Managing Your Files with Windows 2000

"MANAGING YOUR FILES IN WINDOWS 2000"

This tutorial will present "how to" information and practice exercises on the following operations in Windows Explorer:

•	FINDING YOUR FILES
•	SAVING YOUR FILES
•	COPYING YOUR FILES
•	MOVING YOUR FILES
•	DELETING YOUR FILES
•	CREATING FOLDER DIRECTORIES

Before learning how to Find, Save, Copy, Move, Delete files, etc. let's take a look at one of the most useful tools to help you manage your files. The program is called Windows Explorer. As you learn about file management in the steps to follow, refer to the image below of Windows Explorer. Notice the identification of the parts of Explorer below.

You may want to print this tutorial to have at your side as you go through it. Or you can go through the practice exercises with 2 windows open -- your Explorer window and your browser window. To do this, open both windows. Then at the bottom of the screen right click on the task bar and choose 'Tile Vertically'. Now the 2 windows are side by side for you to follow the directions in the tutorial while you perform the exercises in Explorer.

I. Accessing Windows Explorer:

1.	RIGHT CLICK ON THE WINDOWS START BUTTON CHOOSE EXPLORE.
2.	SIZE THE WINDOW FOR YOUR DESIRED VIEWING. YOU CAN ALSO SIZE EACH OF THE VERTICAL WINDOWS WITHIN THE LARGER ONE TO SEE ALL OF YOUR INFORMATION.

II. Parts of Windows Explorer:

Try to think of the structure of this file management tool as a FILING CABINET WITH FOLDERS inside of filing drawers, etc. This concept is represented in Explorer with a "tree" type of appearance -- DIRECTORIES are beneath MAIN DRIVES; FILES are beneath the DIRECTORIES, etc.

On the LEFT side of your Explorer window are the folders in your chosen drive. The Explorer view begins with DESKTOP, followed by MY COMPUTER, and lists all your DRIVES, followed by other folders or programs contained within the Desktop and My Computer.

Your directory structure is indicated by the indentation levels in Explorer's left pane. On the right side are the files and folders that are contained within the folder you select at left. Your selected folder appears to be open, with its contents spilling out into the right panel.

A MINUS (-) sign on a folder means that it is fully expanded. A PLUS sign (+) on a folder means that more files are contained inside it than are visible.

When you want to see details of your files (i.e. size, date created/modified), click on 'VIEW', 'DETAILS'. When you just want to see a list of files, click on 'VIEW', 'LIST'.

PRACTICE EXERCISE:
Practice moving around in the EXPLORER window by:
1.	Clicking on the folders on the left side to see how the sub folders and files are displayed on the right side of the window.
2.	Use the scroll bars in the windows to navigate.
3.	Click on the items on the menu bar to see the options provided.
4.	Identify in your Explorer all the items identified above.

III. Finding Your Files:

If you save a file and then can't remember what you named it or where it was saved, you can search for the file using the Windows Find feature. Windows 2000 allows you to locate files based on file name, a portion of a name, date, and/or the text included in a file. To conduct a search, you can:

1.	LEFT CLICK ON THE BUTTON & CHOOSE SEARCH.
or	RIGHT CLICK ON THE DESKTOP ICON
or	RIGHT CLICK ON THE BUTTON & CHOOSE EXPLORE.
	CLICK ON THE BUTTON FROM THE MENU BAR.
2.	THE SEARCH DIALOG BOX COMES UP WHICH LOOKS LIKE THE IMAGE BELOW.

3.	Using a basic search, you indicate the file name or a portion of the file name (if you don't know it all) and search either your entire computer, or any drives or directories that you choose.
4.	Your search results screen will list the file(s) which match your criteria. The window that appears provides an area for you to OPEN, DELETE, MOVE, and COPY your files.
	HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF WAYS OF SEARCHING:
•	You saved a WORD document to your hard drive [C:], but you can't remember the name or where it was saved (but would recognize it). The syntax for entering into the "Search for Files or Folders Named" box would be: .doc (Show all files with a Word or .doc extension) .ppt (Show all files with a Powerpoint or .ppt extension) .html (Show all saved Internet files) or .xls (Show all files with an Excel Spreadsheet or .xls extension)
•	You want to find the file called 'budg-req', but you only remember part of the name - 'budg'. The syntax would be: budg* (Show all files beginning with budg).
•	In the LOOK IN box, click the BROWSE button and click on [C:] so that the search will start from the root of the C: drive.
•	Click on SEARCH NOW to begin the search process.
	Your search results screen will list the file or files which match your criteria. The screen functions like a window in Explorer or My Computer. Here you may open, delete, move and/or copy files.

