FUNDAMENTALS of COMPUTER

CE-101

Aim: Create and Manage Files & Folders.

What is a file?
A file is an item that contains information—for example, text or images or music. When opened, a file can look
very much like a text document or a picture that you might find on someone's desk or in a filing cabinet. On
your computer, files are represented with icons; this makes it easy to recognize a type of file by looking at its
icon.

What is a folder?
A folder is a container you can use to store files in. If you had thousands of paper files on your desk, it would be
nearly impossible to find any particular file when you needed it. That's why people often store paper files in
folders inside a filing cabinet. On your computer, folders work the same way.

Folders can also store other folders. A folder within a folder is usually called a subfolder. You can create any
number of subfolders, and each can hold any number of files and additional subfolders.

pg. 0
 FUNDAMENTALS of COMPUTER
CE-101

Using libraries to access your files and folders

When it comes to getting organized, you don't need to start from scratch. You can use libraries, a feature new to this
version of Windows, to access your files and folders, and arrange them in different ways. Here's a list of the four default
libraries and what they're typically used for:

• Documents library. Use this library to organize and arrange word-processing documents, spreadsheets,
presentations, and other text-related files. For more information, see Managing your documents.

By default, files that you move, copy, or save to the Documents library are stored in the My Documents folder.

• Pictures library. Use this library to organize and arrange your digital pictures, whether you get them from your
camera, scanner, or in e-mail from other people. For more information, see Managing your pictures.

By default, files that you move, copy, or save to the Pictures library are stored in the My Pictures folder.

• Music library. Use this library to organize and arrange your digital music, such as songs that you rip from an
audio CD or that you download from the Internet. For more information, see Managing your music.

By default, files that you move, copy, or save to the Music library are stored in the My Music folder.

• Videos library. Use this library to organize and arrange your videos, such as clips from your digital camera or
camcorder, or video files that you download from the Internet. For more information, see Managing your
videos.

By default, files that you move, copy, or save to the Videos library are stored in the My Videos folder.

To open the Documents, Pictures, or Music libraries, click the Start button, and then click Documents, Pictures, or
Music.

pg. 1
 FUNDAMENTALS of COMPUTER
CE-101

Understanding the parts of a window

When you open a folder or library, you see it in a window. The various parts of this window are designed to help
you navigate around Windows or work with files, folders, and libraries more easily. Here's a typical window and
each of its parts:

Viewing and arranging files and folders

When you open a folder or library, you can change how the files look in the window. For example, you might
prefer larger (or smaller) icons or a view that lets you see different kinds of information about each file. To
make these kinds of changes, use the Views button in the toolbar.

Each time you click the left side of the Views button, it changes the way your files and folders are displayed by
cycling through five different views: Large Icons, List, a view called Details that shows several columns of
information about the file, a smaller icon view called Tiles, and a view called Content that shows some of the
content from within the file.

If you click the arrow on the right side of the Views button, you have more choices. Move the slider up or down
to fine-tune the size of the file and folder icons. You can see the icons change size as you move the slider.

pg. 2
 FUNDAMENTALS of COMPUTER
CE-101

In libraries, you can go a step further by arranging your files in different ways. For example, say you want to
arrange the files in your Music library by genre (such as Jazz and Classical):

1. Click the Start button, and then click Music.

2. In the library pane (above the file list), click the menu next to Arrange by, and then click Genre.

Finding files
Depending on how many files you have and how they are organized, finding a file might mean browsing
through hundreds of files and subfolders—not an easy task. To save time and effort, use the search box to find
your file.

The search box is located at the top of every window. To find a file, open the folder or library that makes the
most sense as a starting point for your search, click the search box, and start typing. The search box filters the
current view based on the text that you type. Files are displayed as search results if your search term matches
the file's name, tags or other properties, or even the text inside a text document.

If you're searching for a file based on a property (such as the file's type), you can narrow the search before you
start typing by clicking the search box, and then clicking one of the properties just below the search box. This
adds a search filter (such as "type") to your search text, which will give you more accurate results.

If you aren't seeing the file you're looking for, you can change the entire scope of a search by clicking one of
the options at the bottom of the search results. For example, if you search for a file in the Documents library but
you can't find it, you can click Libraries to expand the search to the rest of your libraries.

pg. 3
 FUNDAMENTALS of COMPUTER
CE-101

Copying and moving files and folders

Occasionally, you might want to change where files are stored on your computer. You might want to move files
to a different folder, for example, or copy them to removable media (such as CDs or memory cards) to share
with another person.

Most people copy and move files using a method called drag and drop. Start by opening the folder that contains
the file or folder you want to move. Then, open the folder where you want to move it to in a different window.
Position the windows side by side on the desktop so that you can see the contents of both.

Next, drag the file or folder from the first folder to the second folder. That's all there is to it.

When using the drag-and-drop method, you might notice that sometimes the file or folder is copied, and at other
times it's moved. If you're dragging an item between two folders that are stored on the same hard disk, then the
item is moved so that two copies of the same file or folder aren't created in the same location. If you drag the
item to a folder that's in a different location (such as a network location) or to removable media like a CD, then
the item is copied.

Creating and deleting files

The most common way to create new files is by using a program. For example, you can create a text document
in a word-processing program or a movie file in a video-editing program.

Some programs create a file as soon as you open them. When you open WordPad, for example, it starts with a
blank page. This represents an empty (and unsaved) file. Start typing, and when you are ready to save your
work, click the Save button. In the dialog box that appears, type a file name that will help you find the file again
in the future, and then click Save.

By default, most programs save files in common folders like My Documents and My Pictures, which makes it
easy to find the files again next time.

pg. 4
 FUNDAMENTALS of COMPUTER
CE-101

When you no longer need a file, you can remove it from your computer to save space and to keep your
computer from getting cluttered with unwanted files. To delete a file, open the folder or library that contains the
file, and then select the file. Press Delete on your keyboard and then, in the Delete File dialog box, click Yes.

When you delete a file, it's temporarily stored in the Recycle Bin. Think of the Recycle Bin as a safety net
that allows you to recover files or folders that you might have accidentally deleted. Occasionally, you should
empty the Recycle Bin to reclaim all of the hard disk space being used by your unwanted files..

Opening an existing file

To open a file, double-click it. The file will usually open in the program that you used to create or change it. For
example, a text file will open in your word-processing program.

That's not always the case, though. Double-clicking a picture file, for example, will usually open a picture
viewer. To change the picture, you need to use a different program. Right-click the file, click Open with, and
then click the name of the program that you want to use.

Selecting more than one file

• If you're viewing your files as icons, you can click and drag the mouse to draw a box around
the files you want to select. When you're done, release the mouse; the files will be selected.
You can now move, copy, or delete all of these files at the same time.

• To select specific files from a folder, press and hold the Control key on your keyboard, then
click the files you want to select.

pg. 5
 FUNDAMENTALS of COMPUTER
CE-101

• To select a group of files from a folder, click the first file, press and hold the Shift key on
your keyboard, then click the last file. All of the files between the first and last ones will be
selected.

pg. 6