Windows NT for Dummies Book

Introduction

About This Book

How to Use This Book

And What about You?

How This Book Is Organized

Part I: Introducing Windows NT (Bare-Bones Stuff)

Part II: Making Windows NT Do Something

Part III: Using Windows NT Applications

Part IV: Been There, Done That: Quick References for Moving to Windows NT

Part V: Getting Help

Part VI: The Part of Tens

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I: Intro to Windows NT (Bare Bones Stuff)

Chapter 1: What Is Windows NT?

What Is This "Windows" Stuff, Anyway?

What Does Windows NT 4 Do?

Why Should I Bother Using Windows NT?

Will I Like Windows NT 4 Better than Windows NT 3.51?

What's the Difference between Windows NT Workstation and Windows NT Server?

Bracing Yourself for Windows NT 4

Chapter 2: Boring Information, Bothersome Computer Parts

The Computer

Microprocessor

Floppy Disks, Compact Discs (CDs), and Disk Drives

Floppy disk flipping

What disk drives does Windows NT like?

What does "write-protected" mean?

Driving with compact discs

The Mouse and That Double-Click Stuff

Cards and Monitors

Keyboards

Groups of keys

More key principles

Print Screen: the one fun, weird code key

Modems

Printers

Networks

Sound Cards (Disgusting Bioactive Noises)

Parts Required by Windows NT

Chapter 3: Windows NT Stuff Everybody Thinks You Already Know

Backing Up Your Work

Clicking

The Command Line

The Command Prompt

The Cursor

Defaults (And the "Any Key")

Desktop (And Wallpapering It)

Double-Clicking

Dragging and Dropping

Drivers

Files

Folders and Directories

Graphical User Interfaces

Hardware and Software

Icons

Kilobytes, Megabytes, and So On

Loading, Running, Executing, and Launching

Memory

The Mouse

Multitasking and Task Switching

Networks

Plug and Play

Pointers/Arrows

Programs/Applications

Quitting or Exiting Programs

Quitting or Exiting Windows NT 4

Save Command

Save As Command

Shortcuts

Temp Files

The Windows

Chapter 4: Network Things Administrators Think You Already Know

Account or "User Account"

Client/Server

Computer Name

Domain

Exchange

Home Directory

Logoff

Logon

Mapped Drive

Member Server

Network Administrator

Network

Network Neighborhood

Password

Peer-to-Peer

Permissions

Remote Access

Resource

Server

Sharing

TCP/IP

Username

Workgroup

Workstation

Part II: Making Windows NT Do Something

Chapter 5: Getting on the Road with Windows NT

Logging On to Windows NT

Changing your password

Oh, NO! I can't remember my password

Starting Your Favorite Program

Using pull-down menus

Loading a file

Putting two programs on-screen simultaneously

Using the Keyboard

Printing Your Work

Saving Your Work

Logging Off Windows NT

Chapter 6: Examining All Those Buttons, Bars, and Boxes

A Typical Window

Bars

The title bar

The menu bar

The scroll bar

The taskbar

Borders

The Button Family

Command buttons

Option buttons

Minimize/maximize buttons

The Dopey Control-Menu Button

Dialog Box Stuff (Lots of Gibberish)

Text boxes

Regular list boxes

Drop-down list boxes

Check boxes

Sliding controls

Just Tell Me How to Open a File!

Hey! When Do I Click, and When Do I Double-Click?

Chapter 7: Moving the Windows Around

Moving a Window to the Top of the Pile

Moving a Window from Here to There

Making a Window Bigger or Smaller

Making a Window Fill the Whole Screen

Shrinking Windows to the Taskbar

Turning Taskbar Buttons Back into Windows

Switching from Window to Window

The Alt+Tab trick

The Alt+Esc trick

The Window-Manipulating Taskbar and Its Cohorts

Switching to another window

Closing a window from the taskbar

Cascading and tiling windows

Arranging icons on the Desktop

Finding the taskbar

Chapter 8: I Can't Find It!

Plucking a Lost Window from the Taskbar

Finding a Window That's off the Edge of the Screen

Cascading Windows (The Deal-All-the-Windows-in-Front-of-Me Approach)

Tiling Windows (The Stick-Everything-on-the Screen-at-Once Approach)

DOS without Getting Lost

Finding Lost Files, Folders, or Computers (But Not Misplaced Laptops)

Finding Snippets of Stored Information

Peeking into Icons with Quick View

Chapter 9: Sharing It All on the Network

What's an Intranet?

