See what is printing, Select printing preferences, etc.

These tasks are the ones that are usually needed to handle a printer.

Now, click on the icon Add a printer to launch the assistant that will help you install a printer.

The assistant will be asking you questions such as if your printer is connected directly to your computer or if it is on the web, to which port it is connected to, and then a screen like the one shown below will be displayed so that you can choose the manufacturer and the type of printer so that Windows can install the appropriate software.

Click on See basic information about your computer.

The System properties window will appear with the General tab selected. On this tab we can see generic information about our system, such as what processor is installed, etc

Click on Hardware Tab to view this screen.

Now click on Device manager.

On this screen the Device manager shows us a list with all of the hardware installed on our computer.

This list contains the hardware by type. For example, in Screen adaptors we have information on the graphics card, in Network adaptors we will find information on the network cards installed.

Hint: To see the content of each type click on the + on the left.

For example: we have opened the content of Network adapters hardware and it shows us two network cards, one of them do no work correctly.

The most interesting thing about this list is that it shows us the state of each piece of hardware.

If there were an error with any hardware, a yellow question mark would appear to the right of it or a red cross as you can see.

The Print Manger

The Print manager is very useful because we can cancel a document if we do not want it to be printed.

The print manager shows the documents that have been sent to the printer. Through the print manager we can cancel or pause a document to be printed.

To manage the print manager:

From the Start menu, go to Printers and Faxes.

Click on the printer that you would like to manage.

On the left hand panel select See what is printing.

This will open a window where a list of the documents being printed or waiting to be printed will appear.

You can see that the name of the document we have sent to print appears (in this example, Document) next is the stage of the document (Printing), and the name of the person who sent the document and the date when it was sent to the printer also appears.

It is possible to restart a print job that has been stopped by turning the computer off or by pausing the documents to give way to other more important ones.

When we send a document to print, the printer icon will appear in the notification area on the bottom right of the screen. Usually an icon will also appear, depending on the program we are printing from, such as Word, Excel, etc.

• To delete a document from the print manager you need to select it and click Delete.

• To pause a document open the menu Document and click Pause.

• To delete all documents from the print manager open the menu Printer and select Cancel All Documents.

• To temporarily stop the printing of all the documents open the menu Printer and select Pause Printing.

• To set the printer as the main printer open the menu Printer and select Set as Default Printer. Setting a printer as the default printer means that by default all the documents will go to that printer unless otherwise indicated.

Printer Properties

Through the printer properties we can control the orientation of the paper, the number of copies to be printed, etc. Next we will explain in detail all of the options.

This window can vary according to the type of printer that we have installed, but all of them have more or less the same appearance and options.

In the General tab we have the following:

In the Location and Comment section we can write a brief description of the printer.

Next we can see the characteristics of the printer and on the bottom part we have two buttons.

The Printing preferences... buttom shows some windows that will be shown next.

The second option allows you to verify that the printer prints correctly; to do this, simply click Print test page.

After this, another dialog box will appear asking if the test page has printed correctly; in the event the answer is no, help will appear to try and help you solve the problems.

System Tools

Windows incorporates certain tools such as the Disk Defragmenter, the Disk Cleanup the tool to free disk space, the Scheduled Tasks etc. Almost all of these tools are designed to optimize the behavior of the computer. Next we will learn in more detail about some of the most useful tools.

The Scandisk

This tool is used to search errors in the system’s units and to repair those errors.

When the computer is turned off in an abrupt manner it is possible that some files may be damage. Normally when the computer is turned on after being turned off abruptly (without using the option shut down from the Start menu) the Scandisk is launched to check the system and repair any error that it may find.

This tool is usually used when we have a damaged disk. By using it we can fix the possible errors and therefore retrieve the information that it contains. Keep in mind that this tool is not a miracle worker and therefore it is not always possible to retrieve the information.

To open Scandisk, click on the My Computer icon on the desktop, and the screen shown here will open up.

Now select the unit that you want to perform the scandisk on, for example unit (D), and right click it.

A shortcut menu will open, like the one shown select Properties from this menu.

This will cause the window Hard disk (D) Properties to open. Select Tools tab and the window shown will open.

If you click Check Now... , the window Checking hard disk (D) will open.

Here you need to choose one of two options available:

Automatically fix file system errors.

Search for and attempt recovery of bad sectors.

Click on Start so that the scan can begin.
Note: This process can take a few minutes, depending on the size of the disk.

Once the scan has finalized a confirmation window will appear.

The Disk Defragmenter

This tool is in charge of reorganizing the information that is stored in the disk, although it can also fix errors on the units.

Windows incorporates this tool because the disk becomes slow as we save new data and delete old data. This is why we need to reorganize the information so that the free spaces between the information disappear and the performance of our disk improves. By doing this we will also be able to access information quicker.

The free spaces that are generated when information from the disk is deleted influence the size that files and programs use. This is the reason why when we see the properties of a file two sizes appear, the real size of the file and the space that the file is using in the disk. If we defragment the disk we will notice that the difference between the two sizes decreases.

