IC3: Internet and Computing Core Certification Global Standard 4 Study Guide

Hands-on IC3 prep, with expert instruction and loads of tools IC3: Internet and Computing Core Certification Global Standard 4 Study Guide is the ideal all-in-one resource for those preparing to take the exam for the internationally-recognized IT computing fundamentals credential. Designed to help candidates pinpoint weak areas while there's still time to brush up, this book provides one hundred percent coverage of the exam objectives for all three modules of the IC3-GS4 exam. Readers will find clear, concise information, hands-on examples, and self-paced exercises that demonstrate how to perform critical tasks. This useful guide includes access to a robust set of learning tools, including chapter review questions, a practice test environment, electronic flashcards, and author videos that explain complex topics. The certification consists of three separate exams: Computing Fundamentals, Key Applications, and Living Online. Candidates are given fifty minutes to answer forty-five questions, so rapid recall and deep understanding are critical to success. IC3: Internet and Computing Core Certification Global Standard 4 Study Guide provides expert instruction on everything candidates need to know, including hardware, software, networking, and more. Review operating system basics and common application features Understand troubleshooting and safe computing Learn basic word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and database activities Study networking concepts, digital communication, and research fluency The exam includes both multiple choice and performance-based questions, and this guide provides plenty of both so candidates can get comfortable with both material and format. More than just a memorization tool, this book helps exam candidates understand the material on a fundamental level, giving them a greater chance of success than just going it alone. For the IC3 candidate who's serious about certification, IC3: Internet and Computing Core Certification Global Standard 4 Study Guide is the complete, hands-on exam prep guide.

Table of Contents:
Introduction xxi Assessment Test xliii Part I Computing Fundamentals 1 Chapter 1 Understanding Operating Systems 3 Operating Systems and Their Roles When Using Computers and Devices 5 What Is Hardware? 5 What Is Software? 6 What Is an Operating System? 6 How Do They All Work Together? 7 Accessing and Locking the Operating System 9 Software and System Updates 12 Working with Files, Folders, and Libraries 17 Accessing Your Files and Folders 18 Understanding File Types 22 Managing Your Files and Folders 24 Customizing Your Computer 32 Customizing the Desktop 32 Understanding User Accounts 45 Summary 51 Exam Essentials 52 Key Terms 52 Review Questions 53 Chapter 2 Understanding Hardware 55 The Internal Hardware Components of a Computer 57 Peripheral Devices That Can Be Connected to a Computer 59 The Most Common Types of Computers and Devices 62 How Information Is Transmitted inside a Computer 65 How to Evaluate the Performance of a Computer or Device 66 Summary 71 Exam Essentials 72 Key Terms 72 Review Questions 74 Chapter 3 Understanding Software 77 The Dependencies between Hardware and Software 79 Installing, Removing, or Reinstalling Software 81 Software Licensing and Its Implications 91 The Most Common Types of Office Applications 96 Using Templates to Get Started with an Application 98 Personal Entertainment Applications 101 Compressing Files to Save Space 101 Optimizing Your Computer’s Hard Disk Performance 103 Protecting Yourself from Malware 108 Summary 109 Exam Essentials 110 Key Terms 111 Review Questions 112 Chapter 4 Troubleshooting Problems with Your Computer 115 Dealing with Problems Caused by Software 117 Dealing with Incompatibilities between the Operating System Version and Your Applications 118 Dealing with Unresponsive Applications 121 Dealing with Applications That Consume Too Many Resources 124 Dealing with Malware Infections 126 Using Safe Mode to Fix Problems with Windows 129 Finding Help Online 131 Dealing with Problems Caused by Hardware 132 Dealing with Problems Caused by Cables and Connectors 132 Upgrading the Firmware for Your Computer’s Components and Peripherals 133 Dealing with Drivers for Your Computer’s Hardware 135 Creating Your Own Backup System 140 Backing Up Your Data with Backup and Restore 140 Restoring Your Data with Backup and Restore 145 Backing Up Your Data to the