How Do I Know What Computers I Can Access on a Network?

Checking Out the Network Neighborhood

After I get on the network, what am I looking at?

Opening files on other computers

Grabbing network files the quick way (with shortcuts)

How do I save a new file to another computer?

Making Frequent Visits to a Friendly Computer Much Easier

Make a shortcut to the computer

Mapping a network drive

Make the administrator do it

Running a Program That Lives on Someone Else's Computer

How Do I Share Stuff on My Computer?

Make your own workgroup -- astound your friends!

Graciously Granting Permissions

The Printers Are on the Network!

Looking for printers on the network

Picking a favorite printer for everyday use

Adding a network printer to your machine

Chapter 10: Shuffling Words, Pictures, and Sounds from One Place to Another

Examining the Cut and Paste Concept (and Copy, Too)

Highlighting the Important Stuff

Deleting, Cutting, or Copying What You Highlighted

Deleting the information

Cutting the information

Copying the information

Finding out more about cutting, copying, and deleting

Pasting Information into Another Window

Using Copy and Paste with a DOS Program

Copying a picture from a DOS program

Copying text from a DOS program

Pasting text into a DOS program

Using the Clipboard Viewer

ClipBook Viewer: Enemy or Foe?

Looking at Cool Object Linking and Embedding Stuff

Embedding

Linking

Leaving Scraps on the Desktop Deliberately

Controlling the Printer

Chapter 11: Switch Flipping in the Windows NT Control Panel

Finding the Control Panel

Customizing the Display

The display's background (hanging new wallpaper)

The display's screen saver

The display's appearance (getting better colors)

Display settings (playing with new video modes)

Understanding the Fuss about TrueType Fonts

Making Windows NT Recognize Your Double-Click

Setting the Computer's Time and Date

Fiddling with the Printer

Stirring Things up with Sound and Multimedia

Adding and Removing Programs

Finding Out Which Icons to Avoid

Adding New Hardware

Part III: Using Windows NT Applications

Chapter 12: The Windows NT Desktop, Start Button, and Taskbar

Making Piles of Junk on the Windows NT Desktop

Using the Recycle Bin

Making a shortcut

Uh, what's the difference between a shortcut and an icon?

The Eager-to-Please Start button

Starting a program from the Start button

Adding a program to the Start button

Shutting down Windows NT

Organizing the Desktop Mishmash with the Taskbar

Clicking on the taskbar's sensitive areas

Customizing the taskbar

Chapter 13: The Frightening Explorer and My Computer Programs

Why Are the Explorer and My Computer Programs So Scary?

Fiddling Around with Folders

Peering into Your Drives, Folders, and Network Storage Tanks

Seeing the files on a disk drive

Seeing what's inside a folder

Loading a Program or File

Deleting and Undeleting Files and Folders

Getting rid of a file or folder

How to undelete a file or folder

Copying or Moving a File or Folder

Selecting More than One File or Folder

Renaming a File or Folder

Using Legal Folder Names and Filenames

Copying a Complete Floppy Disk

Creating a Folder

Seeing More Information about Files and Folders

Dragging, Dropping, and Running

Making Explorer and My Computer List Missing Files

Formatting a New Floppy Disk

Chapter 14: Little Accessories That Clog the Start Button's Programs Menu

Calculator

CD Player

Character Map (Adding the ² in Voil²)

Chat

Clipboard Viewer

ClipBook Viewer

HyperTerminal

Imaging

Media Player

My Briefcase

Notepad

Paint

Sound Recorder

Telnet

WordPad

My Version of Windows NT Doesn't Have the Right Programs!

How Did Windows NT 3.51 Hold Up?

Administrative Tools for the TechnoProbics

Backup

Disk Administrator

Event Viewer

Performance Monitor

User Manager

Windows NT Diagnostics

Chapter 15: Uh, How Do I Run My Older Programs?

Running DOS Programs under Windows NT

Adjusting a DOS Program's Diet

Making Text Bigger or Smaller in a DOS Program Window

Stopping a DOS Program that Won't Stop

Chapter 16: Talking to Computers Everywhere

Mail Basics

So, How Do I Get Exchange Going?

