3651H - Use Advanced Features of Computer Applications



3651H - Use Advanced Features of Computer Applications

Week 15– Configuring the Desktop

Shortcuts

Shortcuts provide easy access to the programs and documents you use most often. A shortcut does not change a document’s location and deleting a shortcut will not delete the original document.

Activity 1 - Put a Shortcut on the Desktop

1. In Windows Explorer, click the item such as a file, program, folder that you want to create a shortcut to eg C:\Windows\Calc.exe.

2. On the file menu click Create Shortcut.

3. Drag the shortcut icon to the desktop.

Note: You can also right-click on the desktop, select New Shortcut and then browse for the program you want it to run.

If you want the shortcut on the top section of the Start menu then you can drag the icon to the Start button.

To change any of the settings for the shortcut then right-click on the shortcut and choose Properties from the drop down menu.

To delete a shortcut, just drag it to the recycle bin.

Start Menu

The programs you see listed in the Programs menu of your Start menu are shortcuts to the programs. These shortcuts are stored in C:\Windows\Start Menu\Programs. Shortcuts have an extension of .lnk and when you delete a shortcut you delete the .lnk file, not the program. You can edit the start menu so that

• programs run automatically when you start up Windows 95

• your favourite programs are listed at the top

• you have your own sub menus.

Editing the Start Menu.

1. Select Settings from the start menu.

2. Select Taskbar

3. Select the Start Menu Programs tab

4. Click the Add button

5. Click Browse and select the program you want eg Calc.exe and then click Next.

6. Choose the folder you want to add it to.

- C:\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp – to automatically run when you startup Windows

- C:\Windows\Start Menu\Programs – to appear on the Program Menu of your Start Menu

- C:\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\XXXX – to appear on the XXXX sub menu

- C:\Windows\Desktop – to put them on your desktop

Activity 2 – The Start Menu

1. Make Word start as soon as you start your computer

2. Add a shortcut to NotePad onto the desktop

3. Add a shortcut to Paint to the top section of the Start menu

Sub Menus

To add a new submenu to the Programs menu you need to perform the following steps:

1. Right-click on the Start button

2. Click on Open

3. Double-click on the Programs folder

4. Click the File menu and point to New.

5. Click Folder and type in the name for you submenu.

6. Press Enter.

7. Double-click the folder you have just created.

8. On the File menu point to New and click on Shortcut.

9. Use the shortcut wizard to add items to the submenu.

Activity 3 – Create a Sub Menu.

1. Create a submenu called Music.

2. Create shortcuts on this submenu to all of your files related to your Music database eg Music.mdb, Austrian Composers.doc, German Composers.doc(Task 10).

Desktop Properties

To change any of the features of the desktop you can right-click on it and select Properties (or double click on the display icon in the control panel). This will allow you to change your screensaver, background, appearance and screen resolution.

Profiles

If you have different users with different requirements on your computer then you can create separate desktops for each. To do this, you double-click on the Password icon in the control panel and select the User Profiles tab. Select the Users can customise … radio button and then decide whether to have just the desktop icons configurable for each user or to also include the Start menu and all items in the Program menu. When you have decided the desirable options then click OK. When you re-boot you will be presented with a sign-on screen that will allow you to enter a new user’s name and their password. You will then be able to create a profile for this user. A whole new directory structure will be created for each user in C:\Windows\Profiles\[Name of User]\Desktop\Start Menu. If you click the Cancel button or press Esc when logging on then you will go to the default desktop which is stored in C:\Windows\Desktop\Start Menu.

If users want their own desktop settings on any computer on the network, then you need to copy their User.dat file to their home directory on the server. If you want to stop users from changing their settings, then you should rename the User.dat file to User.man and make it read only and hidden.

System Policies

System policies allow you to control and manage computers on the network for each user or groups of users. This allows you to configure standard desktop and network settings, restrict access to the options available in the control panel and restrict functions available from the desktop such as the Run command.

To use system policies you need to:

1. Store the Config.pol file (where your system policy entries are set) on a secure server in the directory:

\\primary domain controller\netlogin\ for NT

Public directory for a NetWare server.

2. Install POLEDIT on the administrator’s computer.

3. Enable user profiles on the user’s computers. If you don’t do this only the computer settings (not the user settings) will be upgraded in the registry.

When the user logs-on the settings in the policy file overwrite the defaults in the users registry by modifying User.dat and System.dat. The System Policy Editor is used to create policies. You need to install it from the ADMIN\APPTOOLS\POLEDIT directory of the Windows 95 CD-ROM. You can install it by using Add/Remove Programs in the control panel, selecting the Windows Setup tab, clicking on Have Disk button and browsing for the GROUPPOL.INF file.

To run the system policy editor, select Run from the Start menu and type in POLEDIT. Select the file you want to open or create a new one. If you are asked to select a *.adm file then select the default one that you installed, usually C:\Windows\inf\admin.adm. Double-click the Default User to view the policies for this user. The areas you can manage are the control panel, desktop, network, shell and the system. Press * on the numeric keypad to expand all entries. Tick the items you want to restrict. Click OK when you have finished. Double-click the Default Computer to view the policies associated with this.

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