Robert H. Ginsberg
(condensed from the Foreword)
The Title:
Before a military headquarters sends a message to one of its units, it encrypts the message so that only friendly forces with the key to the code can decipher it. When someone else finds out how the code works, he or she is said to have broken the code. For many beginners the computer instruction books seem to be in code. The title of this book, Break'n Windows, tells the novice that the code has been broken and that this reference manual can be readily understood.
The reason this manual was written:
This manual was initially developed for the purpose of giving the author quick and easy directions for common computer operations. Unlike many children, he does not remember each simple routine as he first learns it. He owns a number of computer books, but he is too impatient to wade through six pages of text to locate a few simple directions. He wanted a book from which he could get the information quickly and easily. When friends learned about his simpler way, they insisted that he share his manual with them.
The scope of this manual:
This work is not meant to be definitive; it treats common operations and only those that can be presented in a reasonably short space. A few very useful operations with longer explanations are given in the appendices; the rest of them are listed with the advice: See a bigger book.
(condensed from "The Author")
Bob Ginsberg was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in 1925, and graduated from Central High School there in 1942, with plans to become a journalist. World War II changed that.
At 19, he flew 13 missions as a 2nd Lt. Navigator in a B-24 Liberator bomber with the 15th Air Force in southern Italy.
In 1949, he was awarded the B.A., Magna cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, in Physics, Math, and Philosopy from the University of Minnesota. In 1951, he received an M.S. in Optics and Applied Optics from the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester, New York.
He designed microscopes and telescopes for Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. He was a Senior Scientist at Hughes Aircraft Co. for nineteen years, helped produce the cameras that the Surveyor spacecrafts used to land on the moon in 1966, and worked on a variety of space and military programs there. Since 1982, he has been a consultant in Optical and Optomechanical Engineering under the name Optics Expertise.
His antipathy for computing began in 1950 when all lenses were designed the slow, hard way using mechanical calculators and thick books of trig tables. He finally decided to buy a computer after learning that a number of nieces and nephews were communicating via e-mail, and he wanted to be one of the gang.
Frustrated with the lack of clarity in the available computer books, he began to write his own instructions that ultimately became a reference manual.
(preview page 1)
window.. Maximize its size. To fill the entire screen DBLCL the title bar. The Maximize button turns into the Restore button. To restore the original size
DBLCL the titlebar. [CAUTION: The Maximize button is very close to the Close (X) button.]
window.. Move it on the desktop. CLHold the titlebar and drag to where you want it.
window.. Move it to the front. CL on any open area of the window, or CL on that window's icon on the taskbar.
window.. Remove it & later restore it.
To remove a window from the screen but keep
it available CL the minimize button on the toolbar; the window disappears and a titled button appears on the taskbar. To restore it to the screen CL that button.
window.. Reduce the maximized size.
DBLCL the titlebar.
window.. Shrink it to taskbar. CL the Minimize button on title bar. To restore CL the window's button on the taskbar.
windows.. Arrange them. RTCL the Clock.
CL Cascade, or CL Tile Horizontally,
or CL Tile Vertically.
windows A list of open windows is on taskbar.
windows.. Minimize all of them. RTCL the open area of the task bar, CL "Minimize
All Windows". To restore CL each window button on task bar.
(preview page 2)
Appendix 1 Problems?
alignment The left margin is not aligned with the left edge of the window. CL the horizontal scroll bar to the right of the scroll box and then CL it to the left of the scroll box.
Blinky won't move to the next frame when filling out forms? PR the Tab key to move Blinky to the next frame, or move Ibby to the next frame and CL to produce Blinky.
Backspace won't work? PR Ctrl+Backspace.
Blinky "frozen" on the left edge of the text? PR Enter to unlock.
Clicked top/right X but the window didn't disappear? Remove the menu or other panel from the screen and try again.
Computer won't start? Remove the Floppy Disk from the drive. Wait a few seconds, try again.
Computer has slowed down. CL Start,
CL Programs, CL Accessories, CL System Tools, CL Defragmenter.
Dialog panel bottom disappeared behind the taskbar. Drag the taskbar down, drag the dialog panel up.
Document refuses to be edited?
Create an editable copy.
Method 1. Hilite the entire text, CL Copy, CL X. DBLCL Ms Word, CL New Document.
CL Paste. If that doesn't work try:
Method 2. Scan a hard copy of the document with an OCR (optical character recognition for editing) scan program.
Appendix 1 Problems? 1
