Category: Common Tasks

In this lesson we will see how to create an email account using an online service.

E-mail is a standard way of sending messages to a person or business over the internet. In order to send and receive email we need an email account.

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Many online services exist that provide free email. Some of the most popular include Gmail from Google, Hotmail from Microsoft and Yahoo mail from Yahoo.

In this lesson we will create a Gmail account, but you can choose any online service you like: they all have a similar process.

Navigate to www.gmail.com (or the webpage for the service you choose).

Find the ‘create account’ link and click upon it:

Now we need to fill in our details:

Enter your name and other details.

When you choose a username this will be your email address, so you must pick a name that nobody else has used before. Sometimes this means you have to add numbers at the end of your name to make sure you have a unique name! The email service will usually suggest alternatives if the name you would like has been taken.

When choosing a password be sure to make it secure: include capital letters, numbers and symbols, and make sure it is as long as possible. And – of course – make sure you can remember it, as you will need this password to use your email!

Sometimes you need to solve a little puzzle to prove that you are human. This is to prevent malicious people from creating too many email accounts using automated systems. For example in this case I have to read a number and type it in – a task that is simple for a human but complicated for a computer.

After you click Next the email service will usually confirm your details.

Then you will be logged into your new email account, and it is ready to use.

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Many people like to customise the way their computer desktop appears, to make it less cluttered. In this lesson we’ll see some common techniques to change the desktop.

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First, right click on the desktop. On the menu you can see the “Personalize” option. This is how we customise our desktop.

Clicking Personalize opens this Window:

We can click ‘Desktop Background’ to choose another picture.

The Background window has a list of available pictures to choose from. These will vary depending on which version of Windows is being used. To change the background select a suitable picture from the list or press ‘Browse’ and find your own picture.

A preview of the selected picture is displayed as it will appear on the monitor; if no suitable picture is available the browse button can be used to locate a picture on the computer’s hard drive

If the selected picture does not fit the screen completely there are options to Center, Tile or Stretch the picture

Center will place the picture in the centre of the desktop, Tile will tile the picture across the entire desktop Stretch will fill the desktop with the selected picture; this can sometimes distort pictures if they are too small.

Select apply to change the background picture. Now the background has been modified.

It is important to backup your data regularly so you do not lose it. In this lesson we look at the Backup & Restore tool included with Windows. This tool is very powerful but we will look at the most basic features.

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To begin a backup open the Start menu. Begin typing ‘Backup’ and you should see the Backup and Restore tool appear:

Click ‘Backup and Restore’.
You will see the Backup window.

We want to set up a backup, so click ‘Set up backup’.
The tool will ask you where to store your backup. It will show you a list of your drives and recommend one to choose save it on. If you have an external drive attached (for example via a USB cable) then this is a very good choice: this way your data is in a separate physical location from your computer.

Choose which drive to save your files on.

Now Windows will ask you what you want to back up. If you want to do this easily you can select “Let Windows Choose”: in this case it will save all your document data automatically. If you choose this then you are done!

If you want to choose for yourself you can select that option. It will then present you with a list of data you might want to save, for example:

Select the folders you want to backup and press ‘Next’.

Finally Windows will ask you to confirm you are satisfied with your backup settings. Check you selected the right drive and the right data to backup and then press ‘Save settings and run backup’.

Now if you wish you can set the backup to run automatically at certain times. Choose the appropriate times and press ‘OK’.

While the backup is running it’s important you don’t switch off your computer, to make sure that the backup completes successfully.

Restoring a backup
To Restore your files first open the Backup and Restore tool as before.

Click ‘Restore my files’ and choose the folders of data you wish to restore.

Next you select the location to restore the files to.

Finally press ‘Restore’ and the files will be returned. Simple!

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In this lesson we look at connecting to a standard wireless network in Windows.

To access the internet you must be connected to a network. Often nowadays these networks are wireless, also sometimes called WiFi.

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When you connect to a wireless network you are connected to a nearby box called a router. These routers have limited wireless range so you often have to be close to the router and not have too many obstacles between your computer and the router.

Once you are connected to the router it acts as a gateway to the internet for your computer.
In order to connect, you look for the Wireless Network icon. This is usually in the bottom right tray of your computer near the clock, and usually looks something like this:

When you click your wireless network icon it shows you a list of available networks. This looks different in every version of Windows but always shows the network name and how strong the connection is to it:

You can choose a network to connect to from the list.
If it is a secure network it will ask you for a password.
If it is unsecured it will simply connect. The unsecure networks are shown with warning symbols, often an exclamation mark “!”.

If in doubt you should avoid using unsecure networks. This is because someone may have maliciously set up the router to spy on your internet usage, and you cannot tell for sure. You should only connect to wireless networks that you trust!