Wiley Mastering Microsoft Windows Vista Home: Premium and Basic
Contents
1. MZ A NS 46147book book Page 1 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM Y Up and Running with Windows Vista Chapter 1 Getting Started with Windows Vista Chapter 2 Connecting to the Internet and Surfing the Web Chapter 3 Customizing Your Desktop Chapter 4 Installing Removing and Running Programs Chapter 5 Managing Your Files and Folders Chapter 6 Making the Most of the Bundled Programs Chapter 7 Finding Help to Solve Your Windows Problems 9 E E EE E E o WZ NS Y y 46147book book Page 2 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM NZ Zl Yy 46147book book Page 3 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM Chapter 1 Getting Started with Windows Vista Understanding the differences among Administrator Standard and Guest users Logging on and logging off Using the Desktop and the Start menu Switching to another user without closing your programs Locking the computer Checking which user is currently active Seeing who else is logged on to the computer Seeing which programs the other users are running Logging off another user Sending a message to another user Using the Windows Key Putting your computer to sleep 96 0 8 8 98 8 48 18 18 HF OH oo o Shutting down Windows This chapter shows you how to get started with Windows Vista You ll learn how to log on and log off how to troubleshoot logon problems how to switch from one user session to another without closing all your programs h2. File Options View Help Applications Processes Services Performance Networking Users Name PID Description Status Group samss 576 Security Ac Run ProtectedStorage Protected Stop ay NetTcpPortShaning Net Tep Po Stop Netlogon Netlogon Stop Start Service BthServ Stop Service bthsves PlugPlay Rann Deombaunch DcomLaunch Go to Process Runn DeomLaunch WinkttpAutorre mr Stop LocalService WebGient 11 WebCient Runn LocalService wencsvc Windows Stop LocalService W3ZTme 1156 WindowsTi Runn LocaService upnphost 1155 UPnP Devic Runn LocalService THREADORDER Thread Or Stop LocalService l Services Processes 81 CPU Usage 2 Physical Memory 52 lf you still can t identify processes try searching on the Web At this writing one of the best lists is at http www processid com processes htm1 Failing that put the process name and Windows Vista into your favorite search engine and you should turn up plenty of hits 0 te 46147book book Page 17 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM LOGGING OFF ANOTHER USER 17 FIGURE 1 9 f 5 Use the P A 2 Windows Task Manager se the Frocesses File ST page of Task Manager Applications Processes re T sues to see which programs the otherusersare Image Name User Name CPU Memory Priv Description a A taskeng exe uly co 1 084K Task Schedu
3. Processes tab Windows displays the Processes page which lists the processes you re running 3 Click the Show Processes from All Users button and then authenticate yourself to User Account Control Task Manager replaces the Show Processes from All Users button with the Show Processes from All Users check box which it selects and adds to the list all the pro cesses that the other users are running as well Figure 1 9 shows an example of the Processes page You can sort the list of processes by any col umn by clicking the column heading click once to sort in ascending order and click again to sort in descending order In the figure the processes are sorted by the User Name column so that it s easy to see which process belongs to which user The figure shows only part of the list but you can see the users Lily and Mick are both run ning and 57 percent of the physical memory is in use The Mem Usage column lets you see which programs are using more memory than others See the sidebar called Finding Out Which Pro cess Belongs to Which Program for details on how to find out which programs these processes represent In the figure you ll see that Windows also has a number of processes open on its own account The LOCAL SERVICE account and the NETWORK SERVICE account are each running several instances of the SVCHOST EXE service host process each together with various other processes Not shown in the figure is the SYSTEM account wh
4. user who is logged on but not active is said to be disconnected This means that for example Jane and Jack can keep their programs open while Ross is using the computer When Ross disconnects and ambles off for a cup of coffee Jane logs back on Win dows resumes Jane s session from where she left off displaying the programs she had running and the files she had open Windows reestablishes any of Jane s persistent network connections includ ing any Internet connection that s set to connect automatically Being able to leave multiple users up and running is great up to a point But it has serious implications for performance The sidebar You May Want to Avoid Using Fast User Switching to Improve Performance discusses these considerations briefly Logging On To start using Windows log on from the Welcome screen Figure 1 1 shows an example of the Wel come screen which displays a list of the users who have accounts set up on the computer If a user is logged on the Welcome screen displays Logged on beneath the name 0 Zl y 46147book book Page 5 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM LOGGING ON AND LOGGING OFF 5 HOW LOGGING ON AND OFF WORKED IN WINDOWS 95 98 ME AND WINDOWS 2000 Logging on and off in Windows Vista works in much the same way as in Windows XP But in versions of Windows before Windows XP only one user at a time could be logged on to a computer running Win dows Fora second user to log on the fi
