File Management

Windows 7
Word 2007

What is File Management?

As you use your computer and create files you may need some help in storing and
retrieving those files. File management shows you how to create, move, organize,
search for, and delete files on your computer.

Creating a File

For this class we are going to create a file in Microsoft Word. Open Word on the
desktop.

Type your name on the screen.

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Saving a File to My Documents

After you type your name, click on the Office Button, then on Save As.

Because it is the first time you have saved this document the Save As box will open.

You should see

your name here.
If your name is
here, Click Save.

Your name should be in the File name box. If you want to change the name of the
document, just type – you don’t need to click in the box. As long as the words are blue
you can type right over them. Click Save. Then close the file.

Your file will now be saved in the Documents folder (which is a folder on the hard drive
of your computer).
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Saving a File to the Desktop

Open the Documents folder by clicking on the Start

Menu and then on Documents.

In the Documents folder you should see the

document you just created – look for your name.
Double click the icon to open the file.

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Click on the Office Button, and then on Save As.

The Save As window will open again. Click on Desktop on the left. This changes
where the computer will save the file.

After switching to the Desktop, click Save.

Close the file by clicking in the X in the upper right corner.

You should now see an icon for your file on the desktop of the computer.

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Storage

Storage devices allow you to save your files and take the information from computer to
computer.

Floppy disk

Cheap and portable, a floppy disk is a convenient way to save smaller files.
Holds 1.44 MB. (About 700 pages of double-spaced text.)

CD Rom

A compact disk will hold several large files. Holds 700 MB.

A CD-R (Read) is for one-time use. You can only burn something to it
once, even if that data takes up 1% of the total disk space. You can
read the information as often as you want. (Examples are things like
music CDs or computer programs purchased from the store.)

A CD-RW (Re-Write) is more expensive, but is versatile in that you

can add and remove data as often as you want.

Flash Drive

A thumb drive, jump drive, flash drive, or USB drive will hold a large amount of data and
is easily portable. It can hold between 128 MB and 4+ GB. (1 GB = 1,024 MB.)

Measuring Storage

What’s the difference between Megabytes and Gigabytes?

1,024 Kilobytes (KB) = 1 Megabyte (MB)

1,024 Megabytes (MB) = 1Gigabyte (GB)
1,024 Gigabytes (GB) = 1 Terabyte (TB)

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Saving to a Flash Drive

Double click on the icon for your document on the Desktop to open it.

Click on the Office Button, and then on Save As.

In the box on the left, find the item called Computer. Click on your inserted flash drive.
(It may be called Removable Disk, Kingston, or the name of your flash drive’s
manufacturer.)

Click on the Save button and close the program. Your document is now on your flash
drive.

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Accessing Different Drives

Now that you have a document saved on your flash drive, how do you access it?

Click on the Start menu and then on Computer.

Your computer’s list of drives will appear.

You have a drive called Local Disk (C:),
which is where all of the information on
your computer is stored.
If you have a Floppy Disk drive it will be
labeled 3 ½ Floppy (A:).
The DVD Drive (D:) is the part of your
computer that reads and writes to CDs and
DVDs.
Flash drives that you plug in will be labeled with following letters of the alphabet.
Here, there are two plugged in. One has been given a name (Work Files), and
the other has the default name (Removable Disk). The bar below the drive lets
you know how much used and free space there is.

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Double click on your flash drive icon to see what is saved on it.

Other Ways to Save to a Flash Drive

Sometimes you would like to send items other than Word documents to your flash drive
(folders, pictures, movies, etc.).

Click on the Start menu

and click on
Documents.

Choose a folder or other

item and right click on it.
Point your mouse to
Send to and left click on
the name of your flash
drive (i.e. Removable
Disk).

A copy of your item will

be sent to your flash
drive. The original one
will stay in place on your
computer.

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Different Views

There are multiple ways to view the contents of a folder. The actual contents will not
change, but the way you view those items will.

Open the Documents folder from the Start menu if not already open. You will see the
contents of the folder displayed.

To change the view, click on the down arrow next to the view button in the upper right
corner.

Choose another option from the list that appears.

The options for icons are useful when viewing a folder full of
images.

Choose a few options from the list to see what happens.

If you need to, maximize the window to see all the available
information.

In the Details view, you can sort the files by Name, Date, Size, etc. by clicking on the
appropriate words at the top of the column.

