The Complete Computer Basics Course: Become a Power User

Discover Windows 11 features and enhancements, including a refreshed start menu and updated taskbar. Customize with themes, dark mode, transparency, and accent colors while settings and control panel remain accessible.

Explore Windows 11 through a complete options tour, covering display settings, personalization with themes and dark mode, wallpapers and transparency, taskbar and start menu changes, and privacy and updates.

Choose laptops with solid-state drives (SSD) for dramatically faster boot times; HDDs are much slower on startup.

Compare ram and rom to show ram as the memory used to run programs and process data, which forgets when powered off and allows apps to reopen after restart.

Avoid all-in-one laptops because they combine every part into one unit, making repairs hard; instead, choose a laptop you can fix or a desktop for easier maintenance.

Discover the advantages of using a computer, from daily comfort and accessibility anywhere anytime to speed, accuracy, and automatic saving, plus cloud storage, cross-device flexibility, and affordable reliability.

Explore today’s computer landscape by comparing personal computers, desktops, laptops and notebooks, handheld devices, workstations, servers, mainframes, supercomputers, and wearable computers.

Identify and explain the four basic computer components—inputs, CPU, outputs, and storage—along with input and output devices and the difference between RAM and ROM.

Identify your job and select a computer that adds value to your career, then choose between Mac, Windows, or Linux, and desktop or laptop, considering upgradeability and budget.

Learn to identify the right computer by researching every type—from desktop and laptop to tablets and all-in-one—understanding hardware and software basics to choose a device that fits your work.

Define your goals, tasks, and budget to buy a computer that handles heavy or light work and meets future expectations.

Explore desktop components you should consider when buying, including software, hardware, CPU, motherboard, RAM, storage, graphics options, power supply, and essential peripherals, plus how to compare brands on Amazon.

Explore all-in-one computers where the keyboard and computer are in one device with no wiring and a large, powerful screen, offering a small footprint but limited upgrades and higher price.

Explore essential laptop components to consider when buying, including screen size, touch options, weight, CPU, RAM, graphics, and SSD, plus buying tips and Amazon filtering.

Learn to add a second keyboard language by navigating to settings, selecting preferred languages, and completing the setup to enable multiple languages.

Learn to keep a clean desktop by hiding desktop icons, applying a clear background via personalization, and tailoring the taskbar to show only search icons for a streamlined setup.

Discover how Windows 10 uses the lock screen and login to reach desktop, and explore accessibility features like narrator, magnifier, on-screen keyboard, high contrast, sleep, hibernate, shut down, and restart.

Explore the Windows 10 desktop environment, including icons, the recycle bin, wallpaper, taskbar and start button, plus Cortana, Task View, and File Explorer.

Master Windows 10 display settings to adjust brightness, night light and color, schedule from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m., and tune scale, resolution, orientation, and multiple displays for efficiency.

Learn to personalize Windows 10 by choosing backgrounds, colors, themes, and fonts, then customize the start menu, taskbar, icons, login screen, and screen saver.

Explore Windows 10 taskbar options, customize start menu, search, task view, multiple desktops, and the notification area to create a clean, efficient workspace.

Navigate the Windows 10 start menu, including the start button, documents and pictures, settings and power, search and pin items to the taskbar.

Explore this pc options, quick access, and properties in Windows 10, detailing system information, renaming and managing items, and the quick access navigation and ribbon interface.

Explore folder options in Windows 10, including file explorer defaults, quick access, view and search settings, and visibility of hidden files.

Explore Windows 10 file explorer properties to view general file info, manage storage, and security, and customize layouts, navigation panes, and show/hide options.

Explore Windows 10 settings hub from the start menu, managing display, sound, network, privacy, security, and personalization, while linking devices and customizing accounts and language.

Master display and sound management in Windows 10 by configuring display settings, adjusting master volume and per-app levels, selecting output devices, and using sound devices and privacy options.

Manage notifications and quick actions in the notification and action center, customize alerts, and use focus assist to block unwanted notifications.

Explore focus assistant to silence notifications, show only alarms, and prioritize apps like Google Chrome; set automatic rules, manage duplicates in full screen, and review missed summaries.

