How to use your computer

Type and Team Size

Type: Software
Team Size: 1

What, Why & When

Nowadays instructions on how to use computers might feel unnecessary, since most of us use these devices almost every day. However, the use of software for scientific methods, for example R, Python, MAXQDA or QGIS for data analysis, requires a certain level of competence in operating computers beyond simple tasks such as web browsing, social media and sending e-mails. Moreover, the widespread adoption of tablets for studying purposes has relegated computers to the background because tablets are lighter, portable, powerful and allow the completion of simple tasks as those mentioned above plus taking notes. Nonetheless, tablets have limited capabilities and are not as powerful as computers for running specialized software (for data analysis). In this sense, computers are and will be relevant not only for studying but also for the professional stage. In a rapid development of digitalization and informatics, being proficient with computers is out of question.

Goals

Within a digitalized and accelerating world where time became a valuable resource, knowing how to use your digital tools properly becomes an essential skill. It is necessary to internalize certain processes in order to keep pace with today’s developments. Investing time once might make things a lot easier in the future – it is worth it. When it comes to applying statistics, Geographical Information Systems or any other software that is needed for methods, it should be made sure that everyone starts on the same page. For that purpose, the given entry shall provide a hands-on perspective on the topic. It refers to the concrete usage of one’s computer, with a specific focus on the statistical application R.

Getting started

The process of learning how to use your computer in statistics can be structured in four sections, going from basics to details: Knowing the operative systems of your computer, being able to do the basic configuration, managing the applications and being in command of one's files. Let us have a look at each section in more detail.

1. Operative systems and basic specifications

Operating systems (OS) are the main software that manage all ongoing complex processes while appearing with an easy-designed user interface. They coordinate the communication between software applications and hardware components. The hardware components of a computer include, amongst others,

the central processing unit (CPU) that performs the actual data processing and consist of an arithmetic / logic unit (ALU) that processes arithmetic and logical operations, as well as a control unit (CU) which e.g. organizes the program’s execution,
the memory unit (MU) that is responsible for storing data and thus is divided into

a) the primary memory / random access memory (RAM) that stores data temporarily in order to provide an immediate access by the CPU b) the secondary memory which is known as the hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD) and stores data permanently on the computer. It thus includes the operating system, but also user data and computer programs and applications. The difference between HDDs and SSDs lies in their mechanical and technological properties as well as their expenses: While SSDs tend to be more durable, faster and less power consuming, HDDs usually are less expensive per GB storage space and thus are often used for storing large amounts of data. In section four on file management, further information about data storage and the HDD will be provided.

c) the cache memory which is a type of RAM that temporarily stores data frequently used by the CPU. The cache thus enables a fast data provision for the CPU.

the communication bus which enables data transfer and communication between the several hardware components

The software of a computer describes all non-physical parts of a computer, meaning programs and applications. The most popular operating system is Microsoft Windows, but there are other operating systems like MacOS, Linux or ChromeOS which have their respective strengths and weaknesses. The operating system is pre-loaded on every computer. It is necessary to know one’s personal operating system, since some programs are not suitable for certain main software. The running operating system can be detected in the general settings within the “About” section.

2. Basic configuration

A new computer always comes with a standard configuration that often gets not much modified during the period of personal usage. Nevertheless, setting up one’s computer according to individual requirements can make a lot of sense.

1) Setting a default folder

For example, it can be helpful to determine the most used or relevant folder as a default folder.

a) Mac (Finder):

“Finder” > “Finder” (in the upper left corner on the display) > “Settings” > “New Finder windows show:” > “Other” > select default folder

b) Windows (File Explorer):

“File Explorer” > “View” > “Options” > “” > “General” > “Open File Explorer to:” > select default folder

2) Showing the path bar

It might also be useful to display the file path at the bottom of the Finder or File Explorer. A file path indicates the exact location of a file within the computer’s file system. They navigate the operating system through the directories, starting at the root directory (the top-most directory) and ending with the particular file name in the directory where it is located. A path thus is necessary as soon as a software needs to access a certain file. In order to make file management more easy, the file path can be displayed:

a) Mac (Finder):

“Finder” > “View” (upper left corner) > “Show Path Bar”

b) Windows (File Explorer):

“File Explorer” > ”Folder Options” > “Options” > “View” > tick “Display The Full Path Of The Title Bar”  > “Apply” > “OK”

