File, Folders, and Directories

• Files: a file is a collection of information. It might be plain text, a program, a picture, a sound file, a MS WORD document, or many other things.

• Text and binary files: files that consist of plain ASCII text that you can read directly are called TEXT or ASCII files. Files that contain all sorts of special codes for running programs, displaying graphics, accessing fonts, and so forth are called BINARY files, and show up as meaningless garbage if you try to view them as text in a simple application such as Notepad (they work only in the application they were designed for, such as MS WORD).

• Folders (also called Directories): these are files that contain collections of other files. Folders may be nested inside one another to any level

• File extensions: most files have an extension that tells the type of file it is. It has the format "name.ext". For example, MS WORD files have the extension ".doc", plain text files are ".txt", some graphic files have ".gif". Examples: myletter.doc, pict.gif, note.txt

  To see the many file extensions (file types) there are, double click on MY COMPUTER, and click on VIEW > OPTIONS > FILE TYPES

• If a file belongs to a particular application, such as WORD, double clicking it loads it into the application. If you single click on it you usually select it for some operation, or get information about it.

• Using FIND: this is a very powerful tool for locating files, given the full or partial name. If you click on START > FIND > Files or Folders a menu shows up. Make sure that you are looking in the C: drive (usually) and then type the full or partial name of a file you are looking for, for example "m*.gif" will locate all files that start with "m" and have the file extension ".gif". Note that you can drag the partitions (such as "In Folder" or "Size") with the mouse to shrink or enlarge them.

  Note that the FIND command has several options as well. If you click on the ADVANCED tab you can specify further limiting conditions for the search, such as specifying the "Of type" to be, say, "Application", in order to limit the search to application programs and so weed out all other types. Or, you can select the DATE MODIFIED tab in order to limit your search to specified dates.

• Navigating through folders (directories): folders (when viewed with large icons, usually show up as yellow folders. If you double click on a folder it opens up contents of that folder, if you double click on a folder inside there, it opens up the contents of that folder, and so on. The ADDRESS part of a folder window usually contains the complete path name of where you are, such as: C:\Larryg\Myclass\Javascript.
  You can go back up by clicking on the icon that has a bent up-arrow on it.

• Finding and running programs: most programs (applications) are found by searching the START menu. You click on START > PROGRAMS and it opens up a menu on the side with many entries. Some of these entries have a small pointer on the right side: when your mouse rests on that entry an additional side menu opens up, and sometimes a 3rd level is present. Clicking on an entry with no pointer on the right causes it to execute.

Class Topics

Bits and Bytes

PC Hardware

Using Help

Files, Folders, and Directories

Windows

File Manipulation

Customizing Your PC

Handling Errors and Aborts

Specific Applications: NotePad and WORD

Finding Information About Your PC

Connection to the Internet