Section three: Getting Started

The real trick to learning about computers is just to play with them. It is vital to get in as
much hands-on experience with a computer as you can.
Don’t worry about hurting the computer. It can tolerate most of your mistakes. If you don’t
understand something just go back, try it again and then again if necessary.
Turning on the Computer
Before you turn on your computer make sure that you do not have any floppy disks in the drives. If
you do then eject them by pressing the small button next to the disk slot. If a floppy is left in its slot
can oftentimes keep a computer from starting properly.
Make sure everything is plugged in and ready to go. First, turn the monitor on by pressing its power
button, then, if your speakers have their own power switch, turn that on. Finally, turn on the
computer. Turning on your computer is called “booting” the computer.
First you will see a black screen with some text on it. Your computer runs a self test and you may
see numbers counting up very quickly. After that Windows will begin to load. You will know when
Windows has finished loading with your monitor’s desktop displays the “My Computer” and “Recycle
Bin” icons.
If you happen to get a window that asks you how to boot and displays a list of options, choose
“Normal Boot”. This sometimes happens if the computer was turned off improperly. It is nothing
to worry about unless you continuous shut down improperly. If you can’t get the computer to get
pass this point or if the Windows screen doesn’t appear you may have a problem or your computer
may have been altered in some way. It would be the time you should call in tech support.