The Desktop
The Start Icon
The Control Panel
File Management
Naming and Saving Files
Cutting, Copying, Pasting, and Deleting Files
Finding Documents

This instructional section will cover the basic operation of the PC and file management. It will acquaint new computer users with the desktop, the Control Panel, the Windows Explorer file structuring system, and basic file management. It’s very important that PC users are familiar with all of these concepts so that they can easily navigate the PC environment, manage files, and control their computer systems.

The Desktop
When your computer has booted fully after being activated, you’ll see the desktop, which is the graphical user interface (GUI) from which you will begin all computer operations. Become familiar with the desktop and all of the basic elements that you’ll need to perform useful functions (see Figure 1.1 below).

Figure 1.1: The Desktop



Here is a brief explanation of each element depicted in Figure 1.1:

• Recycle Bin ? a central location where unwanted files are stored. Drag and drop unwanted files to the Recycle Bin, or select the unwanted file and press the Delete button on the keyboard to send the file to the Recycle Bin. Double-click the Recycle Bin and select Empty to permanently delete unwanted files.
• Folder ? a virtual storage area for files that you want to keep.
• Program Icons ? symbols that you click to launch computer programs.
• Minimized Programs ? programs that are running, but are unseen until you click on the minimized program icon(s) at the bottom of the desktop to make them active again.
• Quick-launch Toolbar ? click any icon in this area one time to launch the application.
• Start Icon ? click this icon to access other programs, the Control Panel, My Documents, and other important elements and functions.

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The Start Icon
Clicking the Start icon will take you to many important areas and functions. See Figure 1.2 below, which illustrates some of the important folders and functions that can be accessed by clicking the Start icon.

Figure 1.2: The Start Icon Folders and Functions


Click My Documents to access the My Documents folder, which contains important files that you have placed into it. Place your cursor over the All Programs Arrow to see a cascading list of the programs on your computer. Note that programs that are on the Desktop or the Quick-launch toolbar will probably not appear when you place your cursor over the All Programs Arrow.

My Computer is a virtual representation of the main Drives on your computer. Drives are areas of the computer that store huge amounts of folders and files. Common Drive letters are A, C, D, E, F, and G. C and D are usually hard drive areas that store large amounts of data. Drives E, F, and G are usually peripheral devices such as CD-ROM drives, Memory Sticks, etc. Drive A is usually a 3.5-inch Floppy Drive. The My Computer area also sometimes contains shared document links and Internet applications.

Click Turn Off Computer to shut down the computer or to place the computer in hibernate mode, which means that the computer is still on, but the screen is blank and it is in power-save mode. Select this function when you won’t be using the computer for significant periods of time, but don’t want to shut it down.

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The Control Panel
The Control Panel contains many useful functions. See Figure 1.3 below, which illustrates some important functions in the Control Panel.

Figure 1.3: Control Panel



Control Panel icons depicted in Figure 1.3:

• The Add or Remove Programs icon will allow you to add or remove programs to your computer. This area will also display the file sizes of all of your programs.
• The Display icon will allow you to adjust the resolution of your screen, the appearance of your screen, your screensaver, and other attributes related to your screen display.
• The Printers and Faxes icon shows the printers and fax devices that are connected to your computer. You can also add, delete, and troubleshoot printers here. Check the status of print jobs, and cancel print jobs by double-clicking the default printer and then clicking the Document menu.
• The System icon will give you important system and hardware information such as your processor speed, available RAM, etc.
• The Mouse icon will let you adjust your mouse settings. Click this icon to adjust the mouse pointer speed, trails, movement, visibility, etc. will let you control the volume of audio devices, voice functions, sounds, hardware, etc.

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File Management
File management is one of the most important aspects of PC operation. Your files must be stored correctly so that you can retrieve critical information in a fast and efficient manner. Think of each main Drive of your computer as a filing cabinet and think of each folder on the drive as a folder that’s normally placed in a file cabinet. Finally, think of files as the papers that are placed in folders, which are placed in file cabinets. Drives contain folders, and folders contain files. Figure 1.4 below depicts this file structure.

Figure 1.4: File Structure



The Windows Explorer file structure exemplifies this simple, yet organized and effective file system. Files are placed in folders, which are located on specific drives (A, C, D, E, F, G, etc.). You can choose the names of the files and folders. Figure 1.5 reflects the Windows Explorer file structure.

Figure 1.5: Windows Explorer



When you click the plus (+) symbol that appears to the left of a drive or folder in the left pane of the Explorer Window, the symbol will change to a minus (-) symbol and the contents of the drive or folder will be revealed under the drive or folder. In Figure 1.5, notice that there are minus symbols located to the left of the following folders or drives: the Shortcut to Local Disk (D) drive, Adobe CS, Adobe Acrobat 6.0, and PDFMaker.

Look at the Shortcut to Local Disk (D) drive and the two folders that appear below it. The minus symbols located to the left of each of these elements indicate that the Adobe CS folder is in the D drive and the Adobe Acrobat 6.0 folder is in the Adobe CS folder. Notice how the folders that appear under the D drive are staggered to the right. Each time a folder contains another folder(s), the other folder is located below the primary folder and just to the right of it.

Notice that PDFMaker is located in the Acrobat folder, which is in the Adobe Acrobat 6.0 folder. PDFMaker is highlighted, which means that its contents appear in the right pane of the Explorer Window. Look at the files and folders located in the right pane of the Explorer Window.

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Naming and Saving Files

Files are made of two parts:

1. the name of the document
2. the extension.

