In this chapter:

• How do I edit a simple text file?
• What can I do with WordPad?
• Not for artists only: creating a masterpiece with Paint
• Two ways to crunch numbers with the Windows Calculator
• FreeCell, Pinball, and Minesweeper: the other games

Write a letter, paint a picture, crunch some numbers, or waste some time. Windows has lots of tiny, free programs (and games)...

Windows NT is stuffed full of little programs designed to handle odd jobs. There's a Calculator and a Phone Dialer, a scratch pad for taking notes, and a word processor for writing letters. There's even a CD player that can coax music out of your multimedia PC.

In other chapters, we'll look at some of the more specialized accessories, like the ones that help you keep coworkers from getting annoyed about your CD's volume (Chapter 17), or the one that lets you chat with your coworkers without using the telephone (Chapter 20).

In this chapter, we'll focus on the bread-and-butter mini-programs that help you keep track of words, numbers, and the occasional picture. We'll also look at the three games that complement Solitaire in Windows.

Field guide to the free accessories in Windows NT

Windows NT is stuffed to the gills with programs that do all sorts of interesting odd jobs. (If you've used any version of Windows before, many of these programs will be familiar or even identical.) Here's a quick rundown on what you can do with these free add-ins. To find the complete collection, click the Start button, choose Programs, and look in the Accessories folder.

Icon	Name	What it does...
	Calculator	You won't want to use this ten-key calculator to figure your mortgage payments, but it's perfectly good for 2+2=4.
	CD Player	Play the Lion King soundtrack (or any audio CD) on a multimedia PC. This little program is surprisingly powerful and fun. See Chapter 18 for more details.
	Character Map	Pick a symbol, any symbol, from any font. Copy it to the Clipboard. Paste it into your document. Useful if you're trying to write in a language other than English.
	Clipboard Viewer	A small, simple program that lets you make sure what you cut or copy winds up on the Clipboard.
	Clock	You say the tiny clock in the corner of the Taskbar is too small to see? This replacement lets you choose digital or big-hand/little-hand versions.
	FreeCell	A strategy-oriented solo card game. Highly addictive. You've been warned.
	HyperTerminal	This easy-to-use communications program lets you dial up other PCs and online services. Useful enough for simple tasks. See Chapter 24 for more information.
	Imaging	Do you work with scanned images? This tiny program lets you view, edit, organize, and annotate your graphic files.
	Minesweeper	A game of logic and strategy. Guess right and you win; guess wrong and--kaboom!--you lose.
	Notepad	This simple text editor is OK for jotting down a few words or sentences, but if you want your words to look good you'll choose WordPad instead.
	Paint	For the Van Gogh in you. Use the shapes, text tools, different brushes, and spray cans to create colorful images.
	Phone Dialer	Speed-dial up to eight of your favorite phone numbers. Requires a modem. See Chapter 24 for more information.
	Pinball	Not a real Pinball game, but an amazing simulation, complete with sound effects, flashing lights, and even special keys that let you "tilt" the table.
	Solitaire	The original Windows time-waster. Certified platinum: over 2 billion hours of productivity lost since 1990.
	Sound Recorder	If you've got a microphone and sound card, you've got a studio. See Chapter 17 for more information.
	WordPad	A surprisingly useful little word processor. Handles simple formatting, and it reads and writes files in the same format as Microsoft Word for Windows.

That program isnt on my PC!

I know, I know--some of the programs in that list aren't on your computer. So what happened? Do we have different versions of Windows?

Probably not. The more likely explanation is that the little programs you're looking for were never installed on your PC. Fortunately, we can take care of that in a flash, as long as your system administrator has given you permission to add programs. If he hasn't, you'll need to convince him to help you add these extras.

Let's get serious for a second. When you install Windows NT and choose the Typical option, it doesn't put the FreeCell, Pinball, and Minesweeper games on your system. What a horrifying oversight! To add these crucial missing pieces, first make sure you have your Windows NT CD-ROM. Then click the Start button and choose Settings, Control Panel. Double-click the icon labeled Add/Remove Programs, then click the Windows Setup tab. The programs you're looking for are discreetly hidden; highlight the Games entry and click the Details button. You'll see a dialog box like the one in Figure 11.1.

Scroll through the list, and click in the empty box next to any item you want to add. (If the box is already checked, it means that piece is already installed on your computer.) After you've finished with the list, click OK twice to start the ball rolling. Windows may ask you for the drive letter of your CD-ROM and the folder in which the program files are stored; after it finishes chugging away, you can get back to, um, work.

