PCs All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

Your one-stop guide to a long and happy relationship with your PCMark Chambers doesn't believe computers are supposed to be complicated, and this book proves it. Here you'll find the straightforward scoop on using and enjoying your PC, whether it's your first one or your fifth. From using Microsoft Works and getting online to digital multimedia, problem-solving, and network security, it's all at your fingertips!Discover how to\* Use the different ports on your PC\* Troubleshoot Windows XP\* Listen to Internet radio\* Use Microsoft Works and Office 2003\* Make movies and DVDs\* Set up and secure a network PCs All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies 3 PCs All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies 3 Copyright 4 About the Author 5 Dedication 7 Author¡ ̄s Acknowledgments 7 Contents at a Glance 9 Table of Contents 11 Introduction 27 What¡ ̄s Really Required 27 What¡ ̄s Not Required 28 About This Book 28 Conventions Used in This Book 28 Stuff that you type 28 Menu commands 29 Display messages 29 How This Book Is Organized 29 Book I: PC Hardware 29 Book II: Windows XP 29 Book III: The Internet 29 Book IV: Microsoft Works 30 Book V: Office XP 30 Book VI: Fun with Movies, Music, and Photos 30 Book VII: Upgrading and Supercharging 30 Book VIII: Home Networking 30 Icons Used in This Book 30 Book I: PC Hardware 33 Chapter 1: Starting with the Basics 35 Defining Basic Terms 35 Hardware 36 Software 37 Peripherals 38 The Common Components of a Desktop PC 39 The computer 40 The monitor 42 The keyboard and mouse 42 Speakers 44 Desktop PCs versus Laptop PCs 44 RAM and Processors: The Keys to Performance 45 Your Friend, Your Operating System 46 Chapter 2: Additional Toys Your PC Will Enjoy 49 Printers 50 Inkjet versus laser printers 50 Photo printers 52 Label printers 53 Scanners 54 Keyboards, Tablets, and Pointing Things 56 Tickling keys wirelessly 56 Putting a tablet to work 56 Repeat after me: Buy a trackball! 57 Big- Time Game Controllers 58 Video and Digital Cameras 59 External Drives 61 Portable hard drives and CD/ DVD recorders 61 Backup drives 63 USB flash drives 63 Surge Protectors and UPS Units 64 Chapter 3: Connectors, Ports, and Sundry Openings 67 Using USB Stuff 67 Riding in the Fast Lane with FireWire 69 Your Antique Serial Port 70 The Once- Renowned Parallel Port 70 Meet Your Video Port 71 Audio Connectors You¡ ̄ll Likely Need 72 Keyboard and Mouse Ports on Parade 73 Chapter 4: Maintaining Your Hardware 75 When Should I Move My PC? 75 Avoiding Dust Bunnies 76 Watching Your Cables 77 Cleaning Monitors and Scanners 78 Cleaning Your Mouse and Keyboard 79 Cleaning and Maintaining Your Printer 80 Cleaning laser printers 80 Changing inkjet cartridges 82 Calibrating your printer 83 Cleaning inkjet cartridges 86 Should you refill used inkjet cartridges? 86 Book II: Windows XP 89 Chapter 1: Shake Hands with Windows XP 91 Why Windows XP, Anyway? 92 Shutting Things Down 93 Shutting down completely 93 Restarting your PC 94 Using standby mode 94 Yes, your PC can hibernate 95 Logging off 95 Your Windows XP Controls 96 Icons 96 That constantly changing cursor 96 The Start menu 98 The taskbar 99 Menus and toolbars 101 Using Bill¡ ̄s Funky Keys 102 The Windows keys 103 The Shortcut key 103 Other PC- specific keys 104 Using the Windows XP Help System 104 Displaying Help 105 Searching for specific help 106 Yelling for assistance 108 Chapter 2: The Many Windows of Windows 111 Managing Windows Means Productivity 111 Opening and closing windows 112 Scrolling windows 113 Minimizing and restoring windows 115 Maximizing and restoring windows 116 Moving windows 116 Resizing windows 117 Switching windows 117 A Field Guide to Icons 118 Hardware icons 119 Program icons 120 File icons 120 Folder icon 122 Shortcut icons 122 System icons 124 Selecting Icons 125 Selecting a single icon 125 Selecting multiple contiguous icons by