General
Join or sign in
Sign in to save your progress and earn a certificate
Welcome to the 'Windows laptop: System settings' course. In this video, you'll learn how to change and manage Windows settings, including how to change the date and time, select your preferred language, adjust volume and screen brightness, and connect to your home Wi-Fi network. To see Windows Settings, click on the Start button in the middle of the Taskbar at the bottom of the screen. It looks like a window. A panel will appear showing some icons. Click on the cog wheel icon to open Windows Settings. In the left column, you can see a menu of different settings options. One of these options will be selected. It depends which option you looked at last or how your computer is set up. The right side of the panel shows some information about whichever Window Settings option is selected. Let's change the time and date now.
From the left menu, find the Time & language option and click on it. The Time & language panel opens on the right with the current time and date at the top and some options underneath. Click the Date & time option at the top of the panel to see settings for changing the date, time, and the time zone you live in. The list of options now changes to show 'Set the time zone automatically' and 'Set the time automatically'. Each of these has a switch next to it. When the switch is in the on position, it is coloured, and when it is in the off position, the switch is white. We're going to set the time and date manually first. If the switch next to 'Set time automatically' is on, click to turn it off.
When the 'Set the time automatically' switch is turned off, you can see the 'Set the date and time manually' option. Click the white Change button to change the time and date. A pop up will appear titled, 'Change date and time'. Click on Date, and a list of days, months, and years appears. Scroll through the dates until the correct date is highlighted. Then click the tick at the bottom of the list. Or if you don't want to change anything, click the little X. Repeat this for the time. You can choose the hour and the minute. Don't forget to click the tick to set this new time. When you are happy with the time and date, click the Change button to close the pop up. At the top under Time & language, the time you've just set will display. If your computer is connected to your home internet or Wi-Fi, it's usually easier to leave Set the time automatically switched on. Your computer will use the internet to check it has the right time. Sometimes your computer can be set to the wrong time zone, and this might affect the automatic time setting. You can set the time zone manually from this panel.
The Date & time settings panel should still be open. If you look at the top of the panel, you can see the current time and date. To the right of this, you can see the time zone that the computer is set to. Check the 'Set the time zone automatically' switch and click to set it to 0ff, if it isn't already. The switch will change to white. Some new options will appear. To the right of Time zone, you can see the current time zone your computer is using. Click this to see a list and use the mouse to scroll through to choose a time zone. If you don't know your time zone, just set it to your nearest capital city, such as Adelaide, Darwin, or Brisbane. When you click on the new time zone, your computer will adjust its time and date right away. Allowing your computer to automatically control the date and time is a useful feature, so for this demonstration, we'll turn it back on before moving on to the next setting. Click the switches next to 'Set the time zone automatically' and 'Set the time automatically' so that they are in the On position. Your computer should currently be showing the Date & time panel in the Time & language settings.
You can use settings on this panel to choose which language your computer recognises. Scroll down to Related links. Then just below, click on Language & region to see some more language options. At the top of the Language & region panel next to 'Windows display language' is the language your computer uses for spelling. For this demonstration, the computer is using English as the display language. Yours will most likely say English but you can change it to another language if you need to. To select a language for your computer, click the coloured 'Add a language' button to the right of preferred languages. A pop up will appear, and you'll then be asked to 'Choose a language to install'. You can use your mouse to scroll through the list of languages to find the one you want. Or you can type the name of the language you want to add in the box at the top to quickly check the list for that language. Click the language you want so it's highlighted, then click Next. The pop up will change to show the language, and you can click the tick box next to 'Set as my Windows display language' to make this the language for your computer. Then when you're ready, click Install.
The box will close, and you will see the language options in the Windows Settings menu again. At the top, in the box to the right of 'Windows display language', should be the name of your new language. Now that you've set your preferred language, you can check that your computer knows you're in Australia. This helps ensure that your computer provides you with information and updates specifically for Australia and that your computer uses Australian date, time, and calendar formats. Don't worry though, this won't undo the language you've just set for your computer. Look down the Language & region options panel to find the Region section. Your country or region should be set to Australia, and your regional format should be set to English . For this demonstration, regional format is currently set to English . To change it, click on the words English in the white button. A list appears, and you can use your mouse to scroll up through the list of options. Then click on English , to set your regional format. Now click on the words 'Regional format' to expand this box.