Click on Defragment Now... and the disk defragmenter window will appear, similar to the one shown below.

First select the volume from the list clicking on it, and then you can choose to run the defragmenter directly by clicking Defragment, or check the state of the disk first by clicking Analyze.

Depending on the results, you can choose to Defragment the disk or not. When many deletions have been done on the disk a defragmentation in needed because there are many files that are fragmented instead of using a contiguous space on the disk.

System Information

This tool, as its name indicates, is in charge of showing information regarding the system, such as the installed applications, the drivers, the processor, etc.

Here you can find usefull information, such as the models, versions, and manufacturers of your computer´s programs and hardware.

There is also more specific information that is only for use by experts, such as the E/S, Ports, etc.

Restore System

This tool is in charge of restoring the Windows registry, which is the place where all the information about changes to the configuration is kept.

The system itself makes a copy of the registry every once in a while. So with this tool we can restore some of these copies or we can generate a new copy of the current registry when we are going to make important changes to the configuration of the system. This way we can easily go back and restore the system if the new configuration does not work properly.

To run this application select, from the Start menu, All programs, Accesories and System Tools and then choose System Restore.

Note: When you run this tool a screen like the one below will appear. This window gives you the possibility to either Restore my computer to an earlier time or Create a restore point.

Formatting a Disk

To Format a Disk:

1- Open Windows Explorer or click on My Computer, then select the unit you wish to format with the right mouse button to display the shortcut menu.

2- Select the Format option, and a window like the one shown here will be displayed.

3- Select Capacity of the disk; nowadays the majority are 1.44 Mb for Floppy.

4- In the File System for floppies you can only choose FAT. For hard disks you can choose FAT, which is the most used system to date, or NTFS, which is newer and has more restoration and error analysis capabilities.

5- Select Format options, Quick Format or create a an MS-DOS start up disk.

6- You can also label it: simply write the name where the Volume label appears.

7- Once the appropriate options have been selected click Start.

8- When you finish click Close.

Accessibility Option

Using the Accessibility Wizard

Set Options for People Who Are Blind or Have Difficulty Seeing Things on the Screen

If you are blind or have difficulty seeing things on screen, you can quickly set vision related options using the Accessibility Wizard. Options include scrollbar and window border size, desktop icons, high contrast schemes, size and color of the mouse cursor, and the cursor width and blink rate.

	Menus Action	Keyboard Action
1.	On the Start menu: • Point to All Programs. • Point to Accessories. • Point to Accessibility. • Select Accessibility Wizard.	Display the Start menu by pressing Ctrl+ESC or (the Windows logo key ) • Press R. • Type accwiz. • Press ENTER.
2.	In the Welcome to the Accessibility Wizard dialog box: • Select Next.	In the Welcome to the Accessibility Wizard dialog box: • Press N.
3.	In the Text Size dialog box: • Select the smallest text you can read. • Select Next.	In the Text Size dialog box: • Select the smallest text you can read by pressing the UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW key. • Press N.
4.	In the Display Settings dialog box: • Ensure that the Change the font size check box is selected. • If it is not, select its check box. • If you want to use Microsoft Magnifier, select the Use Microsoft Magnifier check box. • Select Next.	In the Display Settings dialog box: • Ensure that the Change the font size check box is selected. • If it is not selected, press C. • If you want to use Microsoft Magnifier, press U. • Press N.
5.	In the Set Wizard Options dialog box: • Select the I am blind or have difficulty seeing things on screen check box. • Select Next to continue through the wizard.	In the Set Wizard Options dialog box: • Select the I am blind or have difficulty seeing things on screen check box by pressing L. • Press N to continue through the wizard (use the arrow keys and ENTER to select the appropriate options).
6.	In the Completing the Accessibility Wizard dialog box: • Select Finish to save your changes and exit the wizard. Note: To cancel your changes, select Cancel, and then select No. • To move back to change earlier screens, select the Back button.	In the Completing the Accessibility Wizard dialog box: • Press ENTER to save your changes and exit the wizard. Note To cancel your changes, use the TAB key to move to the Cancel button, and then press ENTER. Press TAB to select No, and then press ENTER. • To move back to change earlier screens, press B.

Accessibility Wizard: Set Wizard Options: Vision options

Set Options for People Who Are Deaf or Have Difficulty Hearing Sounds from the Computer

If you are deaf or have difficulty hearing sounds from the computer, you can quickly set sound options using the Accessibility Wizard. Sound options include turning on SoundSentry so that you can get visual warnings for system sounds, and Show Sounds so that captions are displayed for speech and sounds in programs that provide them.

Accessibility Wizard >> Set Wizard Options >> Sound options

Set Options for People Who Have Difficulty Using the Keyboard or Mouse

If you have difficulty using the keyboard or mouse, you can quickly set options using the Accessibility Wizard. Mobility options include turning on StickyKeys, MouseKeys, and FilterKeys, getting extra keyboard help in programs, selecting cursor size and color options, mouse button configuration, and mouse pointer speed.