3) File endings

Concerning the file, there are different endings that indicate certain file characteristics. Common file endings are:

a) Document file endings

.pdf: Portable Document Format (used to preserve the formatting of a document)
.doc / .docx: Microsoft Word document
.txt: Plain text (not formatted)
.csv: Tabular data in plain text where columns are separated by a predefined character, usually a comma (“comma separated values”)
.xlsx: Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet

b) Image file endings

.jpg / .jpeg: JPEG image with lossy compression
.png: Portable Network Graphics (lossless compression possible)

c) Video file endings

.mp4: Most popular video format
.mov: Apple movies

d) Audio file endings

.mp3: Audio file with lossy compression
.wav: Audio file (uncompressed)

e) Compressed files

.zip: Compressed file archive that contains multiple files

f) Executable files

.exe: Executable files for Windows programs
.R: Executable files for the statistical software R
.py: Python Script (executable for Python interpreter)

g) Web Files

.html / .htm: HyperText Markup Language (used for creating web pages)
.css: Cascading Style Sheets (used for styling websites)
.js: JavaScript file (used for adding interactivity to websites)

h) System files

.sys: System file (Windows) 
.ini: Initialization file (used for configuration settings)

4) Showing and deleting Hidden Files

Sometimes, a file is hidden to prevent the user from accidentally deleting it, since this could affect the performance or usage of a program the file was linked to. These files sometimes are responsible for long loading times and it thus can become necessary to access and delete them.

a) Mac (Finder)

First, the hidden files have to be made visible in order to delete them: “Finder” > select the folder within which the hidden files should be made visible > shortcut “Command” + “Shift” + “.”

The hidden files look different to the other files - they are grayed out. These files can be deleted like any other file in the finder by using the shortcut “Command” + “Delete” or dragging them into the bin.

b) Windows (File Explorer) Making the hidden files visible is done as follows:

“File Explorer” > “Folder Options” > “Options” > ”View” > “Advanced Settings” > tick “Show hidden files, folders, and drives” > “Apply” > “OK”

Afterwards, the hidden files can again be deleted like all the other files on the computer by choosing it and pressing the “Delete” key on the keyboard. In older Windows versions, there is also the possibility to receive a notification whether hidden files exist in a certain folder by pressing using the shortcut “Ctrl” + “A”.

c) R-Studio

In the statistical software application RStudio, one needs to select

“Files” > “More” > “Show Hidden Files”

in order to display all (hidden) files afterwards.

Nonetheless, it is important to be careful with hidden files and not delete them without knowing what they are for, since they are hidden for a reason.

3. Application management

The performance of a computer can be improved by managing its applications well. There are different aspects that contribute to the optimization.

1) Using the task manager

The task manager can help monitoring the memory usage of different applications running in the background. Those applications that consume too many resources can be force quitted through the task manager.

a) Mac Pressing the shortcut “Command” + “Option” + “Esc”

b) Windows Pressing the shortcut “Ctrl” + “Shift” + “Esc” There is also a more advanced version of the task manager called “(System) Activity Monitor”. It provides detailed information about different system and application behavior and can be accessed through the search function.

2) Regularly emptying the cache

Although the cache makes important data for the CPU faster accessible, it needs to be emptied from time to time. Else, it can take an undesirable amount of storage, causing errors and slowing down the computer’s performance.

a) Mac

On Mac, the cache is divided into three parts: System cache, User cache and Browser cache. Since emptying the browser cache does not depend on the OS but on the browser instead, the following instructions focus on the first two cache types:

“Finder” > “Go” (upper left corner) > “Go to folder…” > type “~/Library/Caches” and press return > go through the files and delete everything that begins with “com.apple” for the system cache and all the other files for the user cache.

It is important to only delete the files and leave the folders empty. In order to see how the whole space that the system and user caches occupy, one can go back to the library folder (where the Caches folder is located in) and right-click on the Caches folder. Under “Get Info”, the total amount of storage uptaken by the caches is displayed.

b) Windows

“Settings” > “System” > “Storage” > “Storage Sense” > enable “Automatic user content cleanup” with “On” > at the bottom of the Storage Sense window, press “Run Storage Sense now”

3) Install and uninstall applications

The common way to install a new application starts with searching for the application in a web browser. After selecting the correct version of the installer file for one’s operating system, this file can be downloaded. To finally install the application, the installer file - which can be found in the Downloads folder of the computer’s file system - needs to be executed by following the instructions.

Once the installation process is complete, the installer file can be deleted.

To uninstall an application, the application has to be selected and moved to bin (Mac) or removed by selecting “Uninstall” after right-clicking the application (Windows).