5. age to shutting down Windows this way unless you happen to enjoy it Shut Down Windows porros Coses all open programs shuts down Windows and then turns off your computer OK aa Zl NS 46147book book Page 22 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM 22 CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED WITH WINDOWS VISTA You can also shut Windows down from the Welcome screen by clicking the Power button If any user including yourself is logged on Windows warns you of the problem as shown here Usually you ll want to click the No button so that you can either log off the other users or have them log themselves off but you may sometimes need to click the Yes button and shut down their user sessions without saving data Windows ex Other people are logged on to this computer Shutting down Jh windows might cause them to lose data Do you want to continue shutting down aul No After you issue the Shut Down command in one of these ways Windows closes any open files shuts itself down and then powers off the computer If your computer has an unorthodox power setup you may need to power it off manually The Bottom Line Understanding the differences among Administrator Standard and Guest users An Admin istrator user can customize Windows freely a Standard user can customize their own user account and the Guest user can perform almost no customization Logging on and logging off To use Windows a
6. aver to start after 10 minutes and to display the Welcome screen when you interrupt the screen saver The screen saver gives you some protection against pry ing eyes particularly if you re using passwords for logging on but it also makes it harder to see who s doing what on the computer Chapter 3 discusses how to choose screen saver settings FIGURE 1 2 When you ve finished using Windows log off A Internet Internet Explorer y E mail Leo Windows Mail Y Paint Mp Backup and Restore Center al Notepad is Windows Media Center gt amp Windows Live Messenger O Windows Media Player c lz Microsoft Office Word 2007 Beta Network al winaows Remote Assistance Connect To did Command Prompt Control Panel Default Programs All Programs a 46147book book Page 9 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM USING THE DESKTOP AND THE START MENU 9 Using the Desktop and the Start Menu Once you ve logged on Windows displays the Desktop the background area that Windows pro vides for you to spread your work across Figure 1 3 shows what the Desktop looks like the first time you start Windows and start a couple of programs Because you can customize the Desktop extensively as discussed in Chapter 3 your Desktop might not look anything like the Desktop shown in the figure The wallpaper might be different the Taskbar could be located at a different side of the scr
7. ay a menu of keyboard layouts You may need to change keyboard layout to type your password correctly Click here to display a menu of power related actions Restart Sleep and Shut Down To log on click your username If Windows prompts you for a password as shown here type the password and press Enter or click the arrow button Logging on is usually as simple as that but you may run into any of several complications You may have to press Ctrl Alt Delete before you can log on If so Windows displays a message instructing you to do so Pressing Ctrl Alt Delete is a security measure that ensures that what appears to be the Welcome screen actually is the Welcome screen rather than a piece of malware pretending to be the Welcome screen for example to capture your username and password See Forcing Users to Press Ctrl Alt Delete When Logging On in Chapter 8 for instructions on setting up this security measure e a 46147book book Page 7 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM P LOGGING ON AND LOGGING OFF 7 Ifyou enter the wrong password for the username you chose Windows tells you The user name or password is incorrect as shown here Click the OK button and Windows then dis plays your password hint if you created one x y user name or password is incorrect gt y A DS aa e Passwords are case sensitive so you must type your password using the correct case Windows Vista warns you
8. displays your session again with all the programs and windows as you left them Locking the Computer Instead of switching user you can lock your computer Locking is almost the same as switching user as it leaves your open programs running but instead of displaying the Welcome screen with all the user accounts listed it shows only your user account together with the information that you re logged on and the computer is locked You can then log on by clicking your icon and enter ing your password or switch user by clicking the Switch User button clicking the Switch User but ton again on the resulting screen and then using the Welcome screen to log on as usual Figure 1 7 shows an example of Windows in its locked state FIGURE 1 7 When you ve locked your computer Windows displays only your user account together with the word Locked to indicate its status Click your icon to log on or click the Switch User button if you need to switch to another user account a 46147book book Page 13 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM Password ta Windows Vista Home Premium LOCKING THE COMPUTER To lock Windows press Windows Key L Alternatively click the Start button and then click the Lock button as shown here You can also click the right arrow button to the right of the Lock icon and choose Lock from the pop up menu but clicking the Lock icon itself is easier Internet Internet Explo