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CAUTION: The Add/Remove Programs utility can be a little confusing until you learn how it works. A check mark means the item is already on your PC. If a box is empty, clicking to add the check mark tells Windows to add the program. Clicking to remove a check mark removes the program, too. Don't touch those check marks unless you want to take a program off your computer!

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I need to jot down some notes

Windows includes a program that works just like the pad of scratch paper next to your telephone. It's called Notepad, and you can see it in Figure 11.2. It's perfect for jotting down simple notes and lists. It's easy to find, easy to use, and the files are generally smaller than the files your word processor creates, so you can save space on your hard disk.

Notepad has one big advantage over more powerful word processors--it's fast. On my PC, for example, I'll stare at the Windows hourglass for about 10 seconds while I wait for WordPad to start up. The Notepad window, on the other hand, opens up in a fraction of a second after I click its icon. You'll use Notepad all the time, especially for the little informational files (usually called something like README) that come with new software packages.

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TIP: You can use Notepad to open files that contain things other than text, such as programs and bitmap images. When you do that, you'll see a lot of characters that look like gibberish. Don't worry--you can't hurt a file just by peeking at it in Notepad. Just make sure you don't save or change the file!

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I want to write a good-looking letter

You might jot down a phone number on any old scrap of paper, but if you're writing a letter to your boss, you'll probably want to use a professional piece of stationery. That's the difference between Notepad and WordPad. For more formal documents, where you want to make some of your words stand out with special formatting, you'll use Windows' built-in word processor, WordPad.

How can I make this document look great?

If you prefer, you can use WordPad as nothing more than a souped-up scratch pad. But its real strength is its ability to help you use different fonts, colors, and other word processing tricks that make your simple letters and reports get noticed. It can't do the tricks you might expect of a heavy-duty word processor like Microsoft Word or WordPerfect, but it's got enough oomph to produce a document like the one in Figure 11.3.

You can use WordPad's menus to apply special formats to the words you type, but it's easier just to use the tools on the bar at the top of the WordPad window.

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Close-Up: the WordPad Toolbar

Use WordPad's collection of toolbars to make great-looking letters and short reports.


Click here to create a New document.


Ask WordPad to show you a list of documents you can Open.


Save the file youíre working with now.


Print the current document using the default settings.


Before you send your document to the printer, press the Print Preview button to see how it will look.


Ask WordPad to help you Find a word or phrase.


Cut whatever is selected, and put it on the Windows Clipboard.


Make a Copy of whateverís selected and put it on the Windows Clipboard.


Take whateverís on the Clipboard and Paste it in at the insertion point.


Oops, I didnít mean to do that! Undo it, please!


Add the current Date/Time at the insertion point in your document. A useful tool for logging calls.


Change the Font for the currently selected text.


Change the Font Size for the currently selected text.


Make the selection Bold, Italic, or Underline.


Change the Color of the selection.


Align the text to the Left, Center it, or align it to the Right.


Add Bullets to one or more items in a list.

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Q&A: Most of my words are disappearing into the right side of the window. What's going on?

You need to set the word wrap option. When you do that, WordPad puts up a solid wall along the right edge of the document, and when the text gets there it has to turn and run into the next line instead. Most of the time you'll wrap to the window so you can read your writing more easily, but sometimes you'll want to wrap to the ruler, especially when you want to see what your document will look like when printed.

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Im ready to print now

To send a WordPad document directly to the printer, just click the Print button. Because I hate to waste paper, I usually go through one extra step, choosing File, Print Preview to look at what Windows is planning to give me. To choose a different paper size or a different printer, select File, Page Setup. To specify any special printing options (extra copies or only selected pages, for example) choose File, Print.

How do I save this letter for later?

Most of the time, you can save a document for retrieval later. The technique is simple: Click the Save button, or pull down the File menu, then click Save. If you haven't saved the current file, Windows will ask you to give the file a name.

Which document type should I use?

You'll see the same dialog box whenever you choose File, Save for a new document or File, Save As to store a previously saved document under a new name. (See Fig. 11.4.) Choose a folder in which to store the document, give it a name, and then click OK. The only important option in this dialog box is the file format, which you can specify using the drop-down list at the bottom of the dialog box.

• Select Word for Windows 6.0 if you want to see every last bit of formatting. This is the same file format that Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office use.

• Choose Rich Text Format (RTF) when you're not sure whether the person to whom you're sending the file can read a file in Word format. RTF is a standard way for Windows word processors to exchange formatted documents.

• Select Text Document if you don't care about the formatting but simply want to save the letters, numbers, and other characters in your file.

• Select Text Document--MS-DOS format when you expect non-Windows users will also use the file.

