Chapter: Software Utilities Project Title: File and Folder Management

Mr. Sharvin Ramiah 1013889 Mr. Jason Teeluck 1011486

OUTLINE
Windows Explorer Components of Windows Explorer Files and Folders File Extensions Naming of Files and Folders Maintenance of Files and Folders Organization of Files and Folders When to share Files and Why Tips for File and Folder Management

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Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer is a file manager application that is part of modern versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system that provides a graphical user interface for accessing the file systems. It is the component of the operating system that presents the user interface on the monitor and enables the user to explore the contents on the computer. The latest version can be found in Windows 7.

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Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer allows users to manipulate files and view the contents of your computer. With Windows Explorer you can examine files, create folders and organize files within folders, and copy and move files between different locations. These abilities will enable you to perform the basic housekeeping tasks needed to organize your work on a PC running any Windows Operating system (Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, XP, or Vista).

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Windows Explorers in:

Windows 98

Windows Xp

Windows Me and 2000

Windows Vista Windows Seven

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Components of Windows Explorer

Title bar: Shows the name of the folder you're currently viewing. Menu bar: Provides access to pull-down menus that provide commands for working with folders and files. Toolbar: Provides quick one-click access to commonly used commands. Explorer bar: Provides options for using the contents of the current folder, as well as quick links to other places.
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File and Folder

A file or a document is a collection of data that has a name and is stored in a computer. e.g o a file might have a size, normally expressed as number of bytes, that indicates how much storage is associated with the file. o a file can be one Word document, a video, a single picture, and other things so a big pile of pictures is simply a big pile of files and so on o You organize files by storing them in folders
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File and Folder

A folder or directory refers to a collections of files. They are system folders and program folders that contain files used by Windows and other programs on the computer. In addition to all those system and program folders, Windows has three folders set aside for personal use. The three folders that Windows creates are named My Documents, My Music, and My Pictures.
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File Extensions
A computer file extension is commonly a three characters addition that follows the name of a file. E.g filename.extension; cse1010e.jpg (image file) A filename extension identifies the file s type and indicates the program in which the file is associated with Filenames provide important information about the file, including its contents and purpose Examples of extension: x.doc, x.mp3, x.vob, x.3gp, x.exe, x.db, x.html etc where x may be any name

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How to name a file

The basic structure of computer filename consists of base filename and file extension (also called filename suffix). The file extension is separated from base name by a period - ie. filename.extension . File name can contain any characters, numbers and some symbols, but not special characters reserved by the operating system (the illegal characters for Windows are \ / * : < > ? )
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File and Folder

Files and Folders on a computer can be :
Created Moved Modified Deleted Shared In most cases, computer programs that are executed on the computer handle these operations, but the user of a computer can also manipulate files if necessary.
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Creating a Folder
A folder is created by right-clicking ,then point the cursor to new and click on Folder

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Folders have to be named to know which files are stored in it. This is carried out as shown below:

Right click on the folder to be named Click rename Enter the folder name Hit enter

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Unnecessary folders can be removed on the computer

Right click on the folder to be deleted Select delete A screen will appear asking for confirmation Select yes to confirm deletion

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Sharing Folders
Files and folders can be shared over a network:
Open My Documents in Windows Explorer. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer. Click the folder you want to share. Click Share this folder in File and Folder Tasks. In the Properties dialog box select the radio button Share this folder to share the folder with other users on your network
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Organisation of files and folders

There are several ways in which files can be organised:
1. Serial files Records do not follow each other in any particular order. If another record is added it can just be placed at the end of the file 2. Sequential files Just like serial files except that records are held in a certain Sequence 3. Random files Are stored on disk in any order The operating system keeps a map of the disk surface and use it to access data directly
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Organisation of files and folders

Windows organizes the folders and files in a file system Windows stores folders and important files that it needs when you turn on the computer in the root directory Folders stored within other folders are called subfolders
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Organisation of files and folders

The type of disk used for file storage determines how file should be organized

Files stored on removable media are organised simply while for larger medium, there is more levels of folders used:
My Documents folder Windows folder Program files folder Personal folders etc.

You should have a backup, or duplicate copy, of important files

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Tips for File and Folder Management

1. Organize by file types. Create a folder called Program Files on your drive and keeping all 5. Be specific. your applications there. For instance, the executables for Word and Give files logical, specific names and Program include dates in file names if possible. photoshop would all reside in theable to tell Files folder. is about The goal when naming files is to be what the file 2. One place for all. it and look. without having to open Place all documents e.g letters, presentation..etc in the My 6. File as you go. Documents folder and no where when you first create it. So get in the The best time to file a document is else. habit of using the in My Documents. 3. Create folders "Save As" dialogue box to file your document as well as name folder like Musics, pictures, the first place. Createit, putting it in the right place in videos and Use plain language to name your files for your convenience. 7. Order your folders If Follow folders or files conventions. are you use them to top of 4. thereby the file namingthat a ! or ana lot, forcebeginningthe the filethe file list renaming them with AA at the of Do not use spaces in file names, keep file names under 27 name. characters, and use all lower case. So a file named for a client 8. Cull your files regularly. should be jackdawson rather than Jack Dawson Old files that are useless can be deleted.
9. Back up your files regularly. Make copy of important files to avoid loss of data in case of computer failure.
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References
Information systems for you Stephen Doyle (3rd Edition) www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/ all/proddocs/en-us/tasks_overview.mspx?mfr=true www.sbinfocanada.about.com/od/datamanagement/a/comp uterfilemgt.htm Some of the pictures were obtained from Google Images

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