An Introduction to Windows 95/98

Windows 95/98 User Interface

Windows 95/98 is a graphical user interface (GUI) for use on PCs. Windows 95/98 provides an easy to learn common graphical interface that can run multiple programs at one time. The interface and applications running under Windows 95/98 all share a common "look and feel" making it easier to start tasks, find resources, and use applications.

The Start Button and the Task Bar

The Start Button is located on the Task Bar on the bottom of the screen. The Start menu provides novice and advanced users an easy and direct method to access programs, help, network drives, and other resources. The Task Bar also provides an easy way to move between windows (and applications) that are open.

Applications, on-line help, and network drives are accessed through the Start Menu. The Start Menu is appears when you click on the Start button in the lower lefthand corner of the screen. The Trinity Standard Configuration includes three groups of resources located at the top of the Start Menu. These menu items contain applications and network resources supported by the Computing Center. Applications are launched by clicking on the Start button, then on the appropriate item from the menu that appears. Generally this will open a submenu from which the desired application may be selected.

Trinity Standard Configuration

PCs supported by Trinity will have three special menu items available under the Start menu.

The Standard Applications menu item within the Start menu provides access to all of the common applications used here at Trinity. The Informations Services menu item provides access to internet based services including a web browser (Netscape and Internet Explorer), Telnet + Tn3270 (via TCP3270), and FTP. The Network Servers menu item provides easy access to a few of the most commonly used network drives.

Icons

All files on a Windows 95/98 based PC appear as icons. Icons are used to represent files, folders, shortcuts, hard drives, and network drives.

Basic Mouse Operation

Single and Double-Clicking

PCs have two mouse buttons. The left button is used for clicking on items to select or open them. The right mouse button typically accesses a menu specific to the application or icon that is currently active.

Objects can be "selected" by pointing the mouse directly on the object and single-clicking to select. To "deselect" an object, click off the object in a blank space within the window or in the desktop. Programs and folders can be opened by double-clicking on their icons. Double-clicking must be done quickly without moving the mouse between clicks.

Important: If you click too slowly or move the mouse (even a little) during the double-click the computer interprets your actions as two single clicks.

Point, Click, and Drag

Dragging can be used to move or copy files, folders, and programs. To drag an icon, move the mouse cursor onto the icon of the file or folder, press and hold down the left mouse button, and then drag the item to the new location. For example, to move an file from one folder to another, click on the file's icon in one folder, drag it to the destination folder and "drop" it by releasing the mouse button.

Selecting More Than One Item

Often we want to move or copy multiple items at one time. To select items that are not in a series, hold down the Ctrl key while clicking on each individual item. A series of files can be selected by clicking on the first item, then hold down the Shift key while clicking on the last item in the series. Be sure to hold down the Ctrl or Shift key while adding items, otherwise the previously selected items will be deselected.

Basic Window Operation

Window Anatomy

Here's a quick guide to the various parts of a window.

Moving a Window

The top section of a window is known as the title bar. Window can be moved around the screen by placing the mouse pointer on the title bar (in an area where there are no buttons), holding the left mouse pointer down and dragging the mouse. The outline of the window will move with the mouse cursor until the mouse button is released. Once the button is released, the window will shift to the new location.

Closing a Window

The easiest method to close a window is to click on the Close Button (the button with the "X") in the upper righthand corner of the window.

Minimizing, Maximizing and Restoring Windows

The Minimize and Maximize buttons are located in the upper righthand corner of every window. The Minimize Button will shrink the window into a button located on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. When you want to Restore the window simply click on the appropriate button on the taskbar. The Maximize Button will expand the window so it uses the full screen. When a window is maximized, the Maximize Button will then toggle you back to the original window size.

