Windows Vista For Dummies Table
of Contents
Part I: Windows Vista Stuff Everybody Thinks You Already Know
Chapter 1: What Is Windows Vista?
- What Is Windows Vista, and Why Are You Using It?
- Should I Bother Switching to Windows Vista?
- Improved security
- New Internet Explorer version
- New Media Player and Media Center
- DVD burning
- Calendar
- Easier searching for files
- Vista looks prettier
- Can My PC Still Run Vista?
- Can I Make Windows Vista Look and Feel Like Windows XP?
- The Five Flavors of Vista
Chapter 2: The Desktop, Start Menu, and Other Windows Vista Mysteries
- Being Welcomed to the World of Windows Vista
- Fiddling around with user accounts
- Keeping your account private with a password
- Working on the Desktop
- Cleaning up a messy desktop
- Jazzing up the desktop’s background
- Dumpster diving in the Recycle Bin
- The Start Button’s Reason to Live
- The Start menu’s prime real estate
- Starting a program from the Start menu
- Customizing the Start menu
- Bellying Up to the Taskbar
- Shrinking windows to the taskbar and retrieving them
- Clicking the taskbar’s sensitive areas
- Customizing the taskbar
- The taskbar’s crazy toolbars
- The Sidebar
- Logging Off from Windows
Chapter 3: Basic Windows Mechanics
- Dissecting a Typical Window
- Tugging on a window’s title bar
- Typing in a Window’s Address Bar
- Finding Vista’s hidden menu bar
- Choosing the Right Button for the Job
- Quick shortcuts with the Windows Vista Navigation Pane
- Working with the Details pane
- Moving inside a window with its scroll bar
- Boring borders
- Filling Out Bothersome Dialog Boxes
- Poking the correct command button
- Choosing between option buttons
- Typing into text boxes
- Choosing options from list boxes
- Drop-down list boxes
- Check boxes
- Sliding controls
- Maneuvering Windows Around the Desktop
- Moving a window to the top of the pile
- Moving a window from here to there
- Making a window fill the whole screen
- Closing a window
- Making a window bigger or smaller
- Placing two windows next to each other
- Making windows open to the same darn size
Chapter 4: Flipping Through Files, Folders, Floppies, and CDs
- Browsing Your Computer’s File Cabinets
- Getting the Lowdown on Folders
- Peering into Your Drives and Folders
- Seeing the files on a disk drive
- Seeing what’s inside folders
- Creating a New Folder
- Renaming a File or Folder
- Selecting Bunches of Files or Folders
- Getting Rid of a File or Folder
- Copying or Moving Files and Folders
- Seeing More Information about Files and Folders
- Writing to CDs and DVDs
- Buying the right kind of blank CDs and DVDs for burning
- Copying files from or to a CD or DVD
- Working with Floppy Disks and Memory Cards
Part II: Working with Programs and Files
Chapter 5: Playing with Programs and Documents
- Starting a Program
- Opening a Document
- Saving a Document
- Choosing Which Program Opens a File
- The wrong program loads my file!
- No program will open my file!
- Taking the Lazy Way with a Shortcut
- The Absolutely Essential Guide to Cutting, Copying, and Pasting
- The quick ’n’ dirty guide to cut ’n’ paste
- Selecting things to cut or copy
- Cutting or copying your selected goods
- Pasting information to another place
- Windows Vista’s Free Programs!
- Writing letters with WordPad
- Keeping appointments with Calendar
- Finding symbols like © with Character Map
Chapter 6: Briefly Lost, but Quickly Found
- Finding Lost Windows on the Desktop
- Locating a Missing Program, E-mail,
- Song, Document, or Other File
- Finding a Missing File in a Folder
- Sorting, Grouping, and Stacking Files
- Finding Lost Photos
- Finding Other Computers on a Network
- Finding Information on the Internet
- Saving Your Searches
- Commanding Vista’s Big Search
- Fine-Tuning Vista’s Searches
- Adding places to Vista’s index
- Rebuilding the index
Chapter 7: Printing Your Work
- Printing Your Masterpiece
- Adjusting how your work fits on the page
- Adjusting your printer’s settings
- Canceling a print job
- Printing a Web page
- Installing new fonts
- Troubleshooting your printer
Part III: Getting Things Done on the Internet
Chapter 8: Cruising the Web
- What Is the Internet?