dragging 126 Selecting multiple contiguous icons by clicking 126 Selecting multiple separated icons by clicking 126 Using the Toolbar 128 Chapter 3: Windows XP Basics 131 Running Applications from the Start Menu 132 Running Applications from Your Hard Drive 133 Running Applications from a CD- ROM or DVD- ROM 134 Putting Your Files in Order 136 Copying and moving stuff 136 Creating a new folder 139 Deleting stuff with mouse and keyboard 139 Displaying properties 139 Renaming items 140 Emptying the Recycle Bin 141 Recovering Items from the Recycle Bin 142 Putting the Start Menu through Its Paces 143 Tossing the Recent Applications list 143 Using the Run item 144 Accessing printers and faxes 145 Working with your network 147 Configuring the Start menu 148 Handling the Taskbar 149 Switching programs 149 Controlling the notification area 150 Adding Quick Launch icons 151 Configuring the taskbar 152 Terminating a Program with Prejudice 153 Formatting a Floppy Disk 154 Chapter 4: Customizing Windows XP 157 Personalizing Your Desktop 158 Changing the background 158 Using themes 159 Changing system sounds 160 Switching Views and Sorting Items 161 Adjusting toolbars 163 Using the Explorer bar 164 And don¡ ̄t forget the Folders view! 166 What¡ ̄s This Stuff in the My Documents Folder? 167 Share the Documents 169 Using Favorites 169 Adding a favorite 170 Organizing favorites 170 Creating a Shortcut 171 Multiuser Operation 172 Logging in 173 Be my guest 174 Fax Me, Please 175 Setting up faxing under Windows XP 175 Sending and receiving faxes 177 Doing the Multimedia Thing 178 Playing your MP3 files 179 Viewing and downloading digital photographs 180 Recording your own CDs 182 Watching a DVD movie 184 Chapter 5: Maintaining the XP Beast 187 Device Manager: The Hardware Tool 187 Checking Your Hard Drives in Windows XP 190 Defragmenting Just Plain Rocks 193 Be Smart: Back Up Your Stuff 196 Safeguarding Your System with System Restore 200 Have At Thee, Foul Virus! 203 Windows XP Boot and Recovery Options 204 Using Safe mode 205 Using the Last Good Configuration 205 Using ASR 206 Using Windows Update 207 The fully automatic way 207 The ( somewhat) manual way 208 Chapter 6: Taking Control of the Control Panel 211 But First, Put the Control Panel on the Start Menu! 212 Configuring the Date and Time 214 The Time Zone tab 214 The Internet Time tab 214 Changing Display Settings 215 The Themes tab 215 The Desktop tab 216 The Screen Saver tab 216 The Appearance tab 217 The Settings tab 218 Scheduling Tasks 219 Adjusting the Power Options 221 The Power Schemes tab 222 The Advanced tab 223 The Hibernate tab 223 The UPS tab 223 Tweaking the Keyboard 224 The Speed tab 224 The Hardware tab 225 Configuring Internet Properties 226 The General tab 227 The Security tab 228 The Privacy tab 228 The Content tab 229 The Connections tab 230 The Programs tab 231 The Advanced tab 232 Adding or Removing Programs 232 Fine- Tuning User Accounts 234 Configuring Phone and Modem Options 236 The Dialing Rules tab 236 The Modems tab 237 The Advanced tab 237 Chapter 7: Easy XP Troubleshooting 239 Relax and Breathe Easy 239 The Troubleshooting Process, Step by Step 241 Drastic Things That You Won¡ ̄t Do Often 247 Using Automated System Recovery 247 Re- installing Windows XP 248 HELP! Additional Troubleshooting Resources 249 The Windows XP Help system 250 Microsoft tech support 250 The Microsoft Web site 251 Those unsupported newsgroups 251 Book III: The Internet 253 Chapter 1: Making Sense of the Internet 255 Exactly What Is the Internet, Anyway? 255 Exploring the Possibilities of Your Internet Connection Chapter 1 257 Exploring the potential of the Web 257 Communicating via e- mail 259 File transferring via FTP 260 Communicating with instant messaging 261 Reading newsgroups 261 Using Web cams and Web videoconferencing 263 Understanding Internet Connections 264 Dialup connections 264 ISDN connections 264 DSL connections 265 Cable modem connections 265 Satellite connections 266 So What Exactly Do I Need? 267 Chapter 2: Adding a Dialup Connection to Windows XP 269 Gathering the Incantations 269 Making the Physical Connection 270 Creating a New Connection in Windows XP 271 Is My Connection Alive? 