Windows Components

by Lee Alexander

The Calculator

This application has two modes: standard and scientific. The standard version is much like any inexpensive pocket calculator with 10 buttons for digits, 3 for the accumulator (the device's active storage), 4 for Memory functions, and 9 for mathematical operations. The advantage over a stand alone calculator is it is on your computer and therefore has the facilities of the Clipboard – Copy and Paste. Also, with its keyboard shortcuts, you do not have to reach for a mouse or external device to perform those functions. To see these shortcuts and others, bring up the calculator (a quick way to do so – Start | Run | type ‘calc' | OK), and hit the Help button. Under the Index tab, enter KEYBOARD and go on from there.

An example of using the calculator in conjunction with your PC is to record your checkbook balance in a simple text file. Including this small file in your BACKUP scheme (you do have a BACKUP procedure, don't you?) will create a redundancy to assure you have that critical information always available.

To use the scientific mode, simply go to View and toggle from Standard to Scientific. The functions here mimic a typical high level calculator such as Texas Instruments models. As you might expect, there are a lot more keyboard shortcuts and key sequences. Clicking on Help in the two modes illustrates the “context sensitive” nature of the Help files mentioned last month in Windows OS Basics.

Word Processing

Word processing, as compared to simple writing on a typewriter, is one of the PC's foremost attractions. Say goodbye to wite-out and correcting ribbons when you wish to correct or change your “printed word.” A single key on the keyboard can delete typos; mouse manipulations allow for the rearrangement of paragraphs, constructions, and thoughts.

The Windows OS offers two applications for quick note writing: Notepad and WordPad. Microsoft's big gun, WORD, is overkill unless you are writing a complex document involving graphics, photos, a Table of Contents, etc. Word is available as a stand-alone application, part of Microsoft's Office suite, or included with an upgraded version of Works. I wrote a nonsensical note and Saved As … as a Word Document, a text file in Notepad, and as a file in WordPad with the filetype .wri . It consists of 1 page, 23 words, 4 lines, and 4 paragraphs (as reported by Word). The relative file sizes are: 20 KB, 1 KB, and 2 KB.

Thus, Notepad should be your first choice for quick notes, examining simple .LOG files, or writing simple batch files. To exercise more creativity and advanced editing, WordPad offers more toolbars and features such as, Print Preview, a Ruler, and more format options.

Paint – the Free Drawing Tool

Compared to commercial graphics applications such as Corel Draw, JASC's Paint Shop, or Broderbund's Print Shop, Microsoft's Paint is a pretty light weight application. For simple jobs, such as a quickly drawn map as directions to your house for a delivery, the application is quite adequate. The native filetype for Paint files is a bitmap (.BMP). Bitmaps are raster files, i.e. each pixel (picture element) is defined as to screen location and color. Therefore the files do not scale well and are large compared JPEGs. For example, a simple map to my house from Dillsboro is 632 KB as a bitmap file but only 17 KB as a GIF (Graphics Interchange File).

Zooming in Paint can result in pixelization , a “staircase” effect; however, it will allow you to edit fine detail. The latest version of Paint will handle other file types including icons (.ico), JPEGs (.jpg), TIFFs (.tif), GIFs (.gif), and PNGs (.png). You can distinguish folders by coloring the folder icons that appear in Windows Explorer. For example, fill the icons with different colors for family members or your personal categories.

PCE – Private Character Editor

It should come as no surprise when I reveal that, after years of using Windows XP, I am still discovering tidbits about the OS. Reading the November 2004 issue of Smart Computing, I came across an article on the PCE – a “font creator.” I put the phrase in quotes as it is not a true font creating utility. Commercial programs for creating fonts can run into high dollar amounts. I view this utility as akin to the CUSTOM.DIC facility

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To access the PCE go to Start | Run and enter eudcedit (End User Defined Character Editor). This will present you with a couple of cascaded dialog boxes. In the forefront will be the Select Code box with 16 x 6 (96) available entries. The individual boxes are identified by hexadecimal addresses. Selecting a box and hitting OK presents you with an editing grid of 64 x 64 pixels. At this point you could start drawing or go to the menu item Window | Reference to get 16 x 6 array of characters. Selecting a character will bring up a second grid of 64 x 64 pixels with the character superimposed. The only function available here is to select all or part of the character and move (drag) it to the Edit grid. On the Edit grid you can resize, flip, and rotate the character. Using the Drawing Tools to the left, you can add more graphic structures. By going back to Window | Reference, you can add more characters to spell out a short word – such as MUG. Once you are satisfied with your creation, click Edit | Save Character.

To insert the new compounded character into a text file, you will have to go to Windows' Character Map – Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Character Map. From the drop-down list in Font, select All Fonts (Private Characters). You will then see an array of the custom characters you have created. Click on the character desired and hit Select and then Copy to put it on the Clipboard. You can now paste it in a word processing application and resize it via the Font size feature of the program.

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The above is a single character, resized to 22 points.

System Information

Under All Programs | Accessories | System Tools you can find a component called System Information. If you wish to print out the information available there make sure you have plenty of paper in your printer and ample time to do the job. This is THE SOURCE for info prior to contacting any technical help about a specific problem. You will have to use a little intuition to burrow down to the items involved in a specific instance. Most tech reps will steer you to this source if your computer is up and running.

The first category is a System Summary. Usually a single page, this display is easy to print and read. The tree on the left is then divided into five categories: hardware resources, components, software, Internet settings, and Microsoft Office (if installed). Within these major categories a number of sub-trees (limbs?) will be found. There quite a few duplications of data, supposedly grouped differently for your edification. What can you do with this overload of information? Not much; however, it could steer a knowledgeable person to a trouble spot. Unless you are truly an expert, the fourteen characters (in hexadecimal notation) of a Memory Address do not allow you to go there and fix a glitch. When combined with mystifying error messages the information can be a clue to some misbehavior.

Conclusion – for now

There are a few more components of Windows OS's, like the browser - Internet Explorer, the Media Player, the Sound Recorder, etc. If sufficient interest is shown, we may be able to cover those applications in the future. The Disk Defragmenter, System Restore, and the Task Manager are fairly easy to understand and use. For anyone who has used a late Windows OS for a reasonable length of time, they are almost second nature.