... Basic Computer Skills ...

Using Folders and Files in Windows' Explorer

Creating a Folder
First, we will create the temporary folder we talked about earlier. Open Windows Explorer, and make sure the C: drive is selected (in the left pane) or select it if it isn't. Then pull down the File menu pad, place the mouse pointer on New and then on Folder and click it. You will see now, in the right pane at the bottom of the list that there is a folder with the name New Folder highlighted in blue indicating that it is in text editing mode ... The first key that you type on the keyboard will replace that name, so type $Tempory (deliberately misspelled), then put your mouse pointer on empty space in the Explorer window or on the Desktop and click. Now you will see the new folder named $Tempory immediately under the C: drive in the left pane.

Renaming a Folder
Click the folder to select it, then click the name $Tempory to put into text editing mode. Now put the mouse pointer between the r and y and click ... Note the blue highlighting has disappeared and the cursor is blinking where you clicked. Type ar to correct the spelling error we deliberately made, then put the mouse pointer in empty space and click. The folder is now named correctly ... If you would like it to have some other name, you can change the name now in the same manner as we just corrected the spelling error. Files can be renamed in the same manner as we did here for a folder.

Making a Folder System
All right, now scroll (if necessary) down in the left pane so that you can see the My Documents folder, and click it to select it ... Pull down the File menu pad again, then New and click on Folder ... Make this New Folder name Letters then click in empty space ... Click the Letters folder under the My Documents folder in the left pane, and create a new folder under it named Friends. Create another new folder under Letters named Relatives. Now create another new folder under the My Documents folder named Pictures ... So look what we have; the left pane, in the area of the My Documents folder, should now look like something like this:

My Documents
. Letters
. . Friends
. . Relatives
. Pictures

Saving a File to a Folder
Close the Windows Explorer window and open your work processor. If you don't know what your word processor is or whether or not you have one, then just use Word Pad which is part of Windows ... If this is the case, click the Start button, move the mouse pointer up to Programs, then over to Accessories, then down to the bottom of the list to Word Pad and click on that. Now that you have your word processor or Word Pad running, type a sentence in the window so as to create a document. Pull down the File menu pad and select Save As from the menu (move the pointer to it and click).

In the Save As window, near the top, will be the words Save In and a text box in which the My Documents folder appears. We are going to save this document in the $Temporary folder instead ... At the right of the text box is an arrow and to the right of that is a yellow folder with an up arrow inside of it ... When you place your pointer on that folder icon, the message, "up one level" appears - now click the icon. Now the Save In text box shows the C: drive ... and the folders of the C: drive can be seen in the windowpane with the $Temporary folder as the very first one at the top left - double click it. Now the $Temporary folder appears in the text box next to Save In and the window pane is empty ... (because there are no other .doc files in it now) ... Under the window pane are the words File Name and a text box in which the file name is in text editing mode; place the mouse pointer at the beginning of the name and click it. Now change the name part to Exercise 1 but leave the dot and extension alone. Now click the Save box of the Save As window. Close the word processor.

Making a Copy of a File with a new name using a program
Open Windows Explorer and select the $Temporary folder. The file just created and saved there, Exercise 1.doc (or other extension) will appear in the right pane. Double click that file, and the word processor will open with that file now open in its pane ... Pull down the File menu pad and select Save As again ... change the file name to Exercise 2 and Save it. Close the word processor.

Making a Copy of a File with a new name using Windows Explorer
All right now, in the Windows Explorer window, there are now two files in the right pane; Exercise 1 ... and Exercise 2 ... Make sure that the window is in partial screen mode, then, using the RIGHT mouse button, grab the file Exercise 2 ... and drag it onto empty space on the Desktop and drop it. From the popup menu, select "Copy Here.". In the space on the Desktop is now an icon of the file Exercise 2 ... click it then click its name to put it into text editing mode. Change the name to Exercise 3, and using the RIGHT mouse button again, grab that icon and drag it onto the right pane of the Explorer window, drop it there and then select "Move Here" from the popup. There are now 3 files in the $Temporary folder, all identical since we didn't edit anything in them (but we could of done that had we wanted to).

Moving Files from folder to folder
In the left pane, scroll down (if necessary) to see the My Documents folder, and click the + in front of it, then click the + in front of the Letters folder. If you have made no mistakes here, the 3 files are still visible in the right pane; if they are not, then scroll back up in the left pane to the $Temporary folder and click it, and then scroll back down so you can see the folders under the My Document folder. Grab the Exercise 1 file from the right pane with the right mouse button and then drag it over to the left pane and on top of the Friends folder ... under Letters under My Documents and drop it there; select "Move Here" from he popup. Exercise 1 is no longer in the right pane; click the Friends folder and Exercise 1 will appear in the right pane. Click the $Temporary folder again to show the remaining two Exercise files in the right pane, then right mouse drag and drop them one at a time onto the Relatives folder, but select "Copy Here" each time ... Now you will see that these two files exist both in the $Temporary folder and in the Relatives folder under the Letters folder under the My Documents folder.

Deleting Files
Now click on the $Temporary folder so that Exercise 2 - and Exercise 3 - appear in the right pane. Click on Exercise 2 ... to select it, and then hit the Delete key on the keyboard ... In the window that pops up, click "Yes" to sending this file to the recycle bin. Select the Exercise 3 file, hold down the Shift key, and then hit the Delete key on the keyboard. This time the window asks if you want to delete the file, and makes no mention of the recycle bin; click "Yes" ... The right pane is now empty, indicating that the $Temporary folder is empty.

Deleting Folders
Click on the Letters folder in the left pane, then right click it - Hold down the Shift key and select Delete from the popup menu. Click "Yes" to the window asking if you want to delete the folder and all of its folders and files. Then delete the Pictures folder too.

Emptying the Recycle Bin
Close the Windows Explorer window. Open the Recycle Bin. There may be things in it you have deleted previously, but somewhere in it will be the Exercise 2 file, but not the Exercise 1 or 3 files or any of the folders we deleted using the Shift key while deleting. Pull down the File menu pad and select Empty Recycle Bin and then confirm that operation and close the Recycle Bin.

Making a Shortcut to Windows Explorer on your Desktop
Point to the Start Button, then Programs, then Windows Explorer and grab it with your RIGHT mouse button and drag it onto empty space on your Desktop and drop it ... In the popup menu which appears, click "Copy Here" ... Note that the Windows Explorer in the Program Start Menu is already a shortcut to the actual program which is located somewhere else ... so that making a shortcut of a shortcut is not appropriate...you make a another copy of it for your Desktop. Deleting shortcuts from the Desktop works the same was as deleting other objects, but deleting a shortcut only deletes the shortcut and not the program it points to.

Placing a Shortcut to Windows Explorer on the top of your Start Button
Grab the shortcut to Windows Explorer with your RIGHT mouse button and drag and drop it onto your Start Button ... Now, when you click the Start Button, a new shortcut to Windows Explorer will appear at the top. Shortcuts in the Start Menu can be deleted by RIGHT mouse clicking them and selecting Delete, either with or without holding down the Shift key while doing so.