LESSON 6 - CONTROL PANEL

Objective
Adding and Removing Programs Change Mouse Properties Change Desktop Color Scheme Change Background Color Screen Resolution Setting up a printer

Table of Contents
LESSON 6 - CONTROL PANEL ...................................................................................... 1 THE CONTROL PANEL ............................................................................................... 1 Classic View ................................................................................................................... 1 ADDING/REMOVING PROGRAMS ........................................................................... 2 INSTALLING A PROGRAM FROM A CD ................................................................. 3 TO REMOVE A PROGRAM......................................................................................... 3 ADDING FONTS ........................................................................................................... 4 Download font file from the internet. ......................................................................... 4 PERSONALIZE THE MOUSE ...................................................................................... 6 Double Click Speed ........................................................................................................ 6 Left Handed .................................................................................................................... 6 Increase Mouse Pointer Size ........................................................................................... 6 Mouse Pointer Speed ...................................................................................................... 7 CHANGING THE DESKTOP ....................................................................................... 8 WALLPAPER................................................................................................................. 8 DISPLAY PROPERIES................................................................................................ 10 Change Color Scheme................................................................................................... 10 Increase Size of Active Border ..................................................................................... 10 Screen Saver.................................................................................................................. 11 Monitor Power Setting .................................................................................................. 12 Screen Resolution ......................................................................................................... 13 How Many Pixels? ........................................................................................................ 14 Aspect Ratio .................................................................................................................. 14 DATE AND TIME ....................................................................................................... 16 CAPACITY OF THE HARD DRIVE .......................................................................... 16 CAPACITY OF THE RAM.......................................................................................... 16 SETTING UP A PRINTER .......................................................................................... 17 PRINT MANAGER ...................................................................................................... 17 EXERCISE ................................................................................................................... 18 To customize the wallpaper. ..................................................................................... 18 Notes: ........................................................................................................................ 19

THE CONTROL PANEL

In Vista this was known as the Control Panel Home view versus the Classic view. In Windows 7, this view is known as the Category view. This can be change by clicking on the right of the View by: Category in the upper right corner of the windows.

The new Control Panel organizes all functions into easy to find categories.

Icon View or Classic View

The icon view can be changed to eight Small icons or Large icons.

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If you are familiar with previous versions of Windows (XP,2000, Windows Me) and their predecessors, the Icon View should be easier to navigate. This is the best way to easily see all components of the Control Panel When you open your Control Panel window, you will notice the many icons that are available for adding, removing and changing. We have gone through many of the icons shown above, such as Add/Remove Programs, Date/Time, Display, Fonts, Mouse, Scheduled Tasks and System. Something that you might want to do is to change the sound or music that you hear when the computer speakers are on. See what you can do with the sound by opening Sounds and Audio Devices. As you can see, the computer can be set to your pleasure that is why it is called a PC (Personal Computer). You are now looking under the hood of Windows. In this window you can make many changes to your computer. There are some settings that you shouldn't play with until you have gain a better understanding of your machine. We will deal with options that you may want to use.

ADDING/REMOVING PROGRAMS
Control PanelProgram and Features Any time you install new software onto your computer, it makes a lots of changes to all kinds of settings in Windows. If you want to get rid of a program by just dragging it into the "Recycle Bin," you won't necessarily get rid of all the little parts of the program. One of the major reasons so many new computer users have problems with their computers is that they've installed or removed software incorrectly. If you just drag a program or folder containing a program into the "Recycle Bin," your computer may seem to act fine until you turn it off and then start it back up later. At that point you may find that you're getting all kinds of errors or problems. Why is this so? Because Windows is still looking for the program you deleted. You must let Windows know when you take a program off your computer it must be done completely and properly. To do this properly, go to the "Control Panel" and open the "Program and Features" option.

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"To install a new program from a floppy disk or CD-ROM drive, click Add New Programs." This is usually not required since the new program will automatically install when you insert the CD into the CD drive. Always follow the manufacturer's instructions.

INSTALLING A PROGRAM FROM A CD

Most installation will automatically start when you insert it into the drive. You need to first read the installation procedure supplies by the manufacturer of your particular software. The following is a manual method for installing most common programs: 1. Insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive. 2. If your computer is configured to detect a newly inserted CD, the Autorun menu will appear. If the Autorun menu does not appear after a few moments, click on the Start button then select Run, and type E:\setup.exe (where E is the letter of your CD-ROM drive.) If you are not sure of your CD-ROM drive's letter, double click on the 'My Computer' icon on the desktop, and make note of the letter on the CD-ROM icon. 3. Click on the install or setup option and follow the onscreen instructions for installation and setup. 4. It is recommended that you restart your system after installation is complete.

