Chapter 7: Using Files and Folders

What Are Files and Folders?

Files and folders are two of the most fundamental concepts of the Windows operating system. No matter what you use your computer for, you create and organize files and folders as soon as you decide to save your work. If you have worked with any other operating system, you are probably already acquainted with the concept of a file. You probably are familiar with folders as well, though you may know them as directories. If you aren't already familiar with files and folders, spending a small amount of time learning their properties will serve you well.

What Is a File?

A file is any collection of related information that is given a name and stored so it can be retrieved when needed. A file may contain any kind of information: a program or application (WordPad, for example, is in a file called Wordpad.exe); a document; a part of a document, such as a table or an illustration; a sound or piece of music; a segment of video; or any number of other things.

Many files are part of the Windows system itself. Windows uses files to store the information it needs to function, such as information regarding the appearance of your desktop, the kind of monitor or printer you use, the various dialog boxes and error messages, or how to display different fonts. Similarly, the applications on your computer typically have a number of auxiliary files in addition to the file containing the main program. Some of these files, for example, contain the choices you make about the program's optional settings. When you change these settings, you are not altering the program itself; you are editing some of its auxiliary files.

What Is a Folder?

Because of all the files associated with Windows and the various applications on your computer, your hard drive contains thousands of files before you begin creating files of your own. If your computer is part of a network, you may have access to millions of files. The Internet has billions of files. You would have no hope of keeping track of all those files if they weren't organized in some efficient way. In Windows (as in most other major operating systems), the fundamental device for organizing files is the folder.

Technically, a folder is just a special kind of file--one that contains a list of other files. The files on the list are said to be in the folder, and each file is allowed to be in only one folder. A folder can be either open or closed. When a folder is closed, all you see is its name and the folder icon, as shown here:

Windows comes with several folders that Microsoft suggests you use for your files--My Documents, My Music, and My Pictures. Another icon, My Computer, looks like a folder, and contains all the disks accessible from your computer. These customized folders have unique icons:

When a folder is open in Windows Explorer, it has its own window, and the files contained in the folder are displayed in the window.

The terms "file" and "folder" were chosen to remind you of a more familiar information retrieval system--the filing cabinet. Like the folders in a filing cabinet, the Windows folders are named objects that contain other objects. For example, a Windows folder named Budget might contain four spreadsheet files for First quarter, Second quarter, Third quarter, and Fourth quarter.

What Is the Folder Tree?

The organizational power of the folder system comes from the fact that it is hierarchical, which means folders can contain other folders. This feature enables you to organize and keep track of a great many folders, without straining your memory or attention.

If Folder A is inside Folder B, Folder A is a subfolder of B. Any folder can contain as many subfolders as you want to put there, but each folder (like each file) is contained in only one folder. In the same way, a mother may have many daughters, but each daughter has only one mother. And so, a diagram showing which folders are contained in which other folders looks something like a family tree. This diagram is called the folder tree, or sometimes the folder hierarchy. Windows Help calls it the folder list.

Figure 7-1 shows the top levels of the folder tree as they appear in the Folders Explorer bar. At the top of the folder tree (the founder of the Folder family, so to speak) is the desktop. Immediately under the desktop are My Computer, My Documents, My Network Places, and Recycle Bin, plus whatever files and folders you might have copied to the desktop. The manufacturer of your computer may also have put some files or folders on your desktop.

The My Computer icon may not appear on your desktop. But My Computer still shows up directly under the desktop in the folder tree.

Figure 7-1: The upper levels of the folder tree

Underneath My Computer are icons representing all of your system's storage media: hard drives, floppy drives, CD-ROMs, and so on. (Your system configuration may differ somewhat from that pictured in Figure 7-1.) Also under My Computer is the Control Panel, the window you use for configuring your computer.