Accessibility Wizard: Set Wizard Options: Mobility options

Disable Personalized Menus

In Microsoft Windows XP, menus are automatically updated to keep the menu options you use most often at the top of your menu where they are usually more accessible. If this feature does not improve accessibility for you, you can easily disable it by using the Accessibility Wizard.

Accessibility Wizard >> Display Settings >> Disable personalized menus

Adjusting Accessibility Options

StickyKeys: Press One Key at a Time for Key Combinations

StickyKeys is an accessibility feature designed for people who have difficulty holding down two or more keys at a time. When a shortcut requires a key combination such as CTRL+P, StickyKeys will enable you to press one key at a time instead of pressing them simultaneously. This procedure tells you how to turn on StickyKeys through Accessibility Options in Control Panel.

	Menus Action	Keyboard Action
1.	On the Start menu: • Select Control Panel.	Display the Start menu by pressing Ctrl+ESC or (the Windows logo key ) • Select Control Panel by pressing C.
2.	In Control Panel: • Be sure you are in Classic View (all Control Panel icons are showing). • If not, under Control Panel in the left pane, select Switch to Classic View. • Select Accessibility Options.	In Control Panel: • Be sure you are in Classic View (all Control Panel icons are showing). • If not, under Control Panel in the left pane, select Switch to Classic View by pressing TAB. • Press ENTER. • Press the RIGHT ARROW key, and then the LEFT ARROW key to select Accessibility Options. • Press ENTER.
3.	In the Accessibility Options dialog box, on the Keyboard tab: To turn on StickyKeys: • Select the Use StickyKeys check box. Note: To turn off StickyKeys, clear the Use StickyKeys check box.	In the Accessibility Options dialog box, on the Keyboard tab: To turn on StickyKeys: • Select the Use StickyKeys check box by pressing U. Note: To turn off StickyKeys, clear the Use StickyKeys check box by pressing U.
4.	To access StickyKeys settings: • Select Settings.	To access StickyKeys settings: • Select Settings by pressing S.
5.	In the Settings for StickyKeys dialog box: • Select the options you want by selecting or clearing the check boxes. • Select OK twice to save the settings and exit Accessibility Options.	In the Settings for StickyKeys dialog box: • Select options by pressing the underlined access keys (see notes below). • Press ENTER twice to save the settings and exit Accessibility Options.
6.	To close Control Panel: • Select the Close button.	To close Control Panel: • Press ALT+F, C.

Adjusting Display Options

Use Large Icons

You can enlarge the icons on your screen to make them easier to see or to access by choosing the Large icons option. This procedure tells you how to select this option through Display Properties in Control Panel.

	Menus Action	Keyboard Action
1.	On the Start menu: • Select Control Panel.	Display the Start menu by pressing Ctrl+ESC or (the Windows logo key ) • Select Control Panel by pressing C.
2.	In Control Panel: • Be sure you are in Classic View (all Control Panel icons are showing). • If not, under Control Panel in the left pane, select Switch to Classic View. • Select Display.	In Control Panel: • Be sure you are in Classic View (all Control Panel icons are showing). • If not, under Control Panel in the left pane, select Switch to Classic View by pressing TAB. • Press ENTER. • Move to Display by pressing the arrow keys. • Press ENTER.
3.	In the Display Properties dialog box: • Select the Appearance tab. • Select the Effects button.	In the Display Properties dialog box: • Move to the Appearance tab by pressing CTRL+TAB. • Select the Effects button by pressing ALT+E.
4.	In the Effects dialog box: • Select Use large icons. • Select OK twice.	In the Effects dialog box: • Select Use large icons by pressing E. • Press ENTER. • Move to the OK button by pressing TAB. • Press ENTER.
5.	To close Control Panel: • Select the Close button.	To close Control Panel: • Press ALT+F, C.

Control Panel >> Display >> Appearance tab >> Effects button.

Control Panel >> Display >> Appearance tab >> Effects dialog box >> Use large icons.

Adjusting Keyboard Options

You can adjust both the repeat delay (amount of time that elapses before a character repeats when you hold down a key), and the repeat rate (the speed at which a character repeats when you hold down a key). Adjusting these settings can benefit people with mobility impairments. This procedure tells you how to set the character repeat rate through Keyboard Properties in Control Panel.

To close Control Panel:

• Select the Close button.

To close Control Panel:

• Press ALT+F, C.

Control Panel >> Keyboard >> Speed tab >> Character repeat >> Repeat delay and Repeat rate.

Adjusting Taskbar and Menu Options

Keep the Taskbar on Top of Other Windows

If you want to make sure that the Windows XP taskbar is always visible, even when you run a program in a maximized (full–screen) window, select the Keep taskbar on top of other windows option. This procedure tells you how to select this option through Taskbar and Start Menu Properties in Control Panel.

Control Panel >> Taskbar and Start Menu >> Taskbar tab >> Keep the taskbar on top of other windows.

Customize the Start Menu

You can choose several options to customize your Start menu including selecting large icons and specifying the number of programs you want to display on your Start menu. The size of icons and number of items on the Start menu can benefit people with vision impairments and cognitive/learning disorders. This procedure tells you how to customize the Start menu through Taskbar and Start Menu Properties in Control Panel.

