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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Computer Basics » (Original)
Authors: Joe Kraynak
ISBN-13: 9781592578597, ISBN-10: 1592578594
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Date Published: February 2009
Edition: Original
Author Biography: Joe Kraynak
Joe Kraynak has taught hundreds of thousands of novice computer users how to master their computers and their software. His long list of computer books includes Using and Upgrading PCs, CliffsNotes Buying Your First PC, More Easy Windows 98, Easy Internet, The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to Microsoft Office XP, and Absolute Beginner's Guide to Excel 2003.
Book Synopsis
Time for an upgrade!
The fifth edition of The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to Computer Basics places the reader in charge of the computer, rather than the other way around, and places the focus on software troubleshooting rather than hardware techno-babble. The reader wants to do something practical with his or her computer-this book shows them how.
*Covers basic office programs and how to manage photo, video, and music files
*Advice on safe web-surfing, including coverage of newsgroups, message boards, and mailing lists
*New green computing initiatives that help protect the environment
*Maintenance and upgrading information
Booknews
From the author of comes this introduction covering the most popular aspects of computers online and offline for both adults and children. Includes a "speak like a geek" glossary. Lacks references. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Table of Contents
| Part 1 | Firing Up Your Computer: Bare-Boned Basics | 5 |
| 1 | Setting It Up and Turning It On | 7 |
| Finding a Comfortable Home for Your Computer | 8 | |
| Unpacking Your New Toys | 9 | |
| Making the Right Connections | 10 | |
| Bringing the Beast to Life | 12 | |
| Installing the Software That Runs Your Hardware | 13 | |
| Now What? | 14 | |
| Shutting It Down or Leaving It On? | 14 | |
| 2 | Meeting Windows: Up Close and Personal | 17 |
| Windows Nickel Tour | 18 | |
| The Land Where Mouse Is King | 19 | |
| The Keyboard Is Special, Too | 20 | |
| Ordering from Menus and Dialog Boxes | 22 | |
| 25 | ||
| What's on Your Computer? | 26 | |
| Trashing Files in the Recycle Bin | 27 | |
| Help Is on Its Way | 27 | |
| 3 | Launching Your First Program | 29 |
| Picking a Program from the Start Menu | 29 | |
| More Creative Ways to Run Programs | 30 | |
| Moving a Program to a More Convenient Location | 32 | |
| Running Programs with a Single Click | 33 | |
| Opening Documents with a Single Click | 34 | |
| 4 | Warming Up with Some Computer Games | 37 |
| Installing and Running the Windows Games | 37 | |
| Using Your $1000 Computer As a $1 Deck of Cards | 39 | |
| Becoming a FreeCell Junkie | 40 | |
| Playing Hearts with Virtual Players | 41 | |
| Taking a Virtual Risk with Minesweeper | 42 | |
| Part 2 | Personalizing Your Work Space | 45 |
| 5 | Using a Cool Desktop Background | 47 |
| Animating Your Desktop with Themes | 47 | |
| Messing with the Screen Colors | 49 | |
| Hanging Wallpaper in the Background | 50 | |
| Controlling the Desktop Icons and Visual Effects | 51 | |
| What's This Web Tab For? | 52 | |
| Locking Your Desktop Settings | 54 | |
| 6 | Turning On an Animated Screen Saver | 57 |
| Screen Savers Do Serve a Purpose | 57 | |
| Checking Out the Windows Screen Savers | 58 | |
| Turning a Screen Saver On and Off | 59 | |
| Using a Password for Weak Security | 59 | |
| Conserving Energy | 60 | |
| 7 | Making Your Computer Play Cool Sounds | 63 |
| Checking Your Audio Equipment | 63 | |
| Choosing a Different Sound Scheme | 66 | |
| Assigning Specific Sounds to Events | 67 | |
| Listening to CDs While You Work | 68 | |
| Recording Your Own Audio Clips | 69 | |
| 8 | Taking Control of Your Menus and Programs | 71 |
| Rearranging the Start Menu with Explorer | 71 | |
| Making Your Own Toolbars | 72 | |
| Automating Your Programs | 74 | |
| 9 | Giving Yourself More Room to Work | 77 |
| Clearning Desk Space by Making Everything Smaller | 77 | |
| What About the Color Settings? | 78 | |
| Rearranging Your Desktop Icons | 79 | |
| Getting Rid of Icons You Don't Use | 80 | |
| Hiding the Taskbar | 80 | |
| Tucking Stuff into Folders | 81 | |
| 10 | Installing and Removing Programs | 83 |
| Buying Software That Your Hardware Can Run | 84 | |
| Do You Have Enough Disk Space? | 86 | |
