Windows Vista for Starters: The Missing Manual

Windows Vista for Starters: The Missing Manual

by David Pogue
Released January 2007
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9780596528263

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Buy on Amazon Buy on ebooks.com
Start your free trial

Book description

Fast-paced and easy to use, this concise book teaches you the basics of Windows Vista so you can start using this operating system right away. Written by "New York Times" columnist, bestselling author, Emmy-winning CBS News correspondent and Missing Manuals creator David Pogue, the book will help you:

  • Navigate the desktop, including the fast, powerful and fully integrated desktop search function
  • Use the Media Center to record TV and radio, present photos, play music, and record all of these to a DVD
  • Breeze across the Web with the vastly improved Internet Explorer 7 tabbed browser
  • Become familiar with Vista's beefed up security, and much more
Windows Vista is a vast improvement over its predecessors, with an appealing, glass-like visual overhaul, superior searching and organization tools, a multimedia and collaboration suite, and a massive, top-to-bottom security-shield reconstruction. Every corner of the traditional Windows operating system has been tweaked, overhauled, or replaced entirely.

Aimed at new and experienced computer users alike, Windows Vista for Starters: The Missing Manual is right there when you need it. This jargon-free book explains Vista's features quickly and clearly -- revealing which work well and which don't.

Publisher resources

View/Submit Errata

Table of contents

  1. THE MISSING CREDITS
    1. About the Author
    2. About the Creative Team
    3. Acknowledgments
    4. The Missing Manual Series
      1. For Starters
  2. INTRODUCTION
    1.  
      1. Version Chaos
    2. About This Book
      1. About the Outline
      2. About→These→Arrows
    3. About
  3. I. THE VISTA DESKTOP
    1. 1. THE VERY BASICS
      1. About Windows
      2. Mouse and Keyboard Essentials
        1. The Right Mouse Button is King
        2. Wizards = Interviews
        3. There’s More Than One Way to Do Everything
        4. You Can Use the Keyboard for Everything
        5. You Could Spend a Lifetime Changing Properties
        6. Every Piece of Hardware Requires Software
        7. It’s Not Meant to Be Overwhelming
    2. 2. WELCOME CENTER, DESKTOP, AND THE START MENU
      1. The Welcome Center
      2. The Vista Desktop—Now with Aero!
      3. The Start Menu
        1. Anatomy of the Start Menu
      4. What’s in the Start Menu
        1. Search Box
        2. All Programs
        3. Folders
          1. The Startup folder
      5. Start→ (Sleep)
      6. Start→ (Lock)
      7. Start→Log Off, Restart, Hibernate, Shut Down
      8. Start→Help and Support
      9. Start→Default Programs, →Control Panel
      10. Start→Connect To
      11. Start→Network
      12. Start→Computer
      13. Start→Recent Items
      14. Start→Search
      15. Start→Games
      16. Start→Music, Pictures
      17. Start→Documents
      18. Start→[Your Name]: The Personal Folder
    3. 3. FILES, FOLDERS, AND WINDOWS
      1. Universal Window Controls
      2. Explorer Window Controls
        1. Address Bar
          1. Components of the Address bar
          2. What to type into the Address bar
        2. The Toolbar
        3. Column Headings
      3. Optional Window Panes
        1. Search Pane
        2. Details Pane
        3. Preview Pane
        4. Navigation Pane
          1. Favorite Links list
          2. Folders list
      4. Icon and List Views
      5. Sorting, Grouping, Stacking, and Filtering
        1. Sorting Files
        2. Grouping
        3. Stacking
        4. Filtering
      6. Sizing, Moving, and Closing Windows
        1. Moving a Window
        2. Closing a Window
        3. Layering Windows
      7. Windows Flip (Alt+Tab)
      8. Windows Flip 3D
      9. The Taskbar
        1. The Notification Area (System Tray)
        2. Taskbar Buttons—Now with Thumbnails!
        3. Button Groups
        4. The Quick Launch Toolbar
    4. 4. SEARCHING AND ORGANIZING YOUR FILES
      1. Meet Vista Search
      2. Search from the Start Menu
        1. Results Menu Tips
      3. Explorer-Window Searches
        1. The Search Pane
        2. The Search Window
      4. The Folders of Windows Vista
        1. What’s in the Local Disk (C:) Window
          1. Users
          2. Program Files
          3. Windows
        2. Your Personal Folder
      5. Life with Icons
        1. Renaming Your Icons
        2. Icon Properties
          1. Computer
          2. Disks
          3. Data files and Folders
      6. Selecting Icons
        1. Use the Mouse