9. e next time they log on Open Task Manager and then click the Users tab Right click the user choose Send Message from the short cut menu type the message in the resulting dialog box and then click the OK button Using the Windows Key Windows Vista offers various shortcuts using the Windows Key For example press Windows Key D to display the Desktop or press Windows Key L to lock Windows Putting your computer to sleep To put your computer to sleep so that you can resume your Windows session later without having to reopen programs and documents click the Start but ton and then click the Power button on the Start menu Press the power button on your com puter to wake Windows again Shutting down Windows To shut down Windows and your computer click the Start but ton click the right arrow button to the right of the Lock icon and then choose Shut Down from the menu Y y 46147book book Page 24 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM NZ
10. een or various toolbars might be displayed About the only unchanging thing about the Desktop is the Start menu button but even this might not be displayed if someone has chosen to hide the Taskbar of which the Start button is part You ll meet the Desktop in more detail in the forthcoming chapters but these are the basic actions for navigating it The Desktop contains one or more shortcuts to items Usually there s an icon for the Recycle Bin if nothing else Double click an icon to run the program associated with it The Start menu see Figure 1 4 provides access to the full range of programs and features currently installed on Windows To display the Start menu click the Start button press the Windows key on the keyboard or press Ctrl Esc for example if your keyboard doesn t have a Windows key Choose one of the items that appears on it or click the All Programs button to display a menu containing further items FIGURE 1 3 The components of Icon the Windows Desktop Desktop Background Gadgets in the sidebar Program Windows Windows Sidebar Taskbar Buttons Taskbar Start Button Notification Area FIGURE 1 4 Click the Start button to display the Start menu then click the item you want on the Start menu itself on the All Programs menu or on one of the folders it contains Click a folder to expand its contents click again to collapse the contents again Click the Back link to hide the All P
11. h it used to be called coolswitching or simply Alt Tabbing Along with the new name Win dows Vista introduces a new version of switching Press Windows Key Tab to display the open e a 46147book book Page 11 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM P USING THE DESKTOP AND THE START MENU 11 windows as a rotating stack see Figure 1 6 and then press Tab repeatedly to bring the window you want to the front When the window is at the front release the Windows Key Press Windows Key Shift Tab to move backward through the stack of windows As with the Alt Tab version of Windows Flip the Desktop appears in the stack of windows so you can use Windows Key Tab to display the Desktop You CAN NOW SWITCH TO THE DESKTOP VIA WINDOWS FLIP In a handy improvement over switching programs in earlier versions of Windows Windows Vista includes an entry for the Desktop in the Windows Flip list Selecting this item hides all programs allow ing you to see everything on the Desktop In earlier versions of Windows to get the same effect you would right click the notification area or open space in the Taskbar and choose Show the Desktop FIGURE 1 5 r Press Alt Tab to Congenital Lassitude Microsoft Word Windows Flip prem switch from one open program to another Select the Desktop item the rightmost icon shown here to display the Desktop hiding all programs FIGURE 1 6 Press Windows Key Tab to display the open
12. hat affect other user accounts a Standard user must supply an Administrator user s password Guest User The Guest user there s only one can run most programs but can perform almost no configuration or customization Microsoft recommends that you log on with a Standard user account except for when you need to perform computer wide administrative tasks In practice though you may well nor mally log on using an Administrator account This chapter gives instructions for both types of accounts Chapter 8 discusses how to create and manage user accounts and how to set a pass word on the main Administrator account for your computer Logging On and Logging Off To use Windows you need to log on to your user account a Windows identity usually using a password Once you ve logged on you can run programs customize Windows and generally get things done When you ve finished using Windows you can log off so that someone else can log on using their own user account When you log off Windows closes any programs you were running Instead of logging off you can switch user leaving your programs running in the background so that you can return to them later When you switch user Windows displays the Welcome screen so that another user can log on After that user has logged off or switched user you can log straight back into your session and pick up where you left off Only one user can be active actually using the computer at any time A
13. he computer Putting Your Computer to Sleep When you re not using your computer you can either put it to sleep as described here or shut it down completely as described in the next section Putting your computer to sleep lets you keep your programs and documents open so that you can resume work or play when you reawaken your computer Before you put your computer to sleep it s a good idea to save all open documents just in case your computer suffers a problem while asleep or restarting For example the power might go out To put your computer to sleep click the Start button and then click the Power button on the Start menu as shown here TD Ls ES internet Explorer 7 E mail Windows Mail Y Paint e Backup and Restore Center Pictures Music Notepad aa amp Windows Live Messenger Windows Media Center Windows Media Player Computer ES Microsort Omice PowerPoint 2007 Beta iremen Search Recent Items ER Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Beta Connect To AE Windows Sidebar Control Panel Default Programs Printers All Programs Help and Support Ce ee Saves your session and puts the computer in a low power state so that you can quickly resume working a 46147book book Page 21 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM SHUTTING DOWN WINDOWS 21 To wake your computer up again press its power button Depending on the computer and its con figuration you may also be able to wake it b