Cloud with OneDrive 150 Summary 156 Exam Essentials 156 Key Terms 157 Review Questions 158 Part II Key Applications 161 Chapter 5 Exploring Common Application Features in Microsoft Office 163 Creating New Empty Documents with Microsoft Office 166 Starting and Closing Microsoft Office Applications 167 Opening and Closing Microsoft Office Files 168 Creating New Empty Files with Microsoft Office 169 Saving Your Microsoft Office Files 171 Working with Several Windows at the Same Time 175 The Basics of Using Microsoft Office Applications 180 Keyboard Shortcuts for Using the Ribbon Productively 180 Selecting, Copying, and Moving Data When Using Microsoft Office Applications 184 Dragging and Dropping Data When Using Microsoft Office Applications 193 Finding and Replacing Data in Your Microsoft Office Documents 194 Checking the Spelling of Your Microsoft Office Documents 197 Undoing Your Changes and Mistakes When Working with Microsoft Office Documents 200 Hiding Your Data from Tables and Charts 201 Selecting Non-adjacent Cells in Microsoft Excel Tables 203 Sorting Data When Working with Microsoft Excel Files 205 Adjusting the Way You View Microsoft Office Files 207 Adjusting the Size and the Orientation of Your Microsoft Office Files 211 Printing Your Documents from Microsoft Office 213 Where to Get Help with Using Microsoft Office 214 The Basics of Formatting Your Microsoft Office Files 217 Formatting the Text in Your Documents 217 Using Styles to Format Your Documents 220 Working with Multimedia Files in Microsoft Office 224 Adding Multimedia Files to Your Presentations 224 Adjusting the Pictures Used in Your Presentations 228 Summary 231 Exam Essentials 232 Key Terms 233 Review Questions 234 Chapter 6 Using Microsoft Word 237 Configuring the Layout of Your Documents 238 Adjusting Line and Paragraph Spacing in Your Documents 238 Aligning the Text in Your Documents 241 Organizing Your Documents into Columns 245 Setting the Margins of Your Documents 246 Displaying the Ruler When Editing Documents 249 Indenting the Text in Your Documents 250 Using Tabs to Control Where the Text Is Placed in Your Documents 254 Organizing the Data in Your Documents 258 Creating Bulleted and Numbered Lists 259 Sorting Single?]Level Lists 260 Creating Tables 262 Adding or Removing Rows and Columns in Your Tables 265 Merging and Splitting Cells in Your Tables 266 Adding Page Numbers to Your Documents 269 Summary 273 Exam Essentials 273 Key Terms 273 Review Questions 274 Chapter 7 Using Microsoft Excel 277 Navigating among Worksheets, Workbooks, and Cells 278 Navigating between Worksheets 279 Navigating between Cells 280 Changing the Alignment and the Positioning of Cells 284 Changing the Size of Cells 287 Formatting How Cells Are Displayed 290 Adding and Removing Rows and Columns 292 Merging or Unmerging Cells 295 Using Number Formats in Microsoft Excel Workbooks 297 Sorting and Filtering Data 299 Sorting Data 300 Filtering Data 302 Using Common Formulas and Functions 304 Using Mathematical Operators 305 Using Relative and Absolute References 307 Using Functions 310 Adding Charts and Graphs 313 Inserting a Line Chart 315 Inserting a Pie Chart 317 Inserting a Bar Graph 319 Summary 321 Exam Essentials 321 Key Terms 322 Review Questions 323 Chapter 8 Using Microsoft PowerPoint 325 Adding and Removing Slides When Creating Presentations 327 Changing the Order of Your Slides 330 Changing the Design and the Background of Your Presentations 331 Adding and Formatting the Text in Your Presentations 334 Changing the Layout of Your Slides 337 Adding Shapes and Pictures to Your Slides 339 Adding Tables to Your Presentations 342 Formatting the Tables in Your Presentations 345 Adding Charts to Your Presentations 348 Adding Video and Other Multimedia Files to Your Presentations 350 Adding Animations to Your Presentation 352 Setting Transitions between Slides and Viewing Your Presentations 355 Summary 357 Exam Essentials 358 Key Terms 358 Review Questions 359 Chapter 9 Using Microsoft Access 361 Adding, Modifying, and Removing Data in a Microsoft Access Database 362 Using Search in a Microsoft Access Database 367 Using Stored Queries in a Microsoft Access Database 370 Running Predefined Reports in a Microsoft Access Database 372 Creating Simple Reports in a Microsoft Access Database 373 Summary 379 Exam Essentials 380 Key Terms 380 Review Questions 381 Chapter 10 Collaborating with Others When Working in Microsoft Office 383 Adding Comments to Your Microsoft Office Files 384 