In this chapter:
When you're buried under a mountain of paper, you grab manila folders and sort everything. Do the same with your computer files...
Everything in your computer--every program, every document, every little scrap of information that Windows lets you save--winds up on a hard disk somewhere. I have 8,722 files and folders on my hard disk. Even if you have only a fraction of that number, how do you keep things straight? With the help of folders, Windows lets you keep things as neat as you want them to be.
Use folders to get organized in the first place. Make as many copies of your documents as you like, and put them anywhere you want. If a folder starts to get too crowded, tidy up by moving files to another folder, or creating new folders inside the existing folder. When your hard disk gets too cramped, reclaim real estate by deleting old files and folders you don't need anymore. Windows lets you clean up as much as you'd like, and it also gives you some tools in case you throw out too much. (Did you really mean to toss those files? Don't worry--you can probably find them in the Recycle Bin.)
In this chapter, we'll also look at the many ways you can find any file, anywhere, even when you can't for the life of you remember what you named it. If you can't figure out what's underneath that icon, you can always sneak a peek inside with the help of the built-in Quick Viewer.
When you're buried under a mountain of paper, the first thing you do to get things under control is grab a stack of manila folders and start sorting things out. Do the same with Windows to get all those files on your hard disk under control. The first step is to open the root folder of your hard drive and create the main folders you'll use.
Double-click a drive icon and you'll go straight to the root folder.
Plain English, please!When you double-click a drive icon, you start out in a special folder called the root. If you think of your hard disk as a filing cabinet and each folder as one of its drawers, then the root folder acts like the frame that holds the drawers in place. The root folder has no name, just a backslash. Thus, to refer to the root of drive C:, you'd type C:\. You can put files in the root folder if you'd like (and most people do), but the real purpose of this area is to hold the main folders you plan to use.
Windows does some of this filing and sorting for you. You don't have to look far to find examples of folders. Even if you haven't installed any software other than Windows NT, you'll have a whole stack of folders--including, naturally, a WinNT folder stuffed with files and folders. (When I open my WinNT folder, I can see 18 more folders, and I know there are three more that Windows hides from me so I can't tamper with them. If I keep clicking, one of those subfolders, System32, has another nine folders inside it!) Back in the root folder, there's a Program Files folder, a hidden Recycler folder, and a few more devoted exclusively to Windows NT tasks.
There's nothing complicated about folders. Used properly, they help you keep similar files together in a place where you can find them when you need them. If your bedroom was organized this way, you'd be able to track down a clean pair of socks in seconds, just by looking at storage areas inside of other storage areas: \bedroom\dresser\top drawer\box of underwear\white socks. The socks are in the box, which in turn is in the drawer, which is ... well, you get the idea.
Windows lets you put folders inside of folders so they fall into the same sort of hierarchy. For example, you might create a folder called "1997 Budget;" then, inside that folder, you'd create additional folders called "P&L Statements," "Forecasts," and so on. You might create a "Sales Reports" folder and then, inside that folder, add a separate folder for each member of the sales staff.
For a graphic display of how this folder-in-a-folder routine works, just look at the outline-style Explorer view in Figure 6.1.
TIP: Do you think the Windows Desktop is something special? Nope, it's just another folder. You might not recognize it as such, because the icons inside this folder are arranged differently from any other folder you'll see. Nonetheless, it acts just like a folder, as you can see if you open the Windows Explorer and look at it. (In the Explorer, you'll find the Desktop in the left-hand pane, at the very top of the tree--see Fig. 6.1.)
Fig. 6.1
Use folders inside of other folders to keep your files organized. The Explorer view (left) lets you see the "tree" of folders; if you prefer, you can open a folder window (for example, by double-clicking My Computer) (right) and look at a simpler display of the same icons.
Let's say you've just been promoted to sales manager. Congratulations! Now what are you going to do with all those sales forecasts that the folks in your department keep sending you via e-mail? For starters, open your C: drive and create a folder called Sales Forecasts in the root folder. You can throw all those sales forecasts in that folder if you'd like, or create a set of new folders, one for each of your salespeople, in that folder.
