WINDOWS FOR GENEALOGISTS
©2008 by Donald R. Snow
Sections of the Class Notes
This page was last updated 2008-04-21.
Return to the Hyde Park Family
History Centre Home Page or the Events
Page or the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group Home Page or Don's Class Listings Page .
WELCOME AND WHAT THIS CLASS IS ALL ABOUT
- Instructors are Elder and Sister Donald R. and Diane
M. Snow of the England London Mission, Hyde Park Family History Centre (snowd@math.byu.edu, dms34@juno.com)
- These notes with active Internet links are posted on the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group website http://uvtagg.org under Class
Outlines , Don's Listings , and are linked on the Hyde Park
Family History Centre website http://www.hydeparkfhc.org under Events .
Many other class notes for family history are linked on both sites also.
- This class is a discussion of the Windows operating systems and
some shortcuts with particular emphasis on family history, though most
it applies to any program
GENERAL INFORMATION AND DEFINITIONS
- "Windows" is the name of the computer operating system
distributed by Microsoft and used on most computers
- Versions have been:
Windows 3.1, 95, 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, XP (XP Home and XP Pro), Vista
(several versions, released 2007 -- many problems)
- Microsoft is no
longer supporting versions up through Windows 98 and ME and says they won't support XP very
much longer
- Windows Help and Tutorials – click
Start/Help-and-Support/Windows-Basics
- For most Windows operations there are several ways to
do them – these notes will usually show one way and some
shortcut keys
- Icon = the small pictures that represent programs,
files, documents, that you click on to run them
- Desktop = what you see on the screen with all
the icons on it
- Left-Click = performs an operation -- the word
"clicking" by itself means left-clicking
- Right-Click = opens a menu
- Left-Click once
on an icon = select or highlight the item; Left-Click twice = do the operation
- Taskbar – bottom line of screen -- Start button opens
a menu and also includes how you turn the computer off
- My-Computer icon – usually in upper left corner of
Desktop – double click to see drives in your computer -- Left-Click to
highlight a drive, then Right-Click shows a menu, including properties about
that drive
- Click Properties to get a menu and info about
that drive, including how much free space, and tools like Error-Checking
(ScanDisk) and Defrag
- Should run
ScanDisk and Defrag on your hard drive
periodically (monthly, for example) to keep it healthy
WORKING WITH WINDOWS AND FRAMES
- In upper right hand corner -- clicking: minus
“--“ = Minimize the window; “[box]” = Go to full screen; click “?
(overlapping boxes)” = make into window that’s not full screen so
it can be resized; “X” = Close the window
- Resizing a window (not full screen)
-- hovering cursor on left or right edge or top or bottom changes
cursor into a double-headed arrow and by clicking and dragging, it
changes the window size
- Can also resize window by hovering cursor on
the small slash marks in upper-left or lower-right corner, then drag in
any direction
- To run a program Double-Click (left-clicking) on its icon
- Windows is "multi-tasking", so you can run
several programs at once
- Each running program has its own window and a
rectangular icon on taskbar at bottom
- Can toggle between these programs by
clicking icons
on taskbar or by pressing ALT-Tab and cycling through all the programs
running
- Tiling windows means showing the windows (programs)
open at same time -- tiling vertically = side-by-side; tiling
horizontally =
one at op and other at bottom of
screen; cascading =
overlapping with edges showing
- To get full
tiling you usually have to start by making each window full
screen, then Right-Click on any blank space on
taskbar, and click Tile-Windows-Vertically or Tile-Windows-Horizontally
or Cascade-the-Windows -- all
open windows (2, 3, or more) are then shown "tiled" on the desktop
- Move icons, files, words, by clicking on them (to
highlight them) and holding down left mouse key and moving cursor, i.e.