PRACTICE EXERCISE:
Practice using the SEARCH tool by doing the following:
1.	RIGHT click on the button and choose EXPLORE.
2.	Click on the button from the MENU BAR.
3.	In the SEARCH FOR FILES/FOLDERS box, type *.doc (This extension signifies all Microsoft Word documents)
4.	In the LOOK IN: box, enter the name of the DRIVE or DIRECTORY that you wish to search.
5.	Click on the button and display your results.
You should see all the documents with the .doc extension in the DIRECTORY that you searched in .When you find a file you are searching for, you can double click on the file name and it will launch the application and open your file.

IV. Saving Your Files:

Although Windows Explorer is not used for saving files, this operation will be covered here, as it involves the need to be familiar with the directory structure of Windows in order to know where to save or retrieve files when using applications.

When saving any document, using any application, you will follow these steps:

1.	When you are ready to save a file, click on FILE > SAVE AS.
2.	When the SAVE AS dialogue box comes up, click on the little triangle button at the end of the SAVE IN box to display your drives.

3.	Scroll to the drive letter [C:] or [A:], then double-click the folder/directory to which you wish to save the file. You will then see that folder pop in to the SAVE IN box.
4.	In the FILENAME box below, enter your choice of a FILENAME.
5.	In the SAVE AS box, you will notice that the application being used is already in the box. If you wish to save the file as another file type (i.e. text only, etc.), click the little triangle button at the end of the box to select.
6.	Lastly, click on the SAVE button.

PRACTICE EXERCISE:
Perform the following steps to save a file:
1.	Open your word processing program (you do not have to really type anything unless you wish).
2.	Click on FILE > SAVE AS .
3.	In the SAVE IN box, click on the triangle and go to [C:].
4.	Find the TEMP folder and double-click on it. It will pop into the box.
5.	In the FILENAME box, type test.doc (lower case).
6.	Click on the SAVE Button.
7.	Close the program and open it up again.
8.	Click on FILE > OPEN and follow the same procedure as above to locate the file.
9.	When you locate it, double-click on the file to open it into your word processing program.
10.	You have now completed the exercise and can close your program.
	Note: when retrieving files with extensions other than the application's extension, you will need to click on ALL FILES in the FILES OF TYPE box to see and select your files. For example, WORD automatically puts the file extension .doc after the filename. If, for example, you are using WORD and you saved a file with the name smith.let. When you click on FILE > OPEN, you will need to select ALL FILES in the FILES OF TYPE box to see that file because just the files with the .doc extension will be showing in the file list.

V. Copying Your Files:

You may use several different methods for copying (and moving) files:

1.	RIGHT CLICKING
2.	CLICKING A TOOLBAR ICON
3.	CLICKING EDIT > COPY ON THE MENU BAR
4.	PRESSING CTRL + C ON YOUR KEYBOARD
5.	DRAGGING YOUR FILES TO ANOTHER LOCATION. AS YOU GAIN MORE EXPERIENCE AND CONFIDENCE, YOU WILL PROBABLY USE THE DRAGGING OPTION MORE FREQUENTLY. INITIALLY, YOU MAY PREFER THE OTHER OPTIONS.

Basically when copying files from one directory or drive to another, you are going to select the file, then use one of these methods to copy it to another location.

PRACTICE EXERCISE:

Try the following ways to copy files using different methods:

RIGHT CLICKING:

Put a disk with as least three expendable files to play with in your A: drive.

Open Windows Explorer

Click once on [A:] to reveal all the files on your floppy disk [A:].

RIGHT click on one of the files and choose COPY.

On the LEFT side, click on C: and navigate down to the TEMP folder.

RIGHT click on TEMP and choose PASTE (Left Click)

Check it by double-clicking on TEMP to see if it displayed on the RIGHT side.

MENU BAR:

Click ONCE on a file on your floppy disk [A:], then on the menu bar, choose EDIT > COPY.

Navigate to the directory folder where you wish to place your file (TEMP). Select it by clicking on it ONCE.

On the menu bar choose EDIT > PASTE.

Click it by double-clicking on TEMP to see if the file is displayed on the RIGHT side.

KEYBOARD:

Select a file on your floppy disk [A:], by clicking on it ONCE. Press CTRL + C (hold down the Ctrl button while you press the letter C). Then release it - you have just copied the file to the Windows CLIPBOARD.

Navigate to the directory where you wish to place your file (TEMP). Select it by LEFT clicking on TEMP ONCE.

Press CTRL + V (hold down the Ctrl button while you press the letter V). Then release it - you have just PASTED your file in your selected directory.

Click it by double-clicking on TEMP to see if the file is displayed on the RIGHT side.

DRAGGING:

Note: You will need both directories visible to use this option. Or you can open up Explorer again and move the windows around for good viewing.

