Managing Files And Folders

 What is a file?

A file is a collection of numbers which have been written to your computer’s hard drive. These numbers can be converted into a picture, a sound, text, or a set of instructions for a program to perform certain actions. A clue to a file’s type is given by its Icon or by its file extension. Folders are containers for anything on a computer including files and other folders. A path lists the folders that have to be opened to get to the required file. Folders were called directories on older Microsoft systems.

 

These are some typical file icons. They help the user to identify the file type. There are innumerable file types, some of the common ones are represented here:

1. .bmp – a bitmap image
2. .doc – a Word document
3. .wav – a sound file
4. .ppt  – animated slides
5. .txt – plain text
6. .xls – a spreadsheet
7. .dbf – a database file
8. A shortcut (note the arrow)
9. .exe – an application (a program)

Windows allows you to view information about files in different ways. the icon view – the default used by Windows XP.
To change the icon view, click on View on the menu bar. Select the required view from the available list.
By default if a file type is a  known one, such as a Microsoft Word Document, Windows won’t display its file extension. To view all file extensions click on Tools on the menu bar. Various options can be configured. e.g. Display compressed files and folders with alternate colours. To display all file extensions, untick the Hide file extensions for known file types box.
File extensions are best left alone. Opening a file with the wrong application can sometimes damage the file. However you may at some stage need to change a file’s extension.

Folder

 Each of these is a folder. They may contain files or other folders (called subfolders) or both. There may be many “nestings” of folders within folders.

Files and folders are located on the computer by using a file path. The “James” folder is located inside a folder called “Home”, which is located inside a folder called “es-net”, which is located on the “C:” drive. The file path will be “C:\es-net\Home\James”.

Moving and Copying

To move a file or folder, either right click on its icon OR left click on the Edit  option on the toolbar. Choose cut to move or copy to copy!
At this point the item has been placed onto a clipboard – an area of memory accessible from nearly any application in Windows. Right click (or open Edit in the toolbar) in an open destination folder and choose “Paste” (or use drag and drop) .

When  an attempt is made to move an item between volumes, it is effectively copied, and the original remains.

Creating Files and Folders

This is mercifully easy. Simply right-click on some empty space in any suitable folder or the desktop and choose to create a new object from the choices offered.
Be careful not to alter the file extension, as this can render the file unreadable. File extensions are usually hidden for this reason.

Start Menu

The Start Menu was introduced in Windows 95 and allows for applications to be easily located and launched. As the name implies, The Start menu is the starting point for most tasks in Windows.
The look of the Start menu has changed many times in different versions of Windows but the same idea always applies. Clicking on START is a recommended way to access frequently used applications:

Clicking on START reveals the Run option which provides a quick way of launching  command-line utilities.
The first few characters of a pathname have been typed and the auto-complete feature uses this to make suggestions based upon recent usage. Clicking on one of these completes the entry. This can be useful to avoid mistyping.
The Start Menu can also be easily configured by simply right-clicking on it and selecting Properties.
Icon sizes can be changed as well as the number of program shortcuts displayed. Select Advanced to view a few in depth options.
Various items can be enabled and disabled by choosing the options shown, e.g. The Control Panel can be disabled from the Start Menu.
To change the Start Menu to the style used in Windows 2000 select Classic Start Menu.
Clicking on Start reveals the older style Start Menu used in pre-Windows XP computers.