| Installing Your New Program | 87 | |
| Does Anyone Use Floppy Disks Anymore? | 89 | |
| Removing a Program That You Never Use | 89 | |
| Part 3 | Creating Letters and Greeting Cards | 93 |
| 11 | I Just Want to Type a Letter! | 95 |
| Making the Transition to the Electronic Page | 96 | |
| What's with the Squiggly Red and Green Lines? | 97 | |
| Inserting Today's Date | 98 | |
| Making the Text Bigger or Smaller | 98 | |
| Shoving Text Left, Right, or Center | 99 | |
| Changing the Line Spacing | 100 | |
| Inserting Space Between Paragraphs | 100 | |
| Save It or Lose It | 100 | |
| Printing Addresses on Envelopes | 102 | |
| 12 | Editing and Printing Your Letter | 105 |
| Selecting Text | 106 | |
| Cutting and Pasting Without Scissors | 106 | |
| Oops! Undoing Changes | 107 | |
| Checking Your Spelling and Grammar | 107 | |
| Setting Your Margins and Page Layout | 109 | |
| Saving Paper: Previewing Before Printing | 111 | |
| Sending Your Letter Off to the Printer | 111 | |
| Hey, It's Not Printing! | 112 | |
| Project Time! Making Your Own Letterhead | 112 | |
| 13 | Designing Personalized Greeting Cards, Banners, and Other Publications | 115 |
| What You Need to Get Started | 116 | |
| Starting with a Prefab Greeting Card | 116 | |
| Microsoft Publisher Survival Guide | 117 | |
| Playing with Pictures | 119 | |
| Text-in-a-Box | 120 | |
| Layering Pictures and Text Boxes | 121 | |
| Do-It-Yourself Banners | 122 | |
| Other Cool Desktop Publishing Stuff | 123 | |
| 14 | Creating an Address Book and Other Listy Stuff | 125 |
| Tables, Spreadsheets, Databases, and Address Books | 126 | |
| Setting Up Your Own Table | 129 | |
| Typing in the Little Boxes | 130 | |
| Rearranging and Resizing Columns and Rows | 131 | |
| Sorting Your List | 132 | |
| Automating Calculations with Formulas | 132 | |
| Decorating Your Table with Lines and Shading | 132 | |
| What About Pictures? | 133 | |
| 15 | Form Letters, Mailing Labels, and Envelopes | 135 |
| The Incredible Power of the Mail Merge Feature | 135 | |
| The Making of a Form Letter | 137 | |
| Inserting the Secret Codes | 137 | |
| Initiating the Merge Operation | 138 | |
| Printing Addresses on Mailing Labels | 139 | |
| Printing a Stack of Envelopes for Mass Mailing | 140 | |
| Part 4 | Getting Wired on the Internet | 143 |
| 16 | Connecting to the Outside World with a Modem | 145 |
| What Can I Do with My Modem? | 145 | |
| How This Modem Thing Works | 146 | |
| Modem Types: Standard, ISDN, DSL, and Cable | 146 | |
| Plugging Your Modem into the Phone Jack | 149 | |
| Dialing Out: Does It Work? | 151 | |
| Troubleshooting Your Modem Connection | 151 | |
| 17 | Finding an Information FREEway | 153 |
| Getting a Free Trial Offer to an Online Service | 154 | |
| Signing Up for Your Membership | 155 | |
| Getting Help Online | 157 | |
| Canceling Your Membership | 158 | |
| Finding Cheaper, Better Ways to Connect to the Internet | 158 | |
| Setting Up Your Internet Connection | 160 | |
| Testing Your Internet Connection | 162 | |
| What Went Wrong: Internet Connection Troubleshooting | 163 | |
| 18 | Sending Email: Postage-Free, Same-Day Delivery | 167 |
| Running Your Email Program for the First Time | 168 | |
| Addressing an Outgoing Message | 171 | |
| Checking Your Email Box | 172 | |
| Sending Replies | 173 | |
| Adding Photos and Other Cool Stuff | 173 | |
| Attaching Documents to Your Messages | 174 | |
| What About Hotmail and Other Free Email Services? | 175 | |
| Email Shorthand and Emoticons | 176 | |
| Email No-No's | 178 | |
| 19 | Chatting with Friends, Relatives, and Complete Strangers | 181 |
| Hanging Out in Chat Rooms | 182 | |
| Checking Out the People Who Are Checking Out You | 183 | |
| Sending Private Messages | 183 | |
| Making Your Own Public Chat Room | 184 | |
| Chatting It Up on the Internet | 185 | |
| Chatting Privately with Friends and Relatives on the Internet | 188 | |
| What About Audio and Video? | 189 | |
| 20 | Poking Around on the Web | 191 |
| First, You Need a Web Browser | 192 | |
| Steering Your Browser in the Right Direction | 192 | |
| A Word About Web Page Addresses | 193 | |
| Finding Stuff with Popular Search Tools | 194 | |
| Opening Multiple Browser Windows | 195 | |
| Going Back in Time with History Lists | 196 | |
| Marking Your Favorite Web Pages for Quick Return Trips | 196 | |
| Changing the Starting Web Page | 197 | |
| Can Cookies Hurt Me? | 198 | |
| 21 | Shopping, Investing, Traveling, and Other Cool Web Stuff | 201 |