Control Panel >> Taskbar and Start Menu >> Start Menu tab >> Customize button.

Using Narrator

Turn On and Use Narrator

Note: Narrator is designed to work with Notepad, WordPad, Control Panel programs, Internet Explorer, the Windows desktop, and some parts of Windows Setup. Narrator may not read words aloud correctly in other programs. Narrator has a number of options that allow you to customize the way screen elements are read.

To continue customizing Narrator, see one or more of the following step by step tutorials:

Set Narrator to Announce Events on Screen.

Set Narrator to Read Typed Characters.

Set Narrator to Move Mouse Pointer to Active Item.

Start Narrator Minimized.

Set Narrator Voice Options.

Start >> Run >> Open >> Narrator.

Narrator >> Settings.

Set Narrator to Announce Events on the Screen

Narrator is a text-to-speech utility for people who are blind or have low vision. Narrator reads what is displayed on the screen—the contents of the active window, menu options, or text that has been typed. You can select from a number of Narrator options. This procedure shows you how to set Narrator to announce when new windows are opened on screen.

Set Narrator to Read Typed Characters

Set Narrator to Move Mouse Pointer to the Active Item

Start Narrator Minimized

Narrator is a text-to-speech utility for people who are blind or have low vision. Narrator reads what is displayed on the screen—the contents of the active window, menu options, or text that has been typed. You can select from a number of Narrator options. This procedure shows you how to select the Start Narrator minimized option so it will be easily accessible on the Windows taskbar.

Magnifier

Using Magnifier

Magnifier is a display utility that makes the computer screen more readable by people who have low vision by creating a separate window that displays a magnified portion of the screen. Magnifier provides a minimum level of functionality for people who have slight visual impairments. Magnifier can be customized in several ways.

You can:

• Adjust the magnification level of text and images in the magnification window.

• Change the size and location of the magnification window.

• Change the position of the magnification window on the desktop

• Invert the screen colors.

• Use a high-contrast setting with Magnifier.

In this section, see step by step tutorials to:

• Turn On and Use Magnifier

• Change the Position of the Magnifier Window

• Change the Size of the Magnifier Window

• Invert the Colors of the Magnifier Window

• Set the Magnifier Magnification Level

• Set Magnifier Tracking Options

Turn On and Use Magnifier

This procedure tells you how to turn on and use Magnifier.

	Mouse actions	Keyboard actions
1.	On the Start menu: • Point to All Programs. • Point to Accessories. • Point to Accessibility. • Select Magnifier. Notes: A message box with a link to more information about Microsoft Magnifier may appear. To close the box, select OK. To use Magnifier but hide the Magnifier Settings dialog box, select the Minimize button. To turn off Magnifier, in the Magnifier Settings dialog box, select the Exit button.	Display the Start menu by pressing CTRL+ESC (or the Windows Key ). • Press R. • Type magnify • Press ENTER. Notes: A message box with a link to more information about Microsoft Magnifier may appear. To close the box, press ENTER. To use Magnifier but hide the Magnifier Settings dialog box, select Minimize by pressing ALT+SPACEBAR, N. To turn off Magnifier, in the Magnifier Settings dialog box, press ALT+X.

To continue

To continue customizing Magnifier, see one or more of the following step by step tutorials

• Change the Position of the Magnifier Window

• Change the Size of the Magnifier Window

• Invert the Colors of the Magnifier Window

• Set the Magnification Level

• Set Magnifier Tracking Options

Start >> Run >> Open >> magnify

Magnifier >> Settings

Change the Position of the Magnifier Window

	Mouse actions	Keyboard actions
1.	With Magnifier turned on: • Move the pointer over the Magnifier window. • Hold down the mouse button and drag the Magnifier window to reposition it.	With Magnifier turned on, and the Magnifier Settings dialog box selected: • To change the position of the window: • Press ALT+F6. • Press ALT+SPACEBAR. • Press M. • Move the Magnifier window to the position you want by pressing the arrow keys. • Press ENTER.

Magnifier: Move the Magnifier window

Change the Size of the Magnifier Window

	Mouse actions	Keyboard actions
1.	With Magnifier turned on: • Move the pointer over an edge of the Magnifier window • When the mouse pointer becomes a two-headed arrow, hold down the mouse button and drag the Magnifier window to resize it.	With Magnifier turned on, and the Magnifier Settings dialog box selected: • To change the size of the window: • Press ALT+F6. • Press ALT+SPACEBAR. • Press S. • Press an arrow key until the mouse pointer becomes a two-headed arrow on the side or corner of the Magnifier window. • Continue pressing the arrow keys until the Magnifier window is the size you want. • Press ENTER.

Magnifier: Change the size of the Magnifier window

Invert the Colors of the Magnifier Window

This procedure tells you how to invert the colors of the Magnifier window as a possible way to improve screen readability.

