You may view the files on your computer as belonging to one of two main groups.
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The first group includes your data files, for example,
ò your yearly budget spreadsheet
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ò a letter to a client
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ò your recent seminar presentation
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The second group of files includes all the application and operating files - for example, DLLs, COMs, and EXEs.
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Generally, you leave these files alone because deleting, renaming, or altering them in any way may create problems in the running of your programs.
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Windows 95 allows you to manage your files and folders in a variety of ways.
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Let's look at how you create new files and open existing ones.
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Generally, you create new files from within an application.
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Say, for example, that you want to write a letter using Microsoft Word.
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There are a number of different ways that you can create a Microsoft Word file.
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You could start by launching Word.
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To do this, you click the ^UStart^u button.
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You then launch Word from the ^UPrograms^u menu.
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Once the application is open, you select ^UFile - New^u.
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In many applications there are also buttons on the toolbar that enable you to create, open, and save files.
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In Word, choosing ^UFile - New^u creates an empty document.
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Some applications will ask you for extra information such as the name of a template, or style to use, before creating the document.
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Windows 95 applications use the same basic menu bar format when possible.
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This makes basic file management easy.
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Even in a new application, you find familiar menu options.
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For example, in most applications you open a file using the ^UFile - Open^u menu option.
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The ^UDocuments^u option in the ^UStart^u menu lists documents that you've worked on recently in any application.
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This means that you can also open a document you've used recently from the ^UDocuments^u menu.
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Suppose you want to open the "Figures" file.
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You simply click it to open.
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Some programs cannot add files to the ^UDocuments^u menu.
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Let's say the Figures file was created in Microsoft Excel.
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Windows 95 automatically launches the application used to create the document -
in this case, Excel.
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A new document or any change made to an existing document is stored only in the computer's short term memory.
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If there's a power failure, or your hardware fails, you lose all the work you've done in your new document - unless you've saved it.
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In other words, no file is actually created on your hard disk until you save it.
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The standard way of saving is to use the ^UFile - Save^u option on the menu bar.
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The first time you try to save the document, the Save dialog box displays.
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You type the name you've chosen for your file in the File name field.
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In Windows 95, a filename can consist of 255 characters but it cannot contain certain non-text characters.
Individual applications may impose further restrictions on the names you can use.
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And you indicate what folder you want to save the file in.
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When you click ^USave^u, your file is physically stored where you have specified - usually on your hard disk.
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You often need to perform basic housekeeping tasks, like renaming, moving, and copying files.
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It's not convenient to do these tasks from within your word processor or other applications.
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Windows 95 provides the Explorer and My Computer utilities, making such tasks easy to accomplish.
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The easiest way to launch Explorer is by right-clicking the ^UStart^u button.
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Then you choose ^UExplore^u.
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Let's say you want to rename a file in a subfolder of your My Files folder.
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You click ^UMy Files^u to display its contents.
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You then double-click the ^UConference^u folder to show its contents.
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You click the file you want to rename - in this case, ^UFigures^u.
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Remember to avoid names which cause you to confuse files.
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You then choose ^UFile - Rename^u.
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You type the new name, ^RStats^r.
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And you press ^UEnter^u to confirm the new name.
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You can print a file using the ^UFile - Print^u menu option.
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However, Windows 95 also allows you to print without opening your document.
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This is useful if your application is closed and you just need to print a copy of your file.
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In Windows Explorer you right-click the file you want to print.
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You can also use the shortcut menu to open a file or application directly from within Explorer.
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You then click ^UPrint^u in the shortcut menu.
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The relevant application is launched temporarily.
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The file is sent directly to the printer.
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You may decide that some of your files need to be moved to a different folder.
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Or, you might need to have copies of the same file in more than one folder.
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With Explorer, you have a choice of methods for copying and moving files.
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You can use keyboard shortcuts to move and copy files.
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Let's say, for example, that you need to move your Test file from the Microsoft Office folder to the Conference folder.
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To do this, click your ^UTest^u file.
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Next, you use the keyboard shortcut ^UCtrl+X^u to cut.
