Where are my Files and Folders

1
Where are my Files and Folders?

• In this section of the tutorial, you will
  observe
• how files and folders are organized within a
  computer
• how to locate and open drives, files, and folders
  using My Computer
• how to change the way files are viewed within a
  folder
• the location and uses for the My Documents folder

Click on the arrows at the bottom of each screen
to move through the tutorial
2
How is the computer organized?
filing cabinet your computer drawer computer
drives folder computer folders files computer
files

• Like files within folders in filing cabinet
  drawers, computer files are stored in folders on
  drives.

3
Where are my files?

• Some commonly used drives to store folders and
  files
• floppy drive - usually represented by the letter
  (A)
• local disk - also known as the hard drive and
  represented by the letter (C)
• CD-ROM - The letter that represents this can vary
  from computer to computer could be (D), (E),
  (F), etc.

4
Other possible drives

• that allow you to store folders and files are
• Zip Drive
• Flash Drive (memory stick) pictured below

These may be listed in your computer as
Removable Disks
5
Finding drives, folders, and files

• Lets take a look at the process for finding
  drives, folders, and files on the computer

6
Using My Computer

• To find files, you double- click on the My
  Computer icon on your desktop
• Double-clicking opens My Computer so you can see
  inside
• This picture illustrates where the icon is located

7
Looking inside My Computer

• Notice the address window.It indicates your
  location -- inside My Computer

• Now notice the different drives on this computer
• Local Disk C
• Floppy A
• Removable Disk D
• DVD/CD E

8
Looking inside any drive

• To look inside a drive, double-click on it. Lets
  start with the Floppy Drive A

9
Inside the Floppy Drive (A)

• When you open the Floppy Drive A, you can see
  all the files that are stored on the floppy disk.
• Notice the information available on this screen
  Address, file name, size, type, last date
  modified
• You can change how the files are displayed by
  clicking on View. Lets look further.

10
Taking a different View

• To change how and what kind of information your
  computer displays, click on View from within
  any folder
• A drop down menu will display your options
• Thumbnails, Tiles, Icons, List, Details

11
Views Thumbnails, Tiles, Icons, List, Details
Icon
Tiles
List
Detail
Thumbnail
12
Changing Views

• Details view, shown here, gives the most
  information about your files on one screen
• To change views, click on any option in the drop
  down menu.

13
Catching our breath

• So far weve observed
• how to access drives by using My Computer
• how to change the way files are viewed within
  drives (and folders)
• Now lets take a look at how to find and open
  files

14
Opening files

• To open an individual file
• open My Computer and double-click on the drive in
  which the file is stored (the floppy drive is
  used here as an example, but the process is the
  same on any drive)
• Double-click on the file you want to open.

15
Opening files

• Now that your file is open, you can read it,
  print it out, or make changes to it as needed.

16
Closing a file

• Remember to save your changes as needed by
  clicking on File Save
• To close a file, click on the X in the upper
  right corner of the file.

17
File extensions

• How can you tell whether something is a Word
  file, image file, Excel file, or a PowerPoint
  file?
• One way is by looking at the file extension

• A file extension is information that gets
  attached to a file name when it is saved that
  describes what kind of file it is.
• Setting the View to Details, allows you to
  see the file names and their extensions

18
Common file extensions

• ppt PowerPoint file
• xls Excel file
• gif image file (may be animated)
• html web file

• jpg image file
• pdf Adobe Acrobat file
• doc Word document file

19
Using the My Documents folder

• Another common place to store files, is in the My
  Documents folder.
• If the folder is not already on your desktop, you
  can find it by clicking on
• Start Documents My Documents

20
Location of My Documents

• The My Documents folder is located on your hard
  drive (Local Disk C)
• It is your computers default location for saving
  files
• (That means that your computer is automatically
  programmed to save a new file there, unless you
  direct it otherwise)

21
Congratulations!

• Youve finished the section, Finding Files and
  Folders
• You should now be able to
• explain how files and folders are organized on a
  computer
• locate and open drives, files, and folders using
  My Computer
• describe several common file extensions
• change the way files are viewed within a folder
• locate and describe the default nature of the My
  Documents folder

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To begin the next section

• Click on the Organizing Files link
• on the left margin of this page