	Mouse actions	Keyboard actions
1.	On the Start menu: • Point to All Programs. • Point to Accessories. • Point to Accessibility. • Select Magnifier. Note: A message box with a link to more information about Microsoft Magnifier may appear. To close the box, select OK.	Display the Start menu by pressing CTRL+ESC (or the Windows Key ). • Press R. • Type magnify • Press ENTER. Notes: A message box with a link to more information about Microsoft Magnifier may appear. To close the box, press ENTER.
2.	In the Magnifier Settings dialog box, under Presentation: • Select the Invert Colors check box. Notes: To use Magnifier but hide the Magnifier Settings dialog box, select the Minimize button. To turn off Magnifier, in the Magnifier Settings dialog box, select the Exit button.	In the Magnifier Settings dialog box, under Presentation: • Select the Invert Colors check box by pressing ALT+I. Notes: To use Magnifier but hide the Magnifier Settings dialog box, select Minimize by pressing Alt+SpaceBar, N. To turn off Magnifier, in the Magnifier Settings dialog box, press ALT+X.

Magnifier: Magnifier Settings: Invert colors

Magnifier: Colors of the Magnifier window inverted

Windows Media Player

This new tool that Windows XP incorporates allows us to listen to music from a CD, tune radio stations, play a video etc. It also lets us burn record songs from a CD to our hard drive so that we can set up a playlist to listen to the songs.

Next we will see the different options that the player offers us.

To run the media player we can click on the shortcut icon that Windows creates when it is installed, we can also access it through the Start menu by selecting All programs and then clicking on Windows Media Player. We can also run it from the quick access bar if it is visible.

Currently playing

The window shown below is the window that will appear with the media player. The appearance can vary since Windows lets you customize it.

Step 1

Firstly you have to insert cd in CD ROM then you have to open your media file (avseq) like below where we are inserting cd in cd ROM and media player is playing movie .

1- To play a CD or songs that are saved to the hard drive we need to select Now playing, next display the File menu and select Open..., next look for the songs that we want to listen to. To choose several songs use the Ctrl key and then click open. The selected files will appear on the right side of the window in list form.

2- If what you want is to play a CD it is not necessary to use the File menu since the media player will automatically load the songs on the CD.

3- If you want to listen to a song on the list simply double-click it and it will begin to play.

4- The play order will be the same order that the songs appear on the list to the right. If you want to change the order simply select the songs with the left mouse button and drag the song to where you want it.

5- To change the name of a file from the playlist you have to right click on it and select Edit, then write the new name.

6- When playing a song, there is an image on the left side; this image has movement and it can be changed.

To do this click on the arrows that appear here

Handling the Player

These are the commands to handle the player:

The large round button is used to play as well as to pause. This means that this button is used to start and pause a song.

This button is used to stop the song or video being played.

The following buttons are used to move ahead or skip back.

The button skips back to the previous song on the list. For example from song 7 to song 6.

The button is used to skip to the next song or video on our playlist.

To move forward or move backward in a song you can also use the bar that indicates the progress of the song we are listening to.

Click with the left mouse button on the bar and drag it to the right to move forward of to the left to move back.

We can also control the Volume by dragging the volume bar.

On the top right we can see a small box

in which we have the playlist. These lists include files that we have wanted to add, such as creating a list of songs that you like from various CDs. This way you create your own playlists.

How to create a playlist

To create a playlist we need to select Library tab

Click on Playlists and then on New Playlist.... In the dialog box that will appear put the name of the list you want to create and click OK.

Then check in My playlists to see that your new playlist appears.

The CD Player

To play a CD you use the option audio CD. With it you can listen to a CD as well as copy songs from a CD to the hard drive.

Normally the multimedia player will start up automatically when we place a CD in the computer.

The window you can find when listening to an audio CD is similar to the one shown below

This window will show you the song list that the CD contains and at the same time shows you the name of the song, the singer, and the length of the song.

To play a song on the CD simply select it and click Play button.

Copying a CD

We can copy a music CD onto the hard dis or simply the songs that we like best to add on to our list

To copy a CD we need to check the box that is next to the song that we want to copy and then click on Rip music.

When it begins to copy the songs it will show you the progress of the process.

If you want to copy the entire CD you need to select all the songs (Ctrl+E), and click

and then click on Rip music.

The folder where the songs are saved to is usually in c:My documentsMy Music but we can tell it that we want to save them on another folder. To do this before you click Rip music display the menu Tools and select Options...

A window similar to the one shown will open.

To indicate where we want it to copy the songs we have selected we can click on the Change... button, then we will tell where we want it and click OK.

We can even change the quality with which we want the music to copy by dragging the bar Audio quality.

One of the new features is the capability to copy a song while listening to it, although this increases the copy time.

What's New?

XP Documentation-PCE

The program is not usually listed in the Start- All Programs menu. The program file is eudcedit.exe and is in the system folder WindowsSystem32. To open the program, go to Start-Run and enter "eudcedit" (without quotes).

The grid shows the hexadecimal code that will be assigned to your new character. In above picture, a character with code E000 has already been created in the first box and the second box, whose hex number would be E001, has been selected.

