Using Windows Explorer to Manage Your Computer

Use Windows Explorer to find, move, copy, open, and delete files. Also, to create new folders to organize your files. Explorer is easier to use than My Computer because you can see the entire structure of your computer in one window (instead of in several overlapping windows).

To open Windows Explorer right-click the Start button on the Taskbar and click Explore or choose Start > Programs > Windows (NT) Explorer.

On the left, in the All Folders panel, you see all your drives and folders. On the right, you see the contents of the selected drive or folder.

Viewing drives and folders in the All Folders panel:

• Drives or folders that have folders within them may show a plus sign (+) next to them in the All Folders panel. Click the plus sign to expand the display and see all the folders.
• When expanded, these drives and folders show a minus sign (-). Click the minus sign to close up the display.

You can change the view of drives, folders, and files in my Computer. Choose View from the menu. Choose Large Icons, Small Icons, List, or Details. Details gives you the most information in the smallest amount of space, shown in the figure. In Detail view, you can sort the listing by any column — just click the column heading to sort it one way and click it again to reverse the sorting order.

Selecting files:

• To work with a particular file move the mouse over the file name and click the left mouse button. This action selects the file.
• To work with a group of files move the mouse over the first file you want to select and left click. Press and hold down the Shift key as you move the mouse to the last file you want to select and the click the left mouse button.
• To select several scattered files move the mouse over the file you want to select and left click. Press and hold the Ctrl key. Still holding Ctrl click all other files you wish to select.

Creating a new folder:

1. In the All Folders panel, select the drive in which you want to place your folder. (To create a subfolder inside a folder, choose the folder in which you want to place your subfolder.)
2. From the Exploring menu, choose File > New > Folder. A new folder appears with the temporary name, New Folder.
3. Type a name for your folder and press Enter.

Renaming a file or folder:

1. Click the file or folder to select it.
2. Click the file or folder a second time, but not so soon that you are double-clicking it (which is two clicks very close together).
3. Type the new name and press Enter.

Moving or copying a file or folder:

1. To display the file or folder you want to move, select the folder containing it in the All Folders panel first.
2. Select the file or folder you want to move in the right panel.
3. Display the folder you want to move the file or folder to in the All Folders panel. If it is not displayed, it is nested inside another folder. Click the plus sign of the folder containing the desired folder until it is displayed. (You may need to do this more than once.)
4. To move a file or folder, click and drag the file or folder (from the right panel) on top of the desired destination folder (in the All Folders panel) until the destination folder is highlighted. To copy it, press Ctrl as you drag. (You see a small plus next to the mouse cursor.)
5. Release the mouse button.

Note: If you try to move a file or folder from one drive to another, Windows automatically copies it instead of moving it. Press Shift to move the file or folder rather than copy it.

You can also move or copy a file or folder by cutting or copying to the Clipboard and pasting. See Using the Clipboard.

Deleting a file or folder:

1. Select the file or folder
2. Press Delete (or Del) on the keyboard. The Confirm File Delete dialog box appears.
3. Click Yes to send the file to the Recycle Bin. (If the file or folder is on the floppy (A:) drive or another removable disk drive, Windows deletes the file completely.)

To restore a deleted file or folder from the Recycle Bin:

1. Click the Recycle Bin icon in the All Folders panel.
2. Select the file you wish to restore.
3. From the Recycle Bin menu, choose File > Restore.

Windows restores the file or folder to its original location.