This and That: Son of File Manager, The Return of Explorer or Where Did Everything Go 2
by Elizabeth B. Wright August 2004
The first steps:
1. Determine your computer setup, basically your Operating System.
2. If Windows 98 or higher, RIGHT click on “Start”, LEFT click on “Explore”.
3. Look on the left side of the screen and locate the line that contains (C). This may involve placing the cursor on the scroll bar adjacent to the right side of the column, holding down the LEFT mouse button and pulling the scroll bar to the top of the screen. This action will move the File Menu to the top of the screen which is where you will find the (C).
4. REMEMBER to put the mouse pointer on whatever you plan to left or right click on. Otherwise, you may cause your program to behave in some unexpected way.
If the file management program has opened with just one wide column, left click on “View” at the top of the screen, place the cursor on “Explorer bar” in the drop-down menu. On the fly-out menu which will open automatically to the right, left click on “Folders”. This will change the screen to two columns and close the dialog box. It is much easier to navigate through the system using two columns. If the program opened with two columns showing on the screen, the right column will contain the folders and files in whatever is highlighted in the left column.
As noted last month, the (C) drive is routinely the “Root” directory (folder), that from which all else springs. Left click one time on the line containing the (C) to highlight it. All of the sub-folders and files in the “Root” directory (folder) will appear in the right hand column. A small box to the left of the line containing the (C) will show either a plus or minus sign. If it shows a plus sign, put the cursor on it and LEFT click the mouse button one time. This will cause all of the sub-folders (sub-directories) to fall open beneath the (C). If a minus sign was showing initially, then all of the sub-folders (but not the files) will already be showing in the left hand column.
On most systems, the first two drives are (A) and (B) which can be 3.5" floppy drives or some other type of hardware. If no other hardware is present that constitutes an (A) or (B) drive, then probably the only letter showing will be the (C). Many newer computers are being sold without 3.5" floppy drives.
Any additional drives you have on your computer will also be showing at the end of the list of folders on the (C) drive in the left hand column, including Partitions, CD drive(s), Zip drives(s), external hard drive(s), or any other hardware your computer considers a drive. Each drive will have a different letter of the alphabet as it’s name. For Drives other than hard drives, if there is no “media” (i.e. diskette, CD or other type of disk) in the unit, the computer will not access the Drive.
Looking down the list of additional drives and sub-folders, you will see more little boxes with plus or minus signs to the left of some drive letters and folders. If there is no little box, that means there are no additional folders under that particular location. Most drive letters will have additional folders, but that varies depending on what you have on your computer. The same is true for the sub-folders.
You are now ready to “Explore” your computer file system. Highlighting any Drive or Folder in the left hand column will place the contents of it in the right hand column. Depending on how you have your computer set up, the display of these folders and files will vary. They can appear as icons, or a simple list of the contents, or the list plus all of the details of each item. In order to have the detailed view (my preference), put the cursor on the word “View” at the top of the screen and left click one time. From the drop down menu, left click on “Details”. This will make all of the information about folders and files visible in the right hand column, including file size, last date it was saved (modified), time of last save and some other properties.
Remember as you go down through the list in the left hand column, every time you click on a “plus” sign you will find more folders and files within that drive or folder. And as stated above, highlighting a Drive or Folder will place its contents in the right hand column. By highlighting and looking into each and every Drive and Folder on your system, you can soon learn where most of your data is stored.
A tip on saving your work: In nearly all Windows programs, if you left click on “File” at the top of your program screen, then left click on “Save As” from the drop down menu, then a dialog box will open. Within that box, near the top, you will find a line which begins “Save in:” and a space which will probably contain a folder and its location. There will be a small down arrow at the end of whatever is showing in that space.
When you left click on the arrow, it will drop down and show you the file structure of your computer, similar to the left hand column in “Explore”.
You can navigate through the folders by left clicking on the Drive letters. After choosing a Drive, you must left click or possibly double left click on the folder you want to use. (If you open the wrong folder by accident, there is a small yellow folder icon to the right of the line showing the file structure. Left clicking one time on it takes you back to where you were before opening the wrong folder). Continue left clicking or double left clicking on folders until you find the one you want to use. When you find it, double left click on it. That folder will then appear in the space in place of whatever was showing there previously and its contents will appear in the large white space below.
Give your new work a unique name in the line which begins with “File name:” near the bottom of the dialog box. A name may already be suggested, but you can change this by highlighting it and typing your own choice in its place. You can then click on “Save” elsewhere in the dialog box and your work will end up in the folder you chose at the top of the box.
Elizabeth Wright is a member of the OKCPCUG and a regular writer for the eMonitor