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Using the Start Button
What's Available From The START Button?
Just like in Windows 95, the START button is the launching pad for most of the activities you will perform while working on your computer. From the Start button, you can initiate the actions that will allow you to get to all the functions of Windows 98.
When you click the START button you will be viewing the Start Menu. This menu has the following options from the top down:
PROGRAMS: When you point your mouse to the Programs Menu, you will receive a cascading menu that represents all the programs currently installed on your system. Some are contained in other menus. For example, if you point to Accessories, you'll see the Windows 98 applet programs Notepad, Calculator, Paint, etc. Follow the menus to highlight the item you want, then single click the mouse button and that program will start. The Programs Menu also gives you access to the MS-DOS prompt, and the Windows 98 Explorer.
FAVORITES: The menu will contain a shortcut to any World Wide Web site that you have designated as a bookmark in your favorite web browser. This way, you can easily revisit a web site by simply pointing and clicking at an item in the drop down menu. If you are using the Web View feature of the Windows 98 Explorer, you can also designate any folder or file on your computer as a "favorite" and Windows 98 will add that file or folder to the list under the Favorites menu
DOCUMENTS: Each time you create or open a file with a "Designed for Windows 95 or Windows 98" program, the name of the file is placed in the Documents Menu. This way, you can easily access that file again without having to go through the Windows 98 Explorer to find it.
SETTINGS: The Settings Menu gives you access to up to 6 different items that help you customize your Windows 98 environment.
1 - Control Panels: This gives you access to all the control panels that control various functions of the hardware and software on your system. You can add and remove programs, change the way the mouse behaves, even invoke a "Wizard" program that helps you install and configure new hardware that you have attached to your PC
2 - Printers: This item gives you quick access to help you work and configure printers that are installed on your PC.
3 - Taskbar and Start Menu: This option allows you to customize the behavior of the Taskbar and to add or remove shortcut items to the Start menu.
4 - Folder Option (New To Windows 98) - allows you to control the appearance of the screens that you see when viewing folders. It also lets you control how much information is displayed in these screens. For example, you can choose to look at the files on your computer as icons or in a list, view them in a standard window or as a Web page, and hide certain files from view.
5 - Windows Update - This new feature of Windows 98 will allow you to quickly visit Microsoft's Windows 98 Update page on the World Wide Web. From the Windows Update site, you can choose to automatically download and apply program patches and enhancements that will correct or add functionality to your computer.
FIND: This option invokes a dialog box that lets you search your computer's hard drive for files that are stored there. Some of the ways you can search for files are by name, by file type, by date, or even by a particular text string that may be contained within the file itself.
HELP: You can use the Help Menu to invoke the Windows 98 help system. From here you can look for anything and everything about Windows 98. A newly added feature of the Help menu in Windows 98 is the ability to access the help files that are installed on your system, or browse the World Wide Web sites that are chocked full of Windows 98 hints and tricks.
RUN: The Run option will allow you to enter a single operating system command. From run you can type the name of a program to start it, or even type in a web address to have your browser automatically launch and visit that site.
LOG OFF: The Log Off feature closes all open programs and will disconnect you from the network (if your PC is part of a network) and prepare the computer to be used by someone else. It does not shut the computer down.
SHUT DOWN: This item is only used when you want to shut down your computer totally, restart it, or switch to MS-DOS compatibility mode to run certain DOS programs that require complete control of the PC.
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