Organizing
Your Files in Folders
Windows 2000
provides a ready-made folder on the desktop called My Documents,
which points to the default location where files are stored (e.g., C:\Documents
and Settings\username\My Documents). You
can use this default location as a starting point for creating a hierarchy
of folders or you can create your own main folder and set "My Documents"
to point to that location. Whether you use the Windows 2000 default location
or specify your own, "My Documents" is the place where files
are saved. Once
the default has been established, you can also create additional folders
within any program you use.
Creating
a Hierarchy of Folders Within the Windows 2000 Default "My Documents"
Folder
To create
a subfolder of the My Documents folder, do the following.
- Double-click
the My Documents icon on the Windows 2000 desktop.
- Click
File on the Menu Bar and select New, then Folder.
- A new
folder will appear in the My Documents window with the folder name (New
Folder) highlighted. Type the name you want to give the folder.
QuickTip:
Any time text is highlighted, you can simply start typing to replace
the highlighted text.
- Repeat
steps 2 and 3 for each additional folder you'd like to create.
- To create
a folder within a folder, double-click the folder within which you want
to create a subfolder (to open that folder) before repeating steps 2
and 3.
- When finished
click the Close [X] button in the upper right corner of
the window.
How
to Establish Your Own Default Location
Rather than
"bury" your files in the location specified by the Windows 2000
operating system, you might want to create your own top-level folder and
point to that location as the "My Documents" default. The instructions
below assume you'd like to create a top-level folder called MyFiles on
the C: drive.
Creating
the Top-Level Folder:
- Double-click
the My Computer icon on the Windows NT desktop.
- Double-click
the (C:) icon in the "My Computer" window.
- Click
File on the Menu Bar and select New, then Folder.
- A new
folder will appear in the C: window with the folder name (New Folder)
highlighted. Type MyFiles.
- When finished,
click the Close [X] button in the active folder window.
Changing
the Default "My Documents" Location:
Make sure
you've created the top-level folder as described above and then do the
following.
- Right-click
the My Documents icon and choose Properties from the pop-up
menu.
- In the
"Target:" text box, replace the current entry with C:\MyFiles
(or use the Find Target button to locate and select the folder).
- Click
the OK button to finish.
Once you've
established the MyFiles folder as the "My Documents" target
location you can add folders within that folder by following the instructions
given in the "Creating a Hierarchy of Folders
Within the Windows 2000 Default 'My Documents' Folder" section
above. Alternatively, you can add folders from within any program you
use, as described below.
How
to
Create a New Folder from Within a Program
You can also
create folders with the default "My Documents" folder from the
"Save As" dialog box in any program.
- Click
File on the Menu Bar and select Save As.
- If necessary,
navigate to the folder within which you want to create a sub-folder
(i.e., change the "Save in:" location).
- Click
the Create New Folder icon at the top of the "Save As" dialog
box.
- In the
"New Folder" dialog box that appears, type the desired folder "Name:"
in the text box provided.
- When
finished, click the OK button.
- Finally,
if you're saving a document, make sure you enter a "File name:"
in the appropriate text box in the and then click the Save button.
If you aren't saving a file, click the Cancel button.
Finding
Files
If you can't
remember where you saved a file, you can usually search for the file within
the program you're using. In Office 97/2000/2002 programs (Word, Excel,
etc.) you can use the "Office Assistant" (e.g., Microsoft
Word Help) to find instructions. In other programs, you may have to
use a different Help feature to locate instructions for finding a file.
You can also
use the Windows search feature to locate a file.
- Click
the Start button on the Taskbar and choose Search to display
the Search/Search Results window (see Figure 1, below)
- Choose
For Files or Folders from the cascading menu.
- To locate
files in the My Documents folder and its subfolders, use the drop down
menu to change the "Look in:" selection in the Search panel
to My Documents.
- Make additional
selections in the Search panel at the left side of the window to help
isolate the file you're looking for. For example, to search for a Word
document that has a filename containing the word budget, do the following:
- Type
budget in the "Search for files or folders named:"
text box.
- Check
(click) the box next to Type (under Search Options) to display
a dropdown menu selector.
- Choose
Microsoft Word Document from the (very long) menu.
- When ready
to start the search, click the Search Now button.
The files
found will be listed in the Search Results area of the window.
Make a note of the location of the file when you find it. Then, if you
want to open the file immediately you can double-click the filename. Note
that the "Search Results" window will remain on the desktop until you
close it (i.e., opening the file you were looking for doesn't close the
dialog box).
FIGURE 1. Search/Search
Results Window![](images/win2kfolders-fig01.gif) |
How to Copy, Move
and Rename Files and Folders
You can copy,
move, or rename files and folders from any window or dialog box that contains
folder and/or file icons (or lists folders and/or files) to any other
window or dialog box that contains folder and/or file icons (or lists
folders and/or files). This can be a Microsoft Explorer window or a Word
"Open" dialog box, for example.
How
to Move or Copy a File
Microsoft
Office Example:
- In the
Microsoft Office program where the file to be moved or copied is located,
click the Open button on the Standard Toolbar.
- Locate
and click the name of the file (or folder) you want to move or copy.
- Right-click
the mouse (i.e., click the secondary button on your mouse).
- One the
shortcut, pop-up menu that appears, select Cut (to move the file)
or Copy (to copy the file).
- Locate
and choose the folder where you want to move or copy the file.
- Move
the mouse pointer to the file/folder area of the dialog box and right-click
(i.e., click the secondary button on the mouse).
- On the
shortcut, pop-up menu that appears, select Paste to place the
file in the selected folder.
- To get
out of the "Open" dialog box (without opening a file), click the Cancel
button.
Please note
that the right-click cut/copy-and-paste procedure is the same no matter
what file/folder window you're in.
"Send
to Floppy" Shortcut:
To copy a
file to a floppy disk, follow Steps 1-3 (above), then click Send to
on the pop-up menu and select 3-1/2" floppy (A:) from the cascading
menu that appears.
How
to Rename a File
Microsoft
Office Example:
- In
the Microsoft Office program where the file you want to rename is
located, click the Open button on the Standard Toolbar.
- Locate
and click the name of the file (or folder) you want to rename.
- Right-click
the mouse (i.e., click the secondary button on your mouse).
- One
the shortcut, pop-up menu that appears, select Rename.
- Type
a new file name (replacing the highlighted, boxed file name).
- To
get out of the "Open" dialog box (without opening a file), click the
Cancel button.
Please note that the right-click cut/copy-and-paste procedure is the
same no matter what file/folder window you're in.
|