Sometimes you'll save files directly into these folders from your application programs. Other times, you'll get files from other people and you'll need to do your filing after the fact. Either way, the technique is the same.
To create a new folder, just follow these steps:
Fig. 6.2
Right-click any folder window to create a new folder from the pop-up menus.
Fig. 6.3
The generic label New Folder isn't very helpful, is it? Just start typing to give it a more descriptive name.
It's easy to get rid of a folder. Just point at the folder, click once to select it, then right-click and choose Delete from the pop-up menu.
When it's time to move or copy files from one place to another, you'll want to open two windows--one for the original location of the files in question, the other for the place where you want to move them. Trouble is, all that double-clicking can open a lot of windows on your screen, which makes it difficult to find the two you want to use. Before you can move or copy files, you need to sweep aside the clutter and arrange both folders on the screen so you can see them clearly. Here's how:
TIP: Do you get a new window (and a bunch of unwanted clutter) every time you double-click a folder? It's easy to keep things neat and avoid window clutter. Open a window for My Computer (or any folder), and choose View, Options. On the dialog tab labeled Folder, make sure there's a dot next to the choice that reads, Browse folders by using a single window that changes as you open each folder. Click OK, and from that point on, whenever you open a new window, it will automatically close the previous window.
Q&A: Whoops! I accidentally had three windows open when I chose the Tile command, and now all three windows are tiled on the screen. What do I do now?
Right-click the taskbar and choose Undo, then minimize the stray window and try again.
Fig. 6.4
Use one of the Tile commands to arrange these two windows on the desktop.
As we saw in Chapter 5, you can use the mouse to drag just about anything from one place to another. Most of the time, that's how you'll move or copy files and folders. You could simply hold down the left mouse button and start dragging things around, but you'd be in for some very confusing times.
Dragging-and-dropping with the left mouse button, you see, has completely different effects, depending on what kind of object you're dragging and where you're dropping it. When you drag with the right mouse button, on the other hand, dragging-and-dropping always works the same way.
When you select an object, hold down the left mouse button, and drag, one of three things happens when you let go of the mouse button:
Confused? You should be. Even certified Windows experts get befuddled sometimes by this now-you-see-it-now-you-don't nonsense. Fortunately, there's a better way: Just hold down the right mouse button and drag. When you release the button to drop the object in its new location, you'll see a shortcut menu like the one in Figure 6.5. You decide whether you want to move the file, copy it, or create a shortcut in the new location.
Fig. 6.5
When you hold down the right mouse button and drag an object--file, folder, whatever--you get to choose what happens next from this pop-up menu.
Some people never get used to the idea of dragging and dropping files. If this description fits you, use the other technique for moving and copying files. The trick is to cut or copy the original files and paste them into their new home. You'll still need to open two folder windows: one for the folder that holds the files you want to move, the other for the destination folder. Once you've done that, it's a simple process:
It's easy to select one file for moving or copying. Just point and click. But what happens when you want to move or copy or delete a whole bunch of files? You can handle each file by itself, but there's a much easier way to select a group of files.
TIP: If you're having trouble selecting a group of files, try switching to List view instead (choose View, List from the pull-down menus). The neat columnar display and smaller typeface make it easier to grab a flock of files.
Fig. 6.6
Dragging a group of files (like the four in the top window) is easy, but where do you drop them? Keep your eye on the tip of the arrow in the bottom window.
Let's say you have a file called LETTER1 (everyone who uses computers eventually has a few files with dopey names like these). You want to make a copy of that file, so you right-click and choose Copy. Here's what happens when you choose Paste:
Fig. 6.7
Windows won't allow two files in the same place with the same name. Do you want to replace the old file?
For simple tasks, a simple folder window is usually sufficient. But there will be times when you want to do some major maintenance with your computer's file system--the PC equivalent of spring cleaning. For those instances, you need a way to move files from folder to folder with just a few clicks. That's where the Windows Explorer comes in.
