Chapter 3: Getting Around the Windows Desktop

IN THIS CHAPTER

Logging in

Using the Windows desktop

Using the Start screen

Using programs

Shutting down the computer

In today's busy world, few people have the time to sit down and learn to use a computer. Many books and online tutorials don't really help because they assume you already know all the basic concepts and terminology. That's a big assumption because the truth is that most people don't already know those things. Most people don't know a file from a folder from a megabyte from a golf ball. These just aren't the kinds of things we learned about in school or from our day-to-day experiences.

This chapter is mostly about the kinds of things everyone else assumes you already know. It's for the people who just bought their first computer and discovered it has this thing called Windows 8 on it. Or the people who were getting by with an older computer but now have a new Windows 8 computer and really want to know more about how to use it.

We often refer to the skills in this chapter as “everyday skills” because they're the kinds of things you'll likely do every time you sit down at the computer. In this chapter, we point out the name and purpose of many elements you'll see on your screen. Together, these bits of information provide a foundation of basic knowledge of how you use a computer, in general, to get things done. And it all starts with logging in.

Terminology for Things You Do

If you're new to computers, the first step is to learn a little terminology about actions you perform to operate the computer. We assume you know what the mouse is. When you move the mouse, the mouse pointer on the screen moves in whatever direction you move the mouse. Most mice have two buttons. The button on the left is the primary or left mouse button. It's referred to as the primary button because clicking it always makes an action occur directly.

When you rest your hand comfortably on the mouse, the left mouse button should be under your index finger. You don't want to hold the button down, however. Just rest your index finger on it lightly.

The button on the right is the secondary or right mouse button. In contrast to the primary mouse button, clicking the secondary mouse button usually doesn't make an action take place directly; instead, it shows you various actions you can take.

Windows 8 includes new terminology for new mouse and touch-based gestures. Those terms are covered in detail in Chapter 2, where you learn more about the new Windows 8 interface.

Mouse terminology

Everyone uses some specific terms to refer to actions you perform with the mouse. These terms include point, click, double-click, right-click, and drag.

Point

The term point, when used as a verb, means to touch the mouse pointer to an item. For example, “point to the Desktop tile” means to move the mouse pointer so that it's positioned over top of the Desktop tile (the tile named Desktop that, by default, is at the lower-left corner of the Start screen). If the item you want to point to is smaller than the mouse pointer, make sure you get the tip of the mouse pointer arrow on the item. Whatever the tip of the mouse pointer is on is the item to which you're pointing.

The term hover means the same thing as “point.” For example, the phrase “hover the mouse pointer over the Desktop tile” means the same as “point to the Desktop tile.”

When you point to an item on the Windows desktop, the item's name typically appears in a tooltip (a small box that appears, telling what you're pointing to). For example, if you point to a date and time on the notification bar on the Windows desktop taskbar, the day and date appear in a tooltip near the mouse pointer. The tooltip tells you the name of the item you're pointing to. Figure 3.1 shows an example of a tooltip when pointing to the desktop calendar.

Click

The term click means to point to an item and then tap the left mouse button. Don't hold down the left mouse button. Just tap (press and release) it. It makes a slight clicking sound when you do. For example, the phrase “click the Desktop tile” means “put the mouse pointer on the Desktop tile on the Start menu and tap the left mouse button.” When you do, the Windows desktop appears.

Double-click

The term double-click means to point to an item and then tap the left mouse button twice, quickly. Don't hold down the button and don't pause between clicks. Just tap the left mouse button twice. You use double-clicking to open items represented by icons on your screen.

Right-click

The term right-click means to point to an item and then tap the right mouse button. Again, don't hold down the mouse button, and don't use the left mouse button. Whereas clicking an item usually takes an immediate action, right-clicking presents a shortcut menu of things you can do with the item. You'll see many examples throughout this book.

Drag

The term drag means to point to an item and hold down the left mouse button while you're moving the mouse. You typically use dragging to move and size things on the screen. You can see examples a little later in this chapter.

As you discover in Chapter 21, you can also use dragging to move and copy files from one location to another.

Keyboard terminology

It should go without saying that the computer keyboard is the thing that looks like a typewriter keyboard. The keys labeled F1, F2, and so forth across the top are function keys. The keys with arrows and names such as Home, End, PgUp (Page Up), and PgDn (Page Down) are navigation keys.

