Getting Started

What is a computer?

A computer is a device that accepts information and manipulates it for some result.

When you think about a computer and what it does, you of course think that it... well.. computes. And this is indeed one part of its job. Computing is really another term for "information transformation"--changing information from one form to another. The computer spends a goodly amount of its time doing exactly this: performing math operations (changing numbers into other numbers), and translating information from one form to another (for example when a game determines using mathematics, what to display on the screen for you to see).

One special form of information the computer processes is its instructions. These are the commands that programmers give the computer to tell it what to do. Every time you do anything with a computer, you are really talking to a program which is talking to the computer. The language that computers speak, which is called machine language, is very complex and hard to understand, which is why it is hidden from all but the most technically-proficient engineers. Even most programmers never use machine language directly.

Computers can be confusing, and it takes a little time before you gain confidence in using and understanding them. Just like a new TV or VCR, computers can be a bit cumbersome to figure out, but once you achieve a certain level of knowledge, these machines can become powerful allies.

How to turn the power on to your computer

1. Push the button that indicates "Power", on the part of the computer we call the tower or desktop computer casing. The power button is usually identified by a symbol that looks like a circle with a vertical line going through the top part of it.
2. Now push the button on the monitor that turns the monitor on.
3. Once you have done both of these things, the computer starts what is called a boot sector. You will see many lines of text and symbols on your screen. When the computer has completed this it will bring you to the TDSB Survey if you are using a CAP computer.
4. You need to fill in the survey to proceed. Once finished entering the information click on SUBMIT button and then select ACCEPT on the next screen.
5. The next screen is the “WindowsNT” screen.

NOTE: Computers other the Community Access Computers will not have the survey installed on them.

How to shut down the computer
 
1. Click START \ SHUTDOWN \ SHUTDOWN THE COMPUTER \YES

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