Conventions Used in This Book

I hope that this book is easy enough to figure out on its own, without requiring its own instruction manual. As you read through the pages, however, it helps to know precisely how I've presented specific types of information.

Menu Commands

Most computer programs operate via a series of pull-down menus. You use your mouse to pull down a menu and then select an option from that menu. This sort of operation is indicated like this throughout the book:

Select File, Save

or

Click the Start button and select All Programs, Accessories, Notepad.

All you have to do is follow the instructions in order, using your mouse to click each item in turn. When there are submenus tacked onto the main menu (as in the All Programs, Accessories, Notepad example), just keep clicking the selections until you come to the last one which should open the program or activate the command you want!

Shortcut Key Combinations

When you're using your computer keyboard, sometimes you have to press two keys at the same time. These "two-key" combinations are called shortcut keys and are shown as the key names joined with a plus sign (+). For example, Ctrl+W indicates that you should press the W key while holding down the Ctrl key. It's no more complex than that.

Other Commands

Some of the operations in this book involve entering a command at the Windows command prompt. (This is virtually identical to entering MS-DOS commands, if you've been around computers long enough to remember a world before Windows.) When there's a command to enter, it will be noted like this:

 chkdsk 

You should enter the command, as written, at the command prompt, and then press the Enter key on your keyboard to execute the command.

Web Page Addresses

There are a lot of Web page addresses in this book. (That's because you'll probably be spending a lot of time on the Internet.) They're noted as such:

www.molehillgroup.com

Technically, a Web page address is supposed to start with http:// (as in http://www.molehillgroup.com). Because Internet Explorer and other Web browsers automatically insert this piece of the address, however, you don't have to type it and I haven't included it in any of the addresses in this book.

Special Elements

This book includes a few special elements that provide additional information not included in the basic text. These elements are designed to supplement the text to make your learning faster, easier, and more efficient.

tip

A tip is a piece of advice a little trick, actually that helps you use your computer more effectively or maneuver around problems or limitations.

note

A note is designed to provide information that is generally useful but not specifically necessary for what you're doing at the moment. Some are like extended tips interesting, but not essential.

"Mike Sez"

This element is my personal opinion or recommendation regarding the topic at hand. Remember I might not always be right, but I'll always have an opinion!

caution

A caution will tell you to beware of a potentially dangerous operation. In some cases, ignoring a caution could cause you significant problem so pay attention to them!