Tab, Enter, and Spacebar

The Tab key has two opposing arrows pointing left and right. That key is usually to the left of the letter Q. The Enter key (also called the Return key) is located where the carriage return key is on a standard typewriter. It may be labeled Enter or Return, or it may just show a bent, left-pointing arrow. The Spacebar is the wide key centered at the bottom of the keyboard. When you're typing text, it types a blank space.

If in doubt, Escape key out

The Escape key is labeled Esc or Escape (or maybe even Cancel). It's usually at the upper-left corner of the keyboard. It's a good one to know because it often allows you to escape from unfamiliar territory.

The Help key (F1)

The Help key is the F1 function key. That's a good one to know because it's the key you press for help. Not the kind of help where someone appears and helps you along. Unfortunately, it's not possible to get that kind of help from a computer. Instead, pressing Help opens a help window.

The key

If you have a Windows keyboard, you also have a Windows key, which shows the Windows logo. It's usually near the lower-left corner of the keyboard. The Windows key might also show the word Start because you can tap it to show and hide the Windows 8 Start screen.

Shift, Ctrl, and Alt

The keys labeled Shift, Ctrl (Control), and Alt (Alternate) are modifier keys. There are usually two of each of those keys on a keyboard, near the lower left and lower right of the main typing keys. The Shift key may be labeled with a large, up-pointing arrow. One Shift key is located to the left of the Z key, the other to the right of the question mark (?) key. They're called modifier keys because they usually don't do anything by themselves. Instead, you hold down a modifier key while pressing some other key. For example, when you hold down the Shift key and press the A key, you get an uppercase A rather than a lowercase a.

Shortcut keys

The term press always refers to a key on the keyboard rather than something you do with the mouse. For example, the statement “Press Enter” means to press the Enter key. When you see an instruction to press two keys with a plus sign in between (key+key), that means “hold down the first key, tap the second key, release the first key.” For example, the instruction “Press Ctrl+Esc” means “Hold down the Ctrl key, tap the Esc key, release the Ctrl key.”

You will see the following several times in this book: Press Windows+X while on the Windows desktop. This displays the Windows 8.1 Quick Link menu. It displays in the same location that the Start menu in previous versions of Windows (including Windows 7, Vista, XP, 98, and 95) displayed. The Quick Link menu includes several key menu options to help you locate system apps and programs, such as the Control Panel, Event Viewer, and so on.

You'll often see the term shortcut key used to refer to key+key combinations. The “shortcut” part refers to the fact that the keystroke is an alternative way of doing something with the mouse. (It may not seem like much of a shortcut, however, if you can't type worth beans!)

Much as we all hate to learn terminology, knowing the terms and keyboard keys we just described is critical to learning how to use a computer. All written and spoken instructions assume that you know what those terms mean. If you don't, the instructions won't do you any good.

Okay, let's move on to using the computer and to the names of things you'll do, see, and use often.

Logging In

Obviously, the first step to using a computer is to turn it on. Shortly after you first start your computer, the Windows 8 Lock screen appears (see Figure 3.2). To log in, slide the display up. To slide on a touch device, move your finger from the bottom of the display toward the top. With a mouse, click and drag the display toward the top, or press the spacebar. Windows displays the list of user accounts available on the device. You learn more about user accounts in Chapter 4, but for now, all you need to know is that if you see user account icons shortly after you first start your computer, you have to click one in order to use the computer. Tap (or click) on a user tile to enter the password for that user account, and then press Enter or tap (or click) the arrow icon to the right of the password field.

You also can use a new Windows 8 feature called Picture Passwords to log in to Windows. The Picture Passwords feature is covered in Chapter 4.

If the user account isn't password protected, the Windows Start screen appears automatically. If the user account you clicked is password protected, a rectangular box appears instead. You have to type the correct password for the account to get to the Windows Start screen. The letters you type won't show in the box by default. Instead, you'll see a dot for each letter you type, as in Figure 3.3. This prevents others from learning your password by looking over your shoulder as you type it on the screen. To temporarily see the characters you enter, press and hold the eye icon on the right side of the password box. This toggles on the characters so you can see that what you typed is what you intended to type.