The name of the document should uniquely identify it so it can be accessed later. The extension tells you what type of file you are using. Below are a few examples of common file type:

• .doc = Microsoft Word Document
• .xls = Microsoft Excel Document
• .ppt = Microsoft PowerPoint Document
• .jpg = JPEG Image File
• .gif = GIF Image File
• .tiff = TIFF Image File

File naming is extremely important, but many beginning computer users fail to name files appropriately, and thus have trouble finding and identifying those files later. The first time you name a file, you should click the File menu, and select Save As. In the File Name field, give the file a unique and meaningful name that you will remember. For example, if you’re creating a History Quiz that deals with the Civil War, you could name the file History Quiz Civil War. Separate different words with an underscore, as shown in the previous example.

Finally, make sure that you remember where you put your files. In the above example, you could create a folder called History, and in that folder you could have another folder called Quizzes. Place the file History Quiz Civil War in the Quizzes folder, which is in the History folder.

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Cutting, Copying, Pasting, and Deleting Files

It’s very important that you learn how to cut, copy, and paste files. First let’s cover the difference between each of these actions. When you copy a file, you’re making an exact copy of that file so you can place it in another location. When you place the copied file in the new location, you have pasted it into the new location. The file you copied remains in the original location in which it was copied, but there is a copy of it in the new location.

Conversely, when you cut a file, you are deleting it from one area and moving it to another area. Using the example from the Naming and Saving Files section, let’s say that we cut the file History Quiz_Civil War from the Quizzes folder, and then paste it into a folder called Evaluation. We’ve deleted the file History Quiz_Civil War from the Quizzes folder, and moved it to the Evaluation folder.

When you delete a file, you are selecting the file, and then pressing the Delete key on the keyboard. When you do this, you will see a dialog box that says “Are you sure you want to send [file name] to the Recycle Bin? If you click Yes, the file will be sent to the Recycle Bin (see the Desktop section, which describes the Recycle Bin). If you click No, the action will be cancelled. It’s very important to realize that when you empty the Recycle Bin, all of the files you deleted will be permanently deleted.

Now let’s practice cutting, copying, pasting, and deleting a file so that you get a good understanding of these commands. This short tutorial will give you a good understanding of how the Windows Explorer File system works and how to use these useful commands.

1. Right click the Start icon, and select Explore. Windows Explorer will appear, and it will look similar to Figure 1.5.
2. Click the My documents folder in the left pane. The contents of the folder, if they exist, will appear in the right pane. Place the cursor in the right pane, and right-click the mouse button. The drop-down menu will appear. Select New Folder (see Figure 1.6 below).
   
   Figure 1.6: New Folder
   
   
   
   
3. A new folder will appear and the folder name will be highlighted. Name the folder “Test Folder" and press Enter on the keyboard.
4. Open Microsoft Word. A new document will appear.
5. Type “Test Document"
6. Click the File menu, and select Save As.
7. The Save As dialog box will appear. Test Document will appear in the File name field. The first words entered in a Word document will appear in the File name field if you don’t specify another name. Leave the name “Test Document" (see Figure 1.7).
8. Click the black down-pointing triangle located to the right of the Save in field, and find the My Documents folder. Click the My Documents folder to specify that you want to save the file in that folder (see Figure 1.7).
9. Click the Save button and close Word.
   
   Figure 1.7: Save As Dialog Box
   
   
   
   
10. Maximize Windows Explorer. Click My Documents in the left pane if it isn’t selected already. You’ll see the word document you just created in the My Documents folder (it’ll be in the right pane).
11. Right-click Test Document. The drop-down menu will appear. Select Copy (see Figure 1.8). Figure 1.8: Right-click Drop-down Menu
    
    
    
    
12. Click Desktop in the left navigation pane. The contents of the Desktop will appear in the right pane.
13. Place the cursor in the right pane, right-click the mouse button, and select Paste. The Test Document will appear in the Desktop (look in the right pane). You’ve just created a copy of the Test Document and put it on the Desktop.
14. Right-click Test Document and select Cut.
15. Click a folder of your choice to select it.
16. Place the cursor in the right pane and right-click the mouse. Select Paste. The Test Document will appear in the folder you selected. You’ve just deleted the document from the Desktop and placed in the folder you selected.
17. Right-click the Test Document, and select Delete. The Confirm Delete dialog box will appear.Recycle Bin.

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Finding Documents

You should always give you files unique and meaningful file names. However, there will be times when you’ll forget where a particular file is, or you’ll want to search for certain files. If you forget where you put a file, you can use the Search function to find the file.

To use the Search function to find a file:

1. Right-click the Start icon, and select Search. The Search Results dialog box will appear (see Figure 1.9).
   
   Figure 1.9: Search Function
   
   
   
   
2. Enter the name of the file that you’re looking for in the All or part of the file name field (see Figure 1.9).
3. If you don’t remember the exact file name, enter as much of the file name as you can in the A word or phrase in the file name field (see Figure 1.9).
4. Click the black down-pointing triangle located to the right of the Look in field, and specify the location of the computer you would like the search to cover.
5. Click the Search button. The search for your file will begin.
6. If you want to search for all files that end with a certain extension, enter an asterisk (*) followed by a period (.) and the file extension in the All or part of the file name field. For example, if you want to find all JPEG image files in the computer, enter *.jpg in the All or part of the file name field, and select My Computer in the Look in field.

Selecting My Computer in the Look in field will search your entire computer. The search function will find ALL files ending in .jpg on your computer.
Note: this could result in an extremely large number of search results if there are many instances of the file extension you choose.