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There are a number of ways to launch your word processing application (in this case, Microsoft Word 2002). In the end, you'll choose the method that's the most convenient for you: there's no right or wrong to your decision. To open a word processing application, do one of the following:

• Choose the program from the Windows Start menu or the All Programs menu.

• Click a shortcut icon, either on the Quick Launch toolbar or your desktop.

• Double-click a word processing file.

Figure 4.1 shows the Windows Start All Programs menu, with Microsoft Word 2002 selected. To display the menu, click the Windows Start button on the Windows taskbar and choose your application if it's on the Start menu. If it doesn't appear on the Start menu, choose All Programs and select it from the All Programs menu.

Figure 4.1. You'll find Microsoft Word on the Start menu or the All Programs menu.

For a quicker start, locate the Word 2002 icon on the Windows XP Quick Launch toolbar, shown in Figure 4.2, and click it. Similarly, you can add a Word shortcut icon to your desktop.

Figure 4.2. You can find Word on the Quick Launch toolbar.

Launching Word opens the application window shown in Figure 4.3 and a blank document. If you're unfamiliar with Word, take a few minutes to review the menu commands and toolbar buttons .

Figure 4.3. Word launches a blank document.

Another easy way to launch Word is to locate a Word document file in the Windows Explorer and double-click it (or launch a file from a shortcut icon). Doing so launches both Word and the clicked file (instead of opening a blank document).

Closing Word is extremely simple. Click the Windows Close button (refer to Figure 4.3) in the application's title bar. Or choose Exit from the File menu. If there's an unsaved document open when you close, Word prompts you to save it before closing both the document and the application.

Opening Documents

Open one, several documents.

One thing you'll find with most Windows applications is that there's more than one way to do most everything. Opening a document is no exception to this rule. To open an existing document, follow these steps:

1. There are three ways to initiate an open task: Click the Open button on the Standard toolbar, choose Open from the File menu, or press Ctrl+O. All three methods display the Open dialog box.
   
   

2. In the Open dialog box, use the Look in control to navigate to the appropriate folder. To learn more about navigating through the system's file structure, see Chapter 3, "Using the Computer and Managing Files."
   
   

3. Select the file in the updated list, and then click Open. Or you can simply double-click the file and skip the Open click.
   
   

Creating New Documents

Create a new document (based on default, other available template).

You won't always work with existing documents; you'll often create new ones. To do so, use any of these techniques:

• Click the New button on the Standard toolbar.

• Choose New from the File menu.

• Press Ctrl+N.

You can save the new document immediately or not.

There are usually three ways to execute most common tasks: via a menu command, a toolbar, or a hotkey (a keyboard shortcut). You should be familiar with all the possible ways to complete simple tasks .

Any of these techniques will create a new document based on the default template (a template is a collection of settings, such as style names , for a particular document). You can also create a new document based on another available template. To do so, select New from the File menu to open the list of templates. Select the template for the new document and click OK to create the document.

Saving a Document

Save a document to a location on a drive.

We recommend that you save your documents on a frequent and regular basis. That way if the worst happens, such as a power outage or equipment failure, you lose only a small portion of your work. The first time you save the document, you are prompted to specify a name for the file:

1. Choose Save As from the File menu.
   
   

2. In the resulting Save As dialog box, shown in Figure 4.4, use the Look in control to locate the directory where you want to save the file.
   
   

   Figure 4.4. Give the new document a name.

   
   

3. Enter a name for the file in the File Name control.
   
   

4. Click Save.
   
   

After saving the document, you'll probably make revisions. When this happens, you need to save the file again. To do so, simply click the Save button on the Standard toolbar. Or choose Save from the File menu or press Ctrl+S. If you select Save the first time around, Word displays the Save As dialog box so you can name the file.

By default, Word automatically saves your documents once every 10 minutes so it can recover them in case of a crash. You can adjust this setting on the Save tab of the Options dialog box, accessible from Tools, Options.

Saving a Document with a New Name

Save a document under another name.

Don't be surprised if you find yourself renaming a file. For instance, you might report on monthly sales. In this case, you might pull up March's document, overwrite existing figures, change the title to April, and then save the file as AprilSales instead of MarchSales.

There are two ways to approach a renaming task. The important thing to remember is that you might end up with one file (losing the original), or you might end up with two (the original and the new one).

To rename a document and retain both copies, follow these steps:

1. Open the original file using one of the methods previously discussed.
   
   

2. Once the document is open, choose Save As from the File menu.
   
   

3. Overwrite the current filename in the File Name control.
   
   

4. Click Save.
   
   

To rename the file and overwrite the original file, follow these steps:

1. Click the Open button, choose Open from the File menu, or press Ctrl+O. Any of these actions opens the Open dialog box.
   
   

2. In the Open dialog box, right-click the file in the file list.
   
   

3. Select Rename from the resulting context menu to put the filename in edit mode.
   
   

4. Enter the new name and press Enter. You're left with just one filethe newly named file. The contents of the document are still the same as the original; only the name has changed at this point.
   
   

You can rename an existing file and in doing so, create two filesone with the original name and one with the new name. Or you can replace the original file with a renamed file. You should know how to do both.