After you type the password, press Enter or click the arrow to the right of the password box.

After you've successfully logged in, the Windows Start screen appears.

Windows Start Screen

After you log on, you'll see the Windows 8.1 Start screen, shown in Figure 3.4. The Start screen serves much the same function as the Start menu in previous versions of Windows. Square or rectangular tiles give you quick access to apps, external resources such as SkyDrive, folders, and even the desktop. The Start screen shows the look of the new Windows 8 interface. We don't focus on the Start screen in this chapter because it was discussed in detail in Chapter 2.

Using the Windows Desktop

The Windows desktop is the electronic equivalent of a real desktop. It's the place where you keep stuff you're working on right now. Every program that's currently open is usually contained within some program window. When no programs are open, the desktop and all your desktop icons are plainly visible on the screen.

What's on the desktop

Users upgrading from previous Windows versions are familiar with the Windows desktop, the primary place for users to start their work in earlier versions of Windows. You work with programs on the Windows desktop in much the same way you work with paper on an office desktop. With Windows 8.1, the Start screen is intended to replace the desktop as the primary work environment. However, the Windows desktop is still very much a part of Windows, and it's the environment in which you run legacy Windows applications.

The desktop is accessed from the Start screen by clicking the Desktop tile. The desktop may get covered by program windows and other items, but the desktop is still under there no matter how much you clutter the screen. It's the same as a real desk in that sense. Although your real desktop may be completely covered by random junk, your desktop is still under there somewhere. You just have to dig through the mess to get to it.

The two main components of the Windows desktop are the desktop itself and the taskbar. The desktop is where everything that you open piles up. The taskbar's main role is to make it easy to switch from one open item to another. Everything you'll ever see on your screen has a name and a purpose. Virtually nothing on the screen is there purely for decoration (except the wallpaper). Figure 3.5 shows the main components of the Windows desktop and other items. Your desktop might not look exactly like the picture and might not show all the components. But don't worry about that. Right now, you want to focus on learning the names of the most frequently used elements.

Here's a quick overview of what each component represents.

• Desktop: The desktop itself is everything above the taskbar. Most programs you open appear in a window on the desktop.
• Desktop icons: Icons on the desktop provide quick access to frequently used programs, folders, and documents. You can add and remove desktop icons as you see fit.
• Quick Link menu: The Quick Link menu provides access to commonly used Windows programs and apps. To see it, right-click the Start button at the bottom-left side of the screen, or press Windows+X.
• Taskbar: A task is an open program. The taskbar makes switching among all your open programs easy. Right-clicking the clock in the taskbar provides easy access to options for customizing the taskbar and organizing open program windows.
• Notification area: Displays icons for programs running in the background, often referred to as processes and services. Messages coming from those programs appear in speech balloons just above the notification area.
• Clock: Shows the current time and date.

That's the quick tour of items on and around the Windows 8.1 desktop. The sections that follow examine some of these items in detail.

About desktop icons

Desktop icons represent a closed object that you can open by double-clicking the icon. Most desktop icons are shortcuts to files and folders. They're shortcuts in the sense that they duplicate icons that are available elsewhere, such as on the Start screen.

Rules always have exceptions. When it comes to desktop icons, the Recycle Bin is the exception. The Recycle Bin icon exists only on the desktop, and you won't find it anywhere else. The role of the Recycle Bin is that of a safety net. Whenever you delete a file or folder from your hard drive, the item is actually just moved to the Recycle Bin. You can restore an accidentally deleted item from the Recycle Bin back to its original location.

In addition to the Recycle Bin, you have other built-in desktop icons from which to choose. If you want to take a shot at adding icons, you have to get to the Personalization page and make some selections. To get to the Personalization page, use one of the following methods:

• Show the charms, click Search, and type pers. Click Settings and then click Personalization on the Settings screen.
• Right-click the desktop and choose Personalize.

The Personalization Control Panel applet opens. In its left column, click Change Desktop Icons. You see a dialog box like the one in Figure 3.6. It's called a “dialog” box because you carry on a sort of dialog with it. It shows you options from which you can pick and choose. You make your choices and click OK. You'll see menu dialog boxes throughout this book.

