‘Organising your PC Files’
Chad Hanna & Gillian
Stevens
16 Mar 2005 - speaking at the BerksFHS Computer Branch,
Woodley
Folders and sub folders
Similar or related files should be grouped together in a folder which has a name
that indicates the contents. Create sub-folders in Explorer for similar files;
this makes it easier to locate them. A new folder can be created below the
folder which is highlighted by going to the top menu and clicking 'File'. A sub
menu will open; select 'New' and the next sub menu will contain an item
'Folder'. Select this and a new folder is created and its name 'New Folder'
appears with a highlight bar, indicating that it can be renamed at that point.
If a folder needs to be renamed, select the old name and right click to bring up
the sub menu, choose rename and type; the old name disappears and the new name
replaces it.
To move files into the new folder select them, either individually or as a
range. This is done by highlighting the first file; move the cursor to the last
file; hold down the Shift key while pressing the left button. Individual files
can be added to the selection by holding the Ctrl key while selecting with the
left mouse key. The selection can then be dragged to the new folder.
An alternative way to copy a file is to select it, right click and select
'Copy'. Move the cursor arrow to the directory where the copy is wanted and
right click again. Choose 'Paste' and a new file is created with a name starting
'Copy of ...'
It is often useful to show hidden files and also the file extensions. These can
be changed by selecting 'Folder Options'. This is under the Tools menu in XP and
the View menu in Windows 98.
To find files on your computer there are several programs that can help; Google
Desktop Search and Copernic are two options. When initially installed they
analyse the hard discs and from then on keep track of file changes. You can then
search for files that contain certain phrases, such as a date.
Security
All PCs should have anti-virus programs installed and the free versions from
www.grisoft.com or www.avast.com are very effective. If connected to the
Internet then a Firewall is essential; again the free versions, such as
www.zonelabs.com are enough for normal use.
Critical updates to Windows are issued regularly by Microsoft as yet further
flaws are found in the security. Announcement of these is often followed by
hackers using them to mount attacks and so it is important that all PCs linked
to the Internet are kept up to date with security patches.
Hard discs do not last forever and regular back ups should be made. A Cd writer
is the commonest way of storing data but remember that a Cd can be damaged by
scratching or long exposure to light. The data is the most important part to
archive as Programs can be replaced from their original discs but this will not
preserve any settings you have added.
Cookies on the internet are small text files sent to your computer from a web
site to help navigation. A later development are 'tracking cookies' which can be
used to identify sites you have visited and are used for targeted PopUp
advertising. InterNet Explorer v.6 has better control of Cookies, accessed from
Tools, Options, Privacy. Other browsers have more
detailed control possible; Mozilla Firefox can be set to query every Cookie and then be trained which ones
are acceptable.
An extension of Cookie tracking is Spyware which reports your Internet
behaviour. Two free programs to check and remove this are Spybot, from
www.safer-networking.org and Ad-Aware SE Personal from www.lavasoftusa.com
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