What are the fundermentals of Using The Computer and Managing Files?
In this module you can learn how to effectively operate within the desktop environment and how to manage and organize files and directories/folders.
Managing Files And Folders
A file is a collection of numbers which have been written to your computer’s hard drive.
These numbers can be converted into a picture, a sound, text, or a set of instructions for a
program to perform certain actions. A clue to a file’s type is given by its Icon or by its file extension.
Folders are containers for anything on a computer including files and other folders.
A path lists the folders that have to be opened to get to the required file.
Folders
Each of these is a folder. They may contain files or other folders (called subfolders) or both. There may be many “nestings” of folders within folders.
Files and folders are located on the computer by using a file path. The “James” folder is located inside a folder called “Home”, which is located inside a folder called “es-net”, which is located on the “C:” drive. The file path will be “C:\es-net\Home\James”.
Moving and Copying
To move a file or folder, either right click on its icon OR left click on the Edit option on the toolbar. Choose cut to move or copy to copy!
At this point the item has been placed onto a clipboard – an area of memory accessible from nearly any application in Windows. Right click (or open Edit in the toolbar) in an open destination folder and choose “Paste” (or use drag and drop) .
When an attempt is made to move an item between volumes, it is effectively copied, and the original remains.
Creating Files and Folders
This is mercifully easy. Simply right-click on some empty space in any suitable folder or the desktop and choose to create a new object from the choices offered.
Be careful not to alter the file extension, as this can render the file unreadable. File extensions are usually hidden for this reason.