To make an icon visible on your desktop, select (click to put a check mark in) the check box next to the icon's name. To prevent an icon from appearing on the desktop, click the check box to the left of its name to deselect it (remove the check mark). In the figure, we've opted to show just the Recycle Bin.

You can choose a different picture for any icon you've opted to show on the desktop. Click the icon's picture in the middle of the dialog box. Then click the Change Icon button. Click the icon you want to show and then click OK. If you change your mind after the fact, click Restore Default.

Click OK after making your selections. The dialog box closes, and the icons you choose appear on the desktop. However, you might not see them if that part of the desktop is covered by something that's open. Don't worry about that. You learn about how to open, close, move, and size things on the desktop a little later in this chapter.

If nothing is covering the desktop, but you still don't see any desktop icons, they might just be switched off. We cover this topic in the next section.

Arranging desktop icons

As you discover in Chapter 10, there are many ways to customize the Windows 8 desktop. But if you just want to make some quick, minor changes to your desktop icons, right-click the desktop to view its shortcut menu. Items on the menu that have a little arrow to the right show submenus. For example, if you right-click the desktop and point to View on the menu, you see the View menu, as shown in Figure 3.7.

The last item on the View menu, Show Desktop Icons, needs to be selected (checked) for the icons to show at all. If no check mark appears next to that item, click the item. The menu closes, and the icons appear on the desktop. When you need to see the menu again, just right-click the desktop again.

The top three items on the menu — Large Icons, Medium Icons, and Small Icons — control the size of the icons. Click any option to see its effect. If you don't like the result, right-click the desktop again, choose View, and choose a different size.

The Sort By option on the desktop shortcut menu enables you to arrange desktop icons alphabetically by Name, Size, Item Type, or Date Modified. However, no matter how you choose to sort icons, the built-in icons are sorted separately from those you create.

You learn more about personalizing your desktop in Chapter 10.

Using Jump Lists

Jump lists were a new feature of Windows 7 that enhance the usefulness of the icons and pin items on the taskbar. Windows 8.1 continues to use Jump Lists. Jump Lists add the most recently used objects from the application to a pop-up menu. Just right-click the icon to view the Jump List (see Figure 3.8).

You don't need to do anything to set up Jump Lists — they happen automatically. Whenever you want to use a Jump List, just right-click a taskbar icon and choose from the list the item you want to open.

Running Programs and Apps

You can start any program or app that's installed on your computer by finding the program's icon on the Start screen or by searching for it using the Search app, and then clicking that icon. There are other ways to start programs as well. For example, if you see an icon for the program pinned to the taskbar, you can click that. If you see a shortcut icon to the program on the desktop or pinned to the taskbar, you can click (or double-click) that icon to start the program.

Whether you need to single-click or double-click a desktop icon to open it depends on how you've configured Windows 8. See Chapter 20 for details.

Every time you start a program or app, an instance of that program opens in a program window. No rule exists that says you can have only one program open at a time. Some programs even enable you to open multiple copies of the same program. (New Windows 8 apps, however, limit you to running only one copy of that app at a time.) You can have as many programs open simultaneously as you can cram into your available memory (RAM). Most programs allow you to run multiple instances. The more memory your system has, the more stuff you can have open without much slowdown in performance.

Most programs you open show their own names somewhere near the top of the program window. Figure 3.9 shows Microsoft PowerPoint open on the desktop. You see its name in the title bar at the top of the window, appearing either by itself or as part of a string of items.

You learn more about Windows 8 apps in several chapters of this book, including Chapters 2 and 9.

Most items that you open also have a taskbar button. The name in the taskbar button matches the name of the item. For example, the taskbar button for the open PowerPoint program also shows the name of the PowerPoint presentation we're editing on the taskbar. You can click the PowerPoint taskbar button to make the open window appear and disappear. That's a good thing to know because sometimes you want to get something off the screen temporarily so that you can see something else on the screen.

When you have multiple program windows open, they stack up on the desktop the way multiple sheets of paper on your real desktop stack up. When you have multiple sheets of paper in a pile, you can't see what's on every page. You can see only what's on the top page because all the other pages are covered by that page.

It works the same way with program windows. When you have multiple program windows open, you can see only the one that's on the top of the stack. We call the program that's on the top of the stack the active window.