The next step is to click "OK" and the palette window (Figure 2), where you can draw a new font, will open. There is a toolbar on the left with some basic tools. Shown in the figure is the "pencil" used for freehand drawing. In addition to the toolbar, there is a "Tools" menu. Figure 3 shows the menu with a list of the available tools

Note: The tools are similar to those in Paint and will be familiar to anyone who has used a graphics program.

Figure 4 shows my shaky effort at making a font of my initials to put into e-mail as a signature. Those with a steadier hand and better calligraphy will be able to do a much nicer job. Keep in mind that the actual size of the palette is 50 pixels square. When making a custom font, you have the choice of associating the new font with a particular font family or with all fonts. If you choose a particular font family, your custom font will be available from there only. After you have drawn and edited the figure to your satisfaction, save the font. Note that the "Save Character" operation is in the "Edit" menu.

The next step in actually using the custom font is to open the Character Map. The font will be listed as "All Fonts (Private Characters)" or under a particular font-private characters if you chose that option. Figure 5 shows the Character Map display. Select the custom font and click "Copy". That places it in the clipboard where it can be pasted into any document in the regular way.

Figure 6 shows the custom font pasted into an e-mail in Outlook Express. One thing to remember is that the regular operations applicable to a font hold (size, bold, italic, and so forth). In the figure the custom font is 20 point while the text is 10.

New Views and Options in Folders

In folder that store pictures, you may notice that pictures will display a bit different. This is the Filmstrip View. Use the arrow buttons to click through a slideshow of the photos in the folder.

Use the left Panel options to burn a CD, order pictures, or other options. Click the double arrows on the upper right side of each small window in the left pane to display or hide the options.

Rotating Photos in Window View

You can rotate photos in the Window View without the help of a graphics program. Right-click over a photo and choose Rotate Clockwise or Rotate Counter Clockwise depending your preference for the photo. It may take a few seconds for the change to occur.

Navigating the Control Panel

In the XP Theme, the Control Panel appears differently than in Windows 2000. In Windows XP, the Control Panel will display in Category View. To switch back to Classic View, click the link, Switch to Classic View, on left hand side of the Control Panel.

New and Improved Taskbar

The Taskbar has a couple of new features that make it easier to manage open files and programs.

Example: In Internet Explorer, in the example below, there are several windows opened on the desktop. Windows XP will display only one button on the Taskbar for Internet Explorer windows that are opened.

This will group all windows of each program opened making the Taskbar look neater and more organized. When windows are grouped, a small white arrow will display on the Taskbar button. Follow the steps below for Maximinze and closing windows open on the Taskbar.

1. Click the Taskbar button for Internet Explorer (or the program opened) and all the windows will display in a pop-up menu.

2. Several options will be available:

o Select the desired window of the program to maximize.

o If desired to close only one program window, click the Taskbar button and select the window and right-click over that window button in the popup and choose Close.

3. When the Taskbar button is right-clicked, options to Close Group, Minimize Group or choose a Tile option will display.

Changing Options for the Taskbar:

1. Settings for the Taskbar can be changed by right-clicking over an empty area of the Taskbar and choosing Properties from the shortcut menu.

2. The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box will appear. Choose the desired settings for the Taskbar appearance and Notification area.

3. Click the Customize... button to customize the Notification area if desired.

4. Click OK when done.

Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box

Burning a CD Using Windows Explore

With Windows XP, it is possible to burn a CD directly from the Window's Explorer window. Follow the steps below to burn a CD.

1. Open the Windows Explorer by right-clicking over the My Computer icon and choosing Explore from the shortcut menu.

2. Select the desired files and folders and drag them to the DVD/CD-RW Drive icon. The Copying... dialog box will appear as the folders and files coping over the DVD/CD-RW Drive.

3. Once the files have been copied, a small balloon window will appear in the lower right hand corner of the desktop. Click the balloon to the see the files that are ready to burn to the CD.

4. A window for the DVD/CD-RW Drive will appear with dimmed icons representing the data ready to be burned. In the Left Pane, click the link, Write these files to CD.

5. The CD Writing Wizard will appear. Follow the instructions in the Wizard to complete the task of burning the CD. Click Next as prompted.

6. The next screen will prompt for a burnable CD to be placed in the CD-RW drive. Click Next when ready.

7. The next screen will display progress bar. Click Next when it appears not grayed out.

8. The next screen will display that the files have been successfully written to the CD. Click the checkbox next to Yes, write these files to another CD to make another copy of previous CD or Click Finish when done.

Secrity Center

One new feature of Windows XP is the Security Center. The Security Center provides a place where you can check the settings of three ways to help secure your computer:

• Windows Firewall

• Automatic Updates

• Antivirus Software

Windows Firewall

The Windows Firewall helps to protect your computer from attacks by restricting how other people can access your computer over the Internet. It helps to ensure that nothing gets into your computer that you want to keep out, like viruses or other threats.

The Windows Firewall is on by default, and you can check the status of the Windows Firewall by opening the Security Center. You can also set up exceptions for the firewall and change advanced settings in the Security Center.