14. hown here Windows Task Manager x If you log off a user their unsaved data might be lost Do you want to continue Log off user l Cancel _ 4 Click the Log Off User button The other user s session is ended and they lose any data that they hadn t saved Sending a Message to Another User Windows provides a feature for sending a message to another user logged on to this computer Because the other user can t be using the computer at the same time as you this feature is no use for real time communication but it can be useful for making sure a family member or a colleague gets a message the next time they use the computer For example you might ask them not to shut down the computer because you re still using it It s also useful for notifying another user that you ve had to terminate a program that they were using To send a message to another user take the following steps 1 Right click the Taskbar and choose Task Manager from the shortcut menu to display Windows Task Manager 2 Click the Users tab Windows displays the Users page 3 Right click the user and choose Send Message from the shortcut menu Windows displays the Send Message dialog box shown here f Send Message iii Message title Message from Mick PC Will 12 6 2007 8 04 AM Message Remember not to switch the computer off lm still running a couple of programs ox cereal 4 Change the message title in the Mes
15. ich also various processes including SVCHOST EXE and a process called System Idle Process which indicates what percentage of the available processes are free Having a high percentage for System Idle Process indicates that your computer is handling its current workload easily A Real World Scenario FINDING OUT WHICH PROCESS BELONGS TO WHICH PROGRAM The Processes page of Task Manager is helpful but only up to a point The problem you ll usually face when looking at the list of processes in Task Manager is that you need to identify which program a par ticular process represents for example so that you can decide whether to stop the process as described later in this chapter Some of the other names are readily identifiable For example EXPLORER EXE is the executable for Windows Explorer and SIDEBAR EXE is the executable for the Windows Sidebar You don t need to memorize the mapping of each executable filename to its program but if you look at Task Manager now and then you ll learn to scan the list of processes and see which is running This will help you decide whether you should go ahead and log another user off Windows as described in the next sec tion or whether doing so will lose valuable data 46147book book Page 16 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM 16 CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED WITH WINDOWS VISTA To start finding out which program corresponds to each executable file click the Applications tab to display Tas
16. if Caps Lock is on as shown here Chris CA gt Agen Lock is on Y You may have to change the keyboard layout so that you can type your password correctly If the computer has two or more keyboard layouts available for example U S English and United States Dvorak Windows Vista displays a keyboard button in the lower left part of the Welcome screen Click the button to display a menu of available keyboard layouts and then click the keyboard layout you want If your keyboard has an embedded keypad using some letter keys to type numbers when Num Lock is on as the keyboards on most laptop computers do having Num Lock switched on may cause you to mistype your password Windows doesn t warn you about Num Lock being on So if you find Windows won t accept your password you ve checked the keyboard layout is correct and your keyboard has an embedded keypad look to see if Num Lock is causing the problem If you ve used Windows XP you ll notice a difference with the Welcome screen Apart from indicating that a user is logged on the Windows XP Welcome screen also displays the number of programs the user is running and the number of unread e mail messages they have When you ve entered the correct password Windows displays your Desktop with its cur rent settings The section Using the Desktop and the Start Menu a little later in this chapter discusses the basics of the Desktop and Start menu Chapter 3 discusses how to cust
17. istrator user can log another user off the computer Logging someone else off is something you should do only ina pinch because while you can use Task Manager to see which processes they re running as described in the previous section you can t see whether they have any unsaved work in them If you don t use passwords to log on to Windows it s much better to switch to the other user s account close the programs and documents manually and then switch back to your own account If you do use passwords you ll need to know the other user s password to log on to their account which largely defeats the point of having pass words in the first place Even so you may need to log off another user if they are running enough programs to affect the computer s performance or if they have open a program that can be used only by a single person at a time or a document that you need to use To log off another user take the following steps 1 Right click the Taskbar and choose Task Manager from the shortcut menu to display Task Manager 2 Click the Users tab Windows displays the Users page shown in Figure 1 8 earlier in the chapter NS 46147book book Page 18 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM 18 CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED WITH WINDOWS VISTA 3 Select the user and then click the Logoff button Alternatively right click the user and choose Log Off from the shortcut menu Windows displays a confirmation dialog box as s