- What’s an ISP, and Why Do I Need One?
- Setting Up Internet Explorer the First Time
- Navigating the Web with Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Moving from Web page to Web page
- Making Internet Explorer open to your favorite site
- Revisit favorite places
- Finding things on the Internet
- The Web Page Says It Needs a Weird Plug-In Thing!
- Saving Information from the Internet
- Saving a Web page
- Saving text
- Saving a picture
- Downloading a program or file
- It Doesn’t Work!
- Removing Unneeded Plug-ins
- The Pages Won’t All Fit on My Screen
- Internet Explorer Now Fills My Entire Screen!
Chapter 9: Sending and Receiving E-mail
- Using Windows Mail
- Setting Up Your E-Mail Account
- Composing and Sending an E-Mail
- Reading a Received E-Mail
- Sending and Receiving an Attachment
- Finding Lost Mail
- Managing Your Contacts
- Reducing Your Spam
Chapter 10: Safe Computing
- Understanding Those Annoying Permission Messages
- Assessing Your Safety in Security Center
- Changing the firewall settings
- Changing Windows Update settings
- Avoiding viruses
- Staying Safe on the Internet
- Avoiding evil add-ons and hijackers
- Avoiding phishing scams
- Avoiding and removing spyware and parasites
- with Windows Defender
- Using parental controls
Part IV: Customizing and Upgrading Windows Vista
Chapter 11: Customizing Windows Vista with the Control Panel
- Finding the Right Switch in the Control Panel
- System and Maintenance
- User Accounts and Family Safety
- Security
- Changing Windows’ Appearance (Appearance and Personalization)
- Changing the desktop background
- Choosing a screen saver
- Changing the computer’s theme
- Changing the screen resolution
- Changing Network and Internet Connections
- Setting the Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options
- Hardware and Sound
- Adjusting Vista’s volume and sounds
- Installing or setting up speakers
- Adding a printer
- Installing or adjusting other items
- Adding new hardware
- Adding or Removing Programs
- Removing or changing programs
- Adding new programs
- Add/remove parts of Windows Vista
- Modifying Vista for the Physically Challenged
- Options for Laptops (Mobile PC)
- Additional Options
Chapter 12: Keeping Windows from Breaking
- Creating a Restore Point
- Tuning Up Windows Vista with Built-In Maintenance Tools
- Backing up your computer
- Finding technical information about your computer
- Freeing up space on your hard drive
- Empowering your power button
- Setting up devices that don’t work (fiddling with drivers)
- Cleaning Your Computer
- Cleaning your mouse
- Cleaning your monitor
- Cleaning your keyboard
Chapter 13: Sharing One Computer with Several People
- Understanding User Accounts
- Setting Up or Changing User Accounts
- Switching Quickly between Users
- Changing a User Account’s Picture
- Setting Up Passwords and Security
Chapter 14: Connecting Two or More Computers with a Network
- Understanding a Network’s Parts
- Setting Up a Small Network
- Buying parts for a network
- Installing a wired network
- Connecting Wirelessly
- Setting up a wireless router or access point
- Setting up Windows Vista to connect to a wireless network
- Connecting to and Sharing Files with Other PCs on Your Network
- Sharing a Printer on the Network
- Troubleshooting a Network
Part V: Music, Movies, Memories (and Photos, Too)
Chapter 15: Playing and Copying Music in Media Player
- Stocking Media Player’s Library
- Browsing Media Player’s Libraries
- Understanding Media Player’s Controls
- Playing CDs
- Playing DVDs
- Playing Videos and TV Shows
- Playing Music Files (MP3s and WMAs)
- Playing Internet Radio Stations
- Creating, Saving, and Editing Playlists
- Copying CDs to Your PC
- Burning Music CDs
- Copying Songs to Your Portable Player
- Buying Music and Movies from Online Stores
- Working with Media Center
- Browsing Media Center’s menus
- Getting the most out of Media Center
Chapter 16: Fiddling with Photos and Movies
- Using Your Computer as a Digital Shoebox
- Dumping the camera’s photos into your computer
- Browsing your photos with Windows Photo Gallery
- Viewing a slide show
- Fixing photos
- E-mailing photos
- Printing pictures
- Creating, Editing, and Viewing Digital Movies and Slide Shows
- Step 1: Import video, pictures, and music
- Step 2: Edit your movie
- Step 3: Save your edited movie or slide show
- Saving a Movie or Slide Show to a DVD with Windows DVD Maker
Part VI: Help!
