DISCLAIMER: This webpage is meant as a quick summary of assignments. It is not meant to be a complete users manual, or recipe book that tells you the commands you use to complete the assignments. You need to come to lab and take notes to be able to complete the assignments.
In this lab you will learn the anatomy of the desktop computer and elementary operating system commands. The operating system is the first software that is read off the hard disk or from a server and loaded into memory (RAM). The operating system for the machines we use in lab is WindowXP. The operating system or OS acts as the"traffic cop" that controls the flow of electronic information inside the machine. The OS also includes "house keeping" software such as clock/calendar, disk formatting, and file and folder browsing and managing utilities.
CREATING FOLDERS:
Open a Windows Explorer window and click on the "Folders" button on the toolbar.
Choose where
you would like to put the new folder (Thumb Drive, Hard Drive, Desk
top, etc.) by clicking on it, then pull down the File menu, -->choose New
-->Folder, then type in the name of the folder.
COPYING FILES: In Windows Explorer: Click on the file you want (so the background turns color), right mouse button, drag and drop it into the disk or folder where you want to go. Let go and choose Copy from the menu. It is safer to copy than to move, in case of power or other failure during the process.
USING NOTEPAD (the editor): Start button --> Programs --> Accessories -->Notepad
PRINTING A WINDOW: Open the window you want to print (for example your diskette drive in the Windows Explorer). Hold down the Alt key with one finger, keep it down, and tap the Print Screen key with another finger. Then open up Paint (in Accessories), and pull down the Edit menu, and choose Paste. The window should appear in the Paint screen space. Then you can choose File --> Print. Note this may require a large amount of machine memory.
NOTE: Before removing your data stick or thumb drive, click on the "unplug or eject hardware" icon on the task bar on the bottom of the screen.
ASSIGNMENT: You will be creating folders, copying files, creating a text file, and saving the text file on your thumb-drive flash memory data stick. You should have created a PCBackup folder on your zoo home directory so you can backup files to your PCBackup folder. Label your thumb drive with your Name, Phone number, and e-mail. On your thumb drive, create a WINDOWS folder, and a TEXT folder. Copy the files CALC.EXE and NOTEPAD.EXE from the Windows and System32 folders on Hard Drive C: to your WINDOWS folder that you just created on your thumb drive. Use the editor Notepad to create a text file that explains: 1. A history of your computer experience: what computers you have used, what software, and courses, jobs, etc. and 2. What you want to get out of AGRI 002/85 (Remember to turn on wordwrap or hit the Enter or Return at the end of each line). Save this file to your TEXT folder on your working diskette with the filename your first name and the file extension TXT.
Print the contents of the text file from Notepad The file should be printed neatly so lines do not wrap around and end part-way across the page (Narrow the Notepad Window to prevent this, see example below of correct format).
Print the Directory of your thumb drive memory stick using Windows Explorer showing the WINDOWS and TEXT folders on your diskette. Open each of the folder so the files are visible (see example below of correct format).
Use FTP to create a PCBackup folder inside your home directory on zoo if you have not already done so. Upload important data files (Word documents, images, spreadsheets, statistics files, and other academic files), BUT BE CAREFUL NOT TO EXCEED 500 Megabytes. Do not upload audio files or movies. Print the FTP Window so the PCBackup folder is visible, along with some files you backed up to that folder (see example below):
Lastly: Read the Syllabus and Lab Carefully.
20 points.
Your text file output from Notepad should look something like this:
Jane.txt
My name is Jane G. Schaeffer and my computer experience is
limited to Word Processing on my sister's old Apple Mac i-book using
AppleWorks. I also tried using WordPerfect 8.0 a few times on a
roommates IBM-586 but had some trouble and accidentally nuked my entire
paper and had to start it over. I've played videogames of course and in
one of my classes in high school we used a simulation program called
Simpas to project world population, natural resources, and pollution.
I would like to get a better understanding of computers in
general from taking AGRI 002/85. For example, I've used the Web and would
like to learn how to make Web pages, but have no clue as to how to go
about it. I've got a zoo account but don't really know how to use it.
I'd like to learn enough so I can use computers to make school easier
for me by creating graphs, getting references fast, and communicating
with other people.
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Your Windows Explorer printout of your thumb drive should look something like this (below):
Your SSH (Secure Shell) FTP window printout should look something like this so you can see your PCBackup folder under your home directory, and that there are files or folders you have uploaded into the PCBackup folder:
