OFFICE ASSISTANT- WEEK 4.pdf

OFFICE ASSISTANT WEEK 4- TROUBLESHOOTING COMPUTER PROBLEMS, KEYBOARDING SKILLS, WORD PROCESSING & SPREADSHEET SOFTWARE TROUBLESHOOTING COMPUTER PROBLEMS There is nothing more upsetting than being in the middle of an important project and having trouble with your computer. Almost every computer use...

OFFICE ASSISTANT WEEK 4- TROUBLESHOOTING COMPUTER PROBLEMS, KEYBOARDING SKILLS, WORD PROCESSING & SPREADSHEET SOFTWARE TROUBLESHOOTING COMPUTER PROBLEMS There is nothing more upsetting than being in the middle of an important project and having trouble with your computer. Almost every computer user has experienced times when his or her computer didn’t operate properly. Perhaps the computer crashed and lost your work before you saved it. Perhaps the computer started running very slowly or wouldn’t turn on at all. In many cases, just turning a computer off and back on does the trick. This process, called rebooting, resets the computer’s memory, processes, and programs. Sometimes, though, you need to do more than reboot, but you must determine what you should do. Many people are afraid to troubleshoot computer problems; the solutions, however, to some of the most common problems can be quite simple. With some help, you can diagnose and correct most problems. COMPUTER WONT TURN ON If your computer won’t turn on, you first need to check the simple stuff. Check to make sure the power cord has not come loose from the wall or the back of the computer. Check the switch on the surge protector. Make sure the surge protector is turned on and plugged in. Has the surge protector blown a fuse? If so, you may be able to push the reset button to reset the surge protector. Make sure there is power to the wall outlet where the computer or surge protector is plugged in. Will anything else work in this outlet? COMPUTER FREEZES OR CRASHES Freezing occurs when the computer becomes completely inactive. There are no error messages, the mouse doesn’t move, and the computer does not respond to keyboard commands. Crashing is similar to freezing, but the computer usually displays some type of error message. A program may close unexpectedly, but the rest of Microsoft Windows continues to function. If your computer freezes or crashes frequently, it could be the sign of a hardware problem. Sometimes this is the result of a device that is not installed properly, such as a new video card, memory, or hard drive. Sometimes a component fails after the machine has warmed up. Usually, it’s a good idea to have a computer technician examine your computer when you experience frequent freezing and system crashes. COMPUTER COMES ON WITH A BLUE SCREEN If you turn on the computer and a blue screen appears that says the computer was not properly shut down, it normally begins doing a scan for errors. This occurs when the computer was improperly shut down the last time you used it. The system scans for errors on the hard disk drive that can occur when you turn off the hardware without shutting Microsoft Windows down properly. To properly shut down the system, always go to the Start Menu on the taskbar and click SHUTDOWN from the pop-up menu. COMPUTER RUNS VERY SLOWLY There are several reasons why your computer might start running very slowly, ranging from viruses to the system not having enough memory or hard drive space. Use anti- virus software to help combat viruses. To check your system memory, click START, CONTROL PANEL, and SYSTEM. The System window tells you how much memory your system has. It is recommended that your system have at least 1,000 MB or 1 GB of RAM. If your system has less, see about getting more memory. THE MONITOR IS BLANK Many computers have a built-in energy saver that puts the system to sleep after a period of time. The monitor appears to be off, while the power light goes from green to amber. To wake up your system, just move your mouse around or type a key on the keyboard. After a few moments, the system will power back on. If the system is not in sleep mode, check to make sure the power switch is turned on. When the power is turned on for a monitor, the power light usually shows green or amber. Green tells you that the monitor has power and is receiving a video signal from the computer. THE MONITOR IS BLANK If you can’t see the power light, check to see if the power cord is tight in the back of the monitor and to the power strip or wall socket. Also make sure the monitor video cable is tightly connected to both the back of the monitor and to the back of your computer. If the power is on and all the cables are OK, check to make sure the monitor’s brightness and contrast controls are not turned down. These controls are on the monitor; however, the location varies depending on the manufacturer. NO SIGNAL INPUT SIGN ON MONITOR Sometimes the monitor comes on and you see a box on the screen with red, green, and blue stripes, along with the message “No signal input.” This means that the monitor is on but it’s not receiving a signal from your computer. Just turn on the computer first, before turning on your monitor. MOUSE WON’T WORK If your computer’s mouse won’t work or stops working while you are in the middle of a project, try the following troubleshooting steps. Check to make sure the mouse is connected to the computer. If the mouse cable is disconnected, reconnect it and, if necessary, restart your computer. If the mouse uses a roller bar on the bottom, it may be dirty. Open the circular ring on the bottom of the mouse that surrounds the ball. Remove the ball and clean the little wheels that control the mouse movement using your fingernail. Many times, a gummy substance collects on these small rollers. Sometimes just turning your computer off and then back on causes a non-functioning mouse to start functioning again. You can also try using a different mouse. If there is an unused computer around the office, try borrowing its mouse to conduct a test. If the replacement mouse works, then you’ve isolated the problem to your old mouse. It’s probably time to buy a new one. If you just installed a new mouse and it doesn’t work, you must also install the new mouse software. if you are in the middle of working when your mouse stops working, you can press the CTRL + S keys on the keyboard to save your work. KEYBOARD WON’T WORK If your keyboard stops working, check to make sure the keyboard is connected to the computer. If the keyboard cable is disconnected, reconnect it and restart your computer. Another thing you can do is press the CRTL + ALT + DEL keys on the keyboard at the same time to bring up the task list. Use the mouse to select a program that says “not responding” and click the END TASK button. Repeat this process until all the tasks are ended. Check to see if the keyboard starts working again. KEYBOARD WON’T WORK Sometimes just turning the computer off and back on causes the keyboard to START working again. If your mouse is still working, click start on the taskbar, and then click SHUT DOWN from the pop-up menu. Unplug the keyboard connection from the back of the computer and reinsert it tightly. Wait a few moments and then restart the computer. NUMBER KEYPAD DOESN’T WORK The NUM LOCK must be on for the number keypad to work. If you press the NUM LOCK key on the keypad, the NUM LOCK button will light on the keyboard. The NUM LOCK key is located in the upper left corner of the number keypad. PROGRAM LOCKS UP When a program locks up while you are in the middle of work, test to see if the keyboard is still responding by pressing the CAPS LOCK key. Try typing CTRL + Z to undo whatever you just did, or press the ESC key. If necessary, restart the computer by typing CRTL + ALT + DEL. This brings up the Windows Task Manager. You can then check the status of the running applications. If any of the programs have a status of Not Responding, click that program, and then click the END TASK button. The bad news is that whatever you were doing on the program since the last time you saved will be lost. If necessary, restart the computer by typing CTRL + ALT + DEL to bring up Windows Task Manager. Then click SHUT DOWN from the menu, and then click RESTART. If nothing else works, press the START button on your computer and hold it for ten seconds to restart the system. KEYBOARDING SKILLS Whether you use a computer or a dedicated word processor, you are using a keyboard. There are many differences in keyboards depending on the particular system you use. There are also differences in typing on each. No matter what keyboard you use, basic typing skills are a must. If you don’t use a computer, there are various touch-typing books that can provide assistance. Since computer keyboards are growing fastest in importance, the focus of this section is on these. In many cases, electronic typewriter keyboards now have many of the same functions, and we compare these at the conclusion of the chapter. COMMON KEYBOARDS The most common keyboard layout is the QWERTY keyboard, which gets its name from the first five alphabetical keys on the top left-hand corner of the keyboard. Most people learn touch-typing with a QWERTY style keyboard. The alphanumeric keys can be used to type letters or numbers. Typing a SHIFT along with a letter or number key produces an uppercase letter or, in the case of numbers, a special symbol. If you want to type all uppercase letters, you select the CAPS LOCK key once rather than holding down the SHIFT key. Touch the CAPS LOCK key again, and it toggles back off. COMMON KEYBOARDS On both a typewriter and a computer keyboard, the TAB key moves your next keyboard entry to the next tab stop. However, with a computerized word processor or a modern electronic typewriter, tabs are no longer set mechanically. Instead, you use special software commands, menu or ruler choices, or a special key on the keyboard to set tabs and release them. The space bar adds spaces between words or characters, and it can insert spaces between words and characters typed previously. WORD PROCESSING The use of word processing can greatly improve your overall productivity. Although there are great differences between word-processing software programs, almost all allow you to create documents, edit and format these documents, and print them. Other features include spell-checkers, style and grammar checkers, mail-merge features, and the ability to store documents electronically. The most common word processors found in businesses are personal computers equipped with word-processing software. When the word-processing program is run by the computer, the computer becomes an intelligent typewriter with the ability to create, edit, format, and store documents. CREATING DOCUMENTS In order to get started using a word processor, you must first create a fresh blank document. Some word processors require the user to create a new document and to name it right away. However, most allow you to wait until you save the document for the first time before assigning it a name. TYPING When a new document has been created, you can begin typing and entering data. Some types of word processors, such as those for the Macintosh or Windows environment, allow you to begin typing immediately. As you type on the keyboard, the letters and words appear on the display screen. The text or data you type are stored in the computer’s memory temporarily, until the document is saved or discarded or the power is turned off. POSITIONING On the screen, a pointer called a cursor shows where text will appear when typed. Cursors can take many forms: a vertical line, an underscore, or a rectangle. They may also flash on and off; it depends on the particular word-processing software used. You can move the cursor from one character to another, up or down, or left and right in order to make corrections, edit, or format the text. To move the cursor, some word processors employ the arrow keys on the computer keyboard. On keyboards that don’t have arrow keys, special combinations involving the number keys on the numeric keypad or two or more keys pressed simultaneously also moves the cursor. Some word-processing software programs allow the use of special function keys on the keyboard or special key