Resizing a Window

The easiest way to resize a window is to place the mouse cursor on the lower righthand "Window Corner" until the cursor turns into a double headed arrow. Then, hold down the mouse button and drag the corner of the window to the desired size. Windows can also be resized by dragging the side edges of the window. Move the cursor to the edge of the window (until the cursor turns into a double headed arrow), then hold down the mouse button and drag the edge of the window to a new size.

Scroll Bars

Windows are often unable to show every item available within the window. Scroll Bars are used to view items hidden by the limitations of the window size. Scroll bars are available only when they are needed and are located on the bottom and/or the righthand side of a window.

Scroll Arrows are the easiest way to move around a window's content. Place the mouse cursor on a Scroll Arrow and hold down the mouse button. The Scroll Box or Thumb Wheel, located on the Scroll Bar, represents how far you are through the window or document. This box will move as the view changes, for example after scrolling through half of a document the box will be located near the middle of the scroll bar. In addition, the box can be dragged around on the scroll bar to jump to a particular spot. Simply place your cursor on the Scroll Box, hold down the mouse button and drag the box up or down.

Managing Your Windows: Tile and Cascade

Windows 95/98 allows you to have many windows open at any one time. Often you will want to organize these windows to find, copy, or move items. The tile and cascade commands provide you with an easy and quick way of organizing these windows. To tile or cascade the windows on your desktop:

Place your cursor an empty portion of the task bar at the bottom of your screen.
Click the right mouse button. A menu will appear.
Select the Tile or Cascade command.

Copying, Moving, and Deleting Files and Folders

Copying and Moving Files and Folders

To copy or move files and folders, drag the item's icon from the original location to the new location. If files are being dragged to a folder on the same disk, they will be moved by default and not copied. Likewise, if the files are dragged to a different disk, they are copied by default. The opposite action (making a duplicate copy) can be performed by holding down Ctrl while dragging the files (or folders) to their new location. Also, by holding down the Shift key instead of the Ctrl, the original file is only moved to new destination and not copied.

<Ctrl> + drage file = copy original into new destination.
<Shift> + drag file = move original file to new destination.

Important:When program icons are dragged to a new folder, Windows 95/98 will create a "shortcut" to the program instead of moving it. To move a program, hold down the shift key while dragging the icon to the new folder.

Hard drives, floppy drives, and network drives can be accessed through the desktop icon named My Computer or the Windows Explorer program.

Deleting Files and Folders

File(s) and folder(s) can be deleted by dragging their icon(s) onto the Recycle Bin. Items that are placed in the bin remain there until you "empty" the bin by clicking on the Recycle Bin with the right mouse button and selecting Empty Recycle Bin.

Connecting and Disconnecting a Network Drive

Network Navigation: Finding a Network Drive

Windows 95/98 PCs that are supported by Trinity College have a Start menu item called Network Servers. Network Servers provide easy access to commonly used network resources. These resources include network drives used by certain classes, Bantam (which houses Trinity supported software), and Data (an archive of data used in research).

If you need to access other network drives you will need to browse to the drive using the Windows Explorer or by opening the desktop icon named Network Access.

Network resources maintained by the Computing Center are located under Entire Network and then Cmpcntr. The most commonly used network drives are located on Zep.Serve. If you are trying to access a computer that is setup for file sharing, look for the computer under the appropriate zone under "Entire Network".

Connecting to a Network Drive

Under the Network Access desktop icon or using the Windows Explorer, browse to the desired network resource under "Entire Network" (see previous section). Windows 95/98 can also browse to network drives using the Save or Open dialog boxes within applications.Windows 95/98 can open and save files to a network drive without having to "map" or "connect" to the network drive.

Note: Some applications do not take advantage of this feature of Windows 95/98. These programs can only use network drives that are "mapped" with a drive letter.

Mapping a Network Drive

To "Map" a network drive, highlight the desired network resource, click on the right mouse button, and select Map Network Drive... from the menu. A dialog box will appear asking you to select a drive letter and whether you want to connect to the drive next time the computer starts up. When you are connected to a network drive, the drive icon is available within the My Computer desktop icon.