"dragging", then releasing mouse key when cursor is where you want
it "dropped"
- Frame = a rectangular area within a window that
can have its own properties, scroll bars, etc. -- to have your actions
relate to a particular frame, you have to click in that frame so it becomes
the active frame first
- Clipboard = storage area in your computer where Windows
holds things copied -- is internal and you never see it, but what's on the
clipboard stays there until you replace it by storing something else; you can paste
whatever is there where you want it
WORKING WITHIN A WINDOW
- Scrolling and the mouse wheel
- When entire page is too large to be visible, scroll bars appear at the right and/or bottom, and you only see
the windowed part of it
- To move the page, click and drag the scroll boxes in the scroll bars
- Size and location of the scroll box in the scroll bar indicated the part you are seeing of the entire
document or picture, i.e. if scroll box is small and
near the top of the scroll bar you are seeing a small part
of the entire page near the top; if scroll box is large, you are
seeing most of it
- Clicking on pick arrows at ends of
scroll bars (small arrow heads in the square boxes) moves the viewing
window one line or space in that direction so you are seeing a different part of the
document or picture
- Clicking anywhere in the gray area of the scroll bar moves the viewing window a full
screen at a time in that direction
- Rolling the mouse wheel, with the cursor in the frame you
want, moves the document just like the scroll bars do and is usually
easier than trying to click on the scroll bar or pick arrows
- Copy and paste – Left-Click to highlight, then Right-Click/Copy copies the
item to the clipboard; also highlighting the item and pressing CTRL-C does the same thing
- Place cursor to where you want to paste the item,
then Right-Click/Paste pastes the item from the clipboard there; CTRL-V
does the same thing
- To form a copy of a file -- Right-Click/Copy (or CTRL-C),
then move cursor to blank space in that folder and
Right-Click/Paste -- you get a file called "Copy of [original file]" in the
same folder
- Using Right-Click/Cut (or CTRL-X), then Right-Click/Paste (or CTRL-V) deletes the item from first
location and pastes it where you put it
- Creating new folders ("folder" = "directory") -- Highlight the
folder and click File/New/Folder -- type in
the name you want < li
>
Renaming an existing folder -- Left-Click to highlight it, then Right-Click/Rename and type
in the new name
- Creating shortcuts -- Right-Click on the folder or document, then click Create-Shortcut
-- can then click and drag shortcut to the desktop or
other location
- Deleting items -- drag them to Recycle Bin or else Right-Click/Delete
- They stay in Recyle Bin until you empty
it by Right-Clicking on Recyle Bin, then File/Empty -- emptied items are gone for
good
- While items are in Recycle Bin they can be restored
by Right-Click on Recycle Bin, then Highlight the
item and Right-Click/Restore -- it will be restored to location it was deleted from
- Deleted items in Recycle Bin take up hard disk space until the Recycle Bin is emptied
-- only need to empty it if you are running out of space
- Text processing programs built into Windows
- WordPad and NotePad -- two simple word
processing programs that are in all versions of Windows
- WordPad has more features, but NotePad doesn’t use
control characters, which sometimes cause problems
- To run either program, click on Start/All
Programs/Accessories, then select the program
- WordPad is a simple word processor to write notes
and store text or images
- May want to set up icons for WordPad and NotePad on
your Desktop so you can get to them easily (see below)
- Searching for files or text – click Start/Search/File-or-Folders,
then follow directions
WINDOWS EXPLORER PROGRAM -- NOT Internet Explorer
- Windows Explorer = a program in Windows to work with
your computer’s file structure
- Right-Click Start/Explore = opens Windows
Explorer program -- may want to form an icon on your Desktop for Windows
Explorer since it is so useful (see below)
- Selecting and highlighting a file or program –
Left-Click once; Double-Left-Click opens or runs it
- To open a folder click on it – browse through folders, floppies, or flash
drives for programs, files, pictures, this way
- Pressing F5 key refreshes the
window when you want, e.g. to read a diffeent floppy
- Scroll up and down by clicking and dragging the
scroll button, or else roll the mouse wheel
- To create a shortcut to a file or program – Left-Click
to highlight the item, then Right-Click/Create Shortcut – you get a
shortcut in that folder for that item – can then drag shortcut from
folder onto desktop or elsewhere
- To move an item (folder or file) – Left-Click to
highlight/Right-Click/Move, then move cursor to where you want it and
Right-Click/Paste
- Can also drag and drop items to move them, but it requires the correct timing of
the operation
- To delete an item -- drag it to
the Recycle Bin, or else, Highlight/Right-Click/Delete
- To rename an item -- Highlight/Right-Click/Rename and enter
the name you want
- Various views in Windows Explorer and other programs,
e.g. PAF -- click on View/Icons to see icons of files; click on View/Details
to see name, size of file, date created, etc. -- useful in PAF to see
database information to know which file to open
- To format a floppy – put floppy in the A: drive,
then Right-Click A:/Format
- To something -- Highlight/Right-Click/Copy (or CTRL-C), then
go to where you want it and Right-Click/Paste (or CRTL-V)
- To form a copy of a file in the same folder --
Right-Click/Copy, then Right-Click/Paste and you get a file named Copy of
[file name]
- Works in PAF and other programs
- Useful in PAF to get a copy of the database so you can have two versions of it
open at once to copy and drag between the two
- For copying and pasting text without control characters (e.g. links from Internet), use Copy/Right-Click/Paste-Special and you get just the text -- useful for copying Internet
text into PAF notes
- To save a file with a new name
-- Highlight/Right-Click/Save-As and rename it
- Example -- rename PAF file as [PAF database
name]-2006-12-06.paf -- then when backing up it will have this new name
- Writing date as YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. 2008-04-22, makes
files alphabetize so you always know the latest is at
the bottom, and you don't wipe out the other backups
- Can also rename the backup by adding the date
to the name when making a PAF backup, but it's better to rename the file
first, so it backs up with the new name
-
This renaming the file works
for many programs and documents and keeps from overwriting earlier backups
-
Should save two or more
generations of backups, so when the file gets corrupted (and it will sometime), you can go back
to a previous backup and you have only lost your last work session and not
the entire database
FILE NAME EXTENSIONS
- File extensions are the 3-characters after the dot,
e.g. .zip, .txt, .exe, .doc, .wpd, .jgp, etc.
