Organizing Files in Windows XP

Overview | File & Folder Management
Viewing Files & Folders | Right Pane | Left Pane (Explorer Bar)

Overview

This section was adapted from http://www.eabnet.org.uk/knowitall/beginner/winxp/organize.htm

Files are organized on your computer in folders. If it helps, think of your computer as a filing cabinet. There may be drawers that group information or paperwork, like, one drawer for household items, another for personal items and so on. Inside the drawers there are dividers for sub groups such as gas, electricity, insurance etc in the household drawer and the personal drawer might contain details about holidays, certificates, letters etc. Inside the dividers there will be the information or paperwork, which could even be sub-divided in paper folders. The permutations are endless and you are only constricted in the number of files and folders you have by your computer's available storage space.

Once you start to use your computer, you'll find that you produce a large number of files. Finding them again can be quite difficult unless you store them systematically. So before moving on, take a while to think about what groups of files are likely to suit what you expect to be doing on your computer. You can always add to, delete or change them later but you should start with a good idea of what will be in your computer's filing cabinet.

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File and folder management with Windows Explorer

There are a number of ways of managing your files and folders in Windows XP and several pieces of free or modestly priced software that help. However, you will already have a program called Windows Explorer on your computer and this tutorial will explain the basics of managing your files and folders using this software.

Firstly, let's discover Windows Explorer by pressing the WINDOWS key + E and a window, similar to the following illustration, will open. Mouse users can right click on My Computer and select Explore - if you must, but the keyboard combination is much quicker.

At the top there is the title bar, in this case it says My Computer and indicates the My Computer folder is open. Below the title bar, most windows have a menu bar with several categories of actions, called menus. Each menu lists a number of commands or actions that you can carry out on the files and folders displayed in the window.

Below the menu is the standard buttons toolbar. The standard buttons toolbar provides buttons that let you carry out common actions. All the commands on the toolbar are accessible through the menus on the menu bar and/or through keystroke combinations. Using the View menu you can also set up a status bar which would appear across the bottom of the window. This gives you system information about the currently highlighted item on the screen.

The working area consists of two vertical "panes". The right pane displays the contents of the current folder, whilst the left pane is called the explorer bar and contains a list of drives and folders.

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Viewing files and folders in different ways

Windows Explorer lets you view or set up the contents of your computer in a variety of ways. First we will discuss what you can do with the items in the right.

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Changing the way items are set out in the right pane

Open the View menu by pressing F10 to get to the menu bar, then pressing the RIGHT ARROW until you reach View then ENTER. If you're ready to start learning some shortcut keystrokes, then ALT + V will take you direct to the View menu. Those who can see the screen will notice a letter in each menu bar item is underlined - pressing ALT + the underlined letter will take you directly to that item.

The DOWN ARROW will take you through the following menu options:

• Toolbar and Status Bar: which are covered on the previous page.
• Explorer Bar: changes the left pane.
• Thumbnails: In this view, images and video clips are displayed as tiny pictures. Folders that contain pictures are displayed as tiny images of the pictures they contain. It can take a significant amount of time and memory to display large folders of images.
• Tiles: This view makes items display as icons on well-spaced tiles at regular intervals and displays the full name of the item. The larger tiles make it easier to select the correct item if you are not too handy with a mouse.
• Icons: In this view, each item appears as an icon and file name. They are smaller and closer together than the Tiles view and longer file names are often abbreviated. This is the default view.
• List: This view will list all items, one item per line. It displays an icon and a file name for each item. Often found to be the favourite view with screen-reader users.
• Details: Another list that gives you more information on each item. Very large folders can take longer to display. The default details are: name, size, type and date modified. Details is the recommended view of the right pane.

• Arrange icons by: This option will open a sub menu allowing you to choose in what order the icons are displayed.
• Choose details: Allows you to choose which information is displayed in the Details view.
• Go to: This option will open a sub menu allowing you to navigate around Windows Explorer.
• Refresh: This will re-display or re-draw the window so that it includes any changes you have made since the window was opened.

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The Explorer Bar (the left pane)

Folders: This has been the standard display of files and folders. It follows what is called a "tree" structure. A highlighted folder in the left pane will display its contents automatically in the right pane.

Folders in the left pane can be expanded and contracted by clicking on the plus sign [+] to expand and the minus sign [-] next to the folder icon to contract the contents.

Clicking on a folder in the left pane displays its contents in the right pane. This can be useful for finding files or copying files to/from your locker and the Y: drive for example by dragging and dropping.

Using the two panes you can rename files and folders, move files into folders, and move folders into other folders.

Creating a new folder

With the folder highlighted on the right pane, you can create a new folder within it by doing one of the following:

• On the menu bar click "File", "New", "Folder," OR
• With the keyboard, "Alt + F", "Enter", "Enter"

Now you are ready to name your new folder.

Creating, editing and deleting files and folders

Each application on your computer creates files of different types and, when you save your work, the application will decide where to store the file unless you tell it differently. All of these should be stored in your locker (Z: drive) so they are not erased and can be transported from one computer to another. Before too long you will have many files on your computer and without some sort of "filing" system you may find it difficult to find your files again.

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