Running the Exchange Setup Wizard

Addressing messages

Sending messages

Receiving messages

Reading messages

Forwarding messages

Internet Explorer

Internet, intranet, what's the deal?

Using Internet Explorer

Using the mouse

More cool Internet Explorer stuff

Part IV: Been There, Done That: Quick References for Moving to Windows NT

Chapter 17: Make Windows NT Work like My Old Version of Windows!

Where Did My Program Manager Go?

I Want My File Manager Back!

Where Are Write, Cardfile, Calendar, and Paintbrush?

Chapter 18: How Can I Do Anything in Less than Four Steps?

How Do I Copy a File to a Floppy Disk (and Vice Versa)?

How Do I Copy a File to a Different Folder or Drive on a Network (and Vice Versa)?

How Do I Make a Copy of a Floppy Disk?

How Do I Find the Start Button and Start Menu?

How Do I Start a Program?

How Do I Find a File, Folder, or Program?

How Can I Add Files, Folders, and Programs to the Start Menu?

How Do I Keep My Icons Neatly Arranged?

How Do I Organize Open Windows so that They're All Visible?

How Do I Set the Time and Date?

How Do I Open a New, Plastic-Wrapped Compact-Disc Box?

How Do I Change My Screen's Wallpaper?

How Do I Change the Name of a File or Folder?

How Much Room Do I Have on My Hard Disk?

How Do I Install a New Program?

Part V: Getting Help

Chapter 19: Fixing Windows That Don't Work

My Mouse Doesn't Work Right

My Menus Act Weird

I'm Supposed to Install a New Driver

His Version of Windows NT 4 Has More Programs than Mine!

I Clicked on the Wrong Button (But I Haven't Lifted My Finger Yet)

My Computer Has Frozen Up Solid

My DOS Program Looks Weird in a Window

The Printer Isn't Working Right

Chapter 20: The Terror of the ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!

Not enough memory

A: is not accessible. The device is not ready

The disk in the destination drive is full

The item that this shortcut refers to has been changed or moved.

The nearest match, based on size, date, and type, is another item.

Do you want this shortcut to point to this item?

A filename cannot contain any of the following characters: /:*?"<>|

There is no viewer capable of viewing WordPad Document files

Deleting this file will make it impossible to run this program and may make it impossible for you to edit some documents

You must type a filename

Cannot copy file: Access is denied. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use

Access denied

Error opening printer

The other computer did not respond

The system could not log you on

The disk is in use or locked by another process

Chapter 21: Helpful Handouts from the Windows NT Help Program

The Quickest Way to Find Answers

Press F1

Click the right mouse button on the confusing part

Hover the mouse pointer over the confusing icon

Click on the little question mark

Choose Help from the main menu

Click on the leaping arrows

Pestering Windows NT's Built-in Help Program

Sticking Electronic Stick-on Notes on Help Pages

Solving General Problem Areas

Finding Help on Specific Problems

Trying to Find the Same Page Again

Part VI: The Part of Tens

Chapter 22: Ten New Windows NT 4 Features for Windows NT 3.51 Users to Check Out

Check Out the Right Mouse Button

Peering Inside Files without Opening Them

Filenames Can be L-o-o-o-o-o-o-n-g-e-r now

Plucking Deleted Files from the Recycle Bin

Grabbing Groups of Icons with a Lasso

Hopping to the Right Place in Help

Making a Shortcut

Chapter 23: Ten Windows NT 4 Shortfalls (And How to Fix Them)

Mouse Menus Take Too Long to Wade Through

I Can't Keep Track of All Those Windows!

I Can't Find the Darned Taskbar!

My Print Screen Key Doesn't Work

Windows NT Doesn't Come with All the Programs Listed on the Box

My DOS Programs Run Too Slowly (Or Not at All) under Windows NT

Lining Up Two Windows on the Screen Is Too Hard

The My Computer and Explorer Programs Show the Wrong Stuff on My Floppy Disk

My Program Won't Save a File to a Network Drive

Chapter 24: Ten (Or More) Ugly Acronyms

ACL

ASCII

BIOS

BMP

CLI

DDE

DLL

DRV

FAT

GIF

HAL

IBM

INI

IRQ

LAN

NT

NTFS

OLE

PCMCIA

PCX

PIF

RAM

RAS

RISC

ROM

UPS

WAN

Chapter 25: Ten Windows NT Icons and What They Do

Glossary

Index

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