Computer Basics
Contents
There are a lot of things that you can do with a computer these days:
write your term papers, communicate with your instructors and friends
via electronic mail, access vast amounts of information on the Internet,
write your own computer programs, play games, and so on.
Make sure to use this invaluable tool to help you in your school work.
Don't be afraid of using a computer: issuing an incorrect computer
command or clicking on the wrong part of the screen won't damage
anything, and you can always try it again, until you get it right.
There are different types of computers and different kinds of computer
environments: IBM-compatible Personal Computers or PCs running DOS and
Microsoft Windows, Apple computers running the Macintosh operating system,
Unix computers like Icarus and Tigger, and IBM mainframe computers like
the UICVM VM/CMS system. They all have their own set of commands,
programs and ways of doing things. Some, like Windows, Macintosh and
X Windows Unix systems, offer a graphical user interface (GUI), support the
use of a mouse and are typically easier to use. Others, like CMS, are
character-based only system, and only support the keyboard.
Whatever system you use, get familiar with its user interface and on-line
help system. Most of the programs available also have built-in on-line
help; and there is a good chance that the Computer Center offers additional
documentation and consulting on using the computer system and its software.
Using the keyboard is mostly consistent across computer environments,
although there are some differences. Some special keys or keystrokes
to consider are:
- You press the
ENTER key to issue a command or launch
a program.
- You use program function keys, generally labelled
F1,
F2, and so on, at the top of the keyboard, to issue
special pre-defined commands, which vary depending on the program
being used.
- Pressing the Escape key (usually abbreviated
Esc on
the top left side of the keyboard, is sometimes used to interrupt
the computer, and/or exit a program.
- The Control key (generally abbreviated
Ctrl at the bottom
of the keyboard) is used in conjunction with other keys to enter a
special keystroke sequence.
These special keystrokes are usually indicated
as Ctrl-X, Ctrl+X, or ^X where
"X" is the second key to press along with the Control key. For
example, in the Pine electronic mail system, ^X
indicates pressing the Control key and the letter "X" simultaneously,
and it is used to send your e-mail message; ^G, namely,
pressing Control and "G" displays the on-line help within Pine.
- The Alternate key (abbreviated
Alt, at the bottom
of the keyboard, is also used to enter special keystrokes, just like
the Control key; e.g. whenever you are asked to press Alt-X
or Alt+X, just press the "Alt" and "X" keys together.
- The Apple Macintosh also uses the Control, Option and Command keys,
found at the bottom of the keyboard to enter special keystroke
sequences, just like with the Control and Alt keys on DOS, Windows and
Unix systems.
The Mac Command key, by the way, is the key with the little apple and
clover-like symbol.
- The
Tab and arrow keys are used alone or in conjunction
with other keys to move the cursor or to go to other screens.
- The
Shift and Caps Lock keys are used to
type in upper case letters. Note that, unlike CMS and DOS, Unix
and the Macintosh systems are case sensitive: in Unix for example,
all commands must be entered in lower case, unless otherwise noted.
- The
Page Up and Page Down keys are generally
used to advance to the previous or next screen, respectively.
Graphics user interface systems like Macs, Windows and Unix X Windows
systems use the mouse to move its cursor around, select items and objects
(represented by graphical icons) and also to perform "click-and-drag"
operations. Icons generally represent objects like files, folders, or
application programs.
Macs are simple: their mouse only has one button to press.
The mouse used with DOS and Windows has two buttons, though mostly, only
the left button is used, unless stated otherwise. Unix X Windows systems
use a mouse with three buttons, though again, mostly the left button is
used.
In any case, to move the mouse cursor, keep the mouse on the desk or mouse
pad and move it without lifting it. If you run out of desktop real estate,
lift the mouse, reposition it and move it again.
To select an object, move
the mouse cursor on top of the object and click once on the mouse (left
button). Double-clicking, that is, quickly clicking the mouse button twice
when the cursor is on top of an object, generally opens the folder or file,
or launches the program that was selected.
Click-and-drag is done by first clicking the mouse once, and then moving
(i.e. dragging) the mouse towards a particular direction. This is done,
for example, to get to a particular pull-down menu item, or to drag
an object to a desired destination.
Using Windows
Windows 3.1 and 3.11 are easy to use, once you learn how to use a mouse.
For example, the icons below are groups of applications. You open the
group "Accessories" by double-clicking the Accessories icon:
Once you have an application open and running -- MS Write, for example --
you can "maximize" the window. Maximizing means making the application use
the whole screen, rather than just a window. The picture below shows what
you click to maximize the MS Write application:
To make Write run in a window again, rather than running in the full
screen, you click the restore button, shown in the picture below:
Sometimes you have more than one program running at a time, but you don't
want all those windows cluttering up the desktop. You can minimize
programs you need to keep running but aren't using right at the moment.
You do this by clicking the minimize button, shown below:
When a program is minimized, it shows as a small icon at the bottom of the
desktop, like this:
In Windows applications, you have the blue title bar, which you can use to
move the window around by clicking your mouse cursor on the blue bar, and
dragging the window. Try it with Netscape right now.
Windows applications also have a menu bar. The menu bar lets you do
certain things, such as open a file. First, you click on the appropriate
menu item, such as File. This opens a pull-down menu.
