Computer Knowledge / Office Procedures
What the section tests
This part covers hardware and software basics, Windows and file management, MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint, internet and email, plus the paper trail of a government office: receipt and dispatch of dak, file noting, drafting, fair copying, record retention, and e-office practice.
Facts and shortcuts
- Memory: 1 KB = 1024 bytes, 1 MB = 1024 KB; RAM is volatile, ROM is non-volatile.
- Word: Ctrl+S save, Ctrl+P print, Ctrl+Z undo, Ctrl+Y redo, F7 spell check.
- Excel: =SUM(A1:A5), =AVERAGE(), =IF(condition, true, false); $A$1 is an absolute reference, A1 relative.
- PowerPoint: F5 starts the slide show from the beginning.
- Email: To = primary recipient, Cc = visible copy, Bcc = hidden copy; a URL carries protocol, domain and path.
- Office procedure: incoming dak is entered in the receipt register and put up on file; the officer records a note (opinion or decision) and the draft is the fair communication issued after approval.
- RTI Act 2005: reply ordinarily within 30 days, and within 48 hours where life or liberty is involved.
Worked example
Cell B2 contains =A2$C$1. What appears in B3 when B2 is copied down one row?* The row and column of $C$1 are locked, so only A2 shifts: =A3$C$1*. Without the dollar signs the formula would have become =A3*C2, the classic spreadsheet error.
Traps
- Swapping Ctrl+Z (undo) with Ctrl+Y (redo).
- Using 1000 instead of 1024 for memory conversions.
- Mixing up noting and drafting - noting stays on the file, drafting becomes the outgoing letter.
- Treating a deleted file as gone; it waits in the Recycle Bin until emptied.
- Confusing a browser (Chrome, Edge) with a search engine (Google, Bing).