Automatic Updates

Automatic Updates is a Windows XP component that allows your computer to automatically get important updates from Microsoft. Occasionally, someone finds a vulnerability in Windows XP that could be used to harm your computer. Microsoft releases updates that fix the vulnerability. If Automatic Updates is enabled, Windows XP will automatically get the update and install it for you when you're connected to the Internet.

You can check the status of Automatic Updates in the Security Center. You can change some settings for Automatic Updates in the Seucirty Center, such as setting Automatic Updates to alert you when updates are available instead of downloading and installing them automatically.

Networking

The Windows XP Network Setup Wizard simplifies the process of setting up a network.

Windows XP makes networking easier than previous version of Windows did. With the networking tools in Windows XP, you can easily setup your computers to share an Internet connection, files and folders, and hardware like printers and scanners.

The Network Setup Wizard in Windows XP helps to automate the process of setting up your home or small office network. You physically connect your computer, then run the Network Setup Wizard to setup your network.

With the wizard, you can:

• Share an Internet connection between all the computer in your network.

• Give your computer a name and description so you can easily identify it on the network.

• Setup your network to share files and hardware (printers, scanners, etc)

Once you have the network setup on your Windows XP computer, you can run the Network Setup Wizard on the other Windows 98, Windows Me, and Windows XP computers in your network.

Browsing the Internet

Internet Explorer and Windows Messenger in Windows XP offers improvements over previous versions of Windows when it comes to browsing the Internet. Windows XP offers better security and privacy when browsing the Internet, plus new features for MSN and Windows Messenger users.

Along with the Security Center and Firewall Windows XP also includes the most recent and most secure version of Internet Explorer. The four security zones in Internet Explorer allow you to set different security options for sites you trust, your local intranet, the Internet, and sites you don't trust. Combined with Windows Firewall, the improvements to Internet Explorer and Microsoft's timely patches for newly discovered security flaws ensures that browsing the Internet on a Windows XP computer is much safer than browsing the Internet on a computer running a previous version of Windows. Security isn't the only improvement for browsing the Internet using Windows XP. Windows XP also comes with new versions of Windows Messenger and MSN Explorer.

Shedule Task

Schedules Task

To use this tool follow these steps:

1. Click on Start.
2. Display the menu All programs.
3. Select the menu Accessories.
4. Open the menu System Tools.
5. select the Scheduled Tasks option.

When it is running, a window like the one below will appear.

In this window, the tasks that have been scheduled until this time will appear, together with the assistant to schedule new tasks.

Creating Your Account

Windows XP - User Profiles

Windows XP lets you the ability to create user profiles, which allows each user on your computer to have a separate login. For instance, instead of having to use multiple identities in Outlook Express, you can have your own customized version of Outlook Express with your own folders for your login.
There are also additional benefits, such as allowing each user to have their own document folders and personal settings such as desktop icons, start menu items, favorites, etc.

This also allows for greater privacy and less hassle of changing individual preferences for each user.

Note: You must have a computer administrator account on the computer and be logged in as an administrator to add a new user to the computer.

To Create a New User Account:

1. To open the User Accounts tool, open Control Panel from the Start menu, and then double click User Accounts.

2. Click Create a new account in the Pick a task list box.

3. Type the name that you want to use for the account, and then click Next.

4. Click Computer administrator or Limited, depending on the type of account you want to assign to the new user, and then click Create Account.

To Make Changes To An Account

1. To open the User Accounts tool, open Control Panel from the Start menu, and then double click User Accounts.

2. Click Change an account in the Pick a task list box.

3. Click the account that you want to change.

4. Select the item that you would like to change:

a. Click Change the name to change the name that appears on the Welcome screen for the account.

b. Click Change the picture to change the picture that is used to represent the user account. You can use any image file on the computer for the user's picture.

c. Click Change the account type to change the account type to increase or decrease the user's rights on the computer.

d. Click Create/change the password to create or change the password for the user and create or change the password hints.

e. Click Delete the account to delete the user account from the computer. When you delete the account, you are given the option to save the user's files on the computer.

Note: You cannot delete the account for a user that is currently logged on to the computer.

5. Now, whenever you start windows, you will come to a login screen. Just click on the icon for the user account that you will be using, and enter a password, if you have specified one.

To change users without logging off

1. Click Start, click Log off, and then click Switch User.

2. On the Welcome screen, click another user account icon.

Note: Windows displays the new user's desktop and settings.

To logoff

1. Click Start, click Log off, and then click Log off.

2. On the Welcome screen, either click another user account icon, or click on Turn off computer to shutdown.

Note: You can identify the current user account by clicking Start and then reading the account name located on the Start menu.

Sound

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices.
3. Click Sounds and Audio Devices.
4. Click the Audio tab.
5. In the Default device box under Sound playback, click SB Audigy Audio.

6. Click OK.

Choose a Sound Scheme

You can choose a sound scheme to assign to many program events in Windows XP. Every sound scheme consists of a set of events and sounds associated with them. You can also create a new sound scheme. Sound schemes can benefit people who rely on sounds to get information from their computers including people who are blind or have other vision impairments. This procedure tells you how to choose a sound scheme through Sounds and Audio Devices Properties in Control Panel.