- Shows what type of file it is -- text file, word
processing document, picture, compressed file (zipped), etc.
- If file extensions are not showing, go to Windows
Explorer/Tools/Folder Options/View/ and uncheck
Hide-File-Extensions-for-Known-File-Types/OK -- It is very helpful to see file
extensions to tell what type of file it is and to avoid clicking on
something in error.
- Windows associates programs with file extensions so
double clicking a file name opens that file in a particular program -- to
change which program opens the file when you double click on it, do the
following
- Click on Windows Explorer/Tools/Folder
Options/File Types, then find the extension in the alphabetical list,
e.g. .jpg, click Change, and select the program you want to have
associated with that file type, e.g. Windows Picture and FAX Viewer
for .jpg, .bmp, etc.
- Many programs when installing them, automatically "highjack" certain file
types so when you click on a file of that type, it opens that program and this
is the way to change that.
-
Windows XP FAX and Photo Viewer is a good file to associate image
extensions with, e.g. .jpg, .tif, etc.
WINDOWS KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
-
Keyboard shortcuts are keystroke combinations that perform actions -- don't need
to take fingers off keyboard nor use the mouse
- Here are a few of the many keyboard shortcuts that
are built into Windows
- Many use the Windows key, the key with the Windows
logo on it between the Ctrl and Alt keys on left side of keyboard
- Windows-E opens Windows Explorer
- Windows-D closes all open windows and shows Desktop
- Windows-F opens Search menu
-
Windows-U-U shuts down the computer
- In many programs pressing the ALT key turns
on and off underlining of particular letters in menus -- means that
ALT-[key] does that menu operation
-
In Windows Explorer, ALT-F opens the file menu, ALT-V
opens the View menu, etc.
- In PAF 5 -- ALT-S opens the Search menu, ALT-T opens
the tools menu, ALT-S-F takes highlighted name, goes out to IIGI and
searches it for that name
- In any program pressing the ALT key and see which
letters are underlined -- those will be ALT-[key] shortcuts
- To switch between programs that are running use
ALT-Tab -- hold down ALT key and press Tab repeatedly to see icons of programs
that are running
- This can be used in PowerPoint presentations to change to another program, e.g. PAF, or
to get to the Internet to demo a website
- To make a shortcut to a website drag the icon from in front of
the address bar in your browser to the desktop
WORKING WITH IMAGES (PICTURES)
- To save a copy of an image, click on it, then right-click/save picture
- Tell it which folder to save it in and note what the
path to this folder is
- Keep same name, if desired
- Tell it the kind of file you want it saved as, e.g. .gif
(graphics interchange format) or .bmp (bitmap)
- Can now copy it to another folder, paste it into an
individual's PAF media, paste it into a PowerPoint slideshow, etc.
- Windows XP has a really good picture viewer built-in -
Windows Picture and FAX Viewer -- can associate this with .jpg, .bmp, etc.
- Helpful and free programs to capture screen images
- Helpful and free photo editing and photo organizing programs
MISCELLANEOUS, UTILITIES, AND HELPS
- Crtl-Alt-Del = gets your computer’s attention when it
seems “stuck” and won't respond
-
To turn off comuter when keyboard is "locked up" (not working), hold down the
On-Off button for 5 seconds; when computer is restarted you
will get an error message that Windows was not shut down properly, but
it can usually fix itself so it restarts OK
- To search for a file or folder on your computer click
on Start/Search and fill in the appropriate blanks such as "File Name
Contains..." -- helps when you can't remember exactly what you called a file
nor where you put it
- Several freeware indexing and
search programs, e.g. Cathy.exe from http://www.mtg.sk/rva/ -- superfast
file finder program
- Windows XP has a built-in CD burner -- use the Send
to menu that you get by right-clicking on the file or folder and send it
to the CD burner
- Some helpful freeware utility programs for working
with Windows
- Good way
to learn to use the mouse is to have people play Solitaire -- Start/Programs/Games/Solitaire
- Many free online lessons on computing and Windows
basics – also many CD’s and videos to learn Windows -- here are a few links
ASSIGNMENT
- Copy a file or document from one folder to another.
- Move a file or document from one folder to another.
- Make a shortcut for Windows Explorer on the Desktop.
- Make a copy of a file or database in some folder by forming
"Copy of [file name]".
Return to the Hyde Park Family
History Centre Home Page or the Events
Page or the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group Home Page or Don's Class Listings Page .