Topic 2: Computer Management File Management Folders A folder is a named storage location where related files can be stored. A folder also known as

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1 Topic 2: Computer Management File Management Folders A folder is a named storage location where related files can be stored. A folder also known as directory in some operating systems, all folders or directories originate from a special directory called root directory or folder. The root directory is represented by a back slash (\). A folder or directory may be created inside another folder or directory. Such a folder or directory is in units called a subfolder or a subdirectory. Creating a new folder To create a new folder: Using my computer icon, on the folder tree on the left pane, select the location (desktop) in which you want to create a new folder. 1. On the File menu tab, Click new folder 2. Type a new name for the folder to Replace the temporary name, then press Enter key or click the icon once. Or Right Click on the free space on the desktop, Point to New, click folder. Type a new name for the folder Renaming a folder or file Renaming refers to changing the previous name to a new name. To rename a file or folder proceed as follows: 1. Using My Computer icon, display the Explorer window. 2. On the folder tree on the left pane, select the file or folder to be renamed. 3. On the File menu, click Rename. 4. Type the new name, and then press Enter key. Deleting a folder or file In windows, when you delete an item from the hard disk, it is temporarily held in a special folder called the Recycle bin from where it can be restored if necessary. The recycle bin is a default icon on the desktop therefore it cannot be removed. Warning 1. One should not attempt to delete system and application files from the hard disk. 2. Items deleted from a removable storage are not held in the recycle bin and are completely lost. To delete a file or folder proceed as follows: 1. Using My computer icon, display the Explorer window. 2. On the folder tree on the left pane, select the item that is to be deleted. 3. On the File menu, click Delete. 4. A message appears on the screen asking whether you actually want to delete the item.

2 5. Confirm by clicking Yes. Restoring deleted files and folders To restore a file or folder from the recycle bin to its original location proceed as follows: 1. Double click the Recycle Bin icon. 2. Select the deleted item(s) to be restored. 3. Click File then Restore. Empting the recycle bin To completely discard files and folders you deleted, you need to empty the Recycle Bin. Deleted items take up the same amount of the disk space they occupied before you deleted them. To free up the disk space occupied, you have to empty the bin. To empty the Recycling Bin proceed as follows: 1. Double click the recycle Bin icon on the desktop to open. 2. Choose Empty Recycle Bin from File menu. 3. Click Yes when prompted to confirm deletion of the files. NB: You can also delete selected items in the recycle bin by clicking File then delete. Copying and moving files and folders Cut or copy command are used to move or create a duplicate of an item respectively. When you cut or copy an item, it is temporarily held in a temporary storage location known as the clipboard. To copy a file or folder: 1. Using my computer icon, display the Explorer window. 2. Select the file or folder to be copied. 3. On the Edit (organize) menu, click copy. 4. Select the drive or folder where you want the item to be copied. 5. From the edit menu, click paste. Information or item is pasted to a new location. Copy progress dialog will be displayed on the screen as shown below. To move a file or folder proceeds as follows: 1. Using My computer icon, display the Explorer windows. 2. On the Edit menu, click Cut. 3. Select the drive or folder where you want the item moved. 4. From the Edit menu, click paste. 5. Move progress dialog will be displayed on the screen. Moving a folder To move a folder to a desired location: 1. Click the folder and hold 2. Drag and drop to the desired location Deleting a folder To delete a folder 1. Right click on the folder, then click delete.

3 2. Or Select the folder, then press the delete (DEL) key on the keyboard. File A file is a collection of related data given a unique name for ease of access, manipulation and storage on a backing storage. Creating a new file Microsoft Office Word 2007 Document Depending on the programs installed in your computer, you can create different types of files such as drawings, text document etc. To create a new text document: 1. On the free space on the desktop, right click. 2. Point new, click Text Document. From the list available on application. 3. Type a new name for the new file to replace the temporary name and press Enter key. NB: In windows, file name can contain up to 255 characters, including spaces but, with no special symbols such as \ /:*? <>. Types of files There are three types of files namely: i). System files ii). Application files iii). Data files System files: contain information that is critical for the operation of the computer. Application files: holds programs and are executable. Data files: contains user specific data. Table below shows some file extension and whether it is a system, application or a data file. Extension File type Description.doc Data Microsoft Word document file..xls Data Microsoft Excel document file..ppt Data Microsoft PowerPoint document file..pub Data Microsoft Publisher document file..accdb Data Microsoft Access document file..txt Data A plain text file created using note pad editor.exe Application files The file that launches a particular application, e.g. winword.exe.bat System files Files containing a series of commands loaded during boot up..sys System files System files that perform fundamental operations in a computer. Every file has the following details: 1. A unique name and an optional extension. The name and extension are separated by a period (.) e.g. Jeff.doc. In this case, the file name is Jeff and the extension is doc. Extension are used to identify the type of a file, for example: doc is a word processor file; txt is a plain text file;