	Mouse actions	Keyboard actions
1.	On the Start menu: • Select Control Panel	Display the Start menu by pressing CTRL+ESC (or the Windows Key ).
2.	In Control Panel: • Be sure you are in Classic View (all Control Panel icons are showing). • If not, under Control Panel in the left pane, select Switch to Classic View. • Select Sounds and Audio Devices.	In Control Panel: • Be sure you are in Classic View (all Control Panel icons are showing). • If not, under Control Panel in the left pane, select Switch to Classic View by pressing TAB. • Press ENTER. • Move to Display by pressing the arrow keys. • Press ENTER.
3.	In the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties dialog box: • Select the Sounds tab.	In the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties dialog box: • Move to the Sounds tab by pressing CTRL+TAB.
4.	On the Sounds tab: • Select the sound scheme you want. • Select OK.	On the Sounds tab: • Move to Sound scheme by pressing ALT+C. • Select the sound scheme you want by pressing the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW keys. • Press ENTER.
5.	To close Control Panel: • Select the Close button.	To close Control Panel: • Press ALT+F, C.

Control Panel >> Sounds tab >> Sound scheme

Step1 -Sound Setting

Step-2 Audio Setting

Step-3 Sound Driver

Window's Help

Windows Help

The help that Windows XP incorporates is designed to solve some of the questions regarding the use of a Windows XP component or tool.

Windows help is composed of a series of pages that are similar in navigation as the pages on a web site. It also incorporates the typical backward and forward arrows that are a characteristic of the web navigators.

You also have tools to search information about a particular theme from key words and key phrases.

To access help click Help and technical support from the Start menu

Windows help incorporates various types of searches depending on your needs.

On the Main Page, as you can see on this image, you have the information organized in various points that include the areas that most frequently require help.

You can click on each point to obtain help on the subject.

If what you are searching for is not on this screen you can use the Search box that appears on the top part. Type the word that best describes the help you are looking for and click on the green arrow.

Index

Another way to search for help is to consult the help index. This index is orgranized alphabetically.

To consult the index click on the icon on the help bar. A screen will open so that you can write the word you are looking for. The index will place itself on that word and you will be able to choose the subjects that you need.

Technical Support

If you have not been able to solve your problem you can ask other people for help; Windows provides you with three types of technical support.

1) Ask a friend to help.

Through instant messenger you can get in touch with someone you know and ask for their help to solve your particular problem.

2) Get help from Microsoft

You can ask for help from the technical support team at Microsoft under some contractual stipulations.

3) Go to a Windows Web site forum

In these forums the participants ask and answer questions. One can learn a lot by visiting these forums. No one, however, can guarantee a satisfactory answer in a determined amount of time.

How to Install Windows XP

Upgrade to Windows XP

This section describes how to upgrade to Windows XP from Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), and Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional.
Note: Before you start the upgrade process, obtain and install the latest BIOS upgrade for your computer from the computer's manufacturer. If you update the BIOS after you upgrade the computer, you may have to reinstall.

Windows XP to take advantage of features such as Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) support in the BIOS. Update the firmware in all of your hardware devices before you start the upgrade if you can.

To upgrade to Windows XP:

1. Start your computer, and then insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive.

2. If Windows automatically detects the CD-ROM, click Install.

Windows to start the Windows XP Setup Wizard.

Note: If Windows does not automatically detect the CD-ROM, click Start, click Run, type the following command, and then click OK:

CD-ROM drive letter:setup.exe

3. When you are prompted to select an installation type, select Upgrade (the default setting), and then click Next.

4. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the upgrade.

Install Windows XP to a New Hard Drive

To Install Windows XP to a New Hard Drive:

1. Read the End-User License Agreement, and then press F8.

You can use the CD-ROM to upgrade from the following versions of Windows:

Windows 98

Windows 98 Second Edition

Windows Millennium Edition

Windows NT 4.0

Windows 2000 Professional

2. When you are prompted for the Windows XP CD-ROM, remove your previous operating system CD-ROM, and then insert your Windows XP CD-ROM.

3. To install Windows XP by starting the computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM, insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.

4. When you see the "Press any key to boot from CD" message, press any key to start the computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM.

5. At the Welcome to Setup screen, press ENTER to start Windows XP Setup.

6. Follow the instructions on the screen to select and format a partition where you want to install Windows XP.

7. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete Windows XP Setup.

Install Windows XP in a New Folder

1. Start your computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM. To do this, insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer.

2. When the "Press any key to boot from CD" message appears on the screen, press any key to start the computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM.

3. At the Welcome to Setup screen, press ENTER to begin Windows XP Setup.

4. Read the End-User License Agreement, and then press F8.

5. Select the partition in which you want to install Windows XP, and then press ENTER.

6. Select the Leave the current file system intact (no changes) option, and then press ENTER to continue.

7. Press ESC to install to a different folder.

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