WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:18.080 --> 00:00:21.000 When you first start using your computer, you'll need to become familiar with its 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:24.340 operating system, or OS. 00:00:24.340 --> 00:00:29.000 Most computers use the Windows operating system, and in this video we're going to be focusing 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:31.000 on Windows 7. 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:35.000 If you're using Windows XP or Vista, it may look a little bit different, but for the most 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:37.410 part they work the same. 00:00:37.410 --> 00:00:41.980 The screen that you see when your computer has finished starting up is called the desktop, 00:00:41.980 --> 00:00:48.050 and this includes the desktop background, and also the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. 00:00:48.050 --> 00:00:53.049 Here you'll find shortcuts to commonly-used programs, and also settings such as your internet 00:00:53.049 --> 00:00:56.830 settings and the sound volume. 00:00:56.830 --> 00:01:00.690 But the most important part of the taskbar is on the far left, and this is called the 00:01:00.690 --> 00:01:02.370 Start button. 00:01:02.370 --> 00:01:08.979 This opens up the Start menu, which is where you'll go to open a program. 00:01:08.979 --> 00:01:13.720 When you open a program, it will appear on the taskbar, and this is really useful if you 00:01:13.720 --> 00:01:20.680 have several different programs open because you can easily switch between them by just clicking. 00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:23.860 Now if you're just starting out with computers, it's really important to know the difference 00:01:23.860 --> 00:01:27.250 between a file and a folder. 00:01:27.250 --> 00:01:31.750 Files can be documents, pictures, songs, movies, and more. 00:01:31.750 --> 00:01:35.920 Folders are used to organize all of the files on your computer, and they'll have an icon 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:38.670 that looks like an actual folder. 00:01:38.670 --> 00:01:41.810 To open a folder, you can double-click it. 00:01:41.810 --> 00:01:46.390 The window you see here is a specialized program called Windows Explorer, which you can use 00:01:46.390 --> 00:01:48.570 to navigate to any folder on your computer. 00:01:48.570 --> 00:01:54.940 You can also open this by clicking the Windows Explorer icon on the taskbar. 00:01:54.940 --> 00:01:58.659 If you want to navigate to a different folder, you can select a different location on the 00:01:58.659 --> 00:02:04.020 left side of the window, and once you find the file that you want, you can double-click 00:02:04.020 --> 00:02:08.140 it, and it will open in the default program for that file type. 00:02:08.140 --> 00:02:14.930 In this case, it opened in Windows Photo Viewer. 00:02:14.930 --> 00:02:19.790 If you want to delete a file, then you can select it and press the Delete key. 00:02:19.790 --> 00:02:24.909 When you do this, it won't permanently delete the file, it will just move it to the Recycle Bin. 00:02:24.909 --> 00:02:28.790 So if you change your mind, you can still recover the file, but if you're sure that 00:02:28.790 --> 00:02:34.560 you want to permanently delete it, then you'll need to Empty the Recycle Bin. 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:39.310 Finally, let's go back to the Start menu. 00:02:39.310 --> 00:02:42.790 If you're ever not sure where something is on your computer, there's a good chance that 00:02:42.790 --> 00:02:44.880 you can find it in the Start menu. 00:02:44.880 --> 00:02:49.940 For example, you can go to the Control Panel to adjust any of the settings for your computer. 00:02:49.940 --> 00:02:51.750 You can view Windows Help. 00:02:51.750 --> 00:02:56.060 Or, if you're finished using your computer, you can shut it down. 00:02:56.060 --> 00:03:01.550 If you don't want to completely turn it off, you can just Log off or put your computer to sleep. 00:03:01.550 --> 00:03:05.810 So these are just the very basics of using Windows, and all of these things will become 00:03:05.810 --> 00:03:08.200 second nature to you as you get more practice.