dialog box appears, containing settings or information about that object, as shown in Figure I-3, right. Tip: As a shortcut to the Properties command, just highlight an icon and then press Alt+Enter.
It’s also worth getting to know how to operate tabbed dialog boxes, like the one shown in Figure I-3. These are windows that contain so many options, Microsoft has had to split them up into separate panels, or tabs. To reveal a new set of options, just click a different tab (called General, Tools, Hardware, Sharing, Security, Previous Versions, and Quota in Figure I-3). These tabs are designed to resemble the tabs at the top of file folders. Tip: You can switch tabs without using the mouse by pressing Ctrl+Tab (to “click” the next tab to the right) or Ctrl+Shift+Tab (for the previous tab).
Figure I-3: One quick way to find out how much space is left on your hard drive is to right-click the corresponding icon, and then choose the Properties command (left). The Properties dialog box appears (right), featuring a handy diskspace graph..
Every Piece of Hardware Requires Software When computer geeks talk about their drivers, they’re not talking about their chauffeurs (unless they’re Bill Gates); they’re talking about the controlling software required by every hardware component of a PC.