The active window

When two or more program windows are open on the desktop, only one of them can be the active window. The active window has some unique characteristics:

• The active window is usually on the top of the stack. Any other open windows will be under the active window so that they don't cover any of its content. The exception is a window configured for Always on Top, as described previously.
• The taskbar button for the active window is highlighted with a brighter foreground color.
• Anything you do at the keyboard applies to the active window only. You can't type in an inactive window.

Switching among open programs

Whenever you have two or more programs open at the same time, you want to be able to easily switch among them. You have several ways to switch among open programs, as discussed in the sections that follow.

Switching with taskbar buttons

As mentioned, almost every open program has a button on the taskbar. When you have multiple open programs, you have multiple taskbar buttons. To make any one particular program active, click its taskbar button. If you're not sure which button is which, point to each button. You see the name and a miniature copy of the program that the button represents, as in Figure 3.10. You also see a full-size preview of the window.

Switching with the keyboard

If you prefer the keyboard to the mouse, you can use Alt+Tab to switch among open windows. Hold down the Alt key and then press the Tab key. You see a thumbnail image for each open program window, as in the example shown in Figure 3.11. Keep the Alt key pressed down and keep pressing Tab until the name of the program you want to switch to appears above the icons. Then release the Alt key.

The last (rightmost) item in the Alt+Tab window represents the desktop rather than an open program. If you release the Alt key with that selected, all windows are minimized to the taskbar. But you can still bring up any open program by clicking its taskbar button.

Arranging program windows

You can use options on the taskbar shortcut menu to arrange all currently open program windows. To get to that menu, right-click an empty portion of the taskbar, or right-click the clock in the lower-right corner of the screen. Figure 3.12 shows the options on the menu.

The four options that apply to program windows on the desktop are similar to the options you get when you right-click a taskbar button that represents multiple instances of one program:

• Cascade Windows: Stacks all the open windows like sheets of paper, fanned out so that all their title bars are visible, as in Figure 3.13.
• Show Windows Stacked: Arranges the windows in rows across the screen, or as equal-sized tiles.
• Show Windows Side by Side: Arranges the windows side by side. As with the preceding option, if you have too many open windows to show that way, they'll be displayed in equal-sized tiles.
• Show the Desktop: Minimizes all open windows so that only their taskbar buttons are visible. You can see the entire desktop at that point. To bring any window back onto the screen, click its taskbar button. To bring them all back, right-click the clock or taskbar again and choose Show Open Windows.

The only way to truly appreciate these options is to try them out for yourself. Open two or more programs. Then try each of the options described to see their effects on your open program windows.

Sizing program windows

As a rule, program windows can be any size you want them to be, but this rule has a few exceptions. For example, the tiny Calculator program can't be sized at all. Some programs, such as Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center, will shrink down only so far. But in general, most open program windows can appear in three categories of sizes:

• Maximized, in which the program fills the entire screen above the taskbar, covering the desktop
• Minimized, in which only the program's taskbar button is visible, and the program window takes up no space on the desktop
• Any size in between those two extremes

Often, you'll want to work with two or more program windows at a time. Knowing how to size program windows is a critical skill for doing so, because working with multiple program windows is difficult if you can't see at least some portion of each one.

Maximize a program window

A maximized program window enlarges to its greatest window size, which in many cases causes it to fill all the space above the taskbar. This makes it easy to see everything inside the program window. If a program window isn't already maximized, you can maximize it in several ways:

• Click the Maximize button in the program's title bar (see Figure 3.14).
• Grab the title bar and move the window to the top of the screen. Pause for a moment and then release the mouse button.
• Double-click the program's title bar.
• Click the upper-left corner of the window you want to maximize and choose Maximize. Optionally, right-click anywhere near the center top of the window and choose Maximize.

Minimize a program window

If you want to get a program window off the screen temporarily without losing your place, minimize the program window. When you minimize the program window, the program remains running. However, it takes up no space on the screen, so it can't cover anything else on the screen. When minimized, only the window's taskbar button remains visible. You can minimize a window in several ways:

• Click the Minimize button in the program's title bar (see Figure 3.15).