I want to create a picture

If you have any artistic talent at all (unlike me) you'll want to try the Paint program.

Its drawing tools aren't sophisticated enough to turn you into another Michelangelo, but there's certainly enough to help you create a simple sketch to use in a letter or report. To launch the Paint program, click the Start button and follow the cascading menus from Programs to Accessories. The Paint window consists of an image area, plus a color palette and a tool box, as laid out in Figure 11.5.

How do these tools work?

All of the drawing tools in Paint work the same way. Click the tool button to pick up the tool (the mouse pointer will usually change shape to show you what you can do right now). If there are any options available for the tool, you can select them from the bottom of the tool bar. For example, the

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Close-Up: the Paint tools

Use the Free-Form Select tool to highlight an irregular shape so you can drag it elsewhere. Hold down Ctrl to copy the selection instead of moving it.

The Select tool highlights a rectangular shape for you to move or reuse.

To rub out part of your image and replace that part with background or foreground color, use the Eraser tool.

Fill With Color pours the current color into the selected region. Use the left button for the foreground color and the right button for the background color.

Use the Pick Color tool to select a color from one region and use it for the foreground or background color.

The Magnifier lets you zoom in for a close-up view of your image so you can do fine editing.

Do free-hand drawing--or just doodle--with the Pencil.

Take your choice of 12 tips for the Brush tool and achieve a variety of cool artistic effects.

The Airbrush adds a mottled mix of the foreground color (left mouse button) or background color(right mouse button) to the screen. Choose the thick option and drag slowly to create a graffiti-style effect.

Add words to your drawing with the Text tool.

Draw a straight line with the Line tool. The line starts where you first click and stops where you release the button.

The Curve tool is tricky to describe but not hard to use: Click and drag to define the beginning and end points of the line, release the mouse button, and then click and drag again to define the curve of the line.

Draw a Rectangle with this tool's help. Tool options let you automatically fill it with a color and add a border.

The Polygon tool lets you draw irregular shapes with a straight side. Click and drag to draw one edge, then click each corner of your shape. Double-click when you're done.

The Ellipse tool draws round shapes, centered on the place where you click and begin dragging. Hold down the Shift key to create a perfect circle.

Use the Rounded Rectangle to create a rectangle with rounded corners.

How do I work with colors?

If you've ever seen the Hollywood portrayal of a great artist (Charlton Heston as Michelangelo, for example), you know that every painter uses a palette to mix colors for use on the canvas. When you use Paint, your palette of colors appears at the bottom of the screen. You can choose from as many colors as your hardware will let you see--literally millions, if you have a really good video adapter. But you can only work with two colors at a time--one for the foreground and one for the background.

To change the default colors temporarily, click the appropriate square in the color palette. Use the left mouse button to change the foreground color; the right button controls the background. Watch as the two squares at the left edge of the palette change to show you which colors are active right now.

You can even add a new color from among the thousands or millions available to you--just choose Options, Edit Colors, then press the Define Custom Colors button. Move the pointer through the color matrix at right to choose a new color, and use the vertical slider at far right to control its brightness. The color you've selected appears in the Color|Solid box. To save the color in your palette, click an empty square in the Custom colors area and then click the Add to Custom Colors button.

Remember, these colors affect everything you do--from drawing a line to creating colorful boxes and circles. Always check the colors before you use any of the Paint tools.

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TIP: You can anchor the toolbox and color palette to any edge of the Paint window, or you can drag either one so it floats in the window. To drag the color palette, point to any empty space just above the little color squares. Moving the toolbox is trickier: you have to double-click the little area beneath the tools without releasing the mouse button after the second click. When you do it correctly, you'll see a thick, shaded box appear around the box, signaling you that it's ready to be moved. To snap either piece back into position, drag it to the edge and watch it go.

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How do I add text to a drawing?

I sometimes use Paint to create combinations of text and graphics that I can insert into reports to help mark the beginning of a new section. You can, too. Our goal is to create a graphic that looks like Figure 11.6.

1 Start by clicking the Text tool, then click and drag to define a rectangle where you want your letters to appear. When you release the mouse button, the insertion point (a thin vertical line) will appear.

2 Choose a typeface, size, and any text attributes such as bold or italic. If you don't see the Text Toolbar, choose View Text Toolbar choice to make it visible.

3 Start typing. Don't worry if your text doesn't fit perfectly in the box. When you're through typing, you can use the sizing handles on each corner and in the center of each edge to stretch the text box to fit the type.