275 My Connection Appears to Be Dead 275 Chapter 3: Protecting Your Internet Privacy 277 So What Can Really Happen? 277 Common Sense Goes a Long Way 279 Passwords 279 Risky behavior 280 E- mail 282 Your Friend, the Firewall 283 Using the built- in XP firewall 285 Commercial firewall alternatives 286 Using Antivirus Software 287 Chapter 4: Cruising the Web with Internet Explorer 289 Running Internet Explorer 289 The Explorer Window and Basic Controls 290 More buttons for your buck 292 Finding a home page 294 Navigating the Web 295 Simplifying surfing with Favorites 295 Searching for the hay in the needlestack 297 Downloading Files 299 Keeping Track of Where You¡ ̄ve Been 302 Printing and Saving Web Pages 303 Putting the Web in print 303 Saving the best ( for last) 304 Chapter 5: Harnessing Your E- Mail 307 Introducing the Outlook Express Window 308 Setting Up Your Mailbox 311 The Three R¡ ̄s: Receiving, Reading, and Replying 314 Sending E- Mail to Friends and Enemies 317 Sending and Receiving File Attachments 320 Spam: I Hate It! Truly I Do! 322 Working with the Address Book 324 ¡° Hey, Who Are You Now?¡± 327 Chapter 6: Instant Messaging Done Right 329 Selecting a Chat Client 329 AIM 330 ICQ 331 Running Windows Messenger 332 Configuring Windows Messenger 333 Keeping Track of Friends and Family 335 Chatting with Your Brethren 337 Selecting a Status 340 Squelching the Unwelcome Few 341 Book IV: Microsoft Works 343 Chapter 1: An Overview of Works 345 What Can I Do with Works? 345 Word processing 346 Spreadsheets 347 Calendar 348 To Dos 348 Databases 350 Introducing the Task Launcher 351 Displaying Help within Works 352 Chapter 2: Word Processing in Works 355 Running the Word Processor 355 Your Word Processing Tools 356 Typing Text 357 Selecting and Editing Text 358 Finding and Replacing Stuff 359 Formatting Fonts and Paragraphs 361 Formatting Bullets and Numbered Lists 363 Adding Graphics 364 Adding Tables 366 Checking Your Spelling 367 Printing Your Documents 368 Chapter 3: Working with Spreadsheets 371 Running the Spreadsheet 371 Introducing the Spreadsheet Window 372 A Word about Works Spreadsheets 373 Navigating the Spreadsheet and Entering Data 374 Selecting and Editing Cells 375 Formatting a Cell, Row, or Column 376 Choosing a number format 377 Changing cell alignment 377 Changing the text formatting 378 Formatting the borders 378 Choosing shading options 379 Inserting and Deleting Rows and Columns 380 Using Easy Calc 380 Adding a Chart 383 Printing Your Documents 384 Chapter 4: Using the Works Calendar 387 Checking Out the Calendar 388 Selecting a Calendar View 389 Adding and Editing Appointments 391 Searching for Specific Appointments 393 Filtering Appointments 394 Exporting Appointments 395 Printing Appointments 397 Chapter 5: Having Fun with Works Database 399 Getting Started with Works Database 400 Whoops! What¡ ̄s this dialog box mean? 400 Elements of the Works Database window 400 Creating a Database and Entering Data 402 Editing a Database 406 Sorting and Searching for Specific Records 406 Printing Database Documents 410 Book V: Office XP 411 Chapter 1: Introducing Office XP 413 The Components of Office XP 413 Word 414 Excel 416 PowerPoint 417 Access 418 Outlook 420 Putting the Office Clipboard to Work 422 Using the Office Help System 423 Displaying the Help system 423 The three tabs of justice 424 That silly paper clip, Clippit 424 Chapter 2: Using Word 425 Running Word 426 The Elements of Word 426 A Word about the Views 429 Normal view 429 Outline view 429 Print Layout view 430 Web Layout view 430 Typing, Selecting, and Editing Text 431 Typing like the wind 431 Selecting what you will 432 Editing text in Word 433 Finding and Replacing