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Course Description: PC Basics - Virginia Miller
I hope you'll be happier with your PC when you finish this course than you are right now :-) I guarantee that your computer will be happier as it will be running well, be clean and dust-free, have programs installed and running that will look after its best interests, and have an operator who has ceased threatening to throw the whole kit and kaboodle out the window! Your correspondents will be happier since you'll have mastered e-mail.
- The course is 7 weeks: 6 weeks of lessons and one week to wrap it up and say good bye.
- There will be reading each week and exercises to reinforce that theory. Some weeks you will actually work on your software or your computer itself.
- You'll likely need to spend 2-4 hours per week on this class.
Prerequisites:
- Access to a PC, with administrative rights.
- The ability to tell your left from your right.
Lesson 1: Getting Started
- Terms & Definitions
- How to Mouse
- E-mail:
- Set up an E-mail Account
- Compose an e-mail
- Forward and Reply
- Internet e-mail accounts
- SPAM and phishing
- How to download a program
- Protective programs
- Free antivirus programs
- Free firewalls
- Other programs to know about
- Recognizing signs of a problem
- Copy & Paste
- Using Forms
- Ethics on the Internet
Lesson 2:
- Run Scans this week
- Disk Cleanup
- Defrag
- Scan for errors
- Clear cache and other browser tools
- System restore
- Surfing the Internet
- Browser Options, or Life beyond Internet Explorer
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Add / remove programs
- Toolbars
- Keep QuickLaunch neat & tidy
- Selections & Objects
Lesson 3:
- Care and feeding of a computer
- Cleaning the monitor and outside of box
- Cleaning the inside of the box
- Benefits of a neat desk
- Adding Memory
- Control Panel
Lesson 4:
- Basic word processing
- Filing System:
- My Documents
- Locate your files
- How to save to where you want and where you can find them again
- Delete files
- Hidden files
- Search My Computer
- Start Menu
- Windows Explorer
- Help & Support
- How to Zip / Unzip
Lesson 5:
- Download photos from camera
- Make a Screenshot
- Photo-editing in Picasa
- Share Photos
- Display Properties
- PayPal & eBay
Lesson 6: Miscellaneous This'n'Thats
- Run scans this week
- What are:
- program files
- system files
- must-keep Windows fonts
- How to:
- access and customize toolbars
- adjust date and time
- lock/unlock taskbar
- MSconfig
- More on browsers:
- set your preferences to view pages - text size, type
- set your home page preference
- set your search page preference
Wrap-Up
- A list of links to keep
- Final Questions
- Final Posts
Not covered in this course:
- Private lessons
- Help far beyond the scope of the lessons
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