File ManagementSend To Menu Command File Structure Windows Explorer - File Management Organising Files Copying, Cutting and Pasting Files Example File Management Skeletons Hints on Computer Filing Sharing File FormatsSend To Menu CommandSend To (Right Click on a file or select from File Menu) is used to quickly send files and folders to another place. Using this option, you can copy the file to one of the options provided.You can add other destinations to Send To. In the Send To folder, which is located in your Windows (Usually C:\windows) folder, create shortcuts (Right Click on window background for menu) to the destinations you send files to often, such as a printer, fax machine, removeable disk or backup drive or any particular folders. File StructureThe information your computer uses is stored in different types of files of which the two most common are program and data files. Instructions to run a program are stored in a program file. For example, the word processing program you use, consists of many files that contain the program statements required to use the program.The information you create while using a program is stored in data files. For example, if you write a letter to a friend using a word processing program, the contents of the letter are stored in a data file. In addition, you can create folders and subfolders in which you can store files that are related. Storing related files in folders keeps the disk organized and makes it much easier to locate files. Both files and folders are identified by names that are descriptive of the contents of the file or folder. Information is stored as files on the computer's hard disk or floppy disk. A disk can hold many files of different types. To make it easier to locate files, you can store the related files in folders. In some operating systems, the folders are also known as directories. There are different types of icons that represent files on the disk. Files follow folders in the list and also appear in alphabetical order. The different file icons represent different types of files. The various file icons also help you distinguish if the file is a program file or another type of file. An associated file is a file that has a specific application program attached to it that will open when the file is opened. Windows Explorer - File ManagementThere are 'windows' (which you get when you click on any folder) and there is Windows Explorer (in Start-Programs) which shows two 'panes', the left one being a file tree which expandable and collapsable to reveal/ hide detail, the right one being the contents of whatever folder is highlighted in the left. Basically, the latter is slightly more detailled for managing files, whereas the former is just for general use.In 'My Computer' (double-click on it), you can double-click on the Floppy (A:), (C:) (hard disk) or (D:) (usually CDROM if attached) icons (etc) and it will show you a window displaying the contents of each 'disk'. On a Network, if you have 'Mapped' drives, they may be available depending upon permission settings. You can right click on the white background of any window and go to 'New-Folder' and create a new folder to put different work in. If you click on the View menu at the top of an explorer window, you can list the files and folders in four different ways (large, small, list & detail) with the latter choice giving you most information. You can also go to View - Toolbars and show the Standard and Address buttons which may help you navigate more easily up and down the file structure. Organising FilesBasically it's up to you. Individual organisations are best standardising the folder and file name formats and respective locations. By default the majority of programs save documents in the 'My Documents' folder, which can and often has a shortcut on the Desktop. (It is located on the C: drive).On a stand-alone computer if EVERY DOCUMENT/FILE that is written, composed, created or saved is saved somewhere in the 'MyDocuments' folder, then this is a start. Folders can be created for discrete areas or content. On a Network, presumably files should be stored in a folder on a shared drive that all who need to have access to. Whatever, the need to establlish a system that allows access to necessary files, can be backed-up, avoids duplication and is secure takes a little planning. It is worth basing a computer filing system upon an existing system. If your paper files are Client surname based, then consider maintaining the same framework. This can make integration between to two systems easier. File organisation is not just for the benefit of those working now, but also for those who will access files and infomation in the future. Copying, Cutting and Pasting FilesYou can highlght folders and files and Right-Click or Choose Edit and opt to 'Cut' them. This will grey the selcted files out and put them on the computer 'Clipboard' ready to be 'Pasted' wherever you decide. Simply navigate to the folder yu wish to put them in and Right-Click or Choose Edit and opt to 'Paste' them in.The alternative to 'Cut' (The scissors icon) is 'Copy' (Two sheets icon). This leaves the originals alone and simply allows you to 'Paste' a copy wherever you like. Beware of using 'Copy' too often as it is easy to end up with too many mulitple copies of the same file and ten to loose track of changes made. Example File Management SkeletonsThese skeletons contain no files, just hypothetical folders. They are just suggestions about how you might organise folders. To rename/ add a folder for your own use, Right-Click and select 'Rename' or 'New' on the folder or window background respectively.
Hints on Computer Filing
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An application such as QuickView can also be useful. Many main 'Office' programs can read eachother's formats and most are backwards compatible, although bear in mind the date of versions. Office 97 will read Office 2000 files but Office 95 will not.
Some functions can be lost (especially Macros/ Controls) if you create a file and save it in an older format. As a rule, the less bells & whistles, the better if you need to be cross-version/program compatible. It is a good idea to look at the choices on your File-Save As menu to see what formats you can save a file in. As default, there usually is a basic medium for most files:
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