Learn Computer Basics

Technology is constantly changing, and computers are no exception. If you never take the time to learn the basic, when things change and you go to use your computer you might find yourself a little bit lost.

Technology may change, but if you take the time to learn computers, it will be much easier to make a few small changes. Computers are pretty complex and there's a lot of information to understand, but this site will give you the computer basics you should learn to get by.

 The Mouse -   The mouse and keyboard are called input devices, and allow you to input commands into the computer.  To learn about computers, you will need to use the mouse or the keyboard.  The mouse allows you to move the cursor across the screen.  You can click select, and a variety of other things. 

Keyboard - The keyboard allows you to type commands into the computer.  There are lots of options when using the keyboard, but I'll keep them pretty basic as we learn about computers. 

Speakers - The speakers allow sound to come out of the computer.  It's important to have your speakers on to hear warnings from your computer.  Make sure your speakers are on to continue learning computer basics. 

 The Start Menu - Ok down to computer basics, on the bottom left hand corner of the screen you will see the start menu.  Clicking the start icon brings up the start menu.  The start menu holds your most popular programs.  In windows vista you can search for any program you want using the search feature in the start menu.  Try searching for "word," this will come in handy later. 

Desktop - The desktop is the screen you see when you start up the computer.  The background you have, the icons you see, and the overall display make up the desktop.  The icons on the desktop are shortcuts that allow you to view or start up programs.  While were learning computer basics, you can create a shortcut to anything that will then be on the desktop.  Create a shortcut by right clicking on a program, and then select create shortcut.  Left click and drag the shortcut to the desktop. 

My Computer - The my computer option is important for learning about computer basics.  Double left click on the my computer icon on the desktop.  This will show you everything that is connected to your computer.  You can also view the hard drives and the files that are contained in them.  While we're learning about computer basics, don't worry about it too much. 

Typing - Typing is one of the most important things to learn when learning about computer basics.  Using the search feature we found earlier, search for word and click a word program.  Once you're in a word program, you can begin to type anything you like.  You can save what you type, and continue later, or print it if you want. 

 Type something - Open a word document and type a message to print out and send to someone.  Or type something and save it on your computer.  You can even just practice typing. 

Check your computer- See how much space is left on your hard drive.  Look at what programs files you have installed, and see if anything is connected to your computer. 

Create a search - look for a specific program on your computer, or find something you typed a while ago.  If you can't remember where you saved that document, you can find it using the search function.