Learn to customize power and sleep settings for battery and plugged-in use, choose screen-off timers, enable sleep or hibernate, adjust power buttons, and navigate advanced options.

Learn to manage battery life, storage, and power settings while mastering multitasking features like tablet mode, window snapping, clipboard history, remote desktop, and projection to this PC.

Learn to connect your phone to your computer via internet and manage network and internet options, adapters, Wi-Fi networks, and troubleshooting; explore Windows firewall and basic data usage.

Explore how to manage devices, including Bluetooth connections, printers and scanners, and a mouse; adjust sound and display, send and receive files over Bluetooth, and troubleshoot.

Learn to manage apps and features, set default apps, and control startup impact. Explore offline maps, video playback options, and website app associations.

Manage your Windows account by editing your profile picture, viewing your user type and email, and linking your Microsoft account in a browser.

Explore time and language settings by configuring automatic or manual date and time, time zones, regional and language formats, calendars, and keyboard languages.

Explore ease of access settings to aid users with disabilities. Adjust text size, magnifier, color filters, high contrast, narrator, closed captions, and speech.

Learn to manage Windows 10 search options and safe search, configure Cortana and privacy settings, and oversee updates, security, backups, and recovery features.

Enable BitLocker from the control panel to lock any drive or flash disk, set a password, choose encryption mode, and manage recovery keys for secure, auto unlock.

learn to secure folders by adjusting permissions, denying access, and managing individual users in the folder security properties to control read, write, and full control.

Explore disk management to view and manage your drives and partitions, format or create new volumes, change drive letters, and optimize performance with defragmentation.

Create a bootable usb from an iso, boot from it using the f12 menu, and install windows with partitioned drives, keeping drive c at 120 gb or larger.

Learn to create a bootable USB drive for Windows or other operating systems using the Windows USB/DVD download tool, including selecting the drive, erasing it, and completing the bootable setup.

Rename the drive you want to install Windows on in the disk and partition manager to identify it and avoid touching other drives.

Navigate the final steps of Windows installation, including product key handling, edition selection (64 or 86), custom partition management, language and keyboard setup, privacy options, and user name entry.

Choose the right Windows 10 edition and system type by comparing edition features and selecting 32-bit or 64-bit based on RAM, then confirm a 64-bit processor when applicable.

Viruses and malware remain threats via social media, emails, and websites, so use internet security with real-time protection and an antivirus such as Kaspersky, McAfee, or Avast.

Activate your Windows to unlock full features and avoid the 30-day trial. Obtain a license or activation key, especially if you must use a CD or DVD.

Recognize why Windows drivers are essential for system performance, health, and cooling, and how outdated drivers degrade hardware. Learn to keep drivers updated on new computers to maintain security.

Discover practical backup strategies for your files using cloud storage, hard drives, and flash disks. Learn how to protect important data and passwords with reliable backup habits.

Discover essential Windows 10 shortcuts to boost productivity, including copy, cut, paste, open with the Windows key, show desktop, snap, and manage windows with Alt+Space.

Learn how hibernating your pc saves time and electricity by keeping apps open, loading faster, and letting you resume where you left off, as a preferred Windows 10 productivity tip.

Customize your start menu by adjusting size, color, and transparency; personalize with accent colors and live weather tiles, and explore right-click painting and size options to refresh your desktop.

Learn desktop mode basics, switch between applications, create and manage multiple desktops, and organize open programs for safer, more efficient workflows.

Learn quick computer screenshots with print screen or win key + shift + s, save to clipboard or a screenshot folder, and edit using snipping tool features.

Learn to restrict a folder's access on a shared PC by using the properties security tab, adding a specific user, and enabling deny access to keep others out.

Learn to select multiple folders using keyboard shortcuts such as shift and control, navigate with the keyboard, and copy, cut, or paste items like video and music.

Explore managing user accounts and account types via the control panel and settings, and understand user account controls and notification prompts.

Learn how to fix garbled non-unicode program text by changing the language for non-unicode programs in Windows regional settings, selecting Persian or Arabic for proper right-to-left display.

