CIS 1 Homework #2: System Software and Windows

35 points. Due date: March 8. Late deadline March 15.

Review Chapter 5 "System Software" in Understanding Computers.
Review Windows Chapter 1 in the Office 2007 textbook. Read in front of the computer so you can practice the steps shown in the chapter.

Type your answers into a Word document. Number each answer. When you're finished, save the document as HW2 and attach it in an email to me.

Part 1 System Software Study Questions 15 points

  1. What are the sections in the left pane of the Start Menu?
  2. Right-click a blank area of the taskbar and choose Properties. Describe the things you can change about the taskbar.
  3. Use Windows Help to find a list of keyboard shortcuts using the Windows logo key. Describe 2 of them. For each, list the key combination and what it does.
  4. Describe the difference in mouse operations between moving and resizing a window that has been restored down (is not maximized).
  5. Describe 3 ways to scroll a window using the scroll bar (not the mouse scroll wheel).
  6. Start Computer (My Computer in Windows XP). Expand the Folders list (click the Folders button in Windows XP). Describe the hierarchy of your hard drive starting with the C: drive, going to Programs, then give the first 4 folders under Programs, then the first two folders under one of the 4.
  7. Describe three actions you can perform on a file when you right-click on it in Computer.
  8. Explain the difference between copying and moving a file in Computer. Describe how to do each operation.
  9. Use Windows Search to look for items related to temp. In Windows Vista, click the Search everywhere option. How many items were found? Give one example.
  10. (2 points) There are several editions of the latest Windows, Vista. Go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/default.mspx and locate information about the differences between the editions. Which edition would you select if you were buying a new computer and why? Be specific about the features.
  11. Give an example of a file or folder name that would not be acceptable to Windows because of an invalid character.
  12. What is meant by the term "root directory"?
  13. On my own computer on drive C:, I have a file called christmastree.jpg in the subfolder Pictures inside the Documents folder. Write out the full path (also called file specification) for christmastree.jpg
  14. Why is it a bad idea to change the file extension on a file yourself instead of through an application program?

Part 2: Hands-on File Management (20 points)

Follow the steps below very carefully to save files and create a subdirectory folder structure. Refer to the information starting on page WIN 34 in the Office 2007 textbook. You will make copies of what is shown on your computer screen to your Word document so I can verify that you completed everything.

You will build a file structure like the one shown below. In the diagram, folders are rectangles, and files are ovals.

1. Start Computer (My Computer in XP), make sure the Folders pane is visible and maximize the window. Create a new directory folder in Documents (My Documents in XP) named HW2 to do this part of the assignment. Create a new folder in your HW2 folder called CARS.

2. Go to the Google search home page. Click the News link at the top of the page. Type keywords in the search box to locate news items about plug-in cars. Select an article that has a printer friendly or printable view option and choose that option so a simpler version of the page displays. Save the web page file to the CARS folder (File menu, Save As or Page Button, Save As).

3. Select a key paragraph from the article you found for #2 and copy (Edit Menu, Copy or Ctrl+C) and paste (Edit Menu, Paste or Ctrl+V) it to a new Word document. Click in the address bar to select the URL. Copy and paste the URL of the page to the Word document. Click the Save button (the diskette) in the toolbar or Save in the Office menu. Save the document in the CARS folder and name it News.

4. Go back to the Google search page. Click the Images link to search for graphics. Find a graphic related to the information in your article. Change your search phrase as necessary. When you find a graphic that you like, right-click the graphic. In the shortcut menu that appears, click Save Picture As. Change the Save In box to your HW2 folder. Notice what the name of the file is. Click the Save button.

5. Switch to your Word window and choose Save As. Create a new folder in the HW2 folder called CIS1 (NOT in the CARS folder). Click the New Folder button (the folder with the asterisk). Save your document in the new folder as News2. Close the document.

6. Switch back to the Computer window. Make sure the Folders pane shows the expanded display for the Documents, HW2 and CARS folders.

7. Copy (not Move) the graphic file you downloaded in step 4 to the CARS folder. The file should appear in the HW2 folder AND the CARS folder.

8. Show the contents of the HW2 folder. Press the Print Screen (Prt Scr) key on the keyboard. If you are working on a laptop, you may have to press another key with Print Screen. Look at the color coding on your keyboard. It looks like nothing has happened, but a graphic of the screen has been copied to the clipboard.

9. Open your Word document from Part 1 of this homework. Press the Enter key a couple of times and then click the Paste button (the clipboard and page) in the toolbar or Edit, Paste in the menu bar. If Paste is grayed, go back to the Computer window and press the Print Screen key again.

10. Switch back to the Computer window. Rename the copy of the graphic in the CARS folder to imagecar without changing the extension of .jpg, .bmp or .gif.

11. Display the CARS folder in the Contents Pane.

12. Change the view to Detail where you can see the file extensions, sizes and dates.

13. Press the Print Screen key on the keyboard. Switch back to the Word document. Press the Enter key a couple of times and then Paste the screen snapshot.

Save the document as Homework2. It should contain your answers to questions 1-14 from Part 1, and two different graphics showing the Computer screen from Part 2. Email your completed Homework2 file to me.