Understanding Directories

Directories and File Management

In order to manage your files effectively, you will need to understand something about the organization of your computer. Your personal computer (pc) is organized using a hierarchical structure. You can think of it as an upside-down tree. The top level is your "root" directory (usually c:\, called the "c prompt"). While you can save files directly to the root directory, it's usually not a good idea (for various reasons that we won't go in to!).

Your c:\ drive is divided into directories. The easiest way to think of these directories is as "folders." Each folder (or directory) can hold files or you can divide the directories into sub-directories (more folders). Most software applications create a directory for application files when they are installed. The Windows operating system, for example, creates a "windows" directory (c:\windows). Within the windows directory is a subdirectory called "desktop" which contains all of the files (and more subdirectories) that you see on your desktop.

Let's see what this looks like.

Click on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop, and then double click on the icon that represents your C:\ drive. What you now see is a representation of your computers root directory that looks something like the one below (hopefully, yours isn't as full as mine!).

Each folder represents a directory that holds files or additional folders. Most of the folders you see are application folders. For example, the first folder, "Acrobat3," holds a copy of the program Adobe Acrobat Reader, Version 3.0, which is installed on my computer.

Where Have All My Files Gone?

Why do you need to know all this? Well, because when you save a file, you need to know where it goes. Most applications will automatically look in a default folder for files. They will also save files to the same default folder unless you tell them otherwise. For instance, Microsoft Office automatically saves and retrieves files to and from the "My Documents" folder (see above). Corel WordPerfect saves files to the "MyFiles" folder. Let's see how that works.

When you ask WordPerfect to open a file, you see a screen that looks something like this:

Creating Folders

Yours may only show a list of files instead of more folders. Creating additional folders, however, can help you organize information For example, under the "Courses" folder, I have created additional folders for course materials. It's easy to create folders in Word Perfect. Simply click on "File" in the dialog box menu bar, then select "New" and then "Folder." You will be asked to give the folder a name. After that, you can double click on the folder to open it and retrieve files that you store there.

Moving Files

Using the "My Computer" application from your desktop, you can easily move files from one folder, or directory, to another. And you can easily create directories and subdirectories. Remember, however, that the application you use to create, save, and retrieve files will look in its default folder for files first, so, if you create subdirectories somewhere else on your computer, you will need to know where they are so you can tell the application where to look. I recommend that you create subdirectories within the default directory to save you lots of headaches! For example, create folders under "MyFiles" for your Word Perfect documents.

To move files using My Computer, you can simply drag and drop them from one open folder to another. To do this, click once on the folder you want to move, holding down the left mouse button (do not let go!), and move the mouse pointer to the folder or directory where you want the file. Now let go. You should see the file move when you do this.

Help! I Forgot Where I Put It!

Sometimes we all forget which folder we saved a file to. It's too easy to click "OK" before we actually look at our screens! Luckily, if you remember the file name, Windows makes it easy to find lost files. Simply use your Windows "Start" menu, click on "Find," and then on "Files or Folders." Now type in the file name and click "Find Now." If you can't remember the exact file name, you can use the wildcard feature--the asterisk. For example, suppose you have downloaded a file called "photo," but you can't remember what the file extension was. Simply type in "photo.*" and Find will locate any file named photo with any extension: photo.bmp, photo.jpg, photo.gif, or whatever it might be. You can also use wildcards within a file name--Was that photo1 or photo2? It doesn't matter; I'll just search for photo*.* and see what I find!

A Quick Note About Downloading Files

When you download files and programs from the Web, especially when you're using Netscape to download them, it's easy to lose them. Netscape does ask you where you want to save files to, but most of us are in a hurry and simply click OK when Netscape prompts us for a location. They aren't lost--they are hidden somewhere in your Netscape directory (which has many subdirectories). Instead, I usually save downloaded files directly to my Desktop (or to a disk if I'm using a public computer). It's very easy to do this, without having to click on all the directories looking for it: simply include the directory path as part of the file name. For example, let's say you want to save the picture below to your desktop:

Let's see what this looks like.

Place your cursor on the picture and click on your right mouse button. Choose "Save image as" and you will be promoted to choose a location and file name. While you can search for a directory to save the file in, sometimes it's easier just to type it in front of the file name (click on the file name, hit your "home" key, then type: c:\windows\desktop\). It should look something like this:

I Want to Know More!

And there's plenty more to know! However, I'm all out of time, so, for now, if you want more information, try the information on directories from ZDNet's Webopedia.