Working with Other Text File Types

Save a document in another file type such as: text file, Rich Text Format, HTML, template, software specific file extension, version number.

Microsoft Word's file type is indicated by its file extension, .doc , but Word can work with a number of text file types, which are listed in Table 4.1.

Table 4.1. Text File Types

Occasionally, you might need to change a document's file type. You can change a file's type during the save process. To change a file's type, follow these steps:

1. With the file open in Word, use any of the save methods listed earlier to open the Save As dialog box. (Don't click the Save icon.)
   
   

2. Select the appropriate file type from the Save as Type control. Note that in some cases you can select the version of the software (such as Microsoft Word 97) as well as the file extension (such as .doc or .rtf).
   
   

3. Change the file's name and the file's current folder if you like, but doing so isn't necessary to save the file's type.
   
   

4. Click Save.
   
   

Working with Multiple Documents

Switch between open documents.

In Chapter 3, you learned about multitaskingworking with more than one window or application at any given time. Word is a multitasking application in that it lets you work with more than one document window open at any given time. Think of each document as a window. Working in multiple windows is convenient when you need to copy or refer to data in one document while working in another.

To open more than one document, simply repeat one of the processes mentioned in the previous sections for opening documents as many time as needed, but specify different files each time. There are a couple of ways to switch back and forth between the open documents.

First, you can choose a document from the Window menu shown in Figure 4.5. Or click the appropriate minimized document icon on the Windows taskbar.

Figure 4.5. Select a document from the Window menu to make that window current.

You can press Alt+Tab and cycle through all the open windows, which will include any non-Word applications and files. (You can learn more about this technique in Chapter 3.)

Getting Help

Use available Help functions.

Most applications provide an extensive Help feature that you can quickly access. Most of the time, you'll find Help on the main menu bar. Open the menu's drop-down list to learn what options your software offers. Figure 4.6 shows Word's robust Help offerings.

Figure 4.6. Word offers many Help features.

There are three options you'll probably use frequently:

• Microsoft Word Help Provides Web-enabled access to a number of useful articles and other Help options. Alternately, you can press F1.

• What's This? Displays a screen tip for the specified option. Select an item, such as a control or a menu command, and press Shift+F1 to change the cursor to an arrow with a question mark. Click on any part of Word with this cursor to view a short explanation of the element.

• Office On The Web Connects to Microsoft's online Office site, which gives you access to an extensive library of articles and useful hints.

To turn off Clippit, the Office Assistant, right-click it, choose Options, and uncheck the Use the Office Assistant option.

When You're Done

Close a document.

When you're done with a document, you'll want to close it. Do so by choosing Close from the File menu.

If you try to close a document without saving it, Word prompts you to save your changes.

Adjust Settings

Word is very flexible and allows you to determine a number of environmental settings.

Viewing Modes

Change between page view modes.

Word offers four perspectives, or views, of your document: Normal, Web Layout, Print Layout , and Outline . Most of the time, you'll probably use Normal mode when entering text, formatting, or editing the document. For that reason, it's also the default mode. To select this option, choose Normal from the View menu.

To view the active document as it will appear in a Web browser, choose Web Layout from the File menu. If you'd like to see what the document will look like in printed form, choose Print Layout from the File menu. This mode requires more memory, and a large document might scroll a tad slower than in another mode. The last mode, Outline mode, is more specialized and therefore, you will probably use it less than the others. Choose Outline from the View menu when you need to structure your document in a classic outline format.

Zooming In

Use magnification/zoom tools.

The Zoom tool on the Formatting toolbar lets you quickly zoom in on or out of the current document. Simply select a value from the control's drop-down list, shown in Figure 4.7, or enter a value.

Figure 4.7. Quickly zoom in or out of a document.

If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, you can also scroll the wheel while holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard to change the zoom for a document.

When a document's in Normal view, you can click the Print Preview tool to get a better look at the document as a printed document. For instance, Figure 4.8 shows several pages of a rather long document in Print Preview.

Figure 4.8. View the document in Print Preview.

Manipulating Toolbars

Display, hide built-in toolbars.

Word has one menu bar and several toolbars, which is typical of Windows applications. By default, Word displays the menu bar and the Standard toolbar (refer to Figure 4.8). A number of other toolbars make quick work of many tasks. Similarly, you can hide a toolbar if you don't need it.

To hide or display a toolbar, right-click the background of any visible toolbar or menu bar. By background, we mean that you shouldn't click a menu command or tool. Right-clicking the background displays the list of available toolbars. Check a toolbar to display it; uncheck it to hide it.

Manipulating Nonprinting Characters

Display, hide nonprinting characters.

As you type text, you also enter a number of characters that don't actually show onscreen, or the printed page, but that doesn't mean they're not there.

To view these characters onscreen, choose Options from the Tools menu and click the View tab. Then, check the appropriate options. Figure 4.9 shows the effects of checking the Spaces and Paragraph Marks options.

Figure 4.9. Check these options to view nonprintable characters onscreen.

Setting Basic Options

Modify basic options/preferences in the application: user name, default directory/folder to open, save documents.