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The Interface May 2001 • Vol.7 Issue 5 Page(s) 31-33 in print issue |
Finagle Your Files & Folders Ways To Organize & Work With Your Data Using Windows | ||
 Most users create files regularly for letters, spreadsheets, Web pages, and more. Often, these files get scattered across hard drives and become harder to find and organize. However, there are ways to effectively manage your files. We'll look at various methods in this article to work with, manage, and recognize files. Unless otherwise noted, the tips in this article will work with Windows 95/98 (Win9x), Windows Me, Windows NT, and Windows 2000. Extension ExplanationsThere are dozens of file extensions, which are typically three letters long that appear after the actual file name. Extensions identify a file's function or the application it was created with or can be edited with. Keeping track of various extensions can be tricky. Below are some general tips to help.Displaying details. Windows Explorer is Windows' default file manager to view and work with files and folders. The program's default view displays your system's files and folders in an area to the left and details of a selected file or folder to the right. Clicking Details on the View menu shows the file's name and extension, size, date last modified, and its type, such as StarOffice 5.2 Text Document. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Windows Explorer views. For a different view of files in Windows Explorer, click View, Folder Options, and the File Types tab in Win98. For Win95 and WinNT, click View, Options, and the File Types tab. In WinMe and Win2000, click Tools, Folder Options, and File Types. A window appears displaying registered file types, listed by showing the file's icon and name instead of by extension. For example, Adobe Acrobat Document and its icon are shown instead of just .PDF. Highlighting a file type provides further extension details and the application to open the file with. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Determining file associations. Windows handles files by assigning an association to them, meaning files created or edited in a particular program know what that program is. To determine a file's association, double-click it in Windows Explorer and it should open in the associated application. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Create an association. If a file isn't associated with a program, you can create an association in Explorer. Depending on the file and operating system, right-click the file (you may have to hold down the SHIFT key also) and click Open With. This opens a window listing programs installed on your computer. Choose a program to open the file with. You can also click Always Use This Program To Open This Type Of File. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Manage & Find FilesFiles can accumulate quickly. Typically, files scatter to various folders and become disorganized. However, you can centralize your files fairly easily.Use MY DOCUMENTS. MY DOCUMENTS is a central repository for documents, but it should not be used a dumping place. Instead, create subfolders for different file types by right-clicking a blank area in MY DOCUMENTS and selecting New and Folder. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Create a DOWNLOADS folder. If you download a lot of files from the Internet, create a separate folder called DOWNLOADS to save them to. Point your Web browser to this folder when downloading drivers, programs, or patches. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Use the Find utility. Windows' Find tool helps locate files on your system. To use it, click Start, Find, and Files Or Folders. In WinMe and Win2000, click the Start button, Search, and Files Or Folders. You can also right-click a folder in the left side of Windows Explorer and select Find. Type search criteria in the Named field, select a drive to search in the Look In field, and click Find Now. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Search by extension. To find a file using a specific extension, type *extension, replacing "extension" with the file's three-letter extension. For example, type *htm to find all .HTML files. Type letters*extension to find all files containing letters or a word, replacing "letters" and "extension." For example, to find all Word documents starting with "Report," type report*doc. To find files containing a specific word, type *word, replacing "word." For example, type *index to find all files containing the word "index." Files that match your search appear at the bottom of the Find window, complete with the file's path. Double-click a file to open it. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT More search options. You can narrow a search with the Find tool by deselecting the Include Subfolders option. Depending on the operating system, you can also search all your hard drives simultaneously by clicking the Look In list and choosing to search local drives. OS versions: Me, 98, 2000, NT Move Things AroundChances are there are files you'll want to copy or move to another location, whether you're creating a document in a temporary folder or moving a downloaded file to another location.Use Copy, Cut, and Paste. Moving files in Windows Explorer is easy using the Copy and Cut commands. Right-click a file and click Copy to make a copy of the file. Click Cut from the Edit menu to delete the original file. Navigate to the directory you want to copy the file to, right-click a blank area, and click Paste. To copy or move multiple files, press CTRL while clicking the files. When the files are highlighted, right-click to copy them and paste them to the folder or floppy diskette. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Drag and drop files. You can also move files by dragging and dropping them. To do this, click-and-hold a file on Explorer's right side and drag it to a folder on the left side and let go. Dragging and dropping is also useful for attaching files to e-mail. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Altering FilesFiles have several properties you or the operating system can set. Two common properties include read-only and hidden file attributes. Below are tips for altering files.Make it Read-only. Read-only files are ones that can only be viewed and not edited. You may come across these if you copy documents from a CD or another user sets a file as Read-only. You can create a Read-only file in Windows Explorer by right-clicking the file and choosing Properties. Check the Read-only option and click Apply. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Editing a Read-only file. Most software lets you edit Read-only files but not save them with the same name. However, you can use the Save As command with a different name. Unless you must preserve the original file, you shouldn't do this, because you'll soon have multiple copies of the same file to manage. Instead, open Explorer and navigate to the Read-only file. Right-click it and choose Properties. Uncheck the Read-only option and click Apply. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Rename a file. Renaming a file is done to give it a more descriptive name or distinguish it as being an older version of one you're working on. Rename a file by right-clicking it, selecting Rename, and typing the new name. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Change a file extension. The Rename function lets you change a file's extension. You might do this when a Web server requires a file have an .HTML extension instead of .HTM. To change an extension, right-click it, click Rename, and type a new name. You may see an error message reading, " If you change the filename extension, the file may become unusable." Simply click Yes. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Rename multiple files. Renaming many files can take a lot of time. Fortunately, there are freeware utilities to rename many files at once. Three to consider are The Rename (http://www.multimania.com/hervet/therename.htm), 1-4a Rename (http://www.1-4a.com/rename/), and Super Rename 1.01c (http://users.win.be/W0117312/index.html). 1-4a Rename also includes an Undo command.