        2. Use the Keyboard
        3. Checkbox Selection
      7. Copying and Moving Folders and Files
        1. Copying by Dragging Icons
          1. The right mouse button trick
          2. Dragging icons into the Navigation pane
        2. Copying with Copy and Paste
      8. The Recycle Bin
        1. Restoring Deleted Files and Folders
        2. Emptying the Recycle Bin
      9. Shortcut Icons
        1. Creating and Deleting Shortcuts
      10. Burning CDs and DVDs from the Desktop
        1. A Tale of Two Formats
        2. Burning, Step by Step
          1. The final steps: Mastered format
          2. The final steps: Live File System format
        3. Final Notes
    5. 5. INTERIOR DECORATING VISTA
      1. Aero or Not
      2. Desktop Background (Wallpaper)
        1. Use a Microsoft Photo
        2. Use Your Photo
      3. Screen Savers
        1. Choosing a Screen Saver
      4. Sounds
      5. Mouse Makeover
      6. Customizing the Start Menu
        1. Start Menu Settings
        2. Adding Icons to the Start Menu
          1. The “free” sections of the Start menu
          2. Dragging onto the Start menu
        3. Removing Icons from the Start Menu
        4. Renaming Start-Menu Items
        5. Reorganizing the Start Menu
  4. II. THE PIECES OF VISTA
    1. 6. PROGRAMS, DOCUMENTS, AND GADGETS
      1. Opening Programs
      2. Exiting Programs
      3. When Programs Die: The Task Manager
      4. Saving Documents
        1. The Save Dialog Box
        2. Saving into Your Documents Folder
        3. Saving into Other Folders
        4. The File Format Drop-Down Menu
      5. Closing Documents
      6. The Open Dialog Box
      7. Moving Data Between Documents
        1. Cut, Copy, and Paste
        2. Drag-and-Drop
        3. Export/Import
      8. The Sidebar
        1. Losing the Sidebar
        2. Sidebar Tips
        3. Gadget Catalog
          1. Calendar
          2. Clock
          3. Contacts
          4. CPU Meter
          5. Currency
          6. Notes
          7. Stocks
          8. Picture Puzzle
          9. Weather
          10. Slide Show
        4. More Gadgets
          1. Installing a gadget
          2. Uninstalling a gadget
      9. Filename Extensions and File Associations
        1. Displaying Filename Extensions
      10. Installing Software
        1. The Preinstallation Checklist
        2. Installing Software from a CD
        3. Installing Downloaded Software
        4. Installing Windows Components
      11. Uninstalling Software
      12. The Control Panel
        1. Home View
        2. Classic View
        3. Date and Time
        4. Internet Options
        5. Keyboard
        6. Mouse
          1. Buttons tab
          2. Pointers tab
          3. Pointers Options tab
          4. Wheel tab
        7. Power Options
        8. Programs and Features
        9. Regional and Language Options
        10. Sound
          1. Playback and Recording tabs
          2. Sounds tab
        11. System
    2. 7. PHOTOS, MUSIC, AND MOVIES
      1. Windows Photo Gallery
        1. Getting Pictures into Photo Gallery
          1. Photos from a digital camera
        2. The Post-Dump Slideshow
        3. The Digital Shoebox
          1. The Bigger Picture
          2. The Navigation Tree
        4. Working with Your Photos
          1. Selecting Photos
          2. Deleting Photos
          3. The Info Panel—and photo names
        5. Tags and Ratings
          1. Applying Tags and Ratings
          2. Using Tags and Ratings
        6. Editing Your Shots
        7. Ten Levels of Undo
        8. Auto Adjust
        9. Cropping
        10. Red-Eye
        11. Rotate
        12. Exposure and Color Adjustments
        13. Reverting to the Original
        14. Finding Your Audience
        15. Make Prints
        16. Slideshows
        17. Email
        18. Make a Slideshow Movie
      2. Windows Media Player
        1. The Lay of the Land
        2. Playing Music CDs
        3. Ripping CDs to Your Hard Drive
        4. Organizing Your Music Library
          1. Playlists
        5. Burning Your Own CDs
        6. Copying Music or Videos to a Portable Player
        7. Online Music Stores
        8. Internet Radio
      3. DVD Movies
  5. III. VISTA ONLINE
    1. 8. GETTING ONLINE—SECURELY
      1. Broadband Connections (Cable Modems and DSL)
      2. Wireless Networks
      3. Dial-Up Connections
      4. Connection Management
        1. The Notification Area Icon
      5. Internet Security
        1. Security Center
        2. Windows Firewall
        3. Security Center and Antivirus
        4. Windows Defender
      6. Hot Spot Security
      7. Parental Controls
    2. 9. INTERNET EXPLORER 7
      1. IE7: The Grand Tour