  

• Click the upper-left corner of the window you want to minimize (or right-click anywhere near the center top of the window) and choose Minimize.
• Click the program's taskbar button once or twice. (If the program isn't in the active window, the first click just makes it the active window. The second click then minimizes the active window.)
• Right-click the program's taskbar button or title bar and choose Minimize.

Size at will

Between the two extremes of maximized (hog up the entire desktop) and minimized (not even visible on the desktop), most program windows can be any size you want them to be. The first step to sizing a program window is to get it to an in-between size so that it's neither maximized nor minimized. You can do that in one of two ways:

• If the program window is currently minimized, click its taskbar button to make it visible on the screen.
• If the program window is currently maximized, double-click its title bar or click its Restore Down button to shrink it down a little. Figure 3.16 shows the tooltip that appears when you point to the Restore Down button. Optionally, use the Cascade Windows option described earlier to get all open program windows down to an in-between size.

After the program window is visible but not hogging up the entire screen, you can size it to your liking by dragging any edge or corner. You have to get the tip of the mouse pointer right on the border of the window you want to size so that the pointer turns into a two-headed arrow, as in Figure 3.17.

When you see the two-headed arrow, hold down the left mouse button without moving the mouse. After the mouse button is down, drag in the direction you want to size the window. Release the mouse button when the window is the size you want.

You can also size a program window using the mouse and the keyboard. Again, the program window has to be at some in-between size to start with. Also, note that you always begin the process from the program window's taskbar button. Follow these steps:

1. Click the program window's control menu button (upper-left corner of the window) and choose Size.
2. Press the navigation arrow keys (←, →, ↑, ↓) until the window (or the border around the window) is the size you want.
3. Press the Enter key.

Moving a program window

You can easily move a program window about the screen just by dragging its title bar. However, you can't start with a minimized window. You have to get the program window to an in-between size or maximized size before you even get started. Then just get the mouse pointer somewhere near the top center of the window you want to move, hold down the left mouse button, and drag the window around. Release the mouse button when the window is where you want it on the desktop. This works for both in-between sized and maximized windows.

Dialog boxes work the same way. You can't size or minimize a dialog box, and dialog boxes don't have taskbar buttons. But you can easily drag a dialog box around the screen by its title bar.

Moving and sizing from the keyboard

As you've seen, most of the techniques for moving and sizing program windows rely on the mouse. There are some keyboard alternatives, but they're not available in all program windows. The only way to find out whether these work in the window you're using at the moment is to press Alt+Spacebar and see whether a system menu drops down from the upper-left corner, as in Figure 3.18.

If you see the menu, you just have to press the underlined letter from the menu option you want to select. For example, press the letter x to Maximize or n to Minimize. If you press m to Move or s to Size, you can then use the arrow keys (←, →, ↑, ↓) to move or size the window. Then press Enter when the window is positioned or sized to your liking.

Closing a Program

When you're finished using a program, you should close it. Every open program and document consumes some resources, mostly in the form of using memory (RAM). The computer also uses virtual memory, which is basically space on the hard disk configured to look like RAM to the computer.

RAM has no moving parts and, thus, can feed stuff to the processor (where all the work takes place) at amazing speeds. A standard hard disk has moving parts and is much, much slower. Newer solid state drives do not rely on moving parts, but you still have speed differences between RAM and solid state drives. As soon as Windows has to start using virtual memory, everything slows down. So, you really don't want to have a bunch of stuff you're not using anymore open and consuming resources.

There are many ways to close a program. Use whichever of the following techniques is most convenient for you, because they all produce the same result — the program is removed from memory, and both its program window and taskbar button are removed from the screen:

• Click the Close (X) button in the program window's upper-right corner.
• Right-click the title bar across the top of the program window and choose Close.
• Choose File ⇒ Exit from the program's menu bar, if the program provides a File menu.
• Right-click the program's taskbar button and choose Close Window.
• If the program is in the active window, press Alt+F4.

If you were working on a document in the program and you've made changes to that document since you last saved it, the program should ask in a message box like the example in Figure 3.19 whether you want to save those changes.

