Computer Tutorials for Beginners

How to Enter Text and Numbers in a Cell  - To make a start, we'll create this really simple spreadsheet: All we're going to be doing here is entering some text and some numbers. We're not adding anything up yet. Before you tackle this first exercise, though, you may want to take note of the  Undo  feature, just in case you make a mistake. The Undo option is the left curved arrow, right in the top-left of your screen. This one for Excel 2007 users: And this one for Excel 2010 and Excel 2013 users: For later version, thie icon is this: Click the left curved arrow to Undo something, and click the right curved arrow to redo it. The Undo arrow also has a dropdown box. Click the small arrow next to Undo to see the following: This list is for multiple Undo's. Move your mouse down the list and click to undo several steps at once. But back to the spreadsheet. Click inside of cell A1 on your spreadsheet, and do the following: Type the word "Nu...

Using If Statements in Excel Conditional logic(IF) is used quite frequently in modern spreadsheets. But let's start by asking What is Conditional Logic? Conditional Logic For our purposes, conditional logic is two words - "IF" and "Then". You use conditional logic all the time in your daily life, without realising it. You might say to yourself, "IF I eat this delicious cream cake THEN my diet will be ruined." You're using conditional logic to make a decision:   IF   I do this   THEN   that will happen. Some more examples: IF   I buy this lovely coat   THEN   I will look beautiful IF   I watch one programme   THEN   I can tape the other IF   I win the lottery   THEN   I will be happy Those are all example of conditional logic. Excel also uses the   IF   word for conditional logic. You can test what is in a cell, and say what should happen if it is one value rather than another. For example, suppose ...

Saving your work in Excel  - Time now to save what you've done. To save your spreadsheet in Excel, do the following: Click on "File" from the menu bar From the menu that drops down, click on "Save" If you have not yet saved your work, the Save As dialogue box will pop up. Clicking Save otherwise will save the latest version of your work. In other words, your saved work will be updated The Save As dialogue box is this one below The Save As dialogue box is split into three basic sections: Where do you want to save it; the files already in that location; and what do you want to call your file. Let's examine the first section more closely - Where do you want to save it . The top of the dialogue box looks like this: Just to the right of the words "Save in" is a drop down box. At the moment it says "spreadsheets", and there is a little folder icon next to it. This is telling us that there is a folder on our hard dri...

Widen an Excel Column -To widen a column, do the following: Move your mouse pointer up to the letter A The pointer will be in the shape of a white cross, as in the next image Now move your mouse pointer, the white cross, to the line in between the A and the B The mouse pointer will change shape again The mouse pointer will be in the shape of a black cross with arrowheads, like the one in the image below: When you mouse pointer changes shape, hold down your left mouse button Keep it held down and drag your mouse to the right Let go of the mouse button when your are satisfied with the width of your colum Widening an Excel Column The Result You can widen a row in exactly the same way. We'll now see how to centre those numbers in their cells, and format that text a little. Formatting cells Centring text in a cell comes under the heading of Formatting. Things like making the text bold, changing the font, and adding some colour al...

Add a Signature to all outgoing emails  - You can add a message to all outgoing emails in Outlook Express. If you have received an email from somebody with AVG anti-virus, for example, you'll see something like "Checked by AVG Free Edition" at the bottom of the email. This gets added automatically by the programme. It's called a Signature. To set up your own Signatures, or perhaps just to have your name added automatically to all outgoing emails, do the following. How to add a Signature in Outlook Express From the main Outlook Express screen click the   Tools   menu at the top. From the   Tools   menu, select   Options . From the   Options   dialogue box, click the   Signatures tab, as in the image below: Click the   New   button to create a new signature. It will have a default name of something like "Signature #1": In the " Edit Signature " text area below, make sure   Text   is selected: Click in...

Internet Options - Security  - For this tutorial, you'll need the Internet Options dialogue box. To see how to bring it up, click this page (opens in a new windows): How to bring up the Internet Options Dialogue Box If you want to protect your PC while surfing the internet, then the   Security   tab of the Internet Options dialogue box has some essential settings. Bring up Internet Options (follow the link above, if you don't know how). Click the   Security   tab to see the same screen as in the image below (Internet Explorer 6): The idea here is that you split your internet surfing in to   Zones . There's four Zones to choose from (Internet, Local intranet, Trusted sites, Restricted sites). Once you have selected a Zone, you then click the Custom Level button to select the settings for that Zone. If you click on Trusted sites or Restricted sites, the   Sites   button becomes available. The Sites button is not available if Internet ...

Windows XP Security Centre - This tutorial assumes that you have set the Control panel to Classic View. To see how to do this, click this link (opens in a new window):   Set the Control Panel to Classic View Windows XP comes with its own rudimentary security centre . This consists of a Firewall, and settings for Automatic Updates. It also tells you if you have anti virus software enabled. To get at the Security Center (note the American spelling, for you Brits!), click the   Start   button in the bottom left of your screen. From the Start menu, click   Control Panel . You should see an item for   Security Center . Double click this to bring up the following screen: If you can't see the Security Center icon in your Control Panel, then you need to update your version of Windows XP. The Security Center was part of Service Pack 2. Click   Start > All Programs,   and look for the   Windows Update   item at the top of the menu. Or...

Install a New Font in Windows XP  -This tutorial assumes that you have set the Control panel to Classic View. To see how to do this, click this link (opens in a new window):  Set the Control Panel to Classic View If you've ever had to choose a Font for some word processing you've been doing, then you've probably heard of Arial, Times New Roman and Courier. You may well have wanted something a little different for your work, and chosen Fonts, like Bookman Old Style or Comic Sans MS. There will also be plenty of fonts to choose from if you have Microsoft Word, as it comes with its own set of Fonts. But even if these are not enough, there's some great Fonts out there on the Internet. You can use a Control Panel icon to install new Fonts. First, though, you need to get hold of a Font that you like. Most Fonts are copyrighted to the people or organizations who created them. So you just can't install a Font without reading the copyright information attached to ...