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To paste, you click the place to which you want to move or copy to - here, it's the ^UConference^u folder.
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Then you press ^UCtrl+V^u.
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This moves the file to the destination folder.
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You can copy a file to a different folder in a similar fashion.
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But instead of cutting the file, you copy it, using ^UCtrl+C^u.
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Next you click the destination folder.
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Then you press ^UCtrl+V^u to create the new copy.
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Both the left and right mouse buttons allow you to move or copy files and folders by dragging and dropping.
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Right-clicking is often the easiest way to move and copy files, because a shortcut menu displays giving you the option of moving, copying, or canceling.
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You select the file or folder you want to work with by pressing the right mouse button.
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Make sure that the place you want to drag the file or folder to is visible.
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Keep the right mouse button depressed while you're dragging the icon. You release the mouse button at the destination folder.
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You then have the option of clicking ^UMove Here^u or ^UCopy^u ^UHere^u on the shortcut menu.
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You may prefer to use the left mouse button.
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If you left-click a file and drag it to a folder on the same disk drive, Windows 95 moves it.
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If you hold down the ^UShift^u key while dragging ^Ra file between^r disk drives, Windows 95 copies the file, instead of moving it.
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In the same way, if you click the file and drag it to a folder on another disk drive, Windows 95 copies the file.
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If you hold down the ^UShift^u key while dragging disk drives, Windows 95 moves the file.
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If the No Entry sign displays when you drag an item, it means that Windows 95 cannot copy or move the file to the place you've chosen.
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Before Windows 95 moves or copies a file that may affect the running of a program, a warning message appears, and you are asked to confirm the operation.
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This makes it easy for you to stop your action before it causes problems.
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As you use your computer more often, your available disk space can become quite cluttered.
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You can delete selected files and folders you no longer need, to free some of your disk space.
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In Explorer, you click the file or folder you want to delete.
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You then choose ^UFile - Delete^u.
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You can also delete a file or folder using the ^UDelete^u icon on the toolbar, or the ^UDelete^u key on the keyboard.
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Suppose you've deleted the wrong file.
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You can click ^UEdit - Undo^u ^UDelete^u or use the ^UUndo^u button on the toolbar to retrieve what you've deleted.
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You can also delete a file or folder by dragging and dropping it in the ^URecycle Bin^u, on the desktop.
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All the files and folders you delete go to the Recycle Bin -
they are not actually removed from the hard disk.
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The Recycle Bin, like a real recycling bin, allows you to recover files that you've deleted by mistake.
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For example, if you want to retrieve a file from the Recycle Bin, you open the Recycle Bin by double-clicking its icon.
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Then you right-click the file you want to restore.
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Next you click ^URestore^u in the menu.
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This returns the file to its original place.
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You can also retrieve a file by dragging the file back into position in Explorer.
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Dragging the file to its original folder in Explorer restores it, although it first displays at the bottom of the list of contents.
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If you just drag and drop the file into Explorer the file will be placed in whatever folder you currently have open.
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If you want to free hard-disk space, you must empty the Recycle Bin periodically.
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You can do that by right-clicking the ^URecycle Bin^u icon.
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In the resulting dialog box, you click ^UYes^u to confirm that you want to empty the Recycle Bin.
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A file you delete from the command prompt or from a floppy disk, doesn't go into the Recycle Bin.
Pressing ^UShift+Del^u also bypasses the Recycle Bin.
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In Explorer, as in other Windows utilities, you can select more than one file at a time.
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This is handy when you want to perform an operation on several files - you can do them all at once.
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You can click ^UEdit - Select^u ^UAll^u to select all the files in a current window.
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If you want to select, say, the first three files, you click the first. Then, with the ^UShift^u key depressed, you click the third.
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If you want to select files randomly, you hold down the ^UCtrl^u key and click each file that you need.
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You can then copy, move, and delete multiple files in the same way you can a single file.
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You can also carry out some of your file and folder management from My Computer, instead of from Explorer.
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Suppose you want to give a copy of one of your files to a colleague.
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To do this, you wish to copy the file from your hard disk to a floppy disk.