Reviewing the Comments That Were Added to a Document 387 Tracking Changes in a Microsoft Word Document 388 Reviewing Changes in a Microsoft Word Document 390 Sharing Your Work Files Using Email 393 Storing Documents Using Network Attached Storage Solutions 396 Storing Documents Using Cloud Storage Solutions 398 Summary 400 Exam Essentials 400 Key Terms 401 Review Questions 402 Part III Living Online 405 Chapter 11 Using the Internet 407 Understanding the Terminology about the Internet and the WWW 408 Understanding the World Wide Web 410 Standard Domain Names 410 Special Domain Names 411 Understanding Hyperlinks 411 Browsing the Web with a Web Browser 412 Using Multiple Tabs While Browsing the Web 417 Downloading and Uploading Files on the Web 419 Setting a Homepage in Your Web Browser 420 Using and Clearing Your Browsing History 423 Using Favorites or Bookmarks in Your Web Browser 428 Searching for Text in a Web Page from Your Web Browser 433 Using Plug?]ins, Add?]ons, and Extensions in Your Web Browser 435 Summary 436 Exam Essentials 436 Key Terms 437 Review Questions 438 Chapter 12 Understanding Networking and Its Most Important Concepts 441 Understanding Networks: LAN vs. WAN 442 Understanding Network Addressing 445 IP Addresses 445 The Domain Name Service 446 Private IPv4 Address Ranges 448 Using and Securing Wireless Networks 449 Changing How You Authenticate to Wireless Access Points 450 Setting the Encryption for Your Wireless Network 451 Security Networks with Firewalls and Gateways 452 Using a Firewall 453 Understanding the Gateway Concept 455 Measuring the Speed of Your Internet Connection 455 Factors Limiting the Speed of Your Internet Connection 457 Wireless Networking Standards and Speeds 458 Understanding the Different Types of Internet Connections 459 Dial?]up Internet Access 460 Broadband Internet Access 461 Virtual Private Networks 462 Principles for Troubleshooting Networking Problems 464 Troubleshooting Network Problems with the Help of Windows Troubleshooting Tools 465 Troubleshooting Network Problems from the Command Prompt 471 Ping 471 Tracert 473 Ipconfig 473 Summary 475 Exam Essentials 475 Key Terms 476 Review Questions 477 Chapter 13 Communicating Online with Others 479 Creating and Securing Email Accounts 480 Sending Email Messages 482 Attaching Files to Email Massages 484 Building a Contacts List 485 Replying to and Forwarding Email Messages 488 Automating Your Email Account 490 Organizing and Archiving Your Inbox 491 Communicating through Text Messages 493 Communicating through Multimedia 496 Using Social Media and Social Networks 498 Social Networks 498 Blogs 502 Increasing the Privacy of Your Social Networking Activity 502 Summary 505 Exam Essentials 505 Key Terms 506 Review Questions 507 Chapter 14 Being a Responsible Digital Citizen 509 Personal vs. Professional Communication 510 Verbal vs. Written Communication 512 Inappropriate Ways of Communicating Online 512 Censorship and Filters in the Digital World 514 Intellectual Property, Copyright, Licensing, and Piracy 516 Avoiding Piracy 517 Creative Commons: A Less Restrictive Form of Licensing 518 Summary 519 Exam Essentials 519 Key Terms 520 Review Questions 521 Chapter 15 Maintaining Your Health and Safety While Using Computers 523 Protecting Your Identity and Your Data 524 Removing Data from Your Computer 526 Keeping Your Computer Safe from Threats and Malware 530 The Ergonomics of Using the Computer in a Healthy Way 531 Common Problems That Are Generated by Incorrect Computer Use and Posture 533 Summary 534 Exam Essentials 534 Key Terms 534 Review Questions 535 Chapter 16 Searching the World Wide Web 537 Using Search Engines to Find Information Online 538 Performing Advanced Searches Using Symbols and Search Operators 542 Searching for Files Online 543 Dealing with Online Advertisements 546 Finding Valuable Information on Internet Forums and Knowledge Bases 547 Evaluating the Information That You Find on the Web 549 Summary 550 Exam Essentials 550 Key Terms 551 Review Questions 552 Appendixes 555 Appendix A Answers to Review Questions 557 Appendix B Using the Practice Files 571 Index 575

About the Author :
Ciprian Adrian Rusen is a recognized Windows Consumer Expert - Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP). He has published several books about Windows and Microsoft Office, and he's an active tech blogger at http://www.7tutorials.com. At 7 Tutorials, he also provides complete tutorials for Windows, Windows Phone, and Xbox One users.