18. k Manager s Applications page Right click a program and choose Go to Process from the shortcut menu Task Manager displays the Processes page and selects the process for that program That s easy enough but you ll find that there are many more processes running than programs Try closing all the programs listed on the Applications page of Task Manager and you ll see that many processes are still running Turn your attention to the notification area and close as many of the items shown there as you can Right click each icon in turn and choose any Close Quit or Exit com mand that appears on the shortcut menu Try stopping any obvious services that you can tempo rarily dispense with and see if an associated process disappears For instance try closing your Internet connection or stopping your PC Cards Did either of those actions lose you a process Then you have an idea of what that process does Even after you ve done this you ll find that the Processes page lists many other processes To find out about these click the Services tab in Task Manager to view a list of the services that Windows is running A service is a system process that runs automatically for example to provide printing features or network connectivity You can right click a service and choose Go to Process from the context menu to make Task Manager select the process that belongs to the service Some services don t allow you to do this Windows Task Manager
19. ler Engine Tunning VindowsPhot Lily 00 1 520K Windows Photo Gallery ehtray exe uly co 336K Meda Center Tray Applet msrmsgr exe Uly co 916K Messenger attask exe uly 00 164K QuickTime Task svchost exe LOCAL SERVICE co 872K Host Process for Windows 1 WUDFHost exe LOCAL SERVICE 00 776K Windows Driver Foundato svchost exe LOCAL SERVICE co 5 144K Host Process for Windows svchost exe LOCAL SERVICE co Host Process for Windows svchost exe LOCAL SERVICE 00 160K Host Process for Windows taskeng exe Mick co 816K Task Scheduler Engine taskeng exe Mick 00 532K Task Scheduler Engine nm exe Mick co 408K Desktop Window Manager explorer exe Mick co 4 320K Windows Explorer taskmgr exe Mick oo 1 008K Windows Task Manager attesk exe Mick 00 260K QuickTime Task TunesHelper Mick 00 415K iTunesHelper Module wpami exe Mick co 432K Windows Parental Control Remind32 exe Mik 00 188K Remind32 exe WINWORD EXE Mick 02 3 192K Microsoft Office Word svchost exe NETWORK SERVICE 00 2 404K Host Process for Windows Sisvc exe NETWORK SERVICE 00 455K Microsoft Software Licens svchost exe NETWORK SERVICE 00 3 768K Host Process for Windows svchost exe NETWORK SERVICE 00 424K Host Process for Windows wmpnetwk exe NETWORK SERVICE 00 11 048K Windows Media Player Net _ re a e Y Show processes from all users End Process Processes 82 CPU Usage 5 Physical Memory 57 Logging Off Another User If necessary any Admin
20. lick the Taskbar and then choose Task Manager from the shortcut menu to open Task Manager Click the Users tab to display the Users page You can then see the users and their status Figure 1 8 shows an example FIGURE 1 8 TheU fTask 22 Windows Task Manager ermal e Users page of Tas aaa Manager shows you Applications Processes Services Performance Networking Users which other users are logged on to User D Status Client Name Session Mick 1 Disconnected the computer You E 2 Active Console can send them amp Lily 3 Disconnected messages or log them off forcibly 4 W TTF Logoff Send Message Processes 81 CPU Usage 4 Physical Memory 54 Seeing Which Programs the Other Users Are Running It s not easy to see exactly which programs the other users of the computer are running unless you know the names of the executable files for the programs but you can get an idea by using the Pro cesses page of Task Manager This page also shows you how much memory each programis using which can help you establish whether or why your computer is running short of memory 0 Zl NS 46147book book Page 15 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM SEEING WHICH PROGRAMS THE OTHER USERS ARE RUNNING 15 To start Task Manager and display the Processes page follow these steps 1 Right click the Taskbar and then choose Task Manager from the shortcut menu Windows displays Task Manager 2 Click the
21. nning short of memory Another issue is what the programs in a disconnected session are actually doing A program that s run ning but waiting for user input consumes very few processor cycles but one that s actively engaged in a task consumes many sometimes as many as Windows can give it For example if you leave Microsoft Word open with a document that you re composing displayed Word waits for user input and if you disconnect your session it just sits there waiting until you come back But if you re performing a processor intensive task such as video rendering in a disconnected session performance in the active session is poor Some programs pretty much suspend themselves when Windows disconnects their session and so do not affect the performance of the active session Experiment with the programs you and the people with whom you share your computer use and establish which programs you can t reasonably leave running ina disconnected session If your computer has only 512MB RAM avoid using Fast User Switching to reduce the amount of mem ory needed Instead of switching user close your programs and log off 46147book book Page 6 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM 6 CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED WITH WINDOWS VISTA FIGURE 1 1 The Welcome screen lists the users with accounts on this computer and indi cates whether each user is logged on ys Windows Vista Home Premium If this icon appears click it to displ