When the pull down menu is open, you can click on Open to open a file:
When you click on Open, you get what is called a dialog box. In the Open
dialog box, you specify which file you want to open. You can tell it to
open a file by typing the file name in the "File Name" field, next to the
green arrow below:
Or, you can select which file to open, by clicking on the file name in the
list of files, as shown below:
No matter how you choose which file to open, you must also click the OK
button to finish opening the file:
When you want to save a file, you again click on File in the menu bar, and
then click on Save:
Then you will see a Save dialog box, like this:
If you need to save on a floppy diskette, which would be the A: drive
rather than the C: drive, you can click on the drive pull down menu, as
shown here:
Don't forget, you must still click the OK button to save the file!
When you have finished with your work, you exit the program you're using,
by using the menu bar, pull down menu, and selecting Exit:
You can find out more on using Windows and using a mouse by using the
Windows tutorial. In Program Manager, click on the menu item Help, and
then select Windows Tutorial, as shown below:
Basic Glossary
In addition to the concepts, introduced above, following is a list of
several other basic computer terms that you should know. (For a
detail list of computer terms, see the
Free On-line Dictionary
of Computing, or the local
ADN Glossary of Selected Computer Terms.
- Client Services Office
- Or CSO for short, is located in room 2257 SEL. It has
consultants who can answer questions related to any of the
software and services offered by the Computer Center.
The CSO is open 9am - 5pm, Monday through Friday. Feel free
to drop by, or contact the CSO consultants via telephone
at 413-0003, or via e-mail to
consult@uic.edu.
- Command Line
- The Command line, or system prompt, is the area where you
enter commands in character-based systems like VM/CMS, DOS and
Icarus.
- Electronic Mail
- A system for sending and receiving messages between computer
users, locally or world-wide. Often abbreviated "e-mail" or "email".
- eXceed
- A Windows program to access Unix systems, like Icarus, Tigger
and Bert, via an X Windows terminal session.
- Fetch
- A Macintosh program to transfer files between computers connected
to the Internet; mostly used for obtaining files and software from
computer archives on the Internet.
- Floppy disk
- A small disk media used to store computer information, files, etc.
Make sure to save your work on floppy disks before you leave the PC
labs.
- FTP
- A program, available on DOS, Windows, Unix and CMS, to transfer
files between computer connected to the Internet; mostly used for
obtaining files and software from computer archives on the Internet.
- HotMetal
- A powerful editing system to create documents for the World Wide
Web. It is available on Icarus and Tigger, when accessed via X Windows.
- Icarus
- Our general-purpose Unix student computer.
- Inform
- A home-grown information system containing a very large collection
of computer related documentation, users guides, and news articles.
It is available on CMS and on the World Wide Web. Take a look at
Inform to learn more about the computer hardware, software and services
available from the Computer Center.
- Internet
- The world-wide network of networked computers with vast amounts of
resources and information. All computers in the public PC labs are
connected to the Internet.
- Logon and login
- To gain access to a general purpose computer, like Icarus, Tigger
or CMS. You have to obtain a computer account and password before
you can log in on any of these computers.
- Logoff
- To exit or terminate your login session with a general purpose
computer. Make sure you log off the system before you leave the PC labs.
- lynx
- A character-based World Wide Web browser available on Icarus and
Tigger.
- Microsoft Word
- A very nice and easy-to-use wordprocessing program installed on
the Macintosh computers in the PC labs. Use MS-Word to write term
papers, lab reports, letters and resumes.
- Mosaic
- A graphical World Wide Web browser available for Windows, Macs and
Unix X Windows systems. It is available at UIC on Icarus and Tigger,
when accessed via an X Windows terminal session.
- Netscape
- A graphical World Wide Web browser available for Windows, Macs and
Unix X Windows systems. It is available at UIC on all the Windows PCs,
and Macintosh computers in the public PC labs, and on Icarus and Tigger,
when accessed via an X Windows terminal session.
- pico
- A very simple and easy-to-use character-based editor available on
Icarus and Tigger. The Pine e-mail system uses the Pico editor.
- pine
- A very simple and easy-to-use electronic mail system available on
Icarus and Tigger.
- Rebooting a computer
- Usually refers to restarting a personal computer or Macintosh computer.
It is generally good practice to reboot the computers in the public
PC labs before you start using them.
- Software
- A computer program or application programming package written for a
particular computer system.
- Telnet
- A program to logon to other remote computers, like Icarus.
- Tigger
- Our general purpose Unix computer for graduate students, faculty and
staff members.
- tin and trn
- Two character-based Usenet News readers available on Icarus
and Tigger.
- Usenet News
- Or just News or Netnews, for short.
A large number of newsgroups (i.e. electronic forums)
to discuss just about anything under the sun. UIC
subscribes to over 4,000 different newsgroups. Use programs like
Trumpet on Windows, Nuntius or Newswatcher on Macintosh, tin on Icarus,
or Netnews on CMS to read Usenet News. Also, Web browsers, like
Netscape can also be used to read News.
- WordPerfect
- A very powerful and easy-to-use wordprocessing program installed
on the Windows and Macintosh computers in the public PC labs. Use WP
to write term papers, lab reports, letters and resumes.
- World Wide Web
- Often abbreviated, WWW or W3.
A hypertext-based information system that uses a network of
information servers to provide access to documents and Internet
resources available locally or world-wide. A huge source of
information and entertainment material. Use a Web browser like
Netscape (on Macs and Windows), lynx (on Icarus and Tigger) or WWW
(on CMS) to "surf the Web".
Last Revision: September 5, 1996 [CER]