Jan's Illustrated Computer Literacy 101: Working with Words

What you need

Basic Windows skills: The skills covered in the Windows unit - using a mouse to click, double-click, drag, & right click; parts of a window; moving, resizing, maximizing, & minimizing a window; scrolling; using the folder tree; creating and managing folders; naming files; opening a program; opening and saving files; using dialog boxes; using Help; printing.
Typing skills: You need to be familiar with the computer keyboard and have some skill in typing to do these exercises in a reasonable amount of time.
Resource files: Files that you need to create the documents in the projects are provided for download in a zip file and are also available online separately. Your instructor may have put these files on your computer already.
To get these resource files, click on the following link to download a zipped set of files:

resources-words.zip

A download dialog will appear. Choose "Save this program to a disk" if you want to unzip later. Choose Open to let Windows or your own zipping software unzip the files. Choose a folder on your hard drive for the extracted files.

To extract later, find the zipped file in an Explorer window and double-click it. Windows or your own zipping software will then unzip it.

Duplicate files: Some of the resource files have duplicates in different Office file formats. Be careful to choose the file that the directions tells you to use.
Removable File Storage: USB drive
You need removable storage for a working copy and a backup copy of your documents.

If you have a computer of your own, keep an up-to-date copy of your work on your home computer, too. Start good backup habits early and you won't kick yourself later when your files are lost or corrupted.

USB drive: Recommended
Called by many different names: flash drive, flash pen, thumb drive, key drive, jump drive, and mini-USB drive. A USB drive is an excellent choice for storing your class work. Your data is much safer on a USB drive than on a floppy disk and easier to work with than if burned on a CD.

Before you buy:
Check the following for both the classroom computer AND your home computer-
- Computer does have USB ports.
- You are allowed to use one of the USB ports.
- You can physically get to the USB port.
  Some are on the the back of the computer case.
- Operating system will recognize a USB drive.
  Windows 2000, XP, and Me will automatically recognize your USB drive. For Win95 and Win98, you must install drivers.
- Physical arrangement of USB ports - Are they side by side? one above the other?
  Some USB drives are wider or thicker than others and may not fit all port arrangements, especially if a neighboring USB port has something plugged into it. Many USB drives come with a short extension cable.
If you do not have a computer at home, consider buying 2 USB drives so that you can use one to keep a backup copy of your work. Don't lose them both at the same time!

How to handle a full disk
Word Processing Program: To create text documents you use a word processing program like MS Word, Lotus WordPro, or WordPerfect. This tutorial was written for Microsoft Word, version 97, 2000, 2002 (which is part of the Office XP suite), and 2003. There are comments where different methods apply. Word 95 was quite similar in the basic tools and methods. Different brands of word processors will do most of the same tasks these days. But the details, names for the features, and commands may be quite different.