22. omize the Desktop The first time you log on Windows creates your folders and sets up program shortcuts for you so the logon process takes a minute or two Subsequent logons are much quicker e te a 46147book book Page 8 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM 8 CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED WITH WINDOWS VISTA amp Real World Scenario MAKING WINDOWS LOG YOU ON AUTOMATICALLY Usually forcing each user to log on before they can use Windows is a good idea because it helps to keep your computer secure However you may sometimes need to set up a computer so that Windows auto matically logs in a particular user account See the section Implementing and Preventing Automatic Logons in Chapter 8 for instructions Logging Off The counterpart to logging on is logging off When you log off Windows closes all the programs and files you ve been using If the files contain unsaved changes Windows prompts you to save them To log off click the Start button click the right arrow button to the right of the Lock icon the padlock icon and then choose Log Off from the pop up menu as shown in Figure 1 2 If you leave your computer unattended for a while the screen saver usually starts running unless you have something open that prevents the screen saver from starting or you ve disabled the screen saver For example a dialog box open on screen usually prevents the screen saver from start ing The default setting is for the screen s
23. ow to use the Desktop and the Start menu and how to exit Windows The chapter also shows you how to find out who else is logged on to the computer when you re working atit how to get an idea of which programs the other users are running and how to log off another user or all other users to reclaim the resources they re using If you share your computer with other people you ll probably log on and off or switch users several times a day Logging on and off and switching users are easy but having two or more people logged on at the same time and possibly using the same programs and documents can cause some complications This chapter assumes that you ve already installed Windows Vista or someone else has installed it for you If not see Appendix B Zl NS 46147book book Page 4 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM 4 CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED WITH WINDOWS VISTA Understanding Administrator Standard and Guest Users For security and administration purposes Windows Vista Home uses three different types of user accounts Administrator User An Administrator user has full power to configure the computer When you first set up Windows Vista the first user account you create is an Administrator account An Administrator user can create further user accounts as needed Standard User A Standard user can run programs freely and can customize most aspects of Windows that affect their own user account To configure aspects of Windows t
24. rer ES E mail Y Windows Mail Y Pain db Backup and Restore Center J Notepad amp Windows Live Messenger E Microsort orice PowerPoint 2007 Beta l 23 Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Beta Ar Windows Sidebar Pictures Music Games Search Recent Items Computer Network Connect To Control Panel Default Programs Printers Help and Support Lock this computer ij 13 Zl NS 46147book book Page 14 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM 14 CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED WITH WINDOWS VISTA Checking Which User Is Currently Active Normally when you log on as yourself you ll know that you re using your own user account But if you re switching among user accounts for administration or testing you may lose track of which account you re using or you may return to the computer and need to find out whose session is cur rently connected To see which user is currently active display the Start menu by clicking the Start button or pressing either the Windows Key or Ctrl Esc and check the username displayed at the top under the picture Seeing Who Else Is Logged On to the Computer You can see who else is logged on to the computer in either of two ways Switch user so that Windows displays the Welcome screen and then look to see which users apart from you are marked as being logged on The problem with this approach is that you then need to log back on Right c
25. rograms menu again a 46147book book Page 10 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM 10 CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED WITH WINDOWS VISTA ay Internet amp internet Explorer Es Email Y Windows Mail Y Paint g Mp Backup and Restore Center Notepad e Windows Media Center gt 8 amp 8 Windows Live Messenger Connect To Control Panel Invite a friend or technical support person to connect to your computer and help you or offer to help someone else amp Windows Live Messenger Download Windows Mail windows Media Center Windows Media Player HA Windows Meeting Space EY Windows Movie Maker 22 Windows Photo Gallery T Windows Update Accessones Bluetooth File Transfer Wizard gt Calculator E Command Prompt 2 Connect to a Network Projector T Notepad Y Paint a Remote Desktop Connection 3 Run 3 Snipping Toot LL Sound Recorder 3 Sync Center a Welcome Center Ma Windows Explorer MM Windows Sidebar E WordPad Ease of Access L System Tools Tablet PC Search Recent Items Computer Network Connect To Control Panel Default Programs Printers Help and Support The Taskbar gives you quick access to each program that s currently running The Taskbar displays a button for each active program window until it runs out of space for reasonable sized buttons at which point it groups related windows onto a single button which expands to show the individual window titles
