To manipulate files and folders,you can either use My Computer icon from the desktop or Windows explorer from the start menu.Each in its own way lets you see how storage devices or locations,files and folders are arranged.These tools also enable the user to manipulate files and folders.
Windows explorer
Windows explorer lets the user display the drives and folders in a hierarchy or tree structure.The computer tree is an upside down structure with the highest level being the root.The explorer divides the window into two panes.The left pane displays a tree of drives and folders while the right pane displays a list of files and sub-folders contained in a particular open drive or folder.
To display the Windows explorer in some versions of Windows like 95/98 carry out the following procedure:
1.Click the start button then
2.Point to the programs menu
3.From the Programs go to the side kick menu,click windows explorer
An explorer window will be displayed.
NB:In some operating systems,Windows explorer command may not necessarily be located on the programs menu.The other method of displaying the explorer window is to:
1.Right click' my compute icon on the desktop.
2.Point and left click explorer from the shortcut menu.
This method of displaying the explorer window has been adopted as the standard way of displaying the explorer window throughout this book to take care of various versions of Windows operating systems.
The highest item in the tree is the desktop then followed by My Computer.If you observe keenly,you will notice that some items have a small box on their left with a plus or minus sign inside.If an item has the plus sign on its left,it contains other lower level items .To display the sub folders,click the plus sign and the sign will change to minus meaning that all sub folders in that level have been displayed.You can reduce(collapse)the tree by clicking minus sign.
Using My computer
Double clicking on my computer icon,gives you a graphical view of what is inside the computer.This includes the drives,the control panel and other
resources.
To display files and folders from a particular drive proceed as follows:
1.Double click a drive icon.A window appears displaying files and folders stored in the root of the drive in question.The root is considered to be the highest level of the directory tree where all directories/folders start.
2.Double click a folder to display its contents.
3.Double click the hard disk(drive C).Its content will be displayedÂ
4.From this window you can start manipulating your files and folders.
Creating a new folder
There will be times when the user would want to create new folders.Say,for instance,when working on a detailed project that has multiple files.It is advisable that all related files be kept together in one folder.To create a new folder proceed as follows:
1.Using My computer icon display the Explorer window.
2.From the folder tree on the left pane,select the location in which you want to create a new folder.
3.From the File menu,click New then click Folder .A new folder with a temporary name New folder appears in the explorer window
4.Type a new name for the folder to replace the temporary name then press Enter key or click the icon once.
NB:To create a sub folder,follow the steps above but select a folder as the location.To open a folder proceed as follows:
1.Using My computer icon display the Explorer window.
2.From the folder tree on the left pane,click the plus sign against the storage location that contains the file or folder you wish to open.
3.From the folder tree,select the folder.Its contents will be displayed on the right pane.
Creating a new file .
Depending on the programs installed in your computer,you can create files of different types such as drawings,text document etc.To create a new text document proceed as follows.
1.Using My computer icon display the Explorer window.
2.From the folder tree on the left pane,select the location in which you want to create a new file.
3.From the File Menu,point new
4.Select text document from a list of available applications and an icon with a temporary name appears in the explorer window.
5.Type a new name for the new file to replace the temporary name and press enter key.
NB:In Windows,file names can contain upto 255 characters,including spaces but,with no special symbols such as\/:*?<>I.
The application Window
In order to enter data in the new file just created above,you have to open it in its application program.This can be done by double clicking the file icon. rectangular area called an application window appears on the screen..
Parts of a Window
Title bar
This is a bar across the top of the window that displays the name of the current application program or task.
On the right of the title bar are three tiny buttons namely
Minimize button:It reduces a window by pressing a button which is placed on the task bar.
The restore/maximize button:It stretches the window to cover the entire desktop or restore it to its original size.
The close button:It is used to exit an application.
Menu bar
Menu bar provides a list of commands that can be used to manipulate a task.For example,to save a document,click file and then save.
Tool bars
These are buttons arranged in a row that are shortcuts to menu commands.
Work area
This is the working area where you can create your documents.
Status bar
This is an interactive strip at the bottom of the application window that acts as a communication link between the user and the operating system.Such interactive activities include saving,opening a file,printing,cursor position etc.
Scroll buttons and arrows
Scrolling is the moving up,down,left or right of a document window on the screen if it is too large to fit.Scroll buttons and arrows are horizontal and vertical buttons at the borders of a window used to scroll through long document.
