Operating System

• Windows XP Professional is the operating system (OS) on all new CCSF Windows computers. The Operating System takes care of essentials like booting up, connecting with your monitor, hard disk, Zip and floppy disks.
• You use the OS's facilities when you perform basic but vital tasks like starting programs, copying and backing up your data ororganizing your documents into folders.

Organizing your documents and backing up

Have trouble finding a document that you know you created last semester? Lost a floppy with your syllabus on it? You need to make folders to get your docs in order and backup your work so that you always have multiple copies. Tasks like these are covered in these pages on Organizing yourself.

Downloadable documents: The same data is covered in an Organizing your data PowerPoint presentation that you can save to your computer and look at offline, and in a Word document that also includes controlling how you look at the data in your folders. And here's a short summary of organizing, making folders, copying, saving and backing up [Word]

Did you know that you can change where you save your documents and create new folder right from inside the Save As dialog box in Word, Excel, PowerPoint — almost any Windows program. Find out how in this short Word Document on Controlling where you save.

Coming from the Mac?

If you are using a Windows computer now, but used to use a Mac, or if you are bi-platformal, here's a downloadable Word document that can help: Windows XP for Mac Users.

Programs

Office XP Suite containing:

• Word 2002: Document processing
• Excel 2002: Spreadsheets
• PowerPoint 2002: Presentations
• FrontPage 2002: Web creation
• Publisher 2002: Brochures, other light desktop publishing
• Access: Database

Also:

• Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6 Web browser
• Anti-Virus software (McAfee VirusScan): Protects against virus infection from downloaded or borrowed files and disks. If you have a Windows Laptop, look in that section for information on how to update your virus software.
• Telnet and FTP: Software to upload Web pages to fog or cloud/www

The TLC gives periodic workshops on most of these programs, and as CCSF Faculty or Staff you can look at online training from the Virtual Training Company (VTC). Here's how (instructions in Acrobat format).