File Management

• File management


  The process of organizing and managing electronic files and folders on a computer
• File/Windows Explorer


  • File management program supplied with all Windows operating systems
  • Provides access to files and folders
  • Includes address bar, search box, toolbar and menu bar, left navigation pane, and right details pane
• The need to organise

  Electronic files need to be organised, just as in a manual filing system
• Organising files and folders

  1. Plan basic folder structure on paper or use SmartArt in Word

  2. Create main folders like School and Personal

  3. Add subfolders as needed

  4. Use meaningful folder and file names

  5. Keep same folder structure on all computers used
• File


  Computer work is saved in files
• File name


  • Consists of three parts: name, dot, extension
  • Name as given by user, may include alphabetical characters, special characters, digits, and spaces
  • Extension is a three or four letter code that identifies the file type, automatically added by the program
• Never change the file extension of an existing file manually
• File extension


  Indicates what type of file it is and which program should be used to open it
• Opening a file


  1. See list of suggested programs

  2. Search Internet for suitable program

  3. Change or set default program

  4. Right-click file and use Open With command
• Windows can't open this file!
• File path


  The location of a specific file, e.g. D:\Documents\Invoices\2017
• Common file types and extensions

  • Graphics: jpeg, jpg, bmp, gif, tiff, png
  • Office: docx, xlsx, pptx, accdb
  • Audio: mp3, wav, cda, wma
  • Video: mp4, mpeg, asf, wmv, avi
  • Program: exe, com
  • Portable Document Format: pdf
  • Compressed: zip, rar
  • Plain text: txt
  • Rich Text Format: rtf
  • Hypertext Markup Language: html, xhtml
• Working with files and folders

  1. Rename

  2. Sort

  3. Copy or Move

  4. Delete
• Recycle Bin


  • Files deleted from the hard drive are automatically sent here, can be recovered if not emptied
  • Files deleted from network drives or removable media are not sent to the Recycle Bin
• Shortcut


  Appears with an arrow in the bottom left corner, only points to the original item, not the item itself
• Selecting files


  1. Use Shift to select adjacent files

  2. Use Ctrl to select non-adjacent files
• Converting between file types


  1. Save the file in a format that can be read by other types of programs

  2. Allows sharing data and accessing data with older operating systems
• The operating system (OS) manages computer resources such as memory, CPU time, and input/output devices.
• Hardware refers to physical components, while software refers to programs or applications.
• Software is the set of instructions that tell hardware what to do.
• An OS is software that controls hardware and provides services to applications running on it.
• Operating Systems have two main functions: managing hardware and providing user interface.
• Examples of Operating Systems include Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Unix, Android, iOS, Chrome OS, etc.
• Operating System (OS): The OS controls how all the different parts of your computer work together.
• Operating System (OS): The OS controls all hardware and software on your computer.