TO REMOVE A PROGRAM
1. Look in the box with the listing shown on the previous page. 2. Scroll through the list to select the program that you would like to remove and click on it. 3. Click on "Change or Remove Programs" at the left. Follow the directions that will appear.
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ADDING FONTS
The fonts that are installed in your computer can be seen by going to the Fonts Window. It is installed as part of the Operating System (OS). The path is: Start > Control Panel > Fonts

To add new fonts to your computer: Place the disk with a copy of the fonts you want to add to your computer into the proper drive. Open the fonts Window. Click on File and select Install New Font In the Add Font window, select the drive where the disk containing the new fonts is located. Then, open the folder that contains the fonts to be added. A list of fonts will appear in a few moments. Select the names of the new fonts to be added and click OK To install fonts you will simply drag and drop your new fonts into the Windows Fonts folder. You will want to open two folders: the folder with your new fonts and the system fonts folder. Note: before installing any new fonts you should close all open applications.

Download font file from the internet. 1. From the Start menu select Control Panel. 2. Select Appearances and Personalization, then select Fonts. 3. Open the folder containing the TrueType font files you have downloaded. Make sure you can see both the Fonts folder and the folder with your new TrueType fonts. 4. Copy downloaded font and paste into Control Panel>Font windows.
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PERSONALIZE THE MOUSE

Practice your double-clicks until the folder opens and closes.

Double Click Speed

The double-click is an important skill that needs to be masters. Double-click can launch an application or open a file folder or CD. If you have difficulty with this skill, you can change the speed of the double-click rate to make it work for you. 1.Start > Control Panel 2.Double click: the Mouse icon (Classic View). 3.The default tab is the Buttons Tab Drag the slider to increase or decrease the Double-click speed. Practice it in the folder windows: a. Double click the folder icon to open it. b. Double click the folder icon again to close it.

Left Handed
If you are left-handed, you need the reverse the function of the left and right mouse buttons.

Increase Mouse Pointer Size

On the Pointers tab we can choose the type of pointer the mouse is to have when it moves, when it is busy, when it is used, etc

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Extra large system scheme

Select one of the large or extra large system scheme.

Mouse Pointer Speed

You can change the speed with which the Mouse reacts by moving the pointer on the line. To move the pointer, drag and drop it onto a new position. Click on the Pointer Options tab. Drag to slide to the right to increase the pointer speed.

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CHANGING THE DESKTOP

Right click in an empty spot on the desktop. A shortcut menu appears. It offers various options. Click on Personalize. The follow screen will appear:

From this dialog box, you can customize the appearance of your windows environment.

WALLPAPER
Control PanelPersonalizationDesktop Background Wallpapers are images that appear in the background on your Desktop, behind all your icons. To change your Desktop wallpaper, do the following: or Click anywhere on the Desktop that is not an icon, but click once with your right hand mouse button, select Personalize. Click on Desktop Background. To Change Background: 1. Click on Browse. 2. Select background from file browser windows. 3. Click Open. Change Background to your Personal Pictures: 1. Click on Browse. 2. Navigate to your own Picture folder under your personal folder. Example: Steve>Pictures>Hawaii Vacation>
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3. Select background from file browser windows. 4. Click Open.

This figure shows the Windows Vista Theme on the screen. You can choose other themes for your display. After you select one, click on "Apply" and click "OK." You now have a new theme displayed on your monitor. Be sure to click "Apply" then "OK." Apply makes the change. OK saves it.

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DISPLAY PROPERIES
PersonalizationWindow Color and Appearance Click Open classic appearance.

Change Windows Color and Appearance

You can change the color show from Windows Aero to Vista Basic. This will increase the performance of you display. However some of the new Area feature such an flip 3, windows animation and transparency will be lost.

Increase Size of Active Border

For seniors with visual impairment, increasing the width of the windows border will make it easier to resize the windows. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Right-click on an empty area of your desktop. Choose Properties. Click the Appearance Tab. Click the Advanced button. Choose Active Windows Border from the Item drop-down menu. Change border size.. Press Apply when youre finished.
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Screen Saver (Power Setting)

Control PanelPersonalizationScreen Saver Before the advent of LCD screens, most computer screens were based on cathode ray tubes (CRTs). When the same image is displayed on a CRT screen for long periods of time, the properties of the exposed areas of phosphor coating on the inside of the screen that will eventually leading to a burned-in or "ghost" image on the screen. With the new LCD monitors, there is really no need to have a screen saver to this purpose. However, the screen saver has other functions. On a laptop, it can be use to conserve energy thereby extending the life of the battery while you are on a flight. It can also be use as a security feature to lock or log-off the computer when you are not using it for a set period of time. There are other features that you may want to adjust such as the Screen Saver Click on the Screen Saver tab on the Display Properties window. The Display Properties window will appear as it does below. Click on the down arrow in the Screen Saver box to see the available choices. Select any screen saver from the list by clicking on the name. A preview will appear on the monitor image in the upper part of the tab. If you want to see a full size preview, click on the Preview button. After viewing the full size preview, simply glide your mouse a short distance and the Display Properties window will reappear.

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Monitor Power Setting

This setting will be more beneficial for laptop computers to save power to extend the battery life while you are working away from any power outlet. The power plan will help you maximize performance while conserving energy. There are 3 default power plans, balanced, power saving and high performance. The default plans meet most people's computing needs. If these plans don't suit your needs, you can easily create your own plan by using one of the default plans as a starting point then click on the Change plan setting option to be further tweak them.