| Keeping Up with News, Weather, and Current Events | 201 | |
| Mail-Order Paradise: Shopping on the Web | 205 | |
| Becoming Your Own Stockbroker | 206 | |
| Planning Your Next Vacation | 208 | |
| For Movie Buffs Only | 209 | |
| Creating Your Own Music Library | 210 | |
| Getting Technical Support for Your Computer | 211 | |
| 22 | Publishing Your Own Web Page in 10 Minutes or Less | 215 |
| What Makes a Web Page So Special? | 216 | |
| Forget About HTML | 216 | |
| Making a Personal Web Page Right on the Web | 217 | |
| Placing Your Business on the Web | 221 | |
| Finding Cool Stuff to Put on Your Page | 222 | |
| Part 5 | Managing Your Finances | 225 |
| 23 | Putting Your Checkbook on Your Computer | 227 |
| Choosing a Good Personal Finance Program | 228 | |
| Entering Account Information | 228 | |
| Recording Transactions | 232 | |
| Printing Checks | 235 | |
| Reconciling Your Account and Bank Statement | 236 | |
| 24 | Budgeting 101 | 239 |
| Who Needs a Budget? | 240 | |
| Starting with a Budget Template | 240 | |
| Tweaking Your Budget | 241 | |
| Entering Income and Expenses | 242 | |
| Making Adjustments | 243 | |
| Using Your Budget to Stay on Track | 244 | |
| Keeping Track of Your Cash Flow with Reports | 244 | |
| Planning Ahead with Financial Calculators | 246 | |
| 25 | Paying Bills and Tracking Investments Online | 249 |
| Electronic Banking 101 | 250 | |
| How Much Is This Going to Cost? | 250 | |
| Signing Up for Electronic Transactions | 251 | |
| Enabling Online Transactions for an Account | 254 | |
| Paying Your Bills Electronically | 255 | |
| Setting Up Automatic, Recurring Payments | 256 | |
| Transferring Cash Between Accounts | 258 | |
| Downloading Transaction Records and Balances | 258 | |
| Tracking the Performance of Your Investments | 258 | |
| Part 6 | Kids and Other Family Stuff | 261 |
| 26 | Finding and Playing Cool Games | 263 |
| Shopping for the Right Games | 264 | |
| Additional Equipment You May Need | 265 | |
| Running Stubborn DOS Games in Windows | 265 | |
| Getting Free Games off the Web | 267 | |
| Buying Games Online | 269 | |
| Finding Game Reviews and Tips | 270 | |
| 27 | Tapping the Power of Educational Software | 273 |
| Researching Topics with Multimedia Encyclopedias | 274 | |
| More Books for Your Reference Library | 275 | |
| Learning to Read with Your Computer | 276 | |
| Reinforcing Math Skills | 277 | |
| Encouraging Your Child to Play with Language | 278 | |
| Learning to Play the Piano | 279 | |
| Learning a Foreign Language | 280 | |
| Bringing Out the Artist in Your Child | 281 | |
| 28 | Safely Introducing Your Child to the Internet | 285 |
| Explaining the Rules of the Road | 286 | |
| A Little Personal Supervision Goes a Long Way | 287 | |
| Censoring the Internet | 287 | |
| Playing Games Online | 292 | |
| Visiting the White House | 293 | |
| Visiting Museums and Libraries | 294 | |
| Helping Your Child Find a Pen Pal | 295 | |
| 29 | Making a Family Photo Album | 297 |
| Getting a Kodak Picture CD | 297 | |
| Adding Photos from Another Kodak Picture CD | 299 | |
| Enhancing and Editing Photos | 299 | |
| Typing Your Own Captions | 300 | |
| Printing Your Photos on Photo-Quality Paper | 301 | |
| Sharing Photos via Email and Disk | 303 | |
| Avoiding the Middleman with a Digital Camera | 303 | |
| Scanning Photos | 305 | |
| Creating Your Own Digital Photo Album | 307 | |
| Changing Yourself and Others with Morphing | 308 | |
| 30 | Drawing Your Family Tree | 311 |
| Picking a Good Genealogy Program | 312 | |
| Plugging In Names, Dates, and Relationships | 312 | |
| Digging Up Your Roots with CD-ROM Databases | 313 | |
| Researching Your Family Tree Online | 314 | |
| Growing Your Family Tree | 318 | |
| Printing Your Family Tree | 319 | |
| Part 7 | Maintaining Your Investment | 323 |
| 31 | Keeping Your Computer Clean | 325 |
| Tools of the Trade | 326 | |
| Vacuuming and Dusting Your Computer | 326 | |
| WASH ME: Cleaning Your Monitor | 327 | |
| Shaking the Crumbs out of Your Keyboard | 328 | |
| Making Your Mouse Cough Up Hairballs | 329 | |
| Cleaning Your Printer (When It Needs It) | 329 | |
| What About the Disk Drives? | 330 | |
| 32 | Giving Your Computer a Tune-Up | 333 |
| One-Stop Optimization with the Maintenance Wizard | 333 | |
| Clearing Useless Files from Your Hard Disk | 334 | |
| Checking for and Repairing Damaged Files and Folders | 335 | |
| Defragmenting Files on Your Hard Disk | 336 | |
| Making Windows Start Faster |
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