You will see that the date will be presented in the day, month, and year format we use in Australia. Next, we'll look at changing your computer settings, including volume and screen brightness. Many computers have special keys on the keyboard for adjusting volume and screen brightness. These keys can be in different places, but they're usually in the top row of the keyboard displaying just above the row of number keys. To adjust the volume, simply press the volume up key to increase volume, and volume down to decrease it. If your computer doesn't have volume buttons on the keyboard, you can adjust the volume with your mouse. In the bottom right of the screen, you can see a small speaker icon. Click on the icon and a panel will open with a number of options in it, including a volume slider. Use your mouse to slide the button right to increase volume or left to decrease it. You can also click the speaker icon to the left of the slider control to mute the volume. A cross will appear next to the speaker. To unmute, click the speaker again so that the cross disappears. Above the volume control is the brightness slider. You can use your mouse to move it to the right to increase the brightness of your computer's inbuilt screen and to the left to dim it.
You can also use the screen brightness keys on your keyboard. These usually have a little sun or light bulb symbol on the key. Press the larger light bulb or sun key to increase brightness, and the smaller one to decrease it. If your keyboard doesn't have brightness keys and you don't see a brightness slider control on your computer, you'll need to use the controls that are on your monitor. These are usually a set of physical buttons. You can check in the instruction manual that came with your monitor to find out exactly how they work. Let's look at how to connect your computer to the internet using a Wi-Fi network. When you first set up your computer, you most likely connected it to your home Wi-Fi network. Your computer should automatically reconnect to that Wi-Fi each time you turn it on. If it is already connected, you can follow the next few steps in this video as a demonstration for how to connect to a different Wi-Fi network. This might be your local library or favourite cafe.
The steps are the same for all Wi-Fi networks. Wi-Fi networks outside your home may not be secure. So don't use them for online banking or other tasks that involve your personal details. So, let's check if your computer is connected to your home Wi-Fi. The Windows Settings panel should still be open on your computer. Look in the menu on the left for network and internet and click it. The Network & internet menu will open. And up at the top of the panel, you can see some information about your internet connection. If you are connected to Wi-Fi, you'll see the Wi-Fi symbol made of blue curves, the name of your home internet Wi-Fi network, and the words 'Connected, secured'. If the top of the Network & internet options panel says 'Not connected', it means you need to connect the Wi-Fi before you can use the internet. First look at Wi-Fi, which is the top option in the network and internet options panel. To the right of Wi-Fi, you can see a switch. This should be set to On, so you can connect to Wi-Fi. If it is set to Off, click it now to set it to on. To the right of the switch, you can see a small arrow. Click the arrow to see more Wi-Fi options. The right-hand side of the Windows Settings panel changes to the WiFi options panel. You can see the Wi-Fi switch at the top, which should be set to On. Under the switch, click on 'Show available networks'.
The Wi-Fi options panel will expand to show a list of Wi-Fi networks. Even if you are at home, you might see several networks listed. These can be your neighbour's Wi-Fi or a public network, such as one from a nearby library, cafe, or shopping centre. If the icon to the left of the network name shows a small padlock, it's protected by a password. For the next steps, you'll need to have the name of your home Wi-Fi network and its password ready to type into your computer. If you haven't changed these to something you find easier to remember, they will most likely be on the bottom of your home router. Now, back to the list of available networks.
Find your home Wi-Fi name in the list and click on it. The panel expands to show some options. If you want your computer to connect to this network every time you turn it on, click the box to the left of 'Connect automatically'. The box changes colour and a tick appears. Look to the right of the network name and click the white Connect button. The panel will expand again. A box will appear asking you to enter the password. This means enter your Wi-Fi password. Enter the password carefully, being sure to match all capital letters and symbols. Then click Next. After a moment, the panel will show 'Connected, secured' underneath the network name. You've learned how to change and manage Windows Settings, including how to select your preferred language, change the date and time, adjust volume and screen brightness, and connect to your home Wi-Fi network. If you're unsure about any steps, you can rewind the video or click the chapter headings to jump to the start of a chapter. If you're ready to move on, there are many other courses to explore on Be Connected.