4 sys is a system file; 2. The size, date, and time the file was created or modified. Saving a file After typing the content of the file in the work area, click file and then click save. Otherwise, the file will be saved with a different name or location then: 1. Click File menu and then Save As 2. From the Save As dialog box, select where the document is to be saved then type its name. 3. Click the save button Deleting files 1. Using My computer icon, display the Explorer window. 2. On the folder tree on the left pane, select the Item that is to be deleted. 3. On the File menu, click Delete. 4. Confirm by clicking Yes. Customizing the Desktop Windows lets the user change desktop appearance, background and resolution. To customize the desktop, right click the desktop to display properties dialog box as shown below. Make the appropriate changes by clicking each tab. Theme and background To apply a new theme or wallpaper 1. Click the theme/background tab. 2. Select theme or wallpaper of your choice. 3. Click wallpaper when using windows 7,8 Setting the screen saver If the screen saver is set, it starts displaying on the screen if the computer is left idle for a period of time without interrupting the keyboard or mouse. To set a screen saver. 1. Click the screen saver tab. 2. Select a screen saver style from the screen saver list. i.e. 3D Text, Blank, Bubbles, Mystify etc. 3. Click apply to see the changes. 4. Click OK to close the dialog box. Changes the screen appearance This will change the appearance of windows items such as icon size, border colors, highlights etc. Desktop features

5 Once a computer is turned on, windows is loaded into the main memory and finally the desktop showing that the computer is ready for use. The three main features of the desktop are background, icons and the taskbar. This explains the major icons on the desktop. Background Background is the workspace area on the monitor on which icons and running tasks are placed. Windows lets the user to customize the desktop background by applying favorite themes and wallpapers as seen above. Icon An icon is a graphical representation of a software or hardware component on the screen. Icons are mostly manipulated using a pointing device e.g. the mouse. Some of the common icons on the desktop are My computer, recycle bin, internet Explorer, and My documents. Taskbar The taskbar enables the user to easily switch between different programs and tasks that are currently running. Whenever the user starts a program or opens a file, its button appears on the task bar and stays there until the user exits the program. Star button task manager System tray/notification area The task bar has at least three main parts: Start button: The left most button on the taskbar that the user clicks to display the start menu. Task manager:

6 This is the band where the buttons of currently running task are displayed. For example, the task manager shows the tasks currently running. You can switch between various tasks by clicking their respective buttons on the task manager. System tray/notification area: This is at the right part of the taskbar. It has icons of tasks running in the background but are not displayed on the screen. Examples are, the time and calendar, an antivirus program, volume control etc. to display such a task, simply click its icon in windows 7. The start menu items When you click the start button, a list of choices appear called the start menu. The items on the menu may vary depending on the version of windows you are using. Programs menu Programs or All programs menu display a list of programs installed in the computer. The menu has a small solid arrow. When you point the arrow, a submenu called a sidekick menu is displayed. My recent documents My recent documents list the last fifteen recently accessed files. You can open any of the listed files from a storage device by clicking its name provided that the device is accessible. Control panel The control panel is the computer maintenance and configuration Toolbox. It provides tools used to maintain and make changes to the computer setup. It is important not to tamper with this menu because you may interfere with the computer functionality. Utility programs Definition of a utility program Utility program is a system software designed to help analyze, configure, optimize or maintain a computer. Common utility programs Search utility Search utility is used to locate a file or folder by name located on any of your hard drives in less than a second. It is also known as file viewer which looks for a range of files in a computer. File compression utility File compression utility reduces the amount of space on files or folders they occupy on a drive while compressing drive decreases the amount of space used by all of the files and folders stored on that drive. Disk defragmenter

7 Disk defragmenter consolidates files scattered (fragments) so that each file occupies a single, contiguous space on the drive. Backup utility It enables the user to create copies of data and programs (on separate storage devices) that helps a user to avoid losing important data and program files in case the storage device or the computer fails. It is a good practice to keep backups away from the computer room to ensure security of the information in case of a calamity such as fire. Antivirus program Antivirus program scans, detect, prevent and remove viruses from the storage and memory. Diagnostic utility It compiles technical information about computer hardware and certain system software programs. Screen saver It prevents CRT and plasma LCD from burnt out by blanking the screen. It is used primarily for entertainment or security. Disk partitions Disk partitions divide drive into multiple logical drives, each with its own file system which can be mounted by the operating system and treated as an individual drive. Disk Cleanup Disk cleanup is a computer maintenance utility designed to free up disk space on a computer's hard drive. The utility first searches and analyzes the hard drive for files that are no longer of any use, and then removes the unnecessary files. Antivirus Program Definition of an anti-virus program Anti-virus program is a software used to prevent, detect, scan and remove malware, such as computer viruses from storage devices and memory. Examples of the antivirus program include: Kaspersky, Avast, AVG Anti-virus, Avira, BitDefender, F-Secure, Norton Anti-virus, McAfee VirusScan, Panda security, Clam Antiv-virus, ESET nod32. etc. Uses of anti-virus programmes Real-Time Scanning Anti-virus programs provide real-time scanning, which means the program is always on and checking for viruses as you perform tasks. This is important because a virus scanner works after the fact and may not remove the virus completely which attach to websites, , storage device etc. Protection Antivirus software can provide real-time protection, meaning it can prevent unwanted processes from accessing your computer while you surf the Internet.

8 Cleanup Antivirus software allows you to scan your computer for viruses and other unwanted programs, and provides you with the tools to get rid of them. Alerts Antivirus programs can alert you when something is trying to access your computer, or when something in your computer is trying to access something on the Internet. Updates Antivirus programs can update themselves, keeping your computer's protection up to date without you having to manually update it. Further Protection If antivirus software finds an infected file that cannot be deleted, it can quarantine the file so that it cannot infect other files or programs on your computer. Print Management Print management is to produce a printed copy of a document on a paper. To print a document; 1. Click file or office button 2. Click print. This will bring the print menu 3. Select the printer name i.e. HP Laser jet P1102 series. And change the necessary details A4 paper size, properties for advance setting.

9 Click OK