82 Learning the Basics
Starting a program
The Windows® XP Professional operating system displays
the All Programs menu, which lists programs and program
groups. If your program is listed, go to Step 3, otherwise,
continue with Step 2.
2Point to the program group, in this example, Accessories.
The Accessories menu is displayed.
3Click the program, in this example, Wordp ad.
Wordpad opens.
To close the program, click the Close button in the upper-
right corner of the program’s window.
Starting a program from Windows® Explorer
If a program is not listed in the Programs menu, you can start it
from Windows® Explorer. Windows® Explorer gives you a view
of your computer’s contents as a hierarchy or “tree.” You can
easily see the content of each drive and folder on your computer.
To use this method, you should know the file name and location of
the program’s executable file (this file ends with.exe).
This example opens Wordpad using its file name, wordpad.exe.
1Click Start, then point to All Programs.
2Click Accessories.
3Click Windows Explorer.
4Click My Computer, to expand it.
5In the left part of the window, under the C: icon, double-click
the folder containing the program, in this case Program Files.
Windows® Explorer shows the contents of the Program Files
folder on the right side of the window. The left side of the
window shows all the folders contained within the Program
Files folder.