26. rst user needed to log off Logging off involved closing all the open programs and files Either the user could close the programs and files manually before logging off or Windows would close them automatically when the user issued the Log Off command and confirmed that they wanted to log off Once all the programs and files were closed and all network and Internet connections were closed as well Windows displayed the Log On to Windows dialog box or the Enter Network Password dialog box depending on whether the computer was attached to a network Another user could then log on to Win dows run programs open files establish network and Internet connections and so on Real World Scenario YOU MAY WANT TO AVOID USING FAST USER SWITCHING TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE Having multiple users logged on to Windows at the same time affects performance because each user who s logged on takes up some of the computer s memory Having a user logged on itself takes up a fair amount of memory and each program that the user has running and each file that they have open adds to the amount being used Windows Vista needs a minimum of 512MB of RAM to run at all and runs much better with 1GB 1 024MB or more For each light user figure in another 128MB of RAM for each moderate user 256MB and for each heavy user 512MB If your computer has 1GB of RAM or more you should be able to have two or three users logged on and running several programs each without ru
27. sage Title text box Windows enters default text that includes the computer s name your username and the date and time and then type the message in the Message text box e Tostart anew line press Ctrl Enter Pressing the Enter key on its own clicks the OK button sending the message To type a tab press Ctrl Tab Pressing the Tab key on its own moves the focus to the next control o 46147book book Page 19 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM a USING THE WINDOWS KEY 19 5 Click the OK button to send the message The next time the user logs on to Windows they receive the message as a screen pop as shown here Message from Mick PC Will 12 6 2007 8 04 AM y Remember not to switch the computer off I m still running a couple of programs You can send more than one message to the same user if necessary When the user logs on they receive the messages in the order you sent them Sending multiple messages can be helpful if you need to change or contradict the information you sent it before but such messages run the risk of being ignored as the recipient blindly clicks through each pop up message box in turn in the hope of reaching their Desktop and getting some work done Using the Windows Key Windows provides several keyboard combinations for the Windows Key the key or keys with the Windows logo on the keyboard If you re comfortable leaving your hands on the keyboard the
28. se combinations are doubly convenient because not only can you avoid reaching for the mouse but you can also display with a single keystroke a number of windows and dialog boxes that lie several commands deep in the Windows interface Table 1 1 lists the Windows Key combinations TABLE 1 1 Windows Key Combinations WINDOWS KEY COMBINATION WHAT IT DOES Windows Key Toggles the display of the Start menu Windows Key Break Displays the System screen in Control Panel Windows Key Tab Switches Windows Flip through the stack of open windows and the Desktop Windows Key Shift Tab Switches Windows Flip backward through the stack of open windows and the Desktop Windows Key B Moves the focus to the notification area Windows Key D Displays the Desktop hiding all open applications Windows Key E Opens an Explorer window showing Computer Windows Key F Opens a Search window Windows Key Ctrl F Opens a Find Computer window Windows Key F1 Opens a Windows Help and Support window a 0 te a 46147book book Page 20 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM 20 CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED WITH WINDOWS VISTA TABLE 1 1 Windows Key Combinations CONTINUED WINDOWS KEY COMBINATION WHAT IT DOES Windows Key M Issues a Minimize All Windows command Windows Key Shift M Issues an Undo Minimize All command Windows Key R Displays the Run dialog box Windows Key U Displays Ease of Access Center formerly Utility Manager hence the shortcut letter Windows Key L Locks t
29. t all log on using your user account Click your username on the Welcome screen and then if you have a password type it and press Enter Atthe end of your Windows session log off by clicking the Start button clicking the right arrow button to the right of the Lock icon and then choosing Log Off from the pop up menu Using the Desktop and the Start menu The Desktop contains icons that you can double click to open Windows items such as the Recycle Bin programs or documents The Start menu contains links to almost all the programs and features you ve installed Click the Start button or press the Windows Key on the keyboard to display the Start menu Choose one of the items that appears on the Start menu or click the All Programs button to display a menu containing further items Switching to another user without closing your programs To stop using Windows so that someone else can log on but leave your programs running and your documents open switch user rather than logging off Click the Start button click the right arrow button to the right of the Lock icon and then choose Switch User from the pop up menu Windows then displays the Welcome screen Locking the computer To lock your computer leaving your open programs running press Windows Key L or click the Start button and then click the Lock button Windows displays a version of the Welcome screen that shows your username the word Locked and a Switch User button for swi