4 When you're satisfied with the look of the text, it's time to add a border. First, click the Line tool and select a line thickness. In this case, we'll use the third choice. Next, click the Rounded Rectangle tool; make sure the top shape is chosen in the area at the bottom of the tool box.

5 Click a spot just above and to the left of the type where you want the border to begin, then drag the shape to the right and down to complete it. Release when you reach the lower right corner. (You could hold down the Shift key as you drag to create a perfect square. Use the same trick with the Ellipse tool for a perfect circle, or with the Line tool for a perfect horizontal or vertical line.)

6 To create the interesting 3-D effect, go back to the Line tool and choose the thinnest line, then click the Rounded Rectangle tool and draw another border around the original shape. It might take several tries to get it just right; use Undo if you want to start over.

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TIP: If you don't like the results of anything you do in Paint, use Edit, Undo immediately. Don't be afraid to experiment a little: Paint lets you undo the last three things you did.

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7 To add the 3-D shading between the inner and outer borders, use the Fill With Color tool. Click the gray square in the palette, then on the Fill With Color tool. The cursor will change to a bucket with a dribble of paint coming out. Aim the end of that dribble at a spot between the borders. (If you can't see it clearly, use the Magnifier tool to zoom in closer.) Click to fill in the color.

8 Finally, save the image you've just created. You could just choose File, Save, but there's a much more efficient way to make sure you just save the portion you want. Click the Select tool, and use the right mouse button to drag a rectangle around the graphic. When you release the button, a shortcut menu will pop up. Choose Copy To; Paint will let you choose a location and a name for your graphic.

I need to add up some numbers

Windows includes a handy accessory you can pop up whenever you need to crunch a few numbers. I use the Windows Calculator every month to help when I reconcile my checking statement, but it can do much more than that.

You can view the Windows Calculator in either of two modes, as shown in Figure 11.7.

• By default, it acts like a ten-key adding machine. You can use the numbers on the keyboard or click the buttons using the mouse. Use the Edit menu to copy and paste numbers to and from the Calculator.

• If you want to do scientific and statistical calculations, you can switch the Calculator into genius mode by choosing View, Scientific. I don't have much use for these functions, but if you do, you can get instant help on how to use them by right-clicking any button. To return to the simple view, choose View, Standard.

I just want to relax!

Who says Windows is all work? Your boss might not want you to know about them, but Windows includes a collection of four cool games. We've already seen and worked with Solitaire at length. Now it's time to look at the other three games. (Remember, Windows doesn't make it easy to find them; click the Start button, then Programs, Accessories, and Games.)

Minesweeper

The object of the game is to clear away every square on the screen without stepping on a mine. It's tougher than it looks! Each time you click on a square, one of two things will happen: Either you'll clear one or more squares and reveal some numbers, or you'll click on a bomb, and the game is over. The numbers tell you how many bombs are adjacent to that square, and you can use this information to make educated guesses or definitive decisions about which squares contain bombs.

When you're sure you know where a bomb is hidden, right-click to mark the square with a flag. Once you've found all the mines around a numbered square, click both mouse buttons simultaneously to clear all the squares around the one you're pointing to. Figure 11.8 shows a game I just lost. (Notice the unhappy face just above the playing area? Click that button to start a new game.)

Pinball

In my youth, I used to spend days at a time pumping quarters into pinball machines when I should have been studying. The Space Cadet 3-D Pinball game in Windows NT lets me goof off just as though I were back in school--and it never asks for quarters!

To start a game, click the Pinball menu choice, then choose Game, New Game. To set up for two, three, or four players, choose Options, Select Players. To launch the ball, hold down the spacebar for a second or two and then let it go. By default, the "flippers" are the two keys just inside the Shift keys on your keyboard--for most of us, that's the z and / keys. The x and > keys just inside those two keys let you bump the table to the left or right, respectively. (Be careful not to bump too hard or you'll tilt and lose the ball in play!)

For a summary of the rules and a quick reference to keyboard shortcuts, look in online Help. Figure 11.9 shows a game I'm playing when I should be writing the rest of this book.

FreeCell

Bored with Solitaire? This is another solo game that uses one deck of cards. The object of the game is to move all the cards into the four home cells at the top right, each in a stack of its own suit, starting with the ace. You shuffle cards from stack to stack on the bottom using alternating colors in descending order (a black queen on a red king, for example, or a red 7 on a black 8). The four cells at the top left are the free cells, where you can temporarily store cards while you move others around. Figure 11.10 shows a game in progress.

Supposedly, it's possible to win every game of FreeCell. To check your win-loss record, choose Options, Statistics. For complete rules and strategy tips, use the Help menu. Bet you can't play just one game!

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