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The Mouse : First off, let's get one thing straight, a tremendous percentage of your work will be done with the mouse, so you really need to know the basics of a mouse and how it works. I'm not referring to the physical mechanics of it, but rather how it is used. To start off, there are a few basic actions that you will be doing with the mouse. The most common ones are clicking, double-clicking, and right-clicking. It is very important that you know the difference between these three actions. There are a few more actions, and lately, even more buttons, but for now we will concentrate on these three. We will also talk about a few other areas of using the mouse. Let's get started, shall we?
Clicking: First, and most common, is clicking. This is done by simply clicking the left mouse button one time. Clicking something is usually done to select something. Any time you hear or read about clicking a mouse, it is generally taken for granted that this is one single click with the left button. The truth is, if you got far enough to see this page, you obviously already must know how to click, but we're talking basics here, so I have to mention everything.
Double clicking: is also with the left button, but it requires two fast clicks in a row. The resulting sound of the mouse would be something like "chicka-chicka". If the clicks are not done fast enough, or if the mouse is moved during the clicks, the double click will not work properly. You can hear an example of an average speed double-click by clicking hear (hear, get it? instead of here.. oh, I kill me!) A double click is usually done to open a file or activate a function.
Right clicking:
is the same as clicking
except the right button is used as opposed to the left button. Man! are we
getting simple and basic here or what? For example, if you right click on the screen right now you will be given a menu. Try it now. Go ahead, click the right mouse button while the cursor is anywhere on this screen, except on an image. If you right click on an open area of the screen, or on text, you should get a menu with some basic options like this example below.
Don't click on any of the menu choices just yet. That will come later. We're talking about mouse clicking for now. So, to close this menu, just click somewhere on the screen EXCEPT on the menu. If you right-click on an image file, such as the smiley
here
Just right-click on the smiley guy and check out the menu. You should end up with a menu like the example below.
Again, don't select any of the options at this time. We don't want to complicate matters. The basics, remember? OK. You can now close this menu by clicking (with the left button) anywhere on the page, except on the menu. Got it? Good! This right-click feature has many uses and will come in handy on a regular basis. Suffice it to say that right clicking will soon be a commonly used action for you, if it isn't already.
Some people, like myself, have to tweak almost every part of their computer to match their own specifications. One of the many items you can tailor to your liking is the speed of the mouse. You can adjust the rate at which the cursor moves, in relation to how much you move the mouse along the desk. You can also tailor the speed of the double-click. Some people have a hard time making the double-click feature work because they cannot click it fast enough. I'll show you how to adjust the mouse to fit your needs. To make adjustments to your mouse, you need to go to the "Mouse Properties window. To get there, go to MY COMPUTER / CONTROL PANEL / MOUSE. Once you are here, you can see that many things can be changed to your liking. This is a "tweakers" paradise. To change the double-click speed of the mouse, simply adjust the slide control to the left (for slower) or to the right (for faster) and double-click on the jack-in-the-box or folder to open and close it. Adjust it until it works best for you.. You can "fine tune" the mouse by using the "Orientation" option under the Activities tab like in the image below. This adjusts the mouse to the way that you hold it and move it. Try it out, it's easy. Click on "Set Orientation" and follow the simple instructions.
To adjust the speed of the cursor, go to the top of the MOUSE PROPERTIES window and select the "Pointer Options" tab and then find the "Pointer Speed" adjustment slider control as seen in the image below. You can then select a speed that works for you by adjusting this slider control. And to make the mouse cursor even easier to keep track of, or if you are still stuck in the 60's and you like the cool effect this tip gives, you can set the cursor to leave a trail behind it as it moves across the screen. Go to the "Pointer Options" tab and look in the "Trails" section and place a check mark in the box for " Display Pointer Trails". Other than making the cursor easier to keep track of, there is no functional reason for this. It is strictly eye-candy. Try it if you must, but turn it off before I use your computer thankyouverymuch!