30. tching to another user Checking which user is currently active To see which user account is active press the Win dows Key or click the Start button and look at the username at the top of the Start menu under the picture 0 Zl NS 46147book book Page 23 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM THE BOTTOM LINE 23 Seeing who else is logged on to the computer To see who else is logged on to the computer switch user to the Welcome screen and look to see which accounts are marked as Logged on Alternatively open Task Manager click the Users tab and then see which users are listed on the Users page Seeing which programs the other users are running To see which programs the other users are running open Task Manager click the Show Processes from All Users button on the Pro cesses page authenticate yourself to User Account Control and then see which processes are listed Some process names are easily identifiable but you may need to look up others on the Web to identify the programs they represent Logging off another user When necessary you can log off another user To do so open Task Manager and then click the Users tab Click the user you want to log off click the Logoff button and then click the Log Off User button in the confirmation dialog box that Windows displays Sending a message to another user You can send a message to another user who is currently logged on but disconnected The user sees this message th
31. when you click it To display that window in front of all other windows click its button To minimize a program removing its display from your Desktop so that only the Taskbar button is left click its Taskbar button again The notification area contains items that are useful to have displayed all the time such as the clock which is displayed by default together with information and alerts which are displayed at appropriate times Because the notification area tends to get overstuffed with icons Windows automatically hides those that are inactive You can choose which icons to display and which to hide The Desktop background is a graphic that you can change at will From here on this book uses a white Desktop background usually without any icons so that you can see the indi vidual windows more easily The Windows Sidebar contains gadgets small programs that display information for you Instead of using the Taskbar to switch from one program to another you can Windows Flip by pressing the Alt Tab key combination Doing so displays a panel of icons for the program win dows currently open see Figure 1 5 Hold down the Alt key and press the Tab key to move the selection to the program window you want and then release the Alt key to display that program window Hold down Alt Shift and press the Tab key to move backward through the list Windows Flip is handy and has been a feature of Windows for many versions now althoug
32. windows and the Desktop as a rotating stack You can also select a window in the stack by clicking it with the mouse This version of Win dows Flip works only with the Vista Aero user interface a Glick to add title te a 46147book book Page 12 Friday December 29 2006 10 54 PM 12 CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED WITH WINDOWS VISTA Switching to Another User Instead of logging off and closing all the programs you ve been using so that someone else can use the computer you can switch user leaving your programs running but letting someone else log on To switch user click the Start button click the right arrow button to the right of the Lock icon and then choose Switch User from the pop up menu as shown here Windows then displays the Wel come screen Your username has the words Logged on underneath it to indicate that you re still logged on even though you ve just disconnected e a dit a internet Internet Explorer ES cman Yo Windows Mat W paint 4 do re Backup and Restore Center 2 Notepad gt amp 3 Windows Live Messenger cani G Windows Media Player 255 Microsott orce tacet 2007 Beta BBB voor sitet o Shipping Toot Swich User Printers All Programs Help and Support pe Windows Vista TM RC 2 pote Evaluation copy Build 5744 a CAE IM To log back on click your username type your password and press Enter or click the arrow button Windows
33. y moving the mouse or pressing a key on the keyboard When Windows resumes it displays the Locked screen Type your password and press Enter or click the arrow button to log on Shutting Down Windows When you don t need to use your computer for a while for example overnight or over the week end you can turn it off completely Rather than just turning off the power shut down Windows which will normally turn off the power for you When you re logged on the easiest way to shut down Windows is to click the Start button click the right arrow button to the right of the Lock icon and then choose Shut Down from the menu as shown here A internet Internet Explorer ser E mail Y Windows Mail Y Paint 4 Pictures Mp Backup and Restore Center Music q Notepad Games gt amp Windows Live Messenger Search Recent Items Computer VE Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 Beta jetwork N H Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Beta Connect To fe Windows Sidebar Control Panel Switch User Default Programs Log Off Lock Printers Restart gt AllPrograms Help and Support Sleep Shut Down Another way of shutting down Windows when you re logged on is to click the Desktop press Alt F4 to display the Shut Down Windows dialog box shown here choose Shut Down in the What Do You Want the Computer to Do drop down list and then click the OK button There s no advant
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