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Let's see how to do this using My Computer.
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You can also do this easily from Explorer.
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You double-click the ^UMy^u ^UComputer^u icon.
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Next you double-click the ^UC:drive^u icon.
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Then you click the file or folder you want to copy.
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On the ^UFile^u menu, point to ^USend To^u.
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You then click the ^U3╜^u ^UFloppy(A)^u option in the menu displayed.
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Your file is copied to the floppy disk.
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Folders are an important part of disk organization.
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To keep your work organized you can create folders to store your work, just as you might store it in your office and home.
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The folder icon used in Windows 95 looks like a real folder.
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A hand beneath the folder indicates that it is a shared folder.
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A Windows 95 folder has many similarities to a real folder.
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A real folder holds papers, documents, and sometimes even other folders.
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A Windows 95 folder holds files, documents, programs, and other folders.
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The structure in which folders are arranged on a drive is called a tree.
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You start with one main folder called the root.
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All other folders are branches of the root folder.
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For example, you can have one folder for your project files.
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Within that folder, you can have folders for each aspect of a project - one for sales, one for budgets, and so on.
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These folders are sometimes called ^Rsubfolders^r.
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The chain of folder names, starting at the root and going to a particular folder, is called the folder's ^Rpath^r.
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For example, the path to the Conference folder is C:\My Files\Conference.
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You separate the folders in a path with a backslash.
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How you choose to use folders depends on how you like to organize your work.
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Some people organize and reorganize their folders regularly, as their work dictates.
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Others build a basic structure and always stick with that.
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The beauty of folders is that you can set them up in any way that suits your working style.
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Windows 95 manages files and folders in a very similar way.
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For example, you can copy, move, and rename folders in much the same way you do files.
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When you open a file you might be launching an application or opening a document.
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When you open a folder, its contents are displayed.
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Let's look at how to create a new folder in Windows 95 Explorer.
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You click the folder where you want to put the new folder.
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Then you choose ^UFile -^u ^UNew - Folder^u.
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Next, you type a name for your new folder.
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Then you press ^UEnter^u.
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Another way you can create a folder is by double-clicking ^UMy Computer^u.
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Next you double-click the ^UC:^u ^Udrive^u icon.
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Then you double-click the disk or folder in which you want to place the new folder.
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Then you choose ^UFile - New^u, and click ^UFolder^u.
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Now you type the name of the new folder, and press ^UEnter^u.
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Some programs will also let you create a new folder from within their Save or Open dialog boxes.
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You may wish to reorganize your folders occasionally.
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This often means deleting old folders.
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Remember, when you delete a folder, you also delete its contents - usually other files and folders.
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You can delete a selected folder by pressing the ^UDelete^u button on your keyboard, or by dragging it to the ^URecycle Bin^u.
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You can also delete a folder by choosing ^UDelete^u from its right-click shortcut menu.
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Let's say you want to delete your Analysis folder from the Microsoft Office folder.
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And let's say you decide to do it from My Computer.
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You now drag the Analysis folder to the ^URecycle Bin^u icon.
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The folder and its contents disappear.
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As with files, deleted folders can be recovered from the Recycle Bin.
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When you delete a folder containing files, the folder is not shown in the Recycle Bin, just the files are shown.
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In Windows 95 you need to select all the files individually in the Recycle Bin to restore the folder completely.
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Remember, just as with a file, pressing ^UShift+Del^u when a folder is selected deletes it without sending it to the Recycle Bin.
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Suppose you want to reorganize your folders because your original basic structure has become outdated.
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You can move and copy folders in just the same ways you can files.
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You can use the same ^UCut^u, ^UCopy^u, and ^UPaste^u commands in the ^UEdit^u menu.
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You can also use the same keyboard shortcuts.
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You can also drag and drop folders using either of the mouse buttons, as you would with files.
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The only thing to bear in mind is that when you copy or move a folder, all of its contents, including files and subfolders, come with it.
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Assume that you've been asked to head a new project team.
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You've decided to create a folder to keep all project information.
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For your new assignment, you've been given two very important files on a floppy disk which have to be moved to your Project folder.
