Just as there is no point in having a Ferrari if you haven't got a driving licence, there is little point in having a powerful, expensive PC if you can't get the most out of it.

There are certain things every PC user should be able to do. Whether you are a novice or advanced user, maintaining your PC, knowing how to maximise its potential and keeping it safe from the perils of cyberspace are key skills.

With that in mind, we have come up with a list of things every computer user should be able to do.

Navigating Windows with keyboard shortcuts
Navigating the operating system without a mouse is a useful way of speeding up your work or rescuing things if your mouse stops working.

In an application, pressing the alt key will move the cursor up to the menu bar. In the bar, and in all menus, each item has a letter underlined in it. Pressing the alt key and the underlined letter will take you straight to that menu item.

The cursor keys can also be used to move the selection. Once you have selected a menu item, a dialogue box will usually appear. Pressing the tab key will move the cursor between the input boxes and the buttons at the bottom of the box.

If your mouse fails when your computer is on, shutting down without a mouse is easy. Press alt and F4 to close any applications and when you get back to the Windows desktop, press alt and F4 again to bring up the shutdown menu.

Use the tab key to select shut down if it is not already highlighted and hit space to close down Windows.

For a full list of keyboard shortcuts, visit www.microsoft.com/enable/products/keyboardsearch.asp Navigating folders and directories
It is worth spending some time familiarising yourself with the structure of Windows folders and directories so you can navigate them easily. The best place to head to is Windows Explorer, which you'll find by going to start, programs, accessories, Windows Explorer.

From here, you can get used to the classic Windows folder structure in the folders toolbar that runs vertically up the left-hand side of the window.

Double-clicking on a file will open that file in the main Explorer window - to go back, either use the folder toolbar or the icon along the main horizontal toolbar, which looks like an open folder with an arrow shooting out of it.

Dragging and dropping
You can move files around your PC with the merest flick of the mouse. First, ensure you have a window open for both the location of the file you want to move and the destination you want to move it to.

Click on the file you want to move but hold down the left mouse button and then move the mouse, dragging the file to the destination window. If the destination is on the same drive as the source file, Windows will move it.

If it is on a different drive, Windows will copy it. This drag-and-drop technique has other applications, as you can drag a file, such as a picture, on to an open application.

This automatically loads the file without having to go through the file menu. If the application you want to open a file in is open, you can drag the file over the taskbar icon of the place where you want to deposit it. After a few seconds the Window will maximise, so you can drag the file in the normal manner.

Finally, try dragging files using the right mouse button. When you reach your destination, a menu will ask if you want to copy, move or create a shortcut.

Managing text
Unlike the typewriters of old, you can go back through a document in Microsoft Word and change things around.

But what if you want to remove an entire sentence?

Left-click your mouse at the beginning or end of the text you wish to select. Holding down the left mouse button, drag the mouse along the sentence as required. Once highlighted, you can deal with the text using any combination of keyboard and mouse shortcuts or Word toolbar icons.

Cutting and pasting information from documents is done in a similar way. These are speedy ways of transferring data from one application and plopping it into another.

Take Microsoft Word, for example - select a block of text and highlight it, then right-click on your mouse and choose cut. Open the document you wish to paste this data into and repeat the right-click on your mouse, only select paste.

The same job can be done using the cut and paste icons on the toolbar rather than by right-clicking. You can speed things up by using these keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl+C to copy, Ctrl+V to paste and Ctrl+X to cut.

Ctrl+Z will get you out of trouble if you get it wrong.

Save As
Most folk know that to save a document, you need to either click on the save icon on the toolbar or use the keyboard command Ctrl+S. But what if you want to save a copy of a file, change its name or save it as a different type of file? You use the "save as" function, that's what.

From the drop-down menu in Word, choose file, save as. From here, you can choose where you want the document saved to, what to call it and what type of document to save it as.

Installing new software
One of the great things about owning a PC is being able to add new applications and software. Most new software will bring up the install screen as soon as the CD-Rom is put in the drive.

From here, the install wizard will guide you through the process.

Should the software not do this, there is another way round it in Windows.

In the start menu, click on control panel, add/remove programs.

From here, you can add a program from CD or floppy disk. Follow the wizard from this point on.