When you double-click a drive or folder icon, you get a window filled with icons. When you right-click an icon and choose Explore, though, you get a window with a split personality. On the right, it looks just like an ordinary folder window. On the left, you'll see an outline view that shows all the drives and folders on your desktop, your computer, and even other computers (if you're hooked up to a network).
Use the Windows Explorer to do industrial-strength clean-up jobs with the files
on your computer. The tree window on the left lets you move from folder to folder
(and even to different computers on a network) with a minimum of mouse clicks. The
window on the right acts like an ordinary folder window whose contents correspond
to the icon you've selected on the left side.
TIP: No matter what kind of window you use, you can sort files in any order you like. Choose View, Details, and then sort the list by clicking the column headings. Click the headings again to sort in reverse order. This is especially useful when you want to sort by size or date.
One reason not to use names like LETTER1.DOC is that they don't tell you anything about what's in the file. It's especially confusing if Windows finds a bunch of files that share the same name but are stored in different folders. How do you tell what's inside? Try using Quick View. It works like an airport X-ray machine to peek inside the file and display its contents. The resulting display might not look the way it would if you were to open the file with a fancy application, but it only takes a few seconds.
Point to the file you're curious about and right-click. If Windows recognizes the file format, one of the choices available to you is Quick View. Click to pop up a window like the one in Figure 6.8, showing you the contents of the file.
Fig. 6.8
Use Quick View to peek inside a file without starting up the program that created it.
Like I said, there are 8,722 files on my hard disk--give or take a few hundred--and the number gets bigger every day. How do I find the one I need right now? It used to be that you had to open all the files and look through them to see which one had the data you were looking for. With Windows NT, though, you can search through an entire hard disk to find any file, any time--even if you only remember a tiny scrap of information about it.
To set the Windows bloodhound on the trail, click the Start button and choose Find, Files or Folders. Use the Find Files command. You'll see a dialog box like the one in Figure 6.9. What do you do next? That depends on how much you remember about the file in question.
Fig. 6.9
Can't remember where you put that file? Fill in the blanks in this dialog box to ask Windows to look for it.
If you know a word (or even a few letters) that you used in the file name, enter it in the box labeled Named. Windows will search for those letters at any position within a file name. For example, if you enter LET, the search results windows will show Letter to the President and Collette's Report because both have those three letters somewhere within the name.
TIP: You can sort the search results in four different ways. Click the Name heading, for example, to sort by name, sorted in alphabetical (A-to-Z) order. Click again to sort in reverse (Z-to-A) order. The date, size, and folder headings work the same way.
If you're sure you last saved the file sometime in the past month, click the Date Modified tab, and choose the option During the previous 1 month(s). You can also specify a range of dates here--for example, between March 15, 1996 and April 15, 1996.
You can help Windows narrow down the search by specifying that folder (and only that folder) in the box labeled Look in. You can enter the folder name (C:\Letters) yourself, or click the Browse button to choose it from an Explorer-style list.
Obviously, it won't do you much good to search for common words like "the," but if you remember a specific phrase, you can have Windows track down all files containing that phrase. If you're looking for a letter you sent to President Clinton, for example, click the Advanced tab and enter Clinton in the box labeled Containing text. Then click the Find Now button to start searching.
There are several ways to delete a file, or a folder, or any combination of the two. Depending on what you're doing, you'll probably wind up using them all at one time or another.
No matter which way you choose, you'll see a dialog box like the one in Figure 6.10. If you'd rather skip that extra step every time, right-click the Recycle Bin, open its Properties sheet, and remove the check mark from the box labeled Display delete confirmation dialog.
Fig. 6.10
Do you really want to delete these files? By default, Windows asks you to say OK every time you zap a file or folder.
Have you ever accidentally thrown away an important piece of paper? Uma Thurman's phone number, perhaps, or a sweepstakes check? If you really had won that publisher's sweepstakes, you'd root through old coffee grounds and eggshells to find that check. Fortunately, it's a lot less messy to recover lost files, thanks to the Windows Recycle Bin.
TIP: What if you're absolutely, positively certain you want to get rid of an icon once and for all? Right-click it, then hold down the Shift key as you choose Delete. When you use this trick, you'll bypass the Recycle Bin completely and simply vaporize the rascal.