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Creating Folders

In the Documents folder,

click on New Folder.

The computer will make a new folder for you.

Type a name for the folder and hit the Enter key.

Renaming Files

To change a file’s name (but not its contents) right

click on the file and select Rename.

OR

Click on the Organize button and choose

Rename.

The file name will change so that you can edit it.
Just type the new file name hit the Enter key.

The name will change to whatever you typed.

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Moving Documents into Folders

Now that you have a new folder you can begin organizing your documents by placing
them in the folder.

Using the mouse, click on the document you wish

to move. Hold the mouse button down and drag
the icon on top of the new folder icon.

Let go of the mouse button and the computer will

move that document into the folder.

Open the folder to make sure your document has been moved successfully. Double
click the folder icon to see if your document is in that folder.

Oops! I made a mistake. What do I do?

The quick and easy way to undo a mistake is to press the Ctrl and Z keys at the same
time. This will place your file back in its original location. Ctrl + Z is the shortcut for the
undo function. If you can’t remember which keys to press, the undo function can be
found in the Organize menu at the top of any folder you are viewing the contents of.

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How do I move files into folders I can’t see?

If you can’t see the folder to click and drag your file into, you can always cut and paste.

Left click on the file you wish to move so that it turns blue.

Click on the Organize button. Select Cut. (Select Copy if you wish to have two
copies of the file instead of moving it.)

Navigate to the folder you wish to place your file in. Once you have opened that
folder, click on the Edit menu again. This time select Paste.

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Burning to a CD or DVD

The process of transferring data to a Compact Disc (CD) or a Digital Video Disc (DVD)
is called “burning” because a laser engraves little grooves into the shiny surface of the
disk. There are many programs used to copy information to a CD. Roxio Easy CD
Creator is a common one that comes with a lot of computers. Windows XP, Windows
Vista, and Windows 7 also have the capability built into them with no extra software
needed.

To use the built-in Windows CD or DVD writer:

Right click on the item or items and left click

on Properties to determine how much space
it will take up on the disc. If it’s under 700 MB
it will fit on the CD. A DVD it can hold 4.7 GB.

Right click on the item once again.

Go to the Send To option and then
on DVD/CD-RW Drive (D:).
(Sometimes it will say Direct CD
Drive.)

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 The computer will begin to walk you through the CD writing steps. Give your CD
a title in the first window, click the Next button, then sit back and wait for the data
to write to the CD. It will tell you when it’s done, and the CD will pop out.

Moving a File to the Recycle Bin

If you no longer need a file you can move it to the Recycle Bin to get rid of it.

From the Documents folder, click on the

document you want to delete. Then click on
the Organize button in the upper left corner.
Click on Delete.

The computer will check to be sure that this

is what you want to do.

If it is, click Yes.

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Exploring the Recycle Bin

If you need to see what files you have put into the Recycle Bin, simply double click on
the Recycle Bin to see its contents.

This box shows the contents of the Recycle Bin. You should see the file you just
deleted.

Restoring Files from the Recycle Bin

If you spot a file in the Recycle Bin that you do not want to permanently delete, click the
file and select Restore this item. If you want to put all files back in their original place,
click on Restore all items. The computer will put the item(s) back in the prior location.

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Emptying the Recycle Bin

If you are sure you no longer need any of the files in the Recycle Bin, click on Empty
the Recycle Bin. Your files will be permanently deleted, so be sure you are ready to
get rid of those files!

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Searching for Files

To search the computer for a file, click on the Start menu button. Right above the button
will be an area that says “Search programs and files.” Click on top of the words and type
the item you want to search for.

Type the file name, if you know it, or by a phrase that is in the file itself. It will
automatically search your computer and display results in the Start menu, itself, when
you stop typing.

The computer will find all

the files that contain all or
part of the file name. In
this case, it found 19
documents and folders that
included the letters “sam”
in the file name, five music
files, and nine pictures.
The first one is the
document “Sam Smith.” To
open that document,
double click it from the list.

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Removing your Flash Drive

It’s best not to just pull your flash drive out of your machine when you are done. That
may damage the device. When you are finished using your flash drive and would like to
remove it, first click on the device icon from your system tray. In our case, it is hiding.
Click on the Up arrow to display hidden system tray icons.

In the window that appears, click on the device icon.

Click on the device you would like to eject.

A message will appear, letting you

know is it is safe to remove the
device.

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