Saving changes to a file.
After typing the content of the file in the work area,click file and then Click save Otherwise,if the file will be saved with a different name or location then:
1.Click file and then save As
2.From the resulting Save As dialog box,select where the document is to be saved then type its name
3.Click the save button.
Renaming files or folders
Renaming refers to changing the previous name to a new name.
To rename a file or a folder proceed as follows:
1.Using My Computer icon display the Explorer window.
2.From the folder tree on the left pane,select the file or folder to be renamed.
3.From the file menu,click rename
4.Type the new name,and then press enter key.
Deleting files and folders
In Windows,when you delete an item from the hard disk,it is temporarily held in a special folder called the Recycle bin from which it can be restored if necessary.
The recycle bin is a default icon on the desktop therefore it cannot be removed.
Warning
1.One should not attempt to delete system and application files from the hard disk.
2.Items deleted from removable storage are not held in the recycle bin and are completely lost.
To delete a file or folder proceed as follows:
1.Using My computer icon display the Explorer window.
2.From the folder tree on the left pane,select the item that is to be deleted.
3.On the File menu,click delete
4.A message appears on the screen asking whether you actually want to delete the item.
5.Confirm by clicking yes
Restoring deleted files and folders
To restore a file or folder from the recycle bin to its original location proceed as follows:
1.Double click the recycle bin icon.
2.Select the deleted item (or items)to be restored.
3.Click file then restore
Emptying the recycle bin
To completely discard files and folders you deleted,you need to empty the Recycle Bin.Deleted items take up the same amount of disk space they occupied before you deleted them.To free up that disk space occupied,you have to empty the bin.
To empty the recycle bin proceed as follows
1.Double-click the recycle bin on desktop.
2.Choose empty recycle bin from the File menu.
3.Click yes when prompted to confirm deletion of the files.
NB:You can also delete selected items in the recycle bin by clicking file then delete
Copying and moving files and folders
Cut or copy commands are used to move or create a duplicate of an item respectively.When you cut or copy an item,it is temporarily held in temporary storage location known as the clipboard.To copy a file or folder:
1.Using My computer icon display the Explorer window.
2.On the edit menu,click copy
3.Select the drive or folder where you want the item to be copied.
4.From the edit menu click paste Information or item is pasted to a new location
Copy progress dialog will be displayed on the screenÂ
To move a file or a folder proceed as follows:
1.Using My computer icon display the Explorer window.
2.On the edit menu click cut.
3.Select the drive or folder where you want the item moved.
4. From the edit menu click paste
5.Move progress dialog will be displayed on the screen similar to that of copying but with the word moving in the title bar.
Sorting files and folder
Sorting means arranging files and folders in a particular order either alphabetically or by size or date of last modification or creation.Widows automatically sorts files and folders into alphabetic order but the user can choose to arrange them otherwise.
Manipulate files and folders using the shortcut menu
When you right click an item,a shortcut menu is displayed which provides commands commonly used to manipulate the item.
To copy,move,delete or rename an item proceed as follows:
1.Right-click the file or folder to display its context shortcut menu.
2.From the shortcut menu,left click the appropriate command i.e.
(a)To copy or move,right click the destination location then click paste
(b)To delete,simply click delete Command.
(c)To rename,type in a new file name to replace the old one.
Manipulate files and folders by drag and drop
Another easier method of handling files and folders is drag and drop.This is done as follows:
1.To copy a file or folder,hold down the CTRL key while you drag the icon of the file to a new location.
2.To move files from one location to another on the same drive but in a different folder,simply press down the Mouse button and drag the item to the new location.
3.To delete any file or folder drag it into the recycle bin.
4.To copy file or folder from one disk to another,simply drag the item to the destination drive icon.
5.To move an item,hold down the Shift key while you drag it to new location.
Selecting multiple files and folders
If you want to manipulate multiple files or folders at ago,you can select them by clicking each item while you hold down the control(CTRL)or SHIFT key.
If you want to select all files in an open folder,click edit then select all.This will highlight all files in the folder.To manipulate the selected items,use the menu bar or the shortcut.
Searching for files and folders
To search for a specific file'or folder proceed as follows:
1.From the start menu,click find/search.
2.Type the name of the file and the location to look in respectively.
3.click find now button