Datasheet
Figure 1-20: Message that’s asking a question
The sample message shown in Figure 1-20 is asking whether you want to
save the document you’ve recently created or changed. For more informa-
tion on saving documents, see Chapter 6.
After you’ve responded to any questions that might have appeared on the
screen, and Windows has finished its housekeeping, one of two things will hap-
pen. If you have the type of computer that Windows can shut down by itself,
the monitor will go blank, any fan noise you normally hear will stop, and the
computer will shut down. You don’t have to push any buttons to turn off the
computer.
If you have the type of computer that Windows can’t turn off by itself, you’ll
see the message It is now safe to turn off your computer on the screen. In that
case, you’ll need to turn off the computer yourself, using its main power switch.
On a computer that doesn’t shut down automatically, you might have to
hold the main power button in for three or four seconds before the com-
puter shuts down. That’s to prevent the computer from being shut down
accidentally when someone just brushes up against the button.
Summary
That about wraps it up for the basic skills you need to start your computer,
use your mouse and keyboard, start programs, close programs, and turn off
your computer. The part about starting and using programs in this chapter is,
admittedly, a bit thin. There’s a lot more you can do with program windows, as
you’ll learn in Part 2. But for now, you’re off to a great start and are ready to
move to Chapter 2, where you’ll learn some more critical basic skills.
✦ Your computer hardware is the stuff that you can see and feel.
✦ The main hardware devices you use to operate the computer are the
mouse and keyboard.
✦ Your computer software is the invisible instructions that tell the
computer how to behave and what to do.
✦ All of the software in your computer is stored on your computer’s
hard disk.
✦ Windows XP is a special type of software known as an operating
system (OS).
Gotcha
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