You can also make changes to the appearance of the cursor if you want by choosing the "Pointers" tab in this same MOUSE PROPERTIES window. Go ahead, tweak away if you want to. It's all good.
Today, some mice come with more than the traditional two buttons. Some come with a third button located between the right and left mouse buttons. Some mice even come with a "scrolling wheel" between the right and left buttons. This wheel can be used to scroll down a web page or a long document. You simply roll the wheel forward or backward with your fingertip and the screen scrolls up or down accordingly. Usually, the wheel can be pushed in to make the wheel a "clickable" third button.
The newest mice today even have extra buttons on the sides of them for even more options. These mice are usually only used for playing games, but non-gamers can use them too.
And most mice allow you to assign different jobs or commands to the buttons. To do this, you would go into the "Buttons" tab of the MOUSE PROPERTIES window (see image below) and select the type of mouse you are using and then set each button according to your needs. You can even assign the side buttons to do things such as activate the back button in your web browser and more. The possibilities are wide open.
From time to time, you will encounter a problem with your mouse sticking and skipping and otherwise not cooperating. 9 times out of 10 it is not a damaged or faulty mouse, but rather a dirty mouse. What happens is that over time, dirt, dust, dead skin cells and skin oils (yuck!) accumulate on the ball in the bottom of the mouse. Actually, it accumulates on the rollers that the ball rides on. That is why it is so important to use a mouse pad, preferably a clean mouse pad. All that is needed to correct this problem is to turn the mouse over and remove the ball cover. It usually requires a turn or slide of the cover, sometimes even a small screw. Once the cover is off, remove the ball and clean it if needed. I recommend using a tiny bit of dish-soap with water and wipe the ball clean and dry it thoroughly. Usually, the ball doesn't even need to be cleaned. Now, look inside the mouse at the small rollers that the ball rides against. These roller are really what moves the cursor. You will probably see the sludge or goop on the rollers. Use a pair of tweezers or similar tool to gently scrape the gunk from the rollers. I suggested tweezers because they can be used to grab the gunk as it falls off the rollers.
Once you have the rollers cleaned off (Never use any liquid of any kind on the inside of the mouse) you can reinstall the clean and thoroughly dried ball and cover. Your mouse should be as good as new. One way to avoid the need for mouse clean-up is to buy one of the new "optical" mouse units. This is a mouse that does not use the roller ball on the bottom but rather it has a small laser light on the bottom of the mouse. See the image below and note the absence of a ball. This light pulses several hundred or thousand times a second and it uses the reflection of the light to move the mouse.
What this means to you and me is that it does not require a mouse pad or any sort of cleaning. It will work on any surface except glass (due to reflectivity I guess). I use one and would never consider buying another ball-mouse again.
There are three different types of connector for a mouse. This connector is what plugs into the computer. The three different types of connector are Serial, PS/2, and USB. Serial is the oldest of the three connections and is basically being phased out. You will rarely see a new computer come with a serial mouse. The connector for a serial mouse looks like this:
The next type of connection is the PS/2 connector. This connector is known by it's small round plug (a little larger than the diameter of a no.2 pencil eraser). The PS/2 connector looks like this:
I hope this has given you a slightly better understanding of the mouse and how it is to be used. If you have any questions about your mouse that were not covered here, please feel free to email me with the question and I will try to reply as soon as possible.
To see a site that describes the mechanical details of how a mouse works, you can go to this site here http://www.geocities.com/howcompworks/mouse.htm and find out more about it. This site shows the insides of a mouse and explains how it works. It is very interesting.
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Almost always, when you right
click on something while using Windows, it will cause a drop menu to appear and offer you
choices. Right-clicking can be used for several actions, including but
not limited to copying an image, doing a Properties check on an
image or other file, copy & paste or cut & paste,
viewing the HTML source code of a web page, and many many other
uses.
What
a cool effect huh? Try it out and see if you like it. If it isn't
right for you, just uncheck the box and it is back to normal. How
cool is that?
