Microsoft® Windows® XP Step by Step

Author Online Training Solutions, Inc. Pages 352 Disk 1 Companion CD(s) Level Beg/Int Published 09/26/2001 ISBN 9780735613836 ISBN-10 0-7356-1383-4 Price(USD) $29.99 To see this book's discounted price, select a reseller below.	More Information About the Book Table of Contents Sample Chapter Index Related Series Related Books About the Author Support: Book & CD Rate this book

Chapter 5: Working with Files and Folders

• More About Extensions and Icons
• Exploring Your Computer
• Viewing Files and Folders in Different Ways
• Looking at File and Folder Information
• Creating, Editing, and Deleting Files and Folders
• Working with Files and Folders on Multiple Computers
• Moving and Renaming Files and Folders
• Finding Files
• Accessing Your Entire Network

Chapter 5  Working with Files and Folders

After completing this chapter, you will be able to:

• Find your way around your computer.
• Look at different views of your files and folders.
• Create, edit, delete, move, and rename files and folders.
• Find files and folders.

Your computer stores information in the form of files. There are many different types of files. Some are used to run programs, some are created by programs, and someare created by you. The files used or created by programs include executable files and dynamic-link libraries (DLLs). These files are sometimes hidden to prevent accidental deletion of important data. The files you create include documents, spreadsheets, graphics, text files, slide shows, audio clips, video clips, and other things that you can open, look at, and change using one of a variety of applications.

Files are organized on your computer in folders. When Microsoft Windows XP is installed on a computer, it creates four system folders:

• Documents and Settings. This folder contains a subfolder for each user profile—each user who has logged on to the computer or who has logged on to a network domain through the computer. Windows XP may create multiple profiles for one person if that person logs on in different ways. For example, you might have one folder for when you are logged on to the domain and another folder for when you are not logged on to the domain.
• Program Files. This is the folder where most programs install the files they need in order to run. When you install a new program, you are generally given the opportunity to change the installation folder; if you accept the default, the program is installed in this location.
• temp. The operating system and various other programs might store temporary files in this folder.
• WINDOWS or WINNT. Most of the critical operating system files are stored in this folder. You can look, but unless you really know what you are doing, don't touch!

Within each profile subfolder in the Documents and Settings folder, Windows XPcreates three folders:

• My Documents. This folder is a convenient place to store documents, spreadsheets, and other files you want to access quickly.
• My Pictures. This subfolder of My Documents has special capabilities for handling picture files.
• My Music. This subfolder of My Documents has special capabilities for handling music files.

You shouldn't ever need or want to touch the folders used and created by your programs, but knowing how to organize the files you create is essential if you want to be able to use your computer efficiently.

All files have names, and all file names consist of two parts—the name and theextension—separated by a period. The type of file or the program in which it was created is indicated by the extension. The extension is a short (usually threeletters, sometimes two or four) abbreviation of the file type. By default, Windows XP hides file extensions. If you would prefer to see your file extensions, open My Documents (or any folder) in Windows Explorer, and on the Tools menu, click Folder Options, and display the View tab. Clear the Hide extensions for known file types check box, and then click OK to close the dialog box and apply your settings.

Files also have icons, which are graphic representations of the file type. Depending on the way you're looking at your files, you might see a large icon, a small icon, or no icon.

In this chapter, you will learn how to view and manipulate your files and folders. The practice files for this chapter are located in the SBS\WindowsXP\Structure folder. (For details about installing the practice files, see "Using the Book's CD-ROM" at the beginning of this book.)

More About Extensions and Icons

File type	Extension	Icon		File type	Extension	Icon
Bitmap image	.bmp			Dynamic-link library	.dll
Microsoft Access database	.mdb			Microsoft Excel spreadsheet	.xls
Microsoft PowerPoint presentation	.ppt			Microsoft Word document	.doc
Zipped file	.zip			Text file	.txt
Web file	.htm or .html			Wave sound file	.wav

Last Updated: September 25, 2001

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