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August 1, 2000
The Right Click
By Bill Bateman
I write these articles several months ahead and, for some strange reason, in sets of three. While looking over my past efforts, I seem to have missed filling you in on how to set up your Task Manager as promised. But that's okay, because I can weave that topic into this installment, which talks about "The Right Click".
If you went to school on this planet (or, for that matter, if you teach at a school,) you've discovered the importance of being in the "right clique". You had more friends, you could go to more parties and were, of course, much more popular. Bad pun aside, being a part of the "right click" on your mouse, especially in the later editions of the Windows products, can do almost the same thing for you.
My goal each month is to introduce you to something that piques your curiosity about your computer--to encourage you to explore and try new things. With these new abilities come not only new friends ("Let's call Bill! He can help us."), but some schools will actually excuse you from lunch yard duties or parking lot patrol if you can keep the system on-line. (Disturbingly, few offer actual cash or recognition, a subject for possible discussion in a future column.)
With that said, I also will remind you as often as I can to please think before you begin experimenting on a networked system. Use this opportunity to make new friends. Track down a techie and ask for help, but bring donuts when you do. Computer-types love donuts. (For future reference, I'm partial to those chocolate-frosted glazed ones.)
Take a computer person to lunch. If you are on a system or network instead of a stand-alone, don't even think of changing or altering the system settings without talking to the system administrator before you do it. An angry mob chanting your name in the halls at report card time is not a pleasant experience.
When I had Windows 3.1, I used the right side of the mouse to rest my hand and then, by accident, I copied pictures to a floppy disk with it. I'm sure there were countless other things that it did--I just didn't use them. When I upgraded, first to Windows 95 and then to 98, I found that I had to use the right-click function. As the operating system became larger, it became necessary. It also helped me speed up some of the tasks. Let's take a few examples, shall we?
To begin, go to your Start button. Left-click on it. What do you see? I see the start menu of Programs, Favorites, Documents, and so on. Now try a right-click on Start. Different, huh? I got: Open, Explore, Find, Scan for Virus, and a second open line for a photo program I use.
(Do you know what the underlined letter in each command is? If the mouse is broken or gone, you can usually hold down either the "alt" key or the Windows icon key next to it and press that underlined letter to activate that function.) If you are just upgrading up from 3.X, the Explore key replaces the Main File icon for access to the inner workings of your computer and its files.
Let's try the screen next. Left-click in the middle of your basic start-up screen, not on an icon. What happened? Nothing. Now try a right-click. You will see a menu of choices. I don't have the space to go into each of these here, so I'll point out a few of the more useful.
At the bottom of the list is Properties. If you left-click on this, you will open up your screen utilities. You can adjust your screen size, put in new colored backgrounds, and set up your screen saver. (If you are on a network, you may find that your changes do not remain on your next log-in. This is a permissions issue and you should talk to your system administrator.) If you install a TV card to allow viewing your monitor on the classroom television, you are most likely to find the settings to enable that item in this section as well. This is an alternative to going into Settings, then Control and so on.
Above that is the New section. Left-click on that and you are presented with a variety of choices. You can add a new folder or a shortcut, and create many machine-based functions such as a new Word document.
The Arrange Icons section is just plain fun. Basically, you can play around with how the icons are arranged on your desktop. You can also clean off those shortcuts you created playing around in the New section a few minutes ago. Arrange by size, and then date, then auto arrange them. This makes an interesting computer lesson for your students, by the way.
Now let's go to either My Computer or, if you are on a network, Network Neighborhood. In each, you should find the Open, Explore, and Find (or Find Computer). Now look right below that. See where it talks about mapping drives and the "D" word? Disconnect?
Don't touch that. No. That's bad! Look at it if you must. Open it to see what it does and then Cancel. But do not change it unless you know exactly what you are doing on a stand-alone and NEVER on a network.
While making all these changes is all great fun, it would be exceptionally bad form to do this if you were working at someone else's machine. I know I should not have to say this, but experience has shown me otherwise. While businesses shudders at machines left "open" and passwords violations can lead to dismissal, the day I wrote this, I walked around my campus at lunch and could have used nine different computers, including two in the administrative office.
I mentioned using the Task Scheduler. Normally you would find this item in your Accessories. The path is: Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/ and then either Scheduled Tasks or Maintenance Wizard. Or you can right-click the icon at the bottom of your screen in the lower right-hand corner. It is normally there by the clock, volume control, and virus-checking icons. You can add it if it isn't there by going into Settings and then Task Bar options.
A simple right-click allows you to move into the program and set up the dates and times for your machine to run the Defrag and Scan Disk options. I have chosen to have my machine run in the wee small hours of the morning. I find that once a month is often enough unless I am doing major installs and removals. I also try to perform one function per night, instead of one at 2 a.m., the next and 3 a.m., and so on. It prevents bumping into each other if one takes longer than expected.
The only problem I've had was overly helpful people who would see the machine on and turn it off for me. The cleaning crew was the most difficult. After asking them not to touch the settings, they simply unplugged the server from the UPS. It took me only seven months to break them of that habit, and all is going well for now. A deadbolt and emptying your own wastebaskets is a small price to pay for a functional system. Expect setbacks when you become an innovator.
What are some of the other things to right-click on? Well let's see.
- In Word, right-click while in a document. Depending the on version being used, you can adjust your fonts, create hyperlinks, and find a list of synonyms or definitions. The menu can also change, depending if you click on a word or just on the paper.
- In My Computer, you can format the A drive disk you have inserted. You can also Copy and Back-up your disk. Data can be copied to the disk as well.
- While in the Explore mode, you can right-click to Copy and Paste or Move files from the hard drive to the A drive, or to the trash. If you are on a network, you may again run into permission issues as far as accessing other system drives--at least I hope you do.
- If you right-click on a folder, you can rename it, delete it, and look at its properties (among other things).
There are many other things for you to explore in right-click mode. It depends on the application. See what happens with PowerPoint or Excel the next time you are using the program. Make a habit of checking for changes when you go from one version to another--I found differences between 95 and 98. I am currently working with the betas of Windows 2K and there are changes that have been made in that revision, too.
So reduce your keystrokes. Make friends with your computer. Discover secrets and shortcuts in your programs. Then share what you've learned with co-workers. You'll find it's almost like being the "right clique," even if you didn't belong when you were in school the first time.
Email: Bill Bateman
First Electronic Serial Rights: CMP Media, Inc.
All others: © Bill Bateman 2000
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