KAMPALA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS & COMPUTING

UCC 1100
Computer Fundamentals

MODULE 4:
Computer Operations
 Outline
 Operating System  Start menus and taskbar
 Starting and Manipulating  Opening Multiple Programs
Microsoft Windows  Creating documents
 Working with the mouse  Creating Folders
 Working with keyboard  Moving and Copying
 Closing Windows and Documents and Folders
shutting down the  Renaming Documents and
Computer. Folders
 Working with Menus  Deleting Documents &
 Working with Disks Folders
 Starting and closing a  Understanding the Explorer
Program  Using a printer

2
 Keyboard

• A standard keyboard has four types of keys:

 Alphabetical/character keys
 Numeric keys
 Function keys
 Special keys

3
• Alphabetical/character keys:
• Keys on the main typing area having alphabetical letters i.e.
keys marked from A – Z and basically used for keying words.
• Numeric keys:
• Keys representing numerals. Marked from (zero) 0 – 9 and
are used for keying numbers. They are in two sets; a line of
them runs just above the alphabetical keys and another
collection on the far right on an area called the Numeric Key
Pad that sometimes works as an adding machine.
• Function keys:
• These run across the top of a keyboard and are marked F1 –
F12. They have different functions in different applications.

4
 Special keys
• Enter (Return) key: Confirms to the computer whatever is
typed i.e. when a command is issued it can only be executed
after pressing the Enter key.
• Backspace key: Erases the character to the left of the cursor
and moves the cursor one position to the left.
• Escape (ESC): It has many uses, but is most commonly used
to cancel an action that is being undertaken.
• Functional Keys: The functional keys at the top of the
keyboard have different uses in different programs e.g F1 is
normally used to get help.
• Control (Ctrl): Used in combination with the rest of the
alphabetical key pad to issue commands

5
 Special keys
• Alt: Alt is normally used to open application menus
• Caps Lock Key: For turning to Uppercase (Capital Letters) or
to Lowercase (Small Letters)
• Shift Key: It performs two functions:
• 1. Turning to Uppercase or Lowercase depending on the keyboard
case mode. Holding down the shift key when and pressing any
letter from Aa to Zz turns that particular letter to the opposite case
mode as that currently on the keyboard.
• 2. Activating characters on top of buttons with two characters in the
typewriter area e.g. to for typing characters such as ~, !, @, #, $, %,
^, &, *, (, ), _, +, ?, <, >, “, :, etc.

6
 Special keys
• Space Bar: This is the longest button on the keyboard. It is
used for inserting spaces between words and characters.
• Num Lock Key: For activating numbers (0 through 9) in the
Numeric Keypad.
NOTE:
• When entering data into your computers, you should be
aware that Zero (0) and letter O are not interchangeable.
• Number one (1) and small letter l
• Back slash (\), Full colon (:), Forward slash (/), Asterisk (*),
Period (.) and Query (?)

7
 The Mouse
• The mouse is a pointing device that acts as an
electronic finger. It is used for selecting and issuing
commands in windows and software application
packages.

• Two buttons on the top:

- left hand
- right hand buttons

8
 Left button (4) Basic Functions
• Pointing: Move the mouse until the mouse pointer is
positioned on the desired object or spot on the screen.
• Clicking: Pressing and releasing a mouse button one time.
Clicking is basically used for selecting items .
• Double Clicking: Clicking twice in a rapid succession i.e.
pressing and releasing the mouse button twice but very fast.
Double clicking is used for launching actions like opening
icons.
• Dragging: Moving an item on the screen i.e. moving an item
from one position to another on the screen. The item can be
an icon or even a window.

9
 How does a standard mouse work?
• Movement of the mouse across the desk moves the
mouse ball.
• The movements of the mouse ball are detected by a
sensor and sent via the interface to the operating system.
The operating system uses this information to control
the position of the pointer on the screen.
• The user presses the button to perform tasks such as
selecting icons and moving windows.166MHz

10
Windows Operating System
Basics

11
 Using a computer
• Starting your computer
– Check that it is plugged into the electricity socket, press
the button to power it.
– Some computers have a single button for both a computer
and the screen others have two.
• Powering up or booting
– Is a technical term for starting up a computer and display
windows desktop screen.
• A Cursor
– Is a symbol usually an arrow that you move around the
computer screen by moving the mouse across your
desktop.
12
Appearance of a Windows desktop

Icons

Icons

Start button
Task bar
Task bar
Start button

13
 Common Terms
• Clicking
• Briefly holding down the left or the right mouse button.
• By clicking on an item around a computer screen means
you have selected it.
• Left , right and double clicking give different
functionalities.
• Menu
• A list of items displayed on a computer screen.
• Taskbar
• A horizontal bar across the bottom of the windows
desktop that displays a start button plus the name of
any open application.

14
 Common Terms
• Multi-tasking
• Ability of windows to have several applications
and files open at the same time.
• Buttons

Maximize Restore
Minimize Close
Button Button
button Button

15
 Common Terms
• Command button
• A button that performs or cancels an action e.g. OK and
Cancel buttons.
• Dragging with the mouse
• Moving a selected item on the desktop by clicking on it with
the left mouse button, and holding the button as you move
the item.
• Dialog box
• A rectangular box that windows displays when it needs further
information before it can carry out a command or when it
needs to provide you with more information.

16
 Working with the Control Panel

• The Control Panel is a part of the Microsoft Windows GUI

which allows users to view and manipulate basic system
settings such as adding hardware, adding and removing
software, controlling user accounts, and changing
accessibility options.
• The control panel helps the computer user to change
settings and customize the functionality of your computer.
• To access the control panel: Click on the Start button- then
click on Control panel in the menu items provided.

17
Working with the Control Panel

18
 Exploring your computer
• Computer drive
• Is a physical storage device for holding files and folders in a
computer.

19
Viewing drive properties

Right click on hard disk drive

and select properties.

20
Drive properties

21
 File Naming Conventions
• A computer file is a named collection of data that exists
on a storage medium such as a hard disk, a floppy disk, or
a CD.
• When you create a file, you must provide it with a valid
filename that adheres to specific rules, referred to as file
naming conventions.
• Special characters like / \ : ? < > * are not allowed in
Windows filenames.
• Reserved words like Aux, Com1, and Lpt1 are used as
commands or special identifiers in Windows. You cannot
use these words alone as a filename.

22
 Directories and Folders

• An operating system maintains a list of files called a

directory for each disk, CD-ROM or DVD.
• The main directory of a disk is its root directory.
• Most operating systems allow the user to divide a
directory into smaller lists called folders or
subdirectories.
• A computer file’s location is defined by a file
specification (or path) which includes the drive letter,
folder(s), filename, and extension.

23
 Example File Specification

• A:\DATA\[Link]
– A: is the Drive Letter
– DATA is the folder name
– GOOD is the filename
– .TXT is the filename extension

24
File Sizes and Dates

• File size is usually

measured in bytes,
kilobytes or megabytes.
• The file date is the date
the file was created or
last modified.

25
 File Management
• Folders are the best way to organize and store your data
on your computer. Folders located inside other folders are
often called subfolders.
• Steps of creating a folder in windows.
1. Go to the location where you want to create a new
folder.
2. Right-click in a blank area, click New and select Folder.
3. A new folder is displayed with the default name, New
Folder.
4. Type a name for the new folder, and then press
ENTER.
26
 Rename a file or folder
• Steps of renaming a file/folder.
1. Click on the file or folder you want to rename.
2. Under File, click Rename.
3. Type the new name, and then press ENTER key.
• Steps to delete a file/folder.
1. Click on the file or folder you want to delete.
2. Right-click on the File, click Delete.

Deleted files or folders are stored in the Recycle Bin, till they are
permanently removed from the Recycle Bin.

27
 Moving/copying Files
• To move files, first highlight the files and then choose
Edit, Cut from the menu, and Edit, Paste in the menu
of the target window.

• Files can also be moved and copied by dragging.

• Place the mouse pointer on a highlighted file and
move it while holding down the left mouse button.
• Release button at the target point.

28
 Deleting Files
• When you delete a file, the operating system changes
the status of the file’s clusters to empty and removes
the filename from the FAT.

• To delete data from a disk in such a way that no one can

ever read it, you can use special file shredder software
that overwrites empty sectors with random 1s and 0s.

• The Windows Recycle Bin is designed to protect you for

accidentally deleting hard disk files that you actually
need.
29
 Try out
1. State the steps that you have to follow to create a
folder with three subfolders on the desktop?
2. Name and explain the four mouse operations.
3. What is a water mark? What steps would you follow
to insert watermark in a word document?
4. Critically, discuss the following features of a
Windows Desktop:
I. Start Button
II. Taskbar
III. System tray
30
Questions

31