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| Windows XP Tutorial - The Windows XP desktop & icons |
Welcome to our Windows XP tutorial, this tutorial is aimed at new Windows XP users that are unfamiliar with the operating system. In this first part of the tutorial we will have a look at the Windows desktop and introduce you to icons and the taskbar.
Before you follow this tutorial you must read the terms of our disclaimer.
If you have any trouble with any of the terms, see our computer dictionary.
The Windows XP Desktop Above in fig 1.1 you can see an example of the Windows XP desktop. When you first switch on your machine and Windows XP loads, it will look similar to that shown in our example (although Windows XP by default has a picture for the desktop background).
Desktop refers to the main background area (in our example the white area). You can customise your desktop in various ways, including adding a background picture, changing the background colour, and changing the size of the icons on the desktop.
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Note: - If you have used either Windows 95/98 or ME and you want a familiar desktop, taskbar and start menu then see our guides to Changing the Start menu to classic view in Windows XP® and Changing themes in Windows XP®.
In fig 1.1 we have pointed out some areas of interest, we will look at these below.
Introduction to the Windows Desktop Icons
Icons are small graphical images that can represent your computer's programs, files, folders and printers amongst other things (see fig 1.1).
To activate the program/file/folder that an icon represents you simply double click (two clicks in quick succession) on it with the left mouse button. This will activate the icon and either start a program or open a file/folder.
The icons on your desktop can be renamed by right clicking on them and selecting rename. They can be deleted by right clicking and selecting delete.
It's possible to create your own Windows desktop icons for programs, files, folders, etc. See our guide to creating desktop shortcuts in our tips and tricks section.
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In our example we have two icons. The outlook icon is for example purposes only, you may have different icons including My Documents and the recycle bin icon.
Recycle Bin
When you delete a file, Windows XP will place the file into the recycle bin (instead of deleting it altogether), this allows you to restore the file in case you deleted it by mistake.
For example, if you deleted a file by accident you could double click on the recycle bin icon to see its contents. Inside you will see the file/folder that you deleted, to restore the file back to where you deleted it from, right click on it and then select restore from the menu that appears.
Note: some files may be too big to be stored in the recycle bin. Windows XP should warn you if you delete a file that cannot be restored.
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 | Keeping the Windows Desktop tidy
The more you use Windows XP the more your desktop may start to fill up with icons, either because you install more software or you create your own icons.
Windows XP can automatically align and sort your desktop icons to keep the desktop tidy. To achieve this, click the right mouse button anywhere on the desktop and a menu will appear (similar to that shown in fig 1.2). Hover the mouse pointer over Arrange Icons By and a submenu will appear, from here you can sort your desktop icons by name, size, type and last modified date. | Selecting the Auto Arrange option will automatically align your desktop icons every time one is added to the desktop.
The Desktop Cleanup Wizard will remove any desktop shortcuts that have never been used. They get stored in a new folder on your desktop called Unused Desktop Shortcuts.
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The Win XP Start button
The start button (see fig 1.1) is a very important part of Windows XP. Clicking on the start button opens up what is called the start menu, the start menu is used to access your programs, settings, printers and more. We will take an indepth look at the start menu and its functions in part 2 of our Windows XP tutorial.
The Win XP Taskbar
The taskbar (see fig 1.1) is another important part of the Windows XP operating system. One of its main uses is to switch between any open programs or documents, we will look more closely at the Windows XP Taskbar and its features in part 3 of our Windows XP tutorial.
The Win XP Clock
The clock sits on the taskbar (see fig 1.1) and displays the system time. Hovering the mouse pointer over the clock will reveal the date, to learn how to change the time and date see our guide to changing the date/time in Win XP
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