Taskbar, Start Menu, And Control Panel

	Remember, any detailed instructions relate to Microsoft computers running on Windows 8, 10, or 11 operating systems.

The Taskbar

The Taskbar is the narrow strip that runs along the full width of your screen at the very bottom. It is almost always in view no matter what app or website you are accessing. One of the only times it disappears is when you are watching a video in “Full Screen” mode. If this is the case, and you want the taskbar to re-appear, point your mouse near the bottom of the screen. Several icons will appear, including one called “Exit Full Screen”. Click here to reduce the size of the video, and the taskbar will re-appear.

From left to right, the taskbar contains the following icons:

• The {Windows Start Menu} key, a black cross on a white rectangle. This is covered in more detail, later in this blog post.
• A “Type here to search” area. This is basically an input box for your “Bing” browser, where you can ask questions or enter a URL without fully accessing your “Bing” browser,
• An icon for “Task View”. This is a strange-looking icon, which, when clicked, shows a small depiction of all programs and websites that are currently open on your computer.
• A large space for icons of programs currently being accessed. More importantly, this is where you can “pin” icons of your most frequently accessed programs. These icons will remain on the taskbar, even when they are not being accessed. They can quickly and easily be accessed at any time by left-clicking on them. Icons can be pinned to the taskbar, by locating the program in the “Start Menu” (see later), right-clicking on the desired program, hovering your mouse over “more”, and then left-clicking on “Pin to taskbar”. Icons can be removed from the taskbar by right-clicking on them on the taskbar and then left-clicking on “Unpin from taskbar”.
• Towards the right of the taskbar, are several automatic icons, which can change depending on where your computer is in the world. I’ve got a local weather forecast and temperature summary, an internet connectivity indicator, a battery charge indicator, the date and time, and a notification indicator.

By right-clicking on a space on the taskbar, there are a lot of personal changes you can make to your taskbar. Be creative and so ensure that your taskbar will help to maximize your productivity and the enjoyment you get from using your Windows computer.

The “Windows” Start Menu

As mentioned above, the start key is situated on the far left of your taskbar. The icon looks like a white window with four panes. The panes turn blue when you hover your mouse over it, just before left-clicking. The same effect can be achieved by pressing the key on your full-sized keyboard between the {Ctrl} and {Alt} keys on the far left of the bottom row of keys. A lot of the functions of the start menu are outside the scope of this blog post, which concentrates on the basics of computer knowledge, but in my next blog post, I intend to point you in the right direction to get more advanced knowledge should you require it. However, sticking to the more simple stuff, here are a few of the more important points which you should be aware of:

• Immediately above the (now blue) “Windows” icon is a circular icon with a short vertical line breaking the circle at the 12 o’clock position. Hover over this and the word “Power” appears. Left-click on “Power” and you are offered three options. Click on “Sleep” if you want to leave your computer for up to an hour or two without saving and closing all of your open applications. This will save on electricity or battery power. Click on “Shut Down”, if your work for the day is finished. You should only do this when you have saved all your work and closed down all of the applications. You will receive a warning if you have left anything unsaved. Click on “Restart” if you want your computer to close down and immediately restart itself. This is sometimes necessary if you have installed a new program and you want to use it as soon as possible.
• Immediately to the right of the column of 5 icons above the “Windows Start Menu” icon is an alphabetical list of all programs and applications that are installed in the “C:” partition of your hard drive. You can start any of your programs from here by left-clicking on them, or you can transfer them to the far right of the pop-up by right-clicking the name and left-clicking “Pin to start”. A medium-sized icon will then appear on the right, which can be reduced in size to small. Icons can then also be dragged to the desktop, or pinned to the taskbar as discussed previously. In other words, there are many ways you can organize how you can access your programs. Play away for as long as you like, until everything is set up to your satisfaction.
• Deleting icons, by right-clicking on them followed by left-clicking on “Delete” will not delete the program from your computer. If you are sure that you want to completely remove a program, right-click on it in the alphabetical list and left-click on “Uninstall”. All aspects of the program will be removed from your computer, including all icons, whether they are in the right side of your start menu, your desktop, or your taskbar.

The Control Panel

The control panel is another area full of advanced options, way beyond the scope of this basic blog post. In all probability, your computer will have had a control panel on its desktop when it first came out of its box. However, if not, the only way to access it is to type “control panel” into the “Bing box near the left side of your taskbar and press {Enter}. From there you can pin it to the start menu. That’s what I’ve done. It would be impossible for me to go through all the options, but let me cover just one.

Remember I told you that to the right of my taskbar, the time and date were displayed. I expect that it will be the same for you. Time and dates can be displayed in a variety of ways. Time can be expressed as 24 hours, or 12 hours, showing AM or PM. The display of seconds may be important to some people, but not to others. Likewise with dates. People from different parts of the world prefer putting days, months, and years in different orders. Some people prefer to refer to months with their numbers, while other people prefer using the first three letters of the month’s name. It’s not straightforward, but the way the date and time are displayed on your taskbar can be altered to your liking by visiting the “Date and Time” option in your control panel.

Conclusion

While much of what I’ve covered in this blog post is simple, like how to turn off your computer, many more doors will have been opened, without us going completely inside. This indicates just how complicated your computer set up can be. I am no expert, although I probably know a little more than most, but I have often paid for advice from a fully trained expert, and, if necessary, that is what you should do too.

I hope that this blog post has been helpful. Please comment or ask questions below. All comments will be replied to, and all questions will be answered.

Cheers

Phil

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