In the 1st window, locate the FILE TO BE COPIED.

In the 2nd window, scroll to the desired TARGET DRIVE and FOLDER so that it is visible.

Click and hold down the LEFT mouse button on the file in the 1st window and drag the file to the 2nd window to the desired folder.

a.	If copying the file to the same drive, hold down the letter "C" on your keyboard while you drag it. (Remember - "C" stands for Copy)
b.	If copying the file to a different drive, just drag it (Windows automatically copies rather than moves to different drives)
c.	Drop the file precisely o the folder to which it will go. A small box will be visible around the selected folder, so that you can drop it within that folder. If you miss the folder, check the folders above and below your selected folder to see if the file landed there. Otherwise, you may have to search to locate it.

TIP:

- LEFT clicking on 1 file, hold down the CTRL key while you select the other files.

- Release the CTRL key and on any one of the selected files, drag it to it's desired location.

VI. Moving Your Files:

The process of moving files from one place to another is essentially the same as COPYING. When RIGHT clicking, or choosing EDIT form the menu bar.

1.	SELECT YOUR FILE.
2.	CHOOSE CUT INSTEAD OF COPY
3.	GO TO THE DRIVE OR DIRECTORY WHERE YOU WANT TO MOVE THE FILE AND SELECT PASTE.

PRACTICE EXERCISE:
Try moving a file by doing the following:
1.	On the LEFT, click on [A:] to reveal your files on the RIGHT side.
2.	RIGHT click on one of the files and choose CUT.
3.	Scroll to your TEMP directory on the LEFT, RIGHT click on TEMP and choose PASTE.
4.	Click ONCE on that same file in the TEMP directory.
5.	Click EDIT on the menu bar, and choose CUT.
6.	Click on [A:] and on the menu bar, choose EDIT > PASTE.

VII. Deleting Your Files:

Deleting files and folders is easy - almost too easy. Here again, you have several options:

1.	Select the file or folder and click the Delete icon on your toolbar.
2.	Select the file or folder and press the Delete (del) key.
3.	RIGHT click the file or folder and choose Delete.
4.	DRAG the file and DROP it in the RECYCLE BIN on your desktop.

Note: Unless you have indicated in the recycle bin that you wish all files that you delete to be permanently deleted, and unless you are on a floppy drive, deleting will merely send your files to the recycle bin, from where you can permanently delete them later.

Warning: When you delete a folder, you delete all files in that folder. Before deleting a folder, be sure that it does not contain files you wish to keep!

PRACTICE EXERCISE:
Try deleting files by doing the following: Be sure that these files are "play files" that can be trashed!
1.	Choose one of the Explorer windows if still open.
2.	Click on [A:] to reveal your files on the RIGHT side.
3.	LEFT click on one of the files to select it.
4.	Press your DELETE key on the keyboard.
5.	Now select another file on [A:].
6.	Copy that file to your TEMP directory (according to the instructions above).
7.	Double-click on the TEMP folder to see the file.
8.	LEFT click on that file to select it.
9.	DRAG the file to the RECYCLE BIN.
	*Remember:* the file in the Recycle Bin is not really gone yet. You can retrieve it. But once you empty the Bin, it is history! Only files deleted from your hard drive can be retrieved from the Recycle Bin.

VIII. How to Create Folder Directories:

Create folders by performing these steps:

1.	Open Window Explorer ( Start > Programs > Windows Explorer>
2.	If your window is small, you may need to enlarge it (maximize it or drag the right lower corner).
3.	To create a folder (directory), on [C:], click ONE TIME on [C:] (on the left) to highlight/select it.
4.	Go up to the menu bar at the top and click on FILE > NEW > FOLDER.
5.	A folder box appears on the RIGHT. Type your desired folder name and click ENTER.
6.	On the menu bar, at the top of the page, click VIEW > REFRESH and now you will see your new folder on the LEFT.

Note: Sub folders can be created under already established folders in the same manner. On the menu bar, click one time on the folder and click FILE > NEW > FOLDER.

PRACTICE EXERCISE:
Practice creating folders by doing the following:
1.	Open Windows Explorer
2.	Scroll the LEFT SIDE scroll bar up until you can see [C:] and click ONCE on [C:].
3.	Go up to FILE on the menu bar and choose NEW > FOLDER.
4.	Replace NEW FOLDER with DOWNLOADS and hit ENTER. Now when you download something from the Web, you can put the file in this directory.
5.	Click on [C:] again, and make another folder called, "Coursework".
6.	Now click ONCE on the COURSEWORK folder and create a folder with the name of one of your courses(Ex; ENG101). You may want to create another folder for another course. Now you can see how Windows Explorer works to organize your files.