Chapter 3 summary

Well, I trekked in from the Blog Entry link on the Assignment chart, so we'll see if that gets things marked correctly regarding  the blog.  Or maybe Rob will review blog entries at the end of the semester.

Chapter 3 discusses files and file management.  More review for those of us who are familiar with older versions of Windows.

The Computer Folder window is, more or less, Win7's version of File Manager.  The top level deals with the hard disk drives and removable drives connected to the system (including, interestingly enough, my smartphone . . . ) To descend into subdirectories click the arrow to the right of the file name; a drop-down list will show subdirectories.  Hovering over a file name will show a summary of the file; hovering over a directory will show how much space it has and how much space is not being used.  A search box makes searching for files and folders much simpler than in WinXP.

To minimize all windows but the active window, grab the title bar of the active window and shake it. (By golly, it works!) All other windows will be minimized.  This is a toggle command; shaking the title bar again will restore all windows. Right-clicking the toolbar will give options to cascade, stack, side-by-side (tile) the windows or minimize all windows and show the desktop. Right-clicking the toolbar again will undo the most recently selected command.

The Pictures library gives quick access to the pictures you have saved to your Win7 computer. It also stores bits of image like page borders, backgrounds, and splats. Much time and paper is spent discussing saving, viewing and changing the properties of a picture; it's basically the same as any other file.  You can also view your Pictures as a slide show.

The Music library gives a place to store the sound files you would play on Win Media Player or any other sound file player.

Chapter 3 then discusses backing up files and folders, renaming folders, formatting optical discs for backup (DVDs! CDs are now too small!), creating an optical disc backup, ejecting the disc, restoring folders from backup (DVD or USB), and proper removal of the USB drive.  (I need to show my husband this one! *sigh*) (By the way, at MPL I have a persistent problem that when I ask those computers to eject my USB drive it says the USB drive is still in use -- balderdash! -- and I end up shutting down the computer to get it to power cycle so I can remove my USB drive while the drive unit is down.  Is there a more elegant work-around?)

Summary of Chapter 2

In Chapter 2, we discuss how to open WordPad, create and edit a document in WordPad, move and rename a file, create and move a folder, store documents on an external USB drive, delete and restore shortcuts, files and folders with the Recycle Bin, and how to customize and rearrange gadgets.

WordPad is a very basic word processor.  Win7's WordPad is slightly more sophisticated than in WinXP, but you still wouldn't want it as your only word processing software!  I tried Word 13 in Lab B, and it makes my eyes cross.  What was wrong with Word 03, or Word 10 for that matter?

The Documents Library was a learning curve for me when I first started working with Win7 at the library.  Once I realized that it was mostly a reformat of my old familiar File Manager, it all fell into place. I do like the shortcuts on the left side of the page!

Win7 also emulates a web browser in having what resembles a URL locator bar -- the Address Bar.  In previous versions, you had to know the document address -- E:/mcc/CDM130 Intro Windows/Chapter2.Activity1.Heimsoth.rtf, for example -- to use the Address Bar to find the document.  Win7 treats each directory level as a drop-down list.

Shortcuts work pretty much as they did in previous versions. It is nice to be able to drag and drop shortcut icons onto the Start Button rather than having to hunt down the Add to Start Menu command.

I like the Gadgets -- one of the few things that makes me wish I could run Win7 at home. I played with these when I was working on a Win7 computer on assignment once.

And, as before, they show us how to put all our toys away and shut down the computer.

Summary of Chapter 1

Chapter 1 is one of those boring chapters that people who have never worked with Windows before need, and most of us who have already used Windows skim over or skip completely.  It discusses the differences between labeled versions of Win7, basic concepts of Win7 use (both familiar concepts like desktop and icon and more abstruse ones such as Aero, Aero Glass and Aero Flip 3D), how to launch Win7, the Win7 desktop, how to move around the desktop, open, close and resize windows, scrolling through windows, maximizing, minimizing, and restoring windows, possible pitfalls of double-clicking, moving windows, expanding folders to see subfolders and files in the Library, sizing a window by dragging, collapsing folders to hide the subfolders and files (in the Library), deleting icons and emptying the recycle bin, adding and removing gadgets to the desktop (sort of an app for a desktop computer), and launching and switching between programs. It also discusses Windows Help and Support in some detail, and discusses how to add, use and delete favorites.  It then -- not surprisingly -- shows how to close Internet Explorer, Windows Help and Support, how to empty the Recycle Bin, and how to log off and turn off the computer.