Never take that dialog box lightly because whichever option you choose is final, and there's no going back and changing your mind. Your options are as follows:

• Save/Yes: The document is saved in its current state; both the document and the program close.
• Don't Save/No: Any and all changes you made to the document since you last saved it will be lost forever. Both the document and the program close.
• Cancel: The program and document both remain open and on the screen. You can then continue work on the document and save it from the program's menu bar (choose File ⇒ Save).

Using the Notification Area

Over on the right side of the taskbar is the notification area (also called the system tray or tray). Each icon in the notification area represents a program or service that's running in the background. For example, antivirus and antispyware programs often show icons in the notification area so that you know they're running.

To conserve space on the taskbar, Windows 8 gives you the option of hiding inactive icons. When inactive icons are hidden, you see a button with up and down arrows on it at the left side of the notification area. Click the button to see icons that are currently hidden.

As with any icon or button, you can point to an icon in the notification area to see the name of that icon. Right-clicking an icon usually provides a context menu of options for using the item. Clicking or double-clicking the icon usually opens a program window that's associated with the running background service.

For example, the Volume icon provides a simple service: It lets you control the volume of your speakers. To change the volume, you click the icon and then drag the slider (shown in Figure 3.20) up or down. Optionally, you can mute the speakers by choosing the button at the bottom of the slider. Click it again to remove the mute. The Mixer option opens a window in which you can control the volume of different kinds of sounds independently.

The icons in the notification area don't represent programs that you can run. They represent programs that are running. The icon simply serves as a notification that the program is running, although in most cases, the icon also provides options for closing the program or changing how it runs. Different computers have different notification area icons. The following are some common examples:

• Network Connections: You might see an icon that lets you disconnect from the network, view and connect to wireless networks, and open the Network and Sharing Center.
• Security programs: Programs that protect your system from malware (such as viruses and spyware) often display icons in the notification area.
• Updates: An icon notifies you when updates are available for downloading or installing.
• Safely Remove Hardware: If you have a USB device connected to your computer, the Safely Remove Hardware icon lets you disable the device before removing it, which you do to make sure that the device doesn't disconnect while it's still in use.

Showing/hiding notification icons

You can choose for yourself which notification area icons you do and don't want to see at any time. You rarely need to see them all, so you can hide some if you prefer. To make choices about those icons, right-click the clock or blank area of the tray and choose Customize Notification Icons. The Notification Area Icons dialog box, shown in Figure 3.21, opens.

The Notification Area Icons dialog box lists items that are currently active, as well as inactive items that were active in the past. You can choose if and how you want to display an icon by selecting a choice from the Behaviors drop-down list to the right of an item's name. Here are your options:

• Show Icon and Notifications: The item is always visible in the notification area.
• Hide Icon and Notifications: The item is always hidden.
• Only Show Notifications: The icon is visible only when it's active and serving some purpose.

As always, what you choose to show or hide is entirely up to you. Just make your selections and click OK in each of the open dialog boxes.

If you always want all notification area icons to be visible, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the current time in the lower right of the screen and choose Customize Notification Icons.
2. In the Notification Area Icons dialog box that opens, select the Always Show All Icons and Notifications on the Taskbar check box.
3. Click OK.

Chapter 13 discusses additional techniques for customizing the desktop, taskbar, and notification area.

Responding to notification messages

Icons in the notification area may occasionally display messages in a speech balloon. Many messages just provide some feedback and don't require any response from you. These kinds of messages generally fade away on their own after a few seconds. But you can also close the message by clicking the Close (X) button in its upper-right corner.

Icons or messages that show a red X icon, like the one in Figure 3.22, are security related. You can click the balloon or message title to get more information about the items.

Chapters 9, 10 through 11 discuss security in some depth.

Using scroll bars

Scroll bars appear in program windows whenever the window contains more information than it can fit. You may not see any on your screen right now. But don't worry about that. The trick is to recognize them when you do see them, to know what they mean, and to know how to work them. Figure 3.23 shows an example of a vertical scroll bar and a horizontal scroll bar.

When you see a scroll bar, it means that there's more to see than what's currently visible in the window. The size of the scroll box (the bit inside the scroll bar area that looks like a long button) relative to the size of the scroll bar tells you roughly how much more there is to see. For example, if the scroll bar is about 10 percent the size of the bar, it means you're seeing only about 10 percent of all there is to see.