Delete & RestoreAs files accumulate, they take up space on the hard drive and affect system performance. Weeding out files no longer being used can free up space and improve system performance.Clean out temporary files. A good place to start weeding out files is in the Temp and Temporary Internet Files subfolders of the Windows directory. Deleting a file simply requires right-clicking it and selecting Delete or pressing the DELETE key. You can select multiple files to delete by holding the CTRL key down while clicking the appropriate files. To delete all files in a folder, press CTRL-A and press DELETE. You can also delete files in the Temporary Internet Files subfolder in Internet Explorer by clicking Tools, Internet Options, and Delete Files from The Temporary Internet Files section. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Restore a file. After you delete a file, it's not gone for good. It remains in the Recycle Bin until it's emptied. If you accidentally delete a file, you can still recover it by opening the Recycle Bin, right-clicking the file, and choosing Restore. You should empty the Recycle Bin periodically, however, because files still take up hard drive space. Empty the bin by right-clicking its icon and choosing Empty Recycle Bin. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Use The Command PromptUsing the Windows interface and Windows Explorer is a pain for some users. Some users prefer to use the MS-DOS Command Prompt instead to manage files. Below are tips for doing so.Basic DOS file commands. Depending on the operating system, you can open the Command Prompt by clicking Start and finding it either on the Programs or Accessories list. To copy a file, type copy file destination at the prompt, inserting the appropriate file name for "file" and the directory for "destination." For example, to copy Accounts.xls to a Spreadsheets directory, you would type copy accounts.xls\spreadsheets. You can also copy all files with a specific extension by typing copy *extension, replacing "extension" with a three-letter file extension. For example, typing copy*.txt would copy all Text files. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Move a file. To move a file, type movefile destination, replacing "file" and "destination" with the appropriate file name and directory. For example, to move Accounts.xls to the SPREADSHEETS directory, type move accounts.xls \spreadsheets. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Delete and rename a file. To delete a file, simply type delfile, replacing "file" with the appropriate file name. To rename a file, type ren original name new name, replacing "original name" and "new name" with the current and new file names. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Listing files. To list a file, type dir and press ENTER. You'll see a list of all the files in the folder you're searching. If the list scrolls too fast, type dir/p to pause it and press any key to continue scrolling. To search all folders and subfolders, type dir /s <criteria>, and replace "criteria" with a file name or search criteria. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Display hidden files. To display hidden files, type dir /ah <search criteria>. The names of any hidden files matching your search criteria appear. The files will remain hidden, and you don' t have to rehide them. To display hidden files in Explorer, highlight a folder, click View, Options, and on the View tab, click the Show All Files option. You'll need to hide the files again when you're done. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Launch a file. To launch a file from the command prompt, type the name of the file, including the extension, and press ENTER. If the file is associated with a program, it will open in that program. If you aren't in the right directory, type cd\<directory name> to get the desired directory, replacing "directory name" with the folder you want to be in. For example, typing cd\<spreadsheets> puts you in the Spreadsheets directory. In Win9x, you must enclose directory names longer than eight characters or containing spaces in quotation marks, such as cd\"my documents". OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Don't touch. Besides the user files we've discussed, there are two other classes of files: executables and system files. Executables have an .EXE extension and run software. System files have extensions such as .DLL, .REG, .SYS, and .DRV and are used by Windows to operate properly and run various programs. Unless you have a good reason, leave these files alone. Moving an executable or deleting a .DLL file could damage your system or make a program inoperable. OS versions: Me, 9x, 2000, NT Organizing and maintaining files can be a chore, but with some planning, you can cut the effort involved to a minimum. Managing your files will give you less computing headaches and make your use of Windows more efficient.  by Scott Nesbitt
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