Introduction to Computers: Session 3 Files, Folders and Windows Files and folders Files are documents you create using a computer program. For example, this document is a file, made with a program called Microsoft Word (notice the blue, capital W in the icon). Folders are used to organize your files. Folders can contain other folders or individual files. Note: A folder icon with no papers in it indicates an empty folder: Introduction to Computers: Session 3 Files and Folders; rev.7/19/11 Page 1
File management File storage in the Windows Operating System can be likened to a file cabinet. The file cabinet is likened to a drive on the computer, such as a hard drive, a CD or a Flash Drive. Organizing folders and files in the file cabinet 1. As an example, here is a folder with the name of this class: Introduction to Computers: Session 3 Files and Folders; rev.7/19/11 Page 2
2. Inside that folder are individual folders for each class session, along with folders for other related documents. 3. Finally, each individual class folder holds files (documents) relating to that specific class. Introduction to Computers: Session 3 Files and Folders; rev.7/19/11 Page 3
Follow the path to find out how you got here! A path on a computer is the sequence of folders leading from the computer s drive to a specific file, or in reverse from the file back to the root of the drive. Here is the path in the address bar above, leading to this document: C:\Users\fmeeusen\Desktop\Intro to Personal Computers\Session 3\Introduction to computers session 3 files and folders.docx In general terms, the path above looks like this: Drive:\Folder\Sub-folder\Sub-folder\Sub-folder\Sub-folder\Document Creating a Folder There are two ways to create a folder in the Windows Operating System. A) Secondary Click method: 1. In the empty space of either a folder or your Desktop, Secondary Click with your mouse 2. On the menu that opens, select New and then Folder 3. Immediately a new folder appears, with the default name New Folder B) Menu selection method (same as above, but a different way of getting there): In an existing folder where you want to create a new folder (this method will not work on your Desktop), click on the menu item File, then select New and then Folder (Note: if the File menu does not appear above your toolbar, press the Alt key on your keyboard and the menu will appear temporarily). Introduction to Computers: Session 3 Files and Folders; rev.7/19/11 Page 4
C) Toolbar method: Instead of selecting the File > New > Folder as shown above, simply click on the New Folder item on the toolbar and a new folder will appear: Introduction to Computers: Session 3 Files and Folders; rev.7/19/11 Page 5
Managing a window A window in the Windows Operating System has various tools to help you control that windows size and position on your screen. Minimize button: a) The minimize button, when clicked, hides the window, b) sending it to the task bar. Maximize button: The maximize button, when clicked, resizes the window, expanding it out to fill the entire screen. Clicking the maximize button again restores the window to its previous size and location. Introduction to Computers: Session 3 Files and Folders; rev.7/19/11 Page 6
Close button: It does just that, closes the window! Moving a window: The top frame of a window is called the Title or Control bar. You can click and drag on this bar to move the window to any position on your screen Introduction to Computers: Session 3 Files and Folders; rev.7/19/11 Page 7
Resizing a window (manually): 1. Place your cursor on any edge or corner of the window you want to resize. Your cursor will turn into a double-headed arrow: 2. Click and drag on any edge or corner of a window to resize it: Introduction to Computers: Session 3 Files and Folders; rev.7/19/11 Page 8
Scroll bars: Scrolling in a window 5 methods: 1. Click and drag any of the scroll bar handles up, down or sideways to view the hidden areas of window. 2. Click any of the arrows at either end of the scroll bars to move the window view up, down or sideways one line at a time. 3. Click in the light gray area between the scroll bar handle and the end-arrow to move the window view up, down or sideways one screen at a time. 4. With the window active (click on the Title bar to make sure the window is active), press the Page Up and Page Down keys on the keyboard to move the window up, down or sideways one screen at a time (just like #3 above) 5. With the window active, press the arrow keys on the keyboard to move the window up, down or sideways one line at a time. Introduction to Computers: Session 3 Files and Folders; rev.7/19/11 Page 9
Creating a File We first need to open a program to make a file with. For this exercise, we ll use Microsoft s WordPad, which is included in every version of the Windows Operating System. How to open WordPad: 1. Click the Start Button 2. Click the All Programs button 3. Click the folder Accessories Introduction to Computers: Session 3 Files and Folders; rev.7/19/11 Page 10
4. Click WordPad Saving a File Once you ve created a file or document you can then save it to the computer s hard drive or to a portable storage device, such as a CD/DVD or Flash drive Introduction to Computers: Session 3 Files and Folders; rev.7/19/11 Page 11
Saving your File to your Computer s Hard Drive Since you are saving your document directly to your computer s internal Hard Drive, you do not need to insert a CD or Flash Drive into your computer. The file cabinet is already located inside your computer and ready for you to save anytime. 1. Click on the File tab. This will open the File menu. 2. Click on Save. 3. Once you click Save, you can then choose the destination for your file. Locate the folder you want to save the file in and double-click to open that folder. Introduction to Computers: Session 3 Files and Folders; rev.7/19/11 Page 12
4. Give your file a name by clicking in the File name box. Type in the new name of your document. 5. Click the Save button to save your document. Introduction to Computers: Session 3 Files and Folders; rev.7/19/11 Page 13
Opening a document from your Computer s Hard Drive 1. Locate the folder that contains the file you want to open. 2. Double-click to open the folder, then double-click the file to open it. Introduction to Computers: Session 3 Files and Folders; rev.7/19/11 Page 14