Working with Files

Victor Laurie has written a straightforward guide to file management that amplifies on the topics here.

You can do many things more efficiently if you use Windows Explorer to work directly with files instead of accessing them from programs, i.e., using "File" > "Open...". Just find the document you want and Windows will open it for you automagically.

You don't need to remember which program to use, open it first, and then find and open the file. You can also easily delete, rename, copy, backup or move files from Windows Explorer.

I use Windows Explorer to work with files about 75% of the time rather than using program menus. In addition to speed and convenience, Windows Explorer lets you see exactly what you're doing and what the results are.

The Programs menu takes you to the lobby of your computer. Windows Explorer takes you to the back door, where the real deals are made. ;-)

How to use Windows Explorer

There are several ways to start Windows Explorer. "Right-click" "My Computer" on your Desktop > choose "Explore" and it will open. Or, if you have a "Windows" key on your keyboard (between the "Ctrl" and "Alt" keys) just hold the Windows key down and press the "E" key. A new copy of Windows Explorer will open. There is also a shortcut for Windows Explorer at "Start" > "All Programs" > "Accessories" too.

Windows Explorer lets you see your files and how they're organized on your hard drive. Virtually everything that happens on your computer involves these files.

Tip: If you find yourself frequently going back to the same file or folder, place a shortcut to it someplace convenient, like your desktop.

The contents of the 00016A folder are displayed in this particular screen shot. It contains two sub-folders -- "DIRS" and "FILES" -- plus four files. By clicking the "+" in front of the 00016A folder (over in the left pane) it would expand and you would see the "DIRS" and "FILES" folders indented under the 00016A folder. By then clicking on the DIRS folder you could see its contents. You can't click the one in this figure because it's a picture of a window, not a real window. If you wanted to see the contents of the "Program Files" folder you could expand the Program Files folder by clicking the "+" in front of it. You could close the "PQSC" folder by clicking the "-" in front of it. Open Windows Explorer on your own machine and look around. "Exploring" with Windows Explorer will *never* cause any harm. You're just looking, not touching. It's only when you take action like "delete" or "open" that you'd better know exactly what you're doing. Microsoft has a very good article on managing your files better that anyone can learn something from. Windows "Help" can be a good aid in learning how to use Windows Explorer. [Click Start > Help > click the Index tab. > Then, type "explorer" (without the quotes) in the keyword line > click the topic you want > click the Display button.] Other good keywords to use to get Windows Explorer help are "files", "dragging" and "folders"

Fig. 1 - Windows Explorer

File Types

There are two primary types of files used by computers: instruction files and data files. Instruction files are either system (i.e., Windows) or program files. They instruct the processor to store input data, perform operations on the data, and output the results. If a system or program file is missing or damaged, the computer may not work correctly or may not work at all.

Data files may be in the form of input data, data tables, output data or system data. Sound files and image files are examples of input data. Font files are an example of data table files. Documents are a prime example of output files, along with sound files and image files. The "Registry" is the prime example of files where Windows system data is stored.

Before going any further, observe the following cautions: Never delete a file if you are not *sure* that you both know what you are doing and how to get the file back if you are wrong.

The most critical files are "system" files, because Windows may not be able to start without them, much less work right. Without Windows running it can be a daunting task to restore the missing file. To protect yourself -- Open Windows Explorer > Click "View" > "Folder Options..." > and click the "View" tab in the dialog window. > Then select "Do not show hidden or system files." ["If you can't see 'em, you can't delete 'em." -- Curmudgeon]

Never just delete files and folders to uninstall programs. That would leave a bunch of loose ends, which will slow down your computer. Use Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove programs instead. After you've done that you may still have some files and folders left that were associated with the program. It's probably safe (but not important) to delete them, but it is safer to "hide" them for a month or so to see if any other program still needs them -- see below.

Figure 2 illustrates one good way to organize files so that they can be managed effectively. Two hard drives and a total of five logical drives (partitions) are used. A similar result can be obtained with folders instead of partitions. For example the native "My Documents" folder is a good start, and "Data", "My Pictures", and "My Music" folders would be good additions. That would allow you to keep files nicely organized too. The major advantage of two hard drives is that backups of each drive can be stored on the other drive. Then if a drive fails, all is not lost. If backups are kept on the same drive and it fails, then you lose everything. A good alternative is to make your backups on CDs using a CD-R drive.

This screen shot (only the left pane of Windows Explorer is visible here) shows the contents of the "system" partition (C:) of a computer with two hard drives. Most of the files in this drive are system or program files. The system files are primarily in the "Windows" folder, and there are some program files in the "Program Files" directory. The "psfonts" directory contains PostScript fonts (just one style of fonts). The misc, PQSC, HP_AUDIO, HPCalc, etc., folders contain a few program files. The dosboot, eapci, imouse, etc., folders as well as the root (C:) folder contain a few system files. There are purposely very few data or document files in this partition. That's part of a plan to keep files segregated by category so they can be managed more efficiently and effectively. The "My Documents" folder contains only a pointer (shortcut) to the real documents folder in another partition. There are a few documents in some of the sub-folders under the Program Files folder, but that's because some programs do not allow alternate locations. Notice that there is also a "PROGRAMS" (D:) drive (partition). That is where most of the program files are located for programs installed after the computer was new. A few insist on being on the (C:) drive. The "DATA" (E:) drive is on the 1st hard drive and contains most of the data files and documents on this computer. One result is that it is easy to back these files up quickly and securely by putting the backup on the (D:) drive which is physically on the 2nd hard drive. Microsoft has a good article that will give you more ideas on how to partition your hard drives.

Fig. 2 - Multiple Drives (Partitions) Showing the System Drive Expanded