To see the rest, you use the scroll bar to scroll through the information. You have basically three ways to use scroll bars:

• Click a button at the end of the scroll bar to move a little bit in the direction of the arrow on the button.
• Click an empty space on the scroll bar to move the scroll box along the bar toward the place where you clicked. That moves you farther than clicking the buttons would.
• Drag the scroll box in the direction you want to scroll. To drag, place the mouse pointer on the button and hold down the left mouse button while moving the mouse in the direction you want to scroll.

If your mouse has a wheel, you can use that to scroll as well. If the window shows a vertical scroll bar, spinning the mouse wheel scrolls up and down. If the window shows only a horizontal scroll bar, spinning the mouse wheel scrolls left and right. Some mice have a horizontal scroll button (or wheel) that you can push left or right to scroll horizontally.

You can also use the keyboard to scroll up and down. But understand that the scroll bars work only in the active window (the window that's on the top of the stack). If necessary, first click the window or press Alt+Tab to bring it to the top of the stack. Then you can use the up and down arrow keys (↑ and ↓) to scroll up and down slightly. Use the Page Up (PgUp) and Page Down (PgDn) keys to scroll up and down in larger increments. Press the Home key to scroll all the way to the top (or all the way to the left). Press the End key to scroll all the way to the end.

Using Back and Forward buttons

Back and Forward buttons help you navigate through multiple pages of items. As with scroll bars, they appear only when useful, so don't expect to see them on your screen right now, or all the time. At times, they may be disabled (dimmed), as at the top of Figure 3.24. At other times they are enabled (not dimmed). Also, you won't find Back and Forward buttons in every program window.

A disabled button isn't broken. When an item is disabled, it's just not appropriate at the moment. For example, when you first open a window, both buttons may be disabled because you have no page to switch to yet. When you click a link that takes you to another page, the Back button is then enabled because now you do have a page to go back to (the page you just left). After you go back to the previous page, the Forward button is enabled because now you have a page to go forward to — the page you just left.

When a button is enabled, you just click it to go back or forward. When a button is disabled, clicking it has no effect.

Logging Off, Shutting Down

Here's a question a lot of people ask: “Should I shut down my computer if I won't be using it for a while, or should I just leave it on?” Everybody has an opinion about this. So here's ours: It doesn't matter. It's fine to leave your computer running. Many people shut down their computers only when they need to, such as when installing certain types of hardware. Aside from that, their computers are on, and online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. With today's green PCs, turning off the computer every day isn't as important as it once was. Perhaps more important, leaving the computer on means you can start working with it almost right away, instead of waiting for it to boot.

The Power button in Windows 8.1 is located on the Charms Bar. But you also can access the power commands from the Quick Link menu. Figure 3.25 shows the power commands in the Quick Link menu. Figure 3.26 shows the Power button in the Charms Bar.

Although shutdown is much faster in Windows 8.1 than previous versions, don't expect the computer to turn off immediately. It takes a few seconds for Windows to get everything closed up and ready to shut down. On most computers, you don't have to do anything else. The computer will eventually shut itself down completely.

Wrap-Up

That about wraps it up for the main terminology and basic skills. Much of what you've learned in this chapter is the kind of stuff most people assume you already know. You may have to read the chapter a few times and practice things before it all sinks in. Use the Windows Help for more information and for hands-on practice.

Here's a quick summary of the most important points covered in this chapter:

• The Windows desktop is the primary place you'll do your work.
• Unless you have a touchscreen device (such as a mobile phone or tablet), you'll use your mouse and keyboard to operate the computer.
• Most of your work will involve opening and using programs and apps.
• You can start any program that's installed on your computer from the Start screen.
• Each open program appears in its own program window on the desktop. Program windows stack up like sheets of paper.
• Each open program window has a corresponding taskbar button. The taskbar buttons help you switch from one open program window to another.
• You can move and size program windows to see exactly what you need to see, when you need to see it.
• When you finish using your computer and want to shut it down, don't go straight for the main power switch. Instead, click the Settings item from the Charms Bar, choose Power, and then click Shut Down.

That's enough for now about the desktop and programs. These days, with just about everyone using a computer to access the Internet, security is a major issue. So, we begin to address that topic in Chapter 4 with a discussion of user accounts and how they relate to computer security.