Disconnecting a Network Drive

To disconnect a network drive, open the My Computer desktop icon, highlight the network drive icon you would like to disconnect, click on the right mouse button, and select Disconnect from the menu.

Major Differences Between Windows 95 and Windows 98

There are only a few major improvements in Windows 98 compared toWindows 95. Windows 98 is easier to use and software installation is more user-friendly. Desktop options, such as single-clicking to open files and the addition of browse buttons in every window, allow the user to navigate around the computer with ease. Using the World Wide Web has also become much easier. With an option called Active Desktop, you are able to view Web pages in any window--even make a web page to be your desktop wallpaper. There are many "help wizards" which help the unexperienced user setup applications. Task-managing has also been improved to make Windows 98 easier to use. There is an enhanced hard disk scan/clean-up/defragment utility which checks and manages your hard disk performance, while new power-saving features let you configure your machine so you don't have to worry about shutting it down every day. You can also use DVD or attach fast-speed peripherals to a USB port, supported by Windows 98. Windows 98 comes with larger software support, like DirectX, OpenGL, and a larger set of drivers which assist in the installation of new hardware.

Customizing the GUI under Windows 98

Windows 98 allows the user to customize the Graphical User Interface (GUI). By right-clicking on the "Start" button in the lower left-hand corner, you can add, move, or remove items from the Start-Menu. Often-used programs like Word, or Winzip, or important folders like "My Documents" could be added to the Send to option in the menu, which pops up when you right click on a file or folder, by typing "sendto" under Run in the Start menu. Then just drag a shortcut of the desired folder or applicaiton into the opened "sendto" folder. Or you can customize your taskbar with shortcuts to files and folders by dragging and dropping a shortcut of the desired item onto the toolbar.

Most users will probably want to enable Windows 98's Web View and Active Desktop features, which provides a variety of user interface enhancements such as previews of graphics and HTML files, single-click file access, web-like directory browsing. In addition, your desktop can have the properties of a webpage viewed in a browser if the View as a Webpage choice is checked. All these options can be configured if you click on the "View" menu in any open folder and then click "Options." If those are enabled, Windows 98 has a very different look and feel than earlier Windows releases.

FAT32 File System

A file system is used by your computer when you save files. It controls how your files and folders are stored on your hard disk, by saving them in small areas called clusters. The smaller the cluster size that is being used results in a more efficient file storage. A FAT16 cluster size is exclusively used by earlier versions of Windows. A smaller cluster size (therefore, a more efficient file system) is used by the FAT32 file system. Windows 98 uses FAT16 by default, but there is the option of changing it to FAT32, thus improving disk performance and increasing available disk space.

Exiting Windows 95/98

When you are ready to shut your computer down never reach for the power button before "Shutting down Windows". Windows 95/98 needs to close down system files and check to make sure you saved all your work before the power is turned off. Always use the Shut Down... selection from the Start menu.

A Shut Down Windows dialog box will apear with a few options including shut down the computer, restart the computer, and log on as a different user. To shut down the computer select Shut down the computer and click OK.

More Information

Online Help

Windows 95/98 has a built-in task oriented online help and a graphical tutorial. Help is available by selecting the Help icon from the Start menu in the lower lefthand corner of the screen.

Help can also be accessed by selecting Help Topics from the Help menu located just under the title bar of any window.

Windows Online Tour

Windows 95/98 has a built-in tutorial. The tutor, if it is installed on your computer, can be access by selecting the Help icon from the Start menu in the lower lefthand corner of the screen. From the Help Topics window double click on "Tour: Ten Minutes to using Windows". Each tab helps you find specifice information: the Contents tab to locate topics, the Index tab to look up keywords, and the Search tab to search for text. For Windows 98 users, you can access the Discover Windows 98 online tutorial by clicking on the Start button and selecting Run. In the dialog box, type tour98 and click OK.