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For New Users
Have you just thought about buying a new computer? Not committed yourself yet? We have a page or two for you as well! For help and advice about what to look for in a new computer, please click here (opens in a new window).
I have already bought it!
So, you have bought yourself a nice new shiney computer and it's suddenly dawned on you that you don't know as much about it as you perhaps should do? Don't panic! you are in good company - there are more than plenty of computer users who are in the same boat! What can you do?
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| Spend a fortune phoning a call centre? | Stay up all night and work it out? | Take it to someone who knows? |
Starting up and Shutting Down
| To start up any computer, there really is only one way to do it. With a laptop, the 'On' button is usually located in the horizontal flat area just above the keyboard, whilst on a desktop computer, it is invariably in the front panel, about mid-way up. These button switches are, technically, only the 'switch on' buttons.
Unless there is a fault with the computer, for example the screen images have 'frozen', and there is no other of re-starting the computer, this button should NOT BE USED TO SWITCH OFF THE COMPUTER. |
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Beep!
When your computer first starts up there is a audible 'beep' from the interior. This is quite normal and is known as the 'POST' beep. POST stands for Power On Self Test, and is a quick check completed by the computer's software to make sure that all is well with the loading procedure.
During the start up (or 'boot up', as it is known), the screen will display a series of scrolling text and possibly some basic images (usually from the manufacturer) displayed on a black background. 'Windows' itself starts with a display (called a 'Splash Screen') that looks something like this:
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| Windows XP | Windows Vista/7 |
Followed by...
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| Windows XP | Windows Vista/7 |
Shutting Down
To close Windows down correctly, you need to click on the 'Start' button. In Windows XP it looks like the image on the left, and in Vista or 7, it looks like the image on the right (below).
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| Windows XP | Windows Vista/7 |
So, once you have clicked on the Start button, you now need to give Windows more instructions. If you are using Windows XP, click on the red icon, if you are using Vista, click on the white arrow on the right-hand side, like this:
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| Windows XP | Windows Vista/7 |
With XP, you will get yet another opportunity to tell the computer you want it to shut down (yawn!), but with Vista/7, once you click the white arrow, a small sub-menu immediately pops out and you can click on the words 'Shut down'. After that, all open programmes will systematically switch off and Windows will close down.
Other options included in the shut down procedure include the ability to re-start (or re-boot) the computer, should this be required after software has been installed or un-installed.
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