4. File management

This last section provides some tips and important knowledge concerning file management.

1) Storing data in a cloud vs. on a SSD / HDD

In order to digitally store data, there are different options. For programming purposes, it can become a topic to consciously store data on the internal hard drive or solid-state drive instead of using the cloud storage.

The cloud storage uses remote servers to store data. This means that these information require internet to be uploaded and accessed - they are not stored locally.

The internal hard drive or solid-state drive is the location where data is stored directly on the computer, which means that there is no cloud involved in this type of data storage. The internal hard drive is different to the external hard drive: Instead of being already integrated in the shell of one’s device, external hard drives can be bought separately and are connected to the device via cable.

a) Find the hard drive or solid-state drive on Mac:

"Finder" > "Settings" (on the upper left bar of your display) >" General" > Either Tick “Hard disks” in “Show these items on the desktop”: A symbol of your hard drive will be displayed on your desktop. By double clicking it, the hard drive section will open in your Finder.

Or

“Macintosh HD” under “New Finder windows show”: When you open your Finder next, this section of your internal hard drive (Macintosh HD) will be the first that opens.

Or

“Finder” > “Go” (on the upper left corner on the display) > “Computer” > “Macintosh HD”

b) Find the hard drive or solid-state drive on Windows:

“Start Menu > “Computer” / “This PC” > “Hard Drive” or “File Explorer” > “Hard Drive”

2) Structuring the folders

In order to access files in R (and other programming languages), they have to be located on the hard drive / solid-state drive (and not in a cloud etc.). Since file directories can become quite messy, a systematic folder structure that fits your needs is indispensable to find your files without losing too much time (or nerves :). For setting up a personal folder structure, one could consider the following aspects to be useful:

a) Structure folders logically. Therefore you can think of categories that might be useful, e.g. by asking yourself questions like: “What information is necessary within your file name in order to describe your file in a way you can look it up at any time?” You can also use subfolders to store similar data of one category.

b) Be consistent in naming folders. What matters more than how you name your folders is that you keep sticking to your scheme. In the end, it is you who needs to understand the logic behind your system.

c) Do not use special characters and include Occam’s razor in the folder names. This means that umlauts as well as & , * % # ; ( ) ! @ $ ^ ~ ' { } [ ] ? < > are to be avoided. Keep it as simple as possible, but as complex as necessary.

The file naming refers to the same rules as the folder structuring. However, when it comes to naming files one should think about the way they want their files to be ordered. One example would be to chronologically order the files by date, ie. by using “YYYMMDD” at the beginning of each file. You should also consider the file format that is indicated by the file name. For example, files of the statistical software R usually have the ending “.R”, but also files that end with “.csv” or “.txt” can be accessed through R.

3) Setting a working directory in R

The working directory is a folder on your hard drive which is standardly accessed by R to open files. Defining a working directory is a question of convenience. If you want to import a file that is stored in a folder which is not defined as your working directory, you need to type the full path in order to access the file. Suppose you would like to import an Excel file with data on renewable energies (“solar energy.xlsx”). You would need to type:

solar <- read.excel(“User/yourname/Folder/Subfolder1/solar energy.xlsx”)

If you now set “User/yourname/Folder/Subfolder1” as your working directory, you would just need to type:

solar <- read.excel(“solar energy.xlsx”)

To figure out the current working directory, one needs to type and execute (e.g. by pressing “Option” + “Enter” on Mac or “Str” + “R” on Windows) the command “getwd()” in R. The output is a path that could be structured like this: “Users/yourname/Folder/Subfolder2”.

In order to define the working directory, you can use the command

setwd():
setwd(“User/yourname/Folder/Subfolder1”)

In this case, “Subfolder1” should be the folder where the files that need to be accessed are stored. .

4) Giving admin permissions

Sometimes it is necessary to first add so-called administrator rights in order to receive access to certain folders.

a) Mac:

“System Settings” > “Users & Groups” > select user name (the one you want to give admin permissions for) > click on the small “I” for information > tick “Allow this user to administer this computer” > save with “OK”

b) Windows:

“Windows Start Button” > “Settings” > “Accounts” > “Family and other users” > select user name > “Change account type” > “Administrator” > save with “OK”

There are many more things to know about a computer’s functioning and its interplay with softwares like R. This quick overview should provide help for some basic issues, but for more information, the further readings section can serve as a starting point.

As a final notice, the most important way to implement and learn these skills is by applying them - every error can be a step forward.