combinations to jump to the top or bottom of the page. EDITING DOCUMENTS For administrative assistants, one of the best time-saving features of word processors is the ability to make changes very easily, without retyping the entire document. Many administrative assistants start a document by typing without regard to the format or the look of the finished document. They then come back, make revisions, and change the format. By coming back to spell-check, proof, and make corrections, they can remove most typos and sentence structure problems prior to printing out a copy of the document on paper. EDITING DOCUMENTS Type- Over and Inserting Deleting Text Undo Cutting and Pasting Searching Searching and Replacing FORMATTING DOCUMENTS Many users of word processors start by typing in text and later go back to make adjustments to the way the document will look when printed on paper. This is a process known as formatting. There are many different ways to format a document, for example, by changing the margins, the line spacing, or the type style and size of the characters. Margins Line Spacing Justification Character Formatting Page Formatting Styles WHAT IS A SPREADSHEET? Many administrative assistants use computerized spreadsheet software to handle accounting chores, assist with budgets, and perform similar tasks. Spreadsheet software takes the place of the columnar pad that was so popular in the past. A columnar pad is divided into columns across the top and rows that run down the side. The rows and columns intersect at a small box. Altogether, there are hundreds of these little boxes on each page. An electronic spreadsheet is a large grid of columns and rows. A box where a column and row intersect is called a cell. Each cell has a unique address. Most spreadsheets label columns using letters, and rows using numbers. Therefore, the cell at the intersection of column C and row 5 is cell C5. WHAT IS A SPREADSHEET? The largest spreadsheet can contain millions of cells depending on the memory size of the computer running the software. However, most of the applications you’ll be working with use only five hundred to one thousand cells. The most commonly used spreadsheet program is Microsoft Excel. NAVIGATING AROUND A SPREADSHEET When you are using a spreadsheet, one cell is always active—that is, ready for you to input data. This cell is designated by a cell pointer, highlighted area, or flashing cursor. To make another cell active, you use the arrow keys, numeric keypad, or mouse to move to another location. Because of the limits on screen size, only a small group of cells can be displayed at any one time. If you wish to view additional cells, use a mouse or the arrow keys to move even farther on the spreadsheet. NAVIGATING AROUND A SPREADSHEET Navigating around on a spreadsheet is much like looking through a window. Moving the window around to view additional cells is called scrolling. There are also special commands that take you to predefined locations on a spreadsheet, such as the bottom or top. To make using a spreadsheet as simple as possible, most spreadsheet software programs have some type of control panel. Some have the control panel at the bottom of the screen, and others have it at the top. The control panel displays information about the active cell and has a space where the user can type information into the active cell. NAVIGATING AROUND A SPREADSHEET In addition, it displays menus for activities such as saving, printing, and loading, as well as in some cases a list of special built-in functions. To select a choice, you move the cursor around using the arrow keys, numeric keypad, or mouse to highlight your choice, and then press ENTER/RETURN or click the mouse. SPREADSHEET DATA Any entry into a cell can be one of three possible items: a label, a number, or a formula. A label is a word used to describe information in your spreadsheet. For example, you might want to calculate a budget for office expenses. Therefore, you would create a list of those expenses: paper, pens, computer supplies, stamps, and so forth. These words describe the numbers in another column or row, which is why they’re called labels. SPREADSHEET DATA The actual expenses for the office supplies are the numbers. In order to add up a total of all the expenses at the bottom of the list, you need to enter a formula, a combination of cell addresses connected by mathematical symbols, for instance, A1 + A2 + A3. To enter a label, number, or formula into a cell, place the cursor on the cell you want to make active, then begin typing. As you type, the information you enter is displayed in the control panel. When you are ready to put that information in the active cell, you either click the mouse or press ENTER/RETURN on the keyboard. FORMULAS A formula will work correctly only with numbers. Therefore, in order for a spreadsheet to distinguish labels, numbers, and formulas, most spreadsheet software programs use special predefined characters so that a user can specify the difference. For example, if the first character you type in a cell is a number, the spreadsheet assumes that entry is a number. If the first character you type is a letter, the spreadsheet assumes the entry is a label. And if you type in a special software-defined character such as “ = ”, the spreadsheet assumes your entry is a formula. FORMULAS Spreadsheet formulas can get complicated. Formulas can link information from one area to another so that totals from one group or section can be added to an overall summary. FUNCTIONS Spreadsheets have a variety of built-in functions that can replace complicated formulas. One of the simplest is the sum function. It allows you to calculate the total of a range of cells. Functions are identified by first typing either “ = ” or “ @ ” depending on the particular software and then the function name. This lets the software know that the entry is a function and not a label. Some spreadsheet programs allow users to select functions from a pull-down menu. Functions are available for many different mathematical, statistical, and financial formulas.