For that I needed a book?

IE? Really?

What is this love affair this course has with IE, and why do pages show up differently on IE than on other browsers anyway?  I hate using IE because it is buggier and spammier than anything else out there.  At least Google's subtle about their data tracking. . . .

Summary Wed 10/22/14

I have managed to submit something for 1:4, even though I can't do 1:2.  Oh, yeah, forgot about 1:3 but I should be able to do that, since I have admin access to the Lab E computer. And I checked out a copy of the textbook from the library, which will see me through the middle of November, and if I can renew it it will get me through the course.  Yay!

Chapter1.Activity2

Okay, found my way to the Building E computer lab (there has to be an easier way in!).  Submitted Assignment 4, working on Assignment 2. Even here, the screens don't look right, but I have to be able to do the assignment here.

And it zonks me anyway.  Probably because I don't have a domain name.  This is really getting frustrating.

Chapter 1 summary without book

Of course, since I haven't got the textbook, summarizing the first chapter is out of the question.  Is there supposed to be sound on the slide show?

Chapter1.Exercise3 commentary (can't do exercise)

Aaaand . . . Exercise 3 needs the profile I can't create, and Exercise 4 hasn't got a button either.

UPDATE:  I finally figured out how the Submit Assignment thing works.  Weird, not how I would have programmed it; I wonder how the Any-Key crowd deals with it?

Chapter 1 in the MCC Atrium

I get to MCC and it's locked up tighter than a drum.  Even the library is closed.  How can an assignment be due before the college opens for the semester?  I'm on an atrium computer, but it's not running Win7 (or it's strongly locked down; either way more useless than MPL for my purposes).  Barnes and Noble wants a credit card for my book, which I have to buy before WIA will reimburse me for it. (I refuse to pay more for a paperback computer book that is probably already outdated than I paid for my hardbound chemistry textbooks back in the Dark Ages!)  I have no textbook to summarize, and no computer that will allow me to create a new profile.  Meanwhile WIA won't accept that I need an external hard drive for the course till they either see it in the syllabus or get a letter from the instructor (apparently the blurb in the catalog won't do).  And I'm finally working again -- from 8 to 5 in Lincolnshire. Why did I want to go back to college anyway?

I have an event tomorrow, so I can't try the distance computers tomorrow, and by the time I get back to MPL they'll be closed.  Argh!

Okay, let's try running Chapter 1 Assignment 1 again.

And I click Submit Assignment -- and nothing happens.  ARGH!

Chapter 1 Activity 3 and 4 rely on separate account

And I can't do Activity 3 or 4 till I get a separate account established.  Murgh.

Update 10/26/14: I discovered that I can mess around with Gadgets on the DL computers, I just can't save anything.

Chapter 1 Activity 2 on a locked down computer (MPL)

Chapter 1 Activity 2: Create a new User Account. Uh-oh.  Can't do that at McHenry Library (at least not on the public computers!).

I'll have to try either the Distance Learning computers or go out to MCC (my machine at home is still running XP and 1) I can't afford new software, and 2) I'm not sure it can handle Win7; I got free Win8 but Microsoft says it won't run on my computer at home . . . )

10/22/14: According to the Win7 analyzer, my machine at home needs a lot more RAM and probably a new mobo since I already have as many memory cards as it will take.  I don't have time for this . . .

Chapter 1 Activity 1

Okay. Chapter 1 Activity 1: take a Window Snip of the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties Window.  So far so good.  Snipping Tool -- oh, okay, I've used that before.  "Submit the file by clicking the Attachments button below." Huh?  What Attachments button?  That must be somewhere near the Any key . . . and I can't figure out how to link an attachment from my USB drive.  Hm.  

AHA! Found the Choose Files key!

10/22/14: The Building E computers do have the button.  I'm not sure why it doesn't show up in the Atrium or at MPL.

First post

I logged into Canvas tonight and learned that distance education isn't what it used to be!  I'd better get pulled together and get serious; first assignment due Sunday!