Stuff 434 Building Tables 436 Adding Bulleted and Numbered Lists 438 Adjusting Tabs and Margins 439 Setting margins with the ruler 439 Setting margins from the menu 440 Setting tabs with the ruler 441 Setting tabs from the menu 441 Applying Formatting 442 Font formatting 443 Paragraph formatting 444 Using AutoFormat 445 Adding Graphics 447 Doing the Collaboration Thing 449 Using revision marks 449 Using Comments 450 Using highlighting 451 Printing Your Document 451 Creating Web Pages with Word 452 Chapter 3: Putting Excel to Work 455 Running Excel 456 Waltzing Around the Excel Window 456 Selecting, Entering, and Editing Cell Data 458 Filling a cell to the top 458 Moving around the worksheet 459 Selecting cells the easy way 459 Editing cell contents 460 Working with Numbers and Dates 461 Working with Rows and Columns 463 Resizing rows and columns 463 Inserting blank cells 464 Inserting cells from the Clipboard 465 Inserting rows and columns 465 Formatting in Excel 466 Font formatting 466 Cell alignment 467 Changing borders and shading 467 The Basics of Excel Formulas 468 Working with Graphics in Excel 472 Adding a Chart 473 Linking Cells 476 Adding Headers and Footers 477 Printing Your Worksheets 478 Chapter 4: Performing with PowerPoint 481 Getting Your Bearings in PowerPoint 481 Changing Views 484 Normal view 484 Slide Sorter view 484 Notes Page view 485 Slide Show view 485 Creating Slides 486 Inserting slides 487 Inserting a document 488 Typing, Selecting, and Editing Text 488 Adding text 489 Moving within text fields 489 Selecting text and objects 490 Editing text 491 Moving slide elements 491 Installing Graphics in Your Slides 492 Applying Templates and Schemes 493 Entering Notes 496 Using Movies and Sound 497 Building and Running a Slide Show 498 Making a Transition ¡ ̄ twixt Slides 501 Using Pack and Go 502 Printing Your Document 505 Chapter 5: Doing Database Magic with Access 507 Running Access 508 A Quick Tour of the Access Window 508 Creating Tables with the Wizard 510 Creating a Form with the Wizard 514 Entering and Editing Fields Manually 519 Using Queries 520 Using Access Templates 522 Printing Your Data 522 Chapter 6: Staying in Touch with Outlook 525 Running Outlook 526 Elements of the Outlook Window 526 Configuring Your Mail Account 528 Reading and Replying to E- Mail 531 Composing and Sending Messages 534 Using File Attachments 536 Keeping Track of Your Contacts 538 Entering a contact 539 Editing a contact 541 Using the Outlook Calendar 541 Creating an appointment 542 Displaying appointments in Outlook Today 544 Printing within Outlook 545 Book VI: Fun with Movies, Music, and Photos 549 Chapter 1: Scanning with Gusto 551 What Happens Inside a Scanner? 551 Your Friend, the Flatbed 553 Popular Scanner Features 555 Basic Scanning with Paint Shop Pro 556 Acquiring the image 556 Rotating and cropping images 561 Converting and saving the image 563 Scanning Do¡ ̄s and Don¡ ̄ts 565 Those Irritating ( Or Invaluable) Copyrights 566 Adding a Copyright Line 567 Chapter 2: Dude, MP3 Rocks! 571 An MP3 Primer 572 Ripping Your Own MP3 Files 573 Listening to Your Stuff 576 Downloading to an MP3 Player 578 Using Other Sound Formats 579 WAV format 580 WMA format 580 AU format 580 AIFF format 580 MIDI format 581 Chapter 3: Making Movies with Your PC 585 Getting the Lowdown on ArcSoft¡ ̄s ShowBiz 585 Rounding Up Clips and Images 587 Building Your First Movie 589 Adding Transitions without Breaking a Sweat 592 Adding Special Effects without Paying George Lucas 594 Adding Sound 596 You¡ ̄ve Just Gotta Have Titles! 