Chapter 17: The Case of the Broken Window
- Vista Keeps Asking Me for Permission!
- Restoring Calm with System Restore
- Reviving Messed Up or Deleted Files
- Undeleting accidentally deleted files
- Retrieving previous versions of files and folders
- Retrieving a Forgotten Password
- My Folder (Or Desktop) Doesn’t Show All My Files!
- My Mouse Doesn’t Work Right
- My Double-Clicks Are Now Single Clicks!
- Making Older Programs Run under Windows Vista
- I Can’t Find the Menus!
- My Computer Is Frozen Up Solid
- The Printer Isn’t Working Right
Chapter 18: Strange Messages: What You Did Does Not Compute
- Activate Windows Now
- Check Your Computer Security
- Do You Want to Get the Latest Online
- Content When You Search Help?
- Do You Want to Install (Or Run) This File?
- Do You Want to Save Changes
- Do You Want to Turn AutoComplete On?
- Installing Device Driver Software
- The Publisher Could Not Be Verified
- Video Card Does Not Meet Minimum Requirements
- Windows Cannot Open This File
- Windows Needs Your Permission to Continue
- You Don’t Currently Have Permission to Access This Folder
Chapter 19: Moving from an Old Computer to a New One
- Preparing to Move into Your New PC
- Choosing how to transfer your old information
- Installing your old PC’s programs onto your new PC
- Transferring Information Between Two PCs
- with Windows Easy Transfer
- Disposing of the Old Computer
Chapter 20: Help on the Windows Vista Help System
- Consulting a Program’s Built-In Computer Guru
- Finding the Information You Need in Windows’
- Help and Support Center
- Summoning Windows Vista’s Troubleshooters
Part VII: The Part of Tens
Chapter 21: Ten or So Things You’ll Hate about
- Windows Vista (and How to Fix Them)
- I Can’t Stand Those Nagging Permission Screens
- I Can’t Copy Ripped CDs and Purchased Music to My iPod
- The Menus All Disappeared
- Parental Controls Are Too Complicated
- The “Glass” Effects Slow Down My Laptop
- I Can’t Figure Out How to Turn Off My PC
- Windows Makes Me Log On All the Time
- The Taskbar Keeps Disappearing
- I Can’t Keep Track of Open Windows
- I Can’t Line Up Two Windows on the Screen
- It Won’t Let Me Do Something Unless I’m an Administrator!
- I Don’t Know What Version of Windows I Have
- My Print Screen Key Doesn’t Work
Chapter 22: Ten or So Tips for Laptop Owners
- Adjusting Your Laptop’s Settings Quickly
- Choosing What Happens When You Close Your Laptop’s Lid
- Adjusting to Different Locations
- Changing your time zone
- Dialing a modem from a new location
- Connecting to a wireless Internet hotspot
- Backing Up Your Laptop Before Traveling
Appendix: Upgrading to Windows Vista
Index