It's easy to tell when there's something in the trash--the Recycle Bin icon changes from empty to this full version. If you discover you need to resurrect a file you deleted earlier, double-click here. The window that opens up will look a lot like the one in Figure 6.11. Select the files or folders you want to bring back, then choose File, Restore. Unzap! It's just as if the files never went away.
Fig. 6.11
To restore any of these deleted files, open the Recycle Bin, select the file or files to bring back, and choose File, Restore from the menu.
The Recycle Bin isn't a bottomless pit. Sooner or later (probably sooner) you'll fill it up. When that happens, Windows automatically deletes files to make room for the freshly deleted ones. Of course, you can always tell Windows to take out the trash. Right-click the Recycle Bin, then choose Empty Recycle Bin.
CAUTION: When you're trying to make room on your hard disk to install a new program, the Recycle Bin can drive you crazy. You delete some old files thinking that you're clearing space. Instead of freeing up room, though, Windows just moves the deleted files to the Recycle Bin, where they still gobble up the same amount of space. The moral: When space is at a premium, always remember to empty the Recycle Bin.
If you're running tight on hard disk space, you might want to restrict the amount of space that Windows sets aside for the Recycle Bin. To adjust this setting, right-click the Recycle Bin, choose Properties, and move the slider control left or right. If you have two (or more) hard drives in your computer, you can tell Windows to leave a different amount of Recycle Bin space for each one.
Using the controls here, you can even turn off the Recycle Bin completely, although you can't remove its icon from your desktop. Beware, though--if you take this drastic step, you lose the comforting ability to retrieve deleted files!
Sometimes a copy is better than the real thing. If you don't believe me, consider this scenario:
You, Ms. Sales Manager, have three rich and demanding customers. You keep each customer's sales records in a separate manila folder. You also have a product catalog the size of a phone book that you use, no matter which customer you're working with. If you make three copies of that catalog, and put one in each client folder, you've created a big problem the next time you revise your catalog. You have to remember to put a new copy in all three client folders, or you might wind up sending the wrong merchandise or charging the wrong price.
The solution is to store the catalog in its own folder, then store a note in each client folder that tells you where to find the catalog. That's how shortcuts work. They act like little notes that tell Windows to find something stored elsewhere on the disk, or even on another computer, and open it--right now. Shortcuts use only a small amount of disk space, and they can point to just about anything, just about anywhere: programs, documents, printers, and drives--even a location on The Microsoft Network.
One of the most useful places to create a shortcut is right on the Windows desktop. For a program you use every day, like the Windows Calculator, why should you have to rummage through the Start menu? You don't want to move the program out of its home in the Windows folder, but you would like to be able to start it up by just double-clicking an icon. Here's how:
TIP: When you drag-and-drop a program to create a shortcut, Windows calls the new icon Shortcut to ... the program's original name. You can delete the two extra words if you like, or even completely rename the shortcut. Word, for example, takes up a lot less screen than Shortcut to Microsoft Word for Windows.
Fig. 6.12
The Create Shortcut Wizard lets you create a shortcut and name it in two easy steps.
Just double-click it. Windows looks inside the icon, finds the shortcut note, and goes off to find the original file. If you've changed the name of the target file, or moved it to a new folder, it might take a few seconds.
Q&A: My shortcut isn't working. What's wrong?
Right-click the shortcut icon, click Properties, and look at what's in the box labeled Start in. You might have to tell Windows to start in a different folder--the one where your data files are stored, for example.
When you start a program that was designed to run under MS-DOS, Windows needs to rush around like a nervous headwaiter getting things ready first. All those details are stored in the program's Properties.
With the help of the DOS program properties, you can control the amount of memory your DOS program gets, tell Windows whether to let it take over the whole screen or just run in a small window, and set dozens of technical options (see Fig. 6.13). Most of the time, you won't want to mess with these settings. If you have a DOS program that's giving you trouble, look in Chapter 11 for more details about how to get it working.
Fig. 6.13
DOS shortcuts are different. Look at all these confusing options!
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