The Control Panel

The control panel can be opened from the Start menu.

This allows you to control many aspects of your personal computer.

If you add new hardware (like a new hard drive, printer, or expansion card), you may need to run the "Add Hardware" control panel. Some hardware requires a driver, or controlling software, which the control panel will help you install.

If you want to remove a software program which you installed, you should run "Add or Remove Programs." On a Mac, you just remove the application file or folder. But on a PC, programs have files in many different locations, and you must use this control panel to get rid of all the files. You must be careful, though: Windows is not very good at removing software. Sometimes, removing one application can damage other applications.

Several control panels will allow you to change properties of your computer. "Date and Time" allows you to change the date and time, of course. "Display" allows you to change the way icons, folders, and the desktop appear. "Mouse" and "Keyboard" allow you to change settings for those devices. "Game Controllers" allow you to set up special hardware that is used for some games, like a joystick or other special input device.

"Printers and Faxes" allows you to see what these devices are doing. Sometimes, you try to print something and nothing happens, You can see the printer's status by opening this control panel and opening the printer driver software. If the printer does not appear in this panel, you can add the printer controller.

"User Accounts" allows you to set up accounts for different people on one computer. For example, let's say you and your sister use the same computer, but you both want privacy. You don't want your sister to see your files or read your email. Also, you like to have photos of nature scenes on the Desktop, while your sister likes to have Britney Spears concert photos there. If each of you has a private account, you can each enjoy privacy and your own settings. When you create more than one account on a computer, then every time you start up, the computer asks which account you want to activate. You can add a password to each account for privacy.

You can also switch accounts without logging out from the first one. In other words, your sister might be in the middle of writing an essay in MS Word when you need to send an email. No problem; just click on the Start Menu, select "Log Off," and choose "Switch User." (If this does not work, then turn on "Fast Switching" in the "User Accounts" control panel.) Then choose the account you want to use. After you're finished sending email, you can switch users again, and your sister's essay will still be there, where she left it. (Though it is always a good idea for your sister to save her essay before switching, just in case.)

There are other control panels, of course, and you can investigate them and use them at your leisure.