Learn the difference between Unicode and non-Unicode encoding, and how to enable Persian and other languages by adjusting non-Unicode language settings in the control panel for proper text display.

The Windows Mobility Center is a central PC control, accessible via control panel or Windows key + X, to adjust brightness, volume, battery/power plans, and manage displays and presentation modes.

Explore how to manage Windows administrative tools, from component services and computer management to disk cleanup, defragmentation, event viewer, task scheduler, and memory diagnostics, plus Hyper-V virtualization.

Explore how disk cleanup removes unnecessary files from your pc by selecting a drive, enabling system file cleanup, and choosing items like recycle bin and direct x to free space.

Discover how to use the task scheduler to run programs automatically, schedule one-time or recurring tasks, and choose actions like starting a program or displaying a message.

Explore how to use the performance monitor in Windows to diagnose and monitor processor, memory, network, disk, and other system metrics, view graphs, and generate diagnostic reports.

Explore Microsoft Office packages, including Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Learn how Word handles word processing, Excel counts numbers, Access creates databases, PowerPoint builds presentations, and Outlook handles email.

Master the basics of Microsoft Word, from the start page and ribbon to creating, saving, printing, and exporting documents with formatting and layouts.

Explore the essentials of Microsoft Excel, from workbooks and sheets to cells, columns, and rows; navigate the ribbon, insert tables, charts, pivot tables, formulas, data tools, and viewing options.

Learn how to create and customize PowerPoint presentations, manage slides, add notes, insert media and links, apply designs and transitions, and display your slides on a second screen.

Learn how to create strong, meaningless passwords not tied to personal data, how to avoid reusing passwords, and best practices for securely storing them across dozens of websites.

Discover how security equals freedom by creating meaningless, pattern-free passwords, protecting data and privacy, and learning to reuse and create stronger passwords over time to outsmart threats.

Adopt four life-savers for digital safety, privacy, and security: create strong passwords, secure your devices, protect your data, and maintain these protections to prevent hacks.

Learn what makes a proper password, avoid name, phone number, family name, dictionary words and patterns, and create a totally meaningless, hard-to-guess password.

Create a strong password to protect your digital life, including photos, files, documents, banking, and government information, so you stay secure and avoid being tricked.

Prioritize fingerprint authentication over four-digit pins, acknowledge the limitations of pins, and use a password keeper to store secure credentials when needed.

discover how to set a master password that is meaningless, pattern-free, and memorized, used to unlock a password keeper and access all accounts, with optional fingerprint login.

Learn why authenticator apps are a crucial, second-priority tool to keep your accounts and devices safe. Compare options to choose one and start using it today.

Learn how to streamline your online experience with a password manager, focusing on Microsoft Autofill as the best cross-platform, free option with a Chrome extension.

Generate and auto-save strong passwords with Microsoft autofill to simplify logins across websites. Learn manual password addition, 16-character length recommendations, and using LastPass for password generation.

Discover how Microsoft Autofill automatically pops up and fills your login credentials, generates passwords, and securely backs them up to the cloud for easy, reliable logins.

Discover how Microsoft autofill saves passwords, payment info, and addresses during sign-up, generates stronger passwords, and lets you edit, copy, or delete usernames and websites.

Master the payment info saver to add and save credit or debit cards for later use, including name, number, nickname, and expiration; it never asks for the card's security password.

Explore how addresses are used in forms and how autofill saves and stores them for faster entry, with manual editing of name, country, street, postal code across any country.

Enable autofill to save passwords and payment details, use identity verification prompts for device sign-in or a Microsoft account, and easily import or export data as CSV.

Master Microsoft Authenticator as a password keeper, generate time-based one-time passwords for two-factor authentication, and manage credentials across accounts with qr code setup and cloud backup.

learn to use microsoft authenticator on your smartphone to manage single-use passwords and autofill. discover cloud backup, app lock, and credential export/import for passwords, payments, addresses, and government documents.

Understand why changing passwords every six months and avoiding easy-to-guess passwords helps keep hackers out and protect your privacy. Learn how to create stronger passwords and store them securely.

Celebrate completing the course and learn to create a proper strong password, keep it safe, and change it to prevent guessing or tracking. Protect your freedom in digital life.