Jan's Working with Windows:

The Desktop

The large area that is the upper part of the screen is called the Desktop. Sometimes (to keep you confused!) people may use the term Desktop to refer to everything you see on the monitor after Windows has gotten started.

The main purpose of the Desktop is to hold shortcut icons that will help you work efficiently.

The Desktop is really just a folder inside the Windows folder, so it can hold anything that any other folder can hold. The background can be decorated with interesting textures or pictures. We'll discuss how later.

Example backgrounds:

Taskbar

Across the bottom of the screen we see the Taskbar. Normally it is in view all the time. The Taskbar's main job is to show what applications are currently running.

WinXP:
Vista:  
Win7:
Win8:  
Win8.1:

Illustrations are much narrower than a real Taskbar would be.

The left end shows the Start button, except in Win8. The middle section of the bar shows a button for each open application. The right end holds the Notification area which shows the time and icons for important system or background tasks. Other toolbars, such as Quick Launch, Address, Links, Windows Media Player, may also display on the Taskbar.

When there are too many icons to fit, you will see double chevrons or scroll arrows on the Taskbar. When you click the chevrons, a menu list appears or the space will expand to show the hidden items. Clicking a scroll arrow rotates another line of icons into view.

Notification Area

The notification area, or tray, at the far right of the Taskbar is used to show icons for programs that are awake and doing something or else just hanging around in the background, like the clock, anti-virus, cloud document storage, and scheduling programs. Such an icon lets you know for sure that the program is ready to do its thing when it is needed. Some icons mean that there is something for you to do, like view a new email message or download/install a new update.

WinXP:
Win7:

For example, in the illustration from Win7 above, the first icon at the left shows that the Carbonite backup software is paused. The envelope icon in the middle means that there is a new message in Windows Live Mail. The check mark on the blue box means that Dropbox has finished synchronizing files. The white bars show the current strength of the wireless network connection. The white speaker icon has 3 curves, meaning that the loudness is set to greater than 60%.

Desktop Icons

Some icons lead you to important parts of the computer. A number of others of this type may show on your desktop, depending on what has been installed.  

Desktop icons from WinXP, Windows Vista, Win7/Win8/Win8.1

Document Icons

Files can actually be stored as part of the Desktop. This icon represents a Word document rather than a shortcut to the application. There is no arrow at the bottom left like there usually is for a shortcut.

Deleting this icon will delete the actual document.

Problem: In some situations Windows may not add an arrow for all shortcuts. So it is hard to know for sure whether an icon represents a shortcut or an actual document.

Solution: Before deleting an icon from the Desktop, right click on it and choose Properties. If the dialog that appears shows the Shortcut tab, then the icon represents a shortcut and not the document itself. You can delete the icon safely.

Shortcuts Icons

A shortcut points to the file that runs a program, like MS Word, or to a document, like the web page Astronomy Picture of the Day. A shortcut can be placed wherever you want to put it - on the Desktop, in a folder, in the Quick Launch area.

A shortcut may have a small arrow at the bottom left of the icon.

Windows does not always put an arrow on the icon for a shortcut, as in the illustration above for a shortcut to Word 2007!

For programs, don't move the actual file that starts a program to the Desktop or another folder. The short cut won't start the program any more!

Before you delete an icon on the desktop, be SURE it is a shortcut rather than the file itself! Don't try to delete the icons for parts of your computer like My Computer or Network Places . (Surely you wouldn't be that silly!)

Start Menu or Start Screen

Quick Launch and Pinned Applications

The Quick Launch toolbar holds shortcuts to your frequently used programs. This is handy because the Taskbar is normally in view all the time. Desktop shortcuts can get hidden by open applications.

Add new shortcuts: Drag a shortcut and drop it in the Quick Launch area.

Too many icons to fit: Click the small chevron   (i.e. double arrow) on the right of the Quick Launch toolbar to show a list of hidden icons.

Resize Quick Launch: Drag the vertical bar at the right of the Quick Launch area. If the bar does not show, then the Taskbar is locked. To unlock it, right click in a blank area of the Taskbar. On the menu that appears, click on Lock the Taskbar to remove the check mark. The Taskbar unlocks for you to make changes.

To show/hide Quick Launch toolbar: Right click on a blank area of the Taskbar. In the context menu, hover over Toolbars to expand the submenu. Click on Quick Launch. A check mark indicates that the toolbar is showing. Clicking toggles it on or off. This works IF your version of Windows has the Quick Launch toolbar enabled. It is not enabled by default for Win7 and Win8. Pinning apps to the Taskbar accomplishes the same thing with some added benefits.

How to add the Quick Launch area to the Win7/Win8 Taskbar (Directions from Microsoft). (If you are using Win8, the page may warn you that the directions apply to a different operating system. But it works for Win 8 and Win8.1, too.) This Quick Launch bar shows on the right by the Notification area instead of on the left as in earlier versions.

Win7, Win8, Win8.1: Pinned Apps

By default, the Taskbar in Win7 and Win8 does not show a Quick Launch area. Instead you can pin icons for your frequently used programs directly on the Taskbar.

To pin an application to the Taskbar, drag its icon from the Start menu or right drag its icon from the Desktop or a Computer/Explorer window to the Taskbar. A screen tip says "Pin to Taskbar".  Release the mouse and it's done!

Win8 and Win8.1

Win8.1 Update

Win8, Win8.1: To pin an application to the Taskbar, switch to the Start Screen and right click on the tile for the program. Click on 'Pin to taskbar'.

To pin a document to the Taskbar, pin the application icon and then open the document. Right click the application's icon on the Taskbar to display its context menu. The document you just opened is listed in the Recent list. Hover over the document's name. A push pin icon appears at the right of the name. Click it to pin the document to the top of the list.

To unpin an application, right click on the icon in the Taskbar and click on "Unpin this program from Taskbar". Simple!

To unpin a document, hover over the document in the icon's context menu and click the push pin.

Open Application

Each open application will have an button on the Taskbar.