597 Previewing Your Oscar- Winning Work 599 Saving and Burning Before Traveling to Cannes 600 Creating a digital video file on your hard drive 600 Recording your own CD or DVD 602 Chapter 4: I Can Make My Own DVDs? 605 Welcome to MyDVD 606 Menus ¡ ̄ R Easy! 608 Changing the Look of Your Menus 615 Trimming Movies with Panache 617 Time to Preview 620 Burning Your DVD and Celebrating Afterwards 622 Chapter 5: I’m Okay, You’re a Digital Camera 625 How Does a Digital Camera Work? 626 The Pros and Cons of Digital Photography 628 Digital Camera Extras to Covet 631 External card readers 631 Rechargeable batteries 632 Lenses 632 Tripods 633 The Lazy Man¡ ̄s Guide to Composing Photographs 633 The Rule of Thirds 634 The Rule of Asymmetry 634 Using lighting creatively 636 Organizing Your Pictures 638 Downloading Your Images 639 Book VII: Upgrading and Supercharging 643 Chapter 1: Determining What to Upgrade 645 Making Performance Upgrades: 646 CPU, Motherboard, and Memory 646 Upgrading your CPU and motherboard 646 Adding memory 647 Expansion Upgrades: USB 2.0 and FireWire 647 Making Storage Upgrades: 648 Internal and External Drives 648 Adding a hard drive 649 Adding a recorder or a tape drive 649 Making Sound and Video Upgrades: 650 Sound and Video Cards 650 Sound cards on parade 651 Deciding which video card is right for you 651 Chapter 2: Adding RAM to Your Hot Rod 653 Figuring Out What Type of Memory You Need 653 RDRAM 654 DDR 654 SDRAM 654 EDO 654 Deciding How Much RAM Is Enough 655 Installing Extra RAM 656 Chapter 3: Scotty, I Need More Power! 659 Hey, Do I Need to Do This? 659 Selecting a New Motherboard 661 Installing a Motherboard and CPU 661 Installing an Athlon XP or Pentium 4 CPU 662 Installing your motherboard 664 Chapter 4: Adding Hard Drive Territory to Your System 667 The Tale of Virtual Memory 667 Recognizing a Well- Dressed Hard Drive 669 Size definitely does matter 669 How fast is your access? 670 What does rpm have to do with hard drives? 670 Internal versus External Storage 670 Adding a Second Internal Hard Drive 672 Chapter 5: Partying with USB, FireWire, and Hubs 677 Comparing USB Ports 677 I Vote for FireWire 679 Or Do You Just Need a Hub? 679 Installing a Port Card 680 Chapter 6: Pumping Up Your Sound and Video 683 Sound Card Features to Covet 683 3- D spatial imaging 683 Surround sound support 684 MP3 hardware support 685 Game and FireWire ports 685 MIDI ports 685 Shopping for a Monster Graphics Card 686 Pray, what slot do you need? 686 Exploring the differences between chipsets 687 Other video card features that you¡ ̄ll want 688 Book VIII: Home Networking 691 Chapter 1: Do I Really Need a Network? 693 Discovering the Advantages of a Network 693 File transfer 693 Sharing that there Internet 694 One word: Games! 695 Shared documents and applications 696 What Can I Connect To? 696 What Hardware Do I Need? 697 What Software Do I Need? 698 To Network or Not to Network . . . 698 Chapter 2: Ethernet to the Rescue 701 A Quickie Ethernet Primer 701 Hardware That You¡ ̄ll Need 703 Cables 703 Hubs 705 NICs 705 Switches 706 Heck, let¡ ̄s buy a kit! 706 Doing the Cable Dance 706 Configuring Windows XP for Your Network 707 Ah, sweet DHCP 708 Browsing the neighborhood 712 Sharing folders and documents 714 Printing Across the Network 715 Using a Standard Hub with a Cable or DSL Modem 719 Troubleshooting Your Network 719 Windows XP doesn¡ ̄t recognize my NIC 720 No lights show up on my network card( s) or hub 720 Nothing shows up when I browse 721 I can¡ ̄t connect ( or print) to a shared printer 721 Chapter 3: Going Wireless 723 Understanding Wireless Networking 723 How does wireless compare with wired? 724 The standards involved 725 AC and phone line networking 729 Ensuring Security on Your Wireless Network 730 Using Wireless Hardware in Windows XP 732 Preparing to install 732 Installation tricks 732 Making the connection 734 Chapter 4: Sharing Your Internet Connection 737 Why Share Your Internet Connection? 737 Sharing through Software in Windows XP 738 Sharing through Hardware 740 Wired sharing devices 741 Wireless sharing devices 744 Why You Need NAT 746 The Magic of Virtual Private Networking 747 Index 751 Numerical 751 A 751 B 752 C 753 D 756 E 758 F 759 G 761 H 761 I 762 J 764 K 764 L 765 M 766 N 768 O 769 P 771 Q 776 R 776 S 777 T 781 U 782 V 783 W 784 X 789 Y 789 Z 789