Windows File Management

Windows File Management

Class Description

This is an introductory class for those who know how the basics of using a computer, but need help finding and

organizing files of all sorts: pictures, documents, spreadsheets, music, videos, and more. Much of the lesson can be

transferred to non©\Windows computers, but the focus is on Microsoft Windows.

Class Length

One to one©\half (1?) hours.

Introduction

One of the most frustrating things about using a computer can be trying to find a file you know was on your computer.

That there are so many different locations for saving files doesn¡¯t make it easy. This class will look at how you can

organize your files in a way which works for you and how you can locate hard©\to©\find files.

Objectives

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Learn the meaning of ¡®drive¡¯, ¡®folder¡¯, and ¡®path¡¯

Learn how to use Windows/File Explorer

o How to select multiple files

o How to move files from one destination to another

o How to copy files from one destination to another

o How to move files to the Recycle Bin

o How to permanently delete files

How to search for files

Acquire ideas for effective organization of files

This is a handout for you to keep. Please feel free to use it for taking notes.

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The ¡®File Cabinets¡¯ on Your Computer

Most people find it easier to understand something new by relating it to something familiar. Perhaps the best familiar

thing which can be related to digital files and folders is an office filing system: a file room with rows of file cabinets; each

file cabinet with multiple drawers; each drawer with many hanging folders; one or more manila folders in each hanging

folder; and papers inside the manila folders.

* when using the Windows

How does this work for a Windows©\based (Macs, too) computer? Think of the computer operating system, we sometimes talk of ¡®subfolders¡¯, but

as the file room; various drives as rows of file cabinets; folders on a drive as an individ©\

don¡¯t normally go beyond

ual file cabinet; a subfolder* as a file cabinet drawer; a sub©\subfolder* as a hanging

that. Most folders are

folder; a sub©\sub©\subfolder* as a manila folder; a computer file as piece(s) of paper.

subfolders of another folder.

There are two important differences between an office filing system and a computer file

system: (1) computer file systems have no practical limit to the number of organizing levels, whereas one does not

normally put a manila folder inside a manila folder which is the lowest organizing level; and (2) in computer file systems,

any organizing level can contain both files and a practically unlimited number of subfolders, whereas one normally

places every piece of paper inside a manila folder (not in a hanging folder outside a manila folder, or in a file cabinet

drawer outside a hanging folder, or between file cabinet drawers, etc.).

The Windows operating system includes an application for working with files and folders. In Windows 7 and before, it is

called ¡®Windows Explorer¡¯. Beginning with Windows 8, it is called ¡®File Explorer¡¯. There are some slight differences in

Windows/File Explorer in different versions of Windows, but they all have the same basic purpose: to create, move,

delete, and rename both files and folders ¡ª to manage files and folders.

The Windows operating system has

some special folders: some are for

content (Documents, Music, Pictures,

Videos, Downloads, etc.); others are

system folders (Desktop, Recycle Bin).

Tip: the more content (size, not number of files) stored on the Desktop

(including background images), the

slower the computer will run.

Windows©\based computers use drives to organize files and assigns a letter to

each (A©\Z, thus a limit of 26 drives). Typically, the letters ¡®A¡¯ and ¡®B¡¯ are

reserved for floppy drives (rarely used today) and ¡®C¡¯ is reserved for the

Windows operating system. Other letters are used for additional hard drives,

network locations, removable storage (e.g. optical drives, ¡®thumb¡¯ drives,

external

drives), etc.

There is no one way to organize files and folders.

Windows 7: Windows Explorer

You need to find a system which

works for you .

Windows 10: File Explorer

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Every drive in Windows can contain one or more files and/or one or more folders. Every folder can contain one or more

files and/or one or more (sub)folders. For file and folder names, Windows ignores letter case (most other operating

systems are case sensitive, i.e. SAMPLE.TXT, Sample.TXT, and sample.TXT are different and can coexist in the same

folder). All the names in a folder, files and sub©\folders, must be unique.

Naming Rules & Restrictions

Don¡¯t obsess over these rules. This section is for those wondering why Restrictions: Windows has several

reserved characters which cannot be

an error message appeared or a name was changed from what was typed and

used in the names of file or folders:

for those who want some nitty©\gritty details.

The earliest versions of Windows used 8.3 (¡®eight dot three¡¯) filenames: up to

eight characters, followed by a dot/period, then ending in a ¡®file extension¡¯ of

three or less characters, identifying the type of file (applications normally add

this automatically when saving files). Some (older) applications still use this

format.

File extensions may now exceed three characters. They are used by the

Windows operating system and by Windows/File Explorer to identify the type of

file and the application associated with it and displays this by using an icon from

the file¡¯s application and (¡®Details¡¯ view only) to supply the information in the

¡®Type¡¯ column (e.g. ¡®Microsoft Excel Worksheet¡¯). The entire file name, including

the dot/period and the file extension is limited to 255 characters.

< > (less than and greater than)

:

(colon)

"

(double quote)

/ \ (forward slash and backslash)

|

(vertical bar or pipe)

?

( question mark)

*

(asterisk)

Neither a period nor a blank space

may be used at the end of a file

name or folder name. A blank space

cannot be used at the beginning of a

file name or folder name. File names

may begin with a period, but folder

names may not.

There are also reserved names:

con

prn

aux

nul

com, followed by one digit, 1-9

lpt, followed by one digit, 1-9

Using Windows/File Explorer

Windows/File Explorer can be launched by clicking on the folder in

the Taskbar (circled at right). It can also be launched by clicking the

windows explorer

(Windows 7 and earlier) or file explorer (Windows 8 and

Start button and start typing

later) until the name appears in the menu and then clicking on the name

with the mouse or, after ensuring the name is highlighted, pressing the

ie

key; or by using the keyboard shortcut +

press

J

(hold the Windows key down,

e, then release both keys).

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Windows Explorer (Windows 7)

¢Ù Navigation pane

¢ß Search box

¢Ú Back & forward buttons

¢à Details pane

¢Û Toolbar

¢á Preview pane

¢Ü Address bar

¢â Display options

¢Ý File list

? Preview pane toggle

¢Þ Column headings

Windows/File Explorer Layouts

File Explorer (Windows 8 and later)

¢Ù Navigation pane

¢Þ Column headings

¢Ú Back, forward, & up buttons ¢ß Search box

¢Û Ribbon

¢à Status bar

¢Ü Address bar

¢á Preview OR

Details pane

¢Ý File list

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Views

The previous page showed the

¡®Details¡¯ view for both. It shows only

information about the files and

folders.

The ¡®Extra large

icons¡¯ (not shown),

¡®Large icons¡¯ (left,

top), and ¡®Medium

icons¡¯ (right, top)

are similar; ¡®Small

icons¡¯ (left, middle)

loses the thumbnail

icon, but a large

thumbnail can be

displayed in the

¡®Details pane¡¯. The

¡®Tiles¡¯ view (right,

middle) has both thumbnail icons

and some information about the file.

The ¡®List¡¯ view (left, bottom) is good for

seeing a lot of items. The ¡®Content¡¯

view (right, bottom) contains a bit

more information than the ¡®Tiles¡¯ view,

but displays fewer items.

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