IT User Fundamentals

ECDL 5.0 / BCS IT User Level 1

Course Outline

FIRST STEPS

• The easy way or the hard way!
• Which mouse button?
• Select, then manipulate.
• Double clicking
• "Drag and drop" moving.
• "Drag and drop" copying.
• Multiple selection techniques
• The other (right) mouse button

STARTING TO USE THE COMPUTER

• Turning on the computer and 'logging on'
• Shutting down the computer
• Restarting your computer
• Shutting down a non-responding application

HELP

• The 'Windows XP Tour'
• Help within the Start Menu
• Searching for Help

SETTING UP THE COMPUTER

• Viewing basic computer information at start up
• Viewing the “System Properties” and seeing which version of Windows you are using
• Changing the Time and Date
• Configuring the volume setting
• Customising the desktop theme
• Customising the Desktop background picture or colour
• Customising the screen pixel resolution
• Customising the screen saver
• Adding a keyboard language
• Changing the default keyboard language
• Installing a software application
• Manually installing an application using the Control Panel
• Uninstalling a software application

USING ICONS

• Desktop application icons
• Desktop folder icons
• Desktop drive icons
• Desktop printer icons
• The Recycle Bin
• Disabling Auto Arrange
• Selecting a Desktop icon
• Moving a Desktop icon
• Copying a Desktop icon
• Customising your Desktop icon alignment
• Creating a Desktop shortcut icon
• Opening a Desktop icon
• Deleting a Desktop icon

USING WINDOWS

• Title Bar
• Menu Bar
• The Toolbar
• The Status Bar
• The Scroll Bar
• Moving up and down within a window (using the scroll bar)
• Scrolling through a window at speed
• The Maximise, Minimise, Restore and Close buttons
• Minimising a window
• Maximising a window
• Restoring a maximised object to run in a window
• Restoring a window from the Task Bar
• Making a Desktop window taller or shorter
• Making a Desktop window narrower or wider
• Resizing a Desktop window in two directions at once
• Moving a window
• Closing a program using the Close button
• Closing a window using the keyboard
• Switching between programs (using the Task Bar)
• Switching between programs (using a keyboard shortcut)

MANAGING FILES

• Drives, Folders and Files
• The Windows Explorer Window
• Displaying the contents of a particular folder
• The Windows Explorer Views
• Viewing the contents of a folder (displayed on right)
• Expanding and collapsing folder views
• Expanding and collapsing disk drive views
• Opening all folders on a disk
• Closing all the folders within the Windows Explorer
• Switching between drives
• Data storage devices
• Hard Disks
• Diskettes (no longer used)
• CDs / DVDs
• USB flash drives
• Network Drives
• Disk storage capacity
• Off-site storage for your backups
• Why do you need to backup your computer?
• Organising your computer for more efficient backups
• Complete vs. incremental backups
• Benefits of online file storage

FILES AND FOLDERS

• Recognising common file types
• Common file types
• Opening a file from a specific folder on a drive
• Creating a new folder using the Windows Explorer
• Renaming folders within the Windows Explorer
• Creating folders within folders
• Viewing file or folder details
• Viewing file properties

WORKING WITH FILES

• Determining file type
• Starting WordPad
• Entering text into WordPad
• Saving a WordPad file
• Creating a new document within WordPad
• Opening an existing WordPad file
• Saving a file to a specific folder
• Creating a new folder in which to save your document
• Closing an editing application
• Viewing file properties
• Protecting a file against being overwritten within an application
• Sorting your Windows Explorer file listing
• Good practice when naming files or folders
• Renaming files or folders using the Windows Explorer
• File name extensions
• Viewing file name extensions using the Windows Explorer

SELECTING, COPYING & MOVING FILES

• Selecting an individual file or folder within the Windows Explorer
• Selecting a continuous block of files
• Selecting multiple files which are not in a continuous block
• Copying files (the hard way) using the Windows Explorer
• Copying files (the easy way) using the Windows Explorer
• Using “Cut and Paste” to move files from one folder to another
• Copying or moving files or folders between drives

DELETING AND RESTORING FILES / FOLDERS

• Deleting a file or folder
• Restoring deleted files or folders
• Emptying the Recycle Bin

SEARCHING FOR FILES AND FOLDERS

• Searching for a file, or folder, by name
• Searching for a file using wildcards instead of the full name
• Searching for a file containing a specific word or phrase
• Searching for files by file modification date
• Searching for files of a particular type
• Searching files by size
• Viewing recently used files

MAINTENANCE

• The importance of regular routine maintenance of IT systems.
• Defragmenting files:
• Checking for updates:
• Using the Disk Cleanup utility:
• Removing programs that you no longer need:
• Routine IT systems maintenance following manufacturer guidelines.
• Non-routine maintenance.
• Know what maintenance should be left to specialist technicians.
• Keep your computer clean.
• Deleting unwanted data and files.

PROBLEMS

• IT problems that may occur.
• Know what action to take to resolve IT problems.
• Getting help to deal with IT problems.
• Dealing with expert support advice.

PRINT SCREEN FACILITY FOR CAPTURING THE SCREEN

• Using the Print Screen facility
• Using the Print Screen facility to copy just the active window

FILE COMPRESSION

• File compression
• Compressing files
• Extracting compressed files

ANTI-VIRUS ISSUES

• Computer viruses
• How viruses infect computers
• Need for virus checking
• Virus disinfecting a computer
• Running a virus checker
• Using anti-virus software to scan specific drives, folders or files
• Updating your virus checking software

PRINTER OPTIONS

• Changing the default printer
• Installing a new printer driver
• Printing from an application
• Printing to a file
• Viewing print jobs
• Controlling print jobs using the Print Manager

PRINTER MAINTENANCE

• Replacing printer consumables such as paper and toner cartridges.
• Print a test page, align cartridges.
• Clearing a paper jam within a printer.
• Installing a printer driver
• Updating a printer driver.

HEALTH

• What is ergonomics?
• Lighting issues when using a computer
• Screen and keyboard positioning
• Seating issues when using a computer
• Well-being when using a computer
• Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)

SAFETY

• Handling and disposing of IT equipment and consumables.
• Make sure that cables are safely secured
• Make sure that power points are not overloaded
• Guidelines and procedures for the safe and secure use of computers
• Using and disposing of cleaning materials

IDENTITY/AUTHENTICATION

• Computer logon user name (ID) and password.
• Password policies
• Staying safe when using electronic based communication

DATA SECURITY

• Off-site backups
• Why do you need to backup your computer?
• Organising your computer for more efficient backups
• Complete vs. incremental backups
• What is a firewall?
• Securing your computer hardware using a cable
• Data theft issues

VIRUSES

• Computer viruses
• How viruses infect computers
• Running a virus checker
• Using anti-virus software to scan specific drives, folders or files
• Need for virus checkering
• Updating your virus checking software
• Using anti-spam software.

COPYRIGHT

• What is copyright?
• Checking software licence status
• Product registration and activation.
• What is an ‘end-user license agreement’?
• Examining the ‘end-user license agreement’ within Office 2003 software
• Site licences are used by larger organisations
• Types of licence agreement
• What is shareware?
• What is freeware?
• Open source software
• Copyright Issues when copying files

DATA PROTECTION

• Data Protection and Privacy Issues
• Data Protection Legislation
• Data protection legislation relating to individuals about which data is stored (data subjects)
• Data protection legislation relating to those that keep data (data controllers)