‘Where did my files go’

Paul Brooks - 21 May 2008 - speaking at the BerksFHS Computer Branch, Woodley

Paul's began by comparing the software know as Windows Explorer with the reference librarian you used to find in most major libraries, quietly cataloguing incoming information for easy retrieval. Not to be confused with Internet Explorer, it used to be more sensibly known as File Manager, and was nowadays the software behind icons such as My Documents and My Computer.

Reminding the audience of the early PCs with just their A and B floppy drives and the later introduction of the internal C hard drive, he explained how Windows Explorer easily coped with recognising extra storage units such as CD and DVD drives, external hard drives, memory sticks, card readers, cameras attached by USB, etc.

Using the software to display the C drive, he explained the 3 main areas where files were stored :
Windows - the area for operating system software
Program Files - the area for application software
Documents and Settings - the area for user files

Drilling down to Documents and Settings, he explained that if a machine was set up for more than one user to be able to log in, then there would be a DIFFERENT area for each user known to them as "my documents", "my pictures", "my music", etc

He explained how to create, rename and delete folders, and then how to save different types of files, taking particular notice of the format, which would define the file extension, ie the 3 or 4 characters after the dot on a file name, such as txt, doc,.xls, htm, jpg, gif, etc.

A number of the options within Windows Explorer were demonstrated, ensuring that file extensions were displays, etc, and that appropriate view was chosen. For instance an icon view would enable a rogue excel file to stand out amongst a group of word documents, a thumbnail view would be better for selecting photographs, whereas a detail view might be better when searching specific file names. Film strip view enabled photographs to be seen in a larger format, and that with Windows XP, there was the ability to display the contents of a folder as a slide show.

Double clicking a file to launch the associated program was shown, such as MS Excel for a spreadsheet file, and how to switch a default program for a file type, for instance launching Paint Shop Pro instead of Photoshop Elements when double clicking a jpg file.

Having a file naming strategy was discussed to cope with large volumes, along with how to move, copy, rename and delete files, and search by file name or content.

Last of all good housekeeping was covered, with the safe removal of temporary files, and what was meant by, and how to, defragment a storage unit..

updated 12 Jul 2008