Each power setting plan can be customized by clicking on Change plan settings:

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Text Sze Control PanelPersonalizationDisplay

Screen Resolution
Control PanelPersonalizationDisplay To change the screen resolution, click on Change display setting in the left task pane. For the visually impair individual, it may help to lower the screen resolution. This will increase the size on objects on your desktop. For images that are being displayed on the screen, higher resolution does not equate to better clarity as it does with printed images. For screen images, resolution simply means size. If your resolution is higher, the image dimensions will be larger. Larger images may look clearer, but there is a trade-off in screen real estate. Although very small images are often seen as "fuzzy," the difference in quality as the images get larger is hardly noticeable.

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1. Be sure you are in Classic View (all Control Panel icons are showing). 2. If not, under Control Panel in the left pane, select Switch to Icon View. 3. Select Display.

How Many Pixels?

The picture on your computer screen is made up by colored dots called "pixels". The more pixels used to make the display, the sharper and clearer your picture will be and the smaller everything will look on your screen. This is called screen resolution. Years ago, computer manufacturers set screen resolution for 640x480 pixels (height and width). Today, this has generally been bumped up past 800x600 to 1024x768 width. People with larger monitors may set their screen resolution for 1280x960 or above. Because of the different aspect ratio of a wide screen display, you might set it to 1440 X 900. The issue here is that web pages look different at different computer monitor resolutions.

Aspect Ratio
For digital files, the most important AR is the Display Aspect Ratio. This is the actual shape a frame is supposed to be displayed with, rather than simply the resolution. For example, the NTSC and PAL DVD-Video resolutions examples above will always have a DAR of either 1.33 or 1.78, depending on whether they're encoded for a Fullscreen (4:3 / 1.33) or Widescreen (16:9 / 1.78) television. This is why an Anamorphic (1.78 AR) DVD always looks squeezed horizontally when viewed on a computer without DAR correction and a Fullscreen (1.33 AR) NTSC DVD looks horizontally stretched, while a Fullscreen PAL DVD looks squeezed. DAR may also be referred to as Signal Aspect Ratio because the file signals the decoder to use a particular AR, regardless of resolution. Signal Aspect Ratio may be referred to as SAR, but to avoid confusion with Storage Aspect Ratio this
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isn't generally advised. To be as clear as possible it's generally best to stick to using DAR instead.

Power Option
From the Power Option menu, select Choose what the power button do on the left task pane.

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DATE AND TIME

1. Right click on the clock. 2. Click on: Adjust Date/Time. If you wish to change the time, select the number to be changed and type the new number. Most computers will automatically make the changes for Daylight Savings. If it is not keeping time, the battery may need to be changed.

CAPACITY OF THE HARD DRIVE

(The size and the space available in the main memory or storage bank - the Cdrive) 1. Click on the Start button. When the Start Menu appears, click My Computer. 2. Right click the C-Drive (Hard Drive) that is listed under Hard Drives. 3. Click Properties. 4. The General Tab will show the space available on your Hard Drive and also the size of your Hard Drive. 5. The Tools Tab is the housekeeping tab.

CAPACITY OF THE RAM

1. 2. 3. Start > Computer > Control Panel Classic View: Double click: System Click Performance Tab

In common usage, the term RAM is synonymous with main memory, the memory available to programs. Software programs run off of RAM (Random Access Memory). Every time you open a program, it gets loaded from the hard drive into the RAM. This is because reading data from RAM is extremely fast, whereas reading data from the hard drive is substantially slower. Running programs from the RAM of the computer allows them to function without any lag time. (This information is not important at this time.)

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SETTING UP A PRINTER

1. Choose Start > Control Panel > Devices and Printers 2. Click the "Add a Printer" button, and click "Next" when the Wizard starts. 3. Verify that the "Local Printer" option is selected, and click "Next." 4. Normally, your computer will detect the new printer youve connected. 5. If the printer isnt detected, select the manufacturer of the printer in the "Manufacturers" list. 6. Select the printer in the "Printers" list, and click "Next." 7. Select the port to which the printer is connected, and clicks "Next." 8. Specify the printer name, and click "Next." 9. Specify whether a test page is to be printed or not, and click "Finish."

PRINT MANAGER
Once you have installed your new printer, the icon of the printer will appear. Open it and you have what is known as the Device and Printers. This view shows all of the documents that have been sent to the printer. Through the print manager we can cancel or pause a document to be printed. Open the icon for your printer to view the Printer Manager screen. Each print job will listed in order. It will show job currently printing and job waiting to be printed. The print manager is very useful because we can cancel a document if we do not want it to be printed. 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.
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EXERCISE
To customize the wallpaper. Step by step exercise. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Click with the right mouse button on the Desktop. From the shortcut menu that opens, click on Properties. On the Desktop tab select the image that you have now. Select the image Autumn. In Position click Stretch. See the result on the screen in the window. In Position click tile. See the difference. In Position click Centered. Click OK

9. Repeat steps 1 and 2 and return to the wallpaper you had.

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Notes:

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