Lesson 3: File Management

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Learning Objectives After studying this lesson, you will be able to:

Browse files on the computer

Open files from a folder window

Copy and move files

Create new folders

Rename files and folders

Delete and restore files using the Recycle Bin

Back up files on a USB flash drive

Browsing User Files Three levels of organization (Win Vista, XP)

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Level Definition ExamplesDrive A physical place to store files • An internal hard drive

• A USB flash driveFolder An electronic location to store

groups of related files• A folder to store files for

an application program

• A folder to store letters for a project

File This is a collection of computer data with a common purpose.

• A letter you’ve typed

• A picture you’ve drawn

Browsing User Files Four levels of organization (Win 7)

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Level Definition ExamplesDrive A physical place to store files • An internal hard drive

• A USB flash driveLibrary(Win 7)

A collection of folders on oneor more local or network drives

• Documents• Music• Pictures• Public

Folder An electronic location to store groups of related files

• A folder to store files for an application program

• A folder to store letters for a project

File This is a collection of computer data with a common purpose.

• A letter you’ve typed• A picture you’ve drawn

Browsing User Files Example of Win 7 Libraries

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The library view combines all folders contained in the library

Browsing User Files Win 7, Vista computer window features

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Address bar

Forward and Back buttons

Links to frequently browsed locations

Storage drives

Libraries (Win 7)

Locations to store various files/media

Browsing User Files Win XP computer window features

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Address bar

Forward and Back buttons

Links to frequently browsed locations Storage

drives

Links to common commands

Browsing User Files Drive letters

Windows assigns a letter to each storage drive automatically

The primary hard drive is always C

Flash drive receives the next available drive letter (which may be different on different computers)

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Browsing User Files Filename extensions

Normally hidden

Tell Windows:

The file type and icon to display

The program for opening

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Tip! If the filename extension is displayed, never change it.

Working with Folders Folders form a hierarchy on a storage drive

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Folders can contain additional folders

A triangle indicates more folders inside this folder

Renaming Files and Folders You can rename files or folders

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Right-clickPop-up context menu

Tip! You can’t rename a file that’s currently open in a program.

Moving and Copying Files Cut, Copy, and Paste are easy commands for moving

and copying files

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Commands What It DoesCut, then Paste Copies your selection to a new location, then

deletes it from the original locationCopy, then Paste Copies your selection to a new location, and leaves

a copy in the original location

Moving and Copying Files Selecting files and folders for Cut or Copy command

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Method What It Does

+ Click Adds a new item to the selection with each click

+ Click Adds all the items that appear between two clicks

Dragging Adds items completely covered by dragging

+ A (Select All)

Selects all items in the window you are viewing

Moving and Copying Files Selection Method Examples

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+ Click

+ Click

+ [A]

Deleting Files and Folders Deleted files and folders normally go into the

Recycle Bin

Items in the Recycle Bin remain there until you empty it, or until there’s no more space left

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Important! Items deleted from a USB flash drive do not go into the Recycle Bin.

Deleting Files and Folders Restoring deleted files and folders

You can restore items in the Recycle Bin

Restored items reappear at the location from which they were deleted

Emptying the Recycle Bin

This “permanently” deletes all items in the Recycle Bin

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Tip! You can still recover items emptied from the Recycle Bin, but it takes special software and expertise.

Backing Up Your Files USB flash drives are easy to misplace!

Back up your files to a hard drive

Copy everything on the USB flash drive

Paste it into a folder on your computer’s hard drive

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Tip! Back up your flash drive files at least once a week, or even more often if you have recently saved important work on it.

Lesson 3: File Management