Managing Files in Your Computer (Windows PC)

Have you ever worked for hours on a document, saved it to your computer and the next time you went to use the file you could not find it? Hopefully this article will help you and everyone else who uses your computer, save files in an orderly manner; then you will always be able to find any file you need, quickly and efficiently.
How to Create Folders
All PCs have an icon or section on the computer labelled My Documents. This is where you should be saving all of the files you create. Think of this area as a great big filling cabinet. Instead of piling everything in the cabinet higgledy piggledy, as tempting as it might be, you need to set up sections within the filling cabinet for the different type of files you might be saving. Each section of the filing cabinet is called a Folder
If several people are using the same computer, begin by assigning a Major Folder to each person. For example:
Mr. Smith or Dad's Files


Mrs. Smith or Mom's Files
Junior Smith or Junior's Files
Jane Smith or Jane's Files
You can give the Folder any name you wish, to make these Major folders, follow these commands.
1. Click on Start (green button at the bottom left corner of your screen).
2. Click on My Documents.
3. On the top right corner of the My Document Screen click on File.
4. Immediately under File, a white section comes up and click on New.
5. To the right of the word New click on Folder.
6. A Folder will appear in the white area of the screen saying New Folder and it will be shaded blue, immediately type in the name of the folder Dad's Files.
7. If the Folder turns to white before you type in the name, simply click on the word New Folder, then click on File, scroll down and click on Rename, once again it will turn to blue and you can type in the name of the new folder.
8. Continue making and naming as many Folders as you need for each person or section you wish to create.
Within each major Folder you can create other sections or Sub Folders, to help you keep each person's files organized. For example:
Dad's Files


---------Business
------------------Documents
------------------Letters
---------------------------Company A
---------------------------Company B
---------------------------Company C
------------------Faxes
------------------Estimates
------------------Insurance
------------------Resumes
------------------Miscellaneous
---------Household Accounting Records
---------Personal
---------Friends
Moms Files
---------Letters
---------Special e-mails
---------Household Documents
---------Friends
Junior's Files


---------School work
---------Friends
Jane's Files
---------School work
---------Friends
How to Save Your Files to Your Folders
1. Once you have your folders set up, you can begin to save your new files into the correct Folder.
2. Start by opening a new file in your Word program.
3. Click on File in the top left corner and scroll down to save as.
4. A new screen will appear with the words SAVE AS in the blue shaded area, click on My Documents on the left side of this screen.
5. A list of each of your major folders will appear. Click on the Major Folder you wish to use.
6. The screen will open and list each of the Sub Folders you have made.
7. Once you have reached the Sub Folder you wish to save your document in, type in the name of your document in the bottom of the screen labelled File Name.
If you are saving pictures on your computer, it is a good idea to set up folders for your pictures in the same manner as your documents. Set up your Folders in the same manner in the My Pictures section of your computer.
File and Folder Tasks
In the My Document screen (in the blue area on the left side) you will see a section labelled File and Folder Tasks. Click on the small white circle beside the name and a list of tasks will appear or disappear. You can use this section to accomplish the following tasks
1. Rename a folder - if you wish to give the folder a new name, just click on the folder, then click on this command. The folder will turn blue and you can type in the new name and press enter.
2. Move this folder.
a. Highlight the file by clicking on the file Name.
b. Click on the command Move this file.
c. A new screen will appear called Move Items.
d. Scroll through this screen until you find the Folder you wish to move the file into.
e. Click on this:Folder and the Move button at the bottom of this screen.
3. Copy this folder - follow the same commands as to move the folder, instead of a screen saying Move Items you will get a screen saying Copy Items
4. Publish this folder to the web - click on the Folder you wish to publish, then the Publish this folder to the Web, a Web Publishing Wizard will appear, follow the directions that come up.
5. Share this folder - once again, click on the Folder and the command Share this folder and follow the instructions that appear.
6. Email this folder - click on the Folder or File and the command Email this folder, an e-mail will appear with the Files or Folders attached, send the e-mail to the person you wish to send it to.
7. Delete this folder - click on the File or Folder and the command Delete this folder. A window will appear asking you if you wish to delete the file or folder. Click on Yes and the file will be sent to your Recycle Bin. If you make a mistake and accidentally delete the wrong file, you can always go to the Recycle Bin and move it back to its correct location. This only works if you have not emptied your Recycle Bin .
Lost Files
If you have previously saved a file to your computer and wish to find it, try the following commands.
1. Go to the My Document screen.
2. Click on the File command.
3. Scroll down to the Search command.
4. Follow the directions on the left side of the screen that appears. You can type in the name of the file, or a phrase that has been used in the file. By clicking on the sections Look In you can tell the computer to look in one specific area or the complete computer by clicking on the Local Hard Drive.
5. Once the computer has found your file or files with the information you requested, a list of possible files will appear on the right side of the screen.
6. Click on the correct file and it will open for you.
7. I suggest you save the file in a Folder where you will quickly find it the next time.
Details of Files
If you wish to find out how big a file is, when it was last used, or which program was used to create it, follow the following commands.
1. Go to the My Document screen.
2. Click on the View command at the top of the screen.
3. Scroll down to the Details command.
4. The screen will give you the Name, Size, Type and Date Modified of each file in the folder you are displaying.
Summary
It will only take you a few minutes to set up your filling system on your computer but it will save you hours of scrolling through many files looking for the one elusive file you need. As the old proverb goes "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cures". I also suggest that when you are working on a file, that you take time to use the save command (found under File) every five minutes. Then if your computer suddenly decides to have a fit (crash), at least you will be able to retrieve the bulk of your work.
I wish you many happy hours of computing and less frustration as you quickly locate all your files when you need them. Enjoy your computer and keep learning how to make it work for you.







Founder of http://www.MacVideoTraining.com & http://www.SwitchingToMac.com once you go Mac - you never go back