Summary:
Details how to start up a computer and also how to access email. This is a guide for newbie computer users.
Nothing can be more frustrating than knowing that an e-mail is just waiting in the Inbox to be read, but the recipient doesn¡¦t know how to turn the computer on or get his or her e-mail started. The first step to be done is to turn the computer on and let it go through its start-up phase. The second step is to type in the username and password. Next, open the Inbox program, and read the email. The last step is to log out of the account and shut the computer down so others can¡¦t read this user¡¦s e-mail. If the recipient cannot get the computer started, he/she will just sit there hoping to turn it on with his/ her mindfº.
Turning on the computer really isn¡¦t that hard to do. On the center of the tower is a large button needs to be pressed in order to start the computer up. If the recipient forgets to turn the monitor on, the computer will still turn on, but the screen will remain blank. So, turn the monitor on by pressing the button just beneath the computer screen. After pressing these buttons, the computer will go through its startup phase and will automatically check for new viruses on the system¡¦s hard drive. There¡¦s nothing to do during this, so find something to do. If the computer doesn¡¦t start up properly, it¡¦s probably not the starter¡¦s fault, but he/she should probably try another machine or ask the supervisor or librarian for help.
Eventually, the computer will warm up and a gray box, called a dialogue box, will pop up onto the screen. Click the TAB key, on the top left part of the keyboard, until the top window is highlighted. This is where the user will type in his/her username. (As soon as they start typing, the highlighted text will disappear and his/her typing will show up). When the username has been typed in, hit the TAB key again, and the password window will be highlighted. The user should type in his/her password. The password can either be his/her favorite food, best friend¡¦s name, or even his/her favorite TV character, however, the user¡¦s typing will not show up in the box as letters; instead it will look like a little star font, like this: **. This is so the people behind the user can¡¦t see what he/she is typing and then break into that user¡¦s account. When the password has been typed in, click the ENTER key and the computer should open up this user¡¦s account. Be careful while typing in this information. If the information is typed in more than three times incorrectly, the computer will lock up. This is because it thinks a hacker is trying to get into that specific account. If the computer locks up, go and talk to the supervisor.
The computer should now be loaded, and the monitor will reveal its basic desktop arrangement with a group of little icons located on the left hand side of the screen. If the icons appear elsewhere, don¡¦t be alarmed the system should still work. Move the mouse over the mouse-pad so that the cursor-arrow on the monitor moves over the icon called INBOX. Using the left-hand button on the mouse, double-click the IBOX icon. Double-clicking is a skill that veteran computer-users take for granted, but ¡§newbies¡¨ sometimes find challenging. The user might want to practice. It requires a quick click-click, clicking twice within half a second. If the user waits too long between clicks, the computer will think that the attempted double-click was actually two separate clicks and nothing will happen. Also, the cursor-arrow has to remain on the icon during both clicks of the mouse-button. As soon that the computer has registered that the user has double-clicked the IBOX icon, it will open the e-mail program and the go to the user¡¦s account. (a small hourglass will show up on the screen while the program is loading). When the INBOX finally opens, the user must allow the program a couple of minutes to download his or her new mail from the system. It should do so immediately, but if it doesn¡¦t, the user can click on the File button (at the top of the screen) and click on Get Messages. (single clicks should work here). The INBOX should now download the user¡¦s new messages. The e-mail he or she has been promised should be sitting there in his or her INBOX. Now that the user has turned the computer on and opened the e-mail, he or she should be able to read it now. There¡¦s not much to say for reading itfº.
After the user finishes reading his/her e-mail, he/she should log out of the INBOX program and out of his/her computer account. If the user doesn¡¦t do this, the next person to use that same computer will be able to read the last user¡¦s e-mail, and that wouldn¡¦t be very good. The QUIT command is under the FILE menu of the INBOX. To shut down the computer itself, hold down the CTRL key and the ALT key (on the lower left hand side of the keyboard), and the DELETE key on the small middle keypad above the arrow keys. The user can then click on the SHUT DOWN option. The user should make sure that the computer properly shuts down before he or she leaves.
The whole process of turning on the computer and starting up e-mail isn¡¦t really all that hard to do. If the user just follows these steps, they should have no trouble at all. Turning on the computer is a real challenge for any beginning computer user. The username and password can really be boring if the user hasn¡¦t thought of anything to use. If the user is afraid of harming the computer, opening the INBOX and reading the e-mail can be a little taxing and logging out can take a little practice patience when the computer is slower than molasses. That¡¦s basically all that a ¡§Newbie¡¨ needs to know about using computersfº. For more information than this, he/she should probably look in the computer handbookfº.
This is the complete article, containing 1,025 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).