        1. Menus and Gizmos
        2. The Address Bar
        3. Topside Doodads
        4. Window Controls
      2. Tabbed Browsing
        1. Shortcut-O-Rama
        2. Quick Tabs (Thumbnails)
      3. Favorites (Bookmarks)
      4. History List
      5. RSS: The Missing Manual
        1. Viewing an RSS Feed
      6. Tips for Better Surfing
        1. Picking a Home Page
        2. Bigger Text, Smaller Text
        3. Zooming In and Out
        4. Saving Pages
        5. Printing Pages
        6. Turn Off Animations
        7. Internet Options
      7. The Phishing Filter
      8. Privacy and Cookies
      9. The Pop-up Blocker
        1. Overriding the Pop-up Block
    3. 10. WINDOWS MAIL
      1. Setting Up Windows Mail
      2. Sending Email
        1.  
          1. Mail folders in Windows Mail
          2. Composing and sending messages
          3. The Contacts list
          4. Attaching files to messages
      3. Reading Email
        1. When Pictures are Part of the Message
        2. How to Process a Message
          1. Deleting messages
        3. Replying to Messages
        4. Forwarding Messages
        5. Printing Messages
        6. Filing Messages
        7. Opening Attachments
      4. Junk Email
        1. Junk E-Mail Options
  6. IV. BEYOND THE BASICS
    1. 11. PRINTING AND FAXING
      1. Installing a Printer
        1. USB Printers
        2. Network Printers
        3. The Printer Icon
      2. Printing
        1. Printing from Programs
        2. Printing from the Desktop
      3. Controlling Printouts
      4. Sharing a Printer
      5. Printer Troubleshooting
      6. Fonts
        1. Managing Your Fonts
      7. Faxing
        1. Sending a Fax from Any Program
        2. Receiving Faxes
    2. 12. EXPANDING YOUR HARDWARE
      1. External Gadgets
        1. USB Jacks
        2. Other Jacks
        3. Connecting New Gadgets
      2. Installing Cards in Expansion Slots
      3. Troubleshooting Newly Installed Gear
      4. Driver Signing
      5. The Device Manager
        1. Red Xs and Yellow !s: Resolving Conflicts
          1. Duplicate devices
          2. Resolving resource conflicts
        2. Turning Components Off
        3. Updating Drivers
        4. Driver Rollback
    3. 13. GETTING HELP
      1. Navigating the Help System
        1. Help Home Page
        2. Search the Help Pages
        3. Drilling Down
      2. Remote Assistance
        1. Remote Assistance: Rest Assured
        2. Remote Assistance, Step by Step
      3. Getting Help from Microsoft
    4. 14. BACKUPS, MAINTENANCE, AND TROUBLESHOOTING
      1. Automatic Backups
        1. Backup Hardware
        2. Creating a Backup
        3. Restoring Files from a Backup
      2. System Restore
        1. About Restore Points
        2. Performing a System Restore
      3. Windows Update
        1. Fiddling with Windows Update
        2. Removing Updates
      4. Four Speed Tricks
        1. SuperFetch
        2. ReadyBoost
        3. Shutting Off Bells and Whistles
        4. Toning Down the Aero
      5. Safe Mode and the Startup Menu
      6. Startup Repair
  7. V. THE VISTA NETWORK
    1. 15. ACCOUNTS (AND LOGGING ON)
      1. Introducing User Accounts
      2. Accounts
        1. Administrator vs. Standard Accounts
        2. Adding an Account
        3. Editing an Account
        4. The Forgotten Password Disk
        5. Deleting Accounts
      3. Fast User Switching
      4. Logging On
        1. You Get the Windows Welcome Screen
        2. You Zoom Straight to the Desktop
        3. You Get the “Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to Begin” Dialog Box
    2. 16. SETTING UP A NETWORK AND SHARING FILES
      1. Kinds of Networks
      2. Sharing an Internet Connection
        1. Get a Broadband Router
        2. Use Internet Connection Sharing
      3. The Network and Sharing Center
        1. “View computers and devices”
        2. “Connect to a network”
        3. “Manage wireless networks”
        4. “Customize”
        5. Testing the Network
      4. Sharing Files
        1. Sharing Files: Two Methods
        2. The Public Folder Method
        3. The “Share Any Folder” Method
      5. Accessing Shared Files
  8. VI. APPENDIX
    1. A. APPENDIX
      1. Explorer windows
      2. Instant Search box (top of each Explorer window)
      3. Working with icons
      4. Navigation pane
      5. Windows-key shortcuts
      6. Login screen
      7. Security screen
      8. Miscellaneous/Editing
  9. Index
  10. About the Author
  11. COLOPHON
  12. Copyright

Product information

  • Title: Windows Vista for Starters: The Missing Manual
  • Author(s): David Pogue
  • Release date: January 2007
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9780596528263