How to…

Find a File - Create a Shortcut - Create A Folder -  Using the Run Box - Short-Cut Keys - Deleting Files - Formatting a Floppy Disk - Shutting Down the Computer

To locate a file on your hard drive, start up the Find File program. <Start Menu/Find/Find Files or Folders>, or use the Windows key and F.

If you remember the name of the file, you can type it in the "Named" box, then press <Find Now>. There can be many files on your computer that have the same name, or parts of the name you are searching for. This is not an exact science! If more then one item if found, typically, the user can deduce form the icon displayed if it is the file they are looking for. (ie. a notebook with a pen over it designates a Wordpad document).

Method # 1: In an open area of your Desktop, Right-click the mouse. From the menu, (using the left button now) choose <New> then <Shortcut>. When the window pops up, if you know the exact location of the file/program, you can type it in, otherwise, use the <Browse> button. The next window that appears looks very similar to the window that appears when opening or saving a file. Browse your hard drive until you find the location of the file or program, then choose <Ok>.

When you return to the original screen and the file/folder has been selected, press <Next>. Now you have the opportunity to name the shortcut or leave it to be the default window's given name. Once finished, you may press the <Finish> button and the shortcut will be placed on your desktop.

Folder Shortcut: the simplest way to do this is either type in the name of the directory, or choose a file in that directory. After returning from browsing, in the File Location box, remove the file name. Then follow the steps as you would normally. Now you have a shortcut to a folder!

Method # 2: If you use the Find program or the Windows Explore to locate your program/file/folder, right click and choose <Create Shortcut> if the option is available. If not, select <Copy>, go to the folder you want the shortcut and right click in that folder. Choose <Paste Shortcut>.

If using the Find File Program to create a shortcut, when you right click and select <Create Shortcut> it gives an error. "Windows can not create a shortcut here, would you like it placed on the desktop?" You can then say <Yes> and move the shortcut at a later time.

Creating a folder is a rather simple process that is frequently performed. A folder can be created 2 primary ways with a 3rd way that is a little more obscure.

Open up the existing folder or go to the location where you want the new folder to be created. I'll walk you through both locations.

Desktop: To create a new folder on the desktop, simply right-click anywhere on the desktop. Do not right-click on top of programs or icons as that will give you a different menu. From the right-click menu, select New - Folder. This creates the new folder on your desktop with a generic name in it. At this time, the generic name, New Folder, is highlighted and you can begin typing the name of the new folder. When finished, press Enter.

Existing Folder: To create a new folder inside of an existing folder, you can follow the same procedure as for creating a new folder on the Desktop  OR  you can simply go to File - New - Folder from the pull-down menu.

The 3rd method for creating a folder is a little more obscure and is only accessible from within some programs.

While in a program, let's say Internet Explorer or Word, when you do a Save As... what you are doing is either saving the file for the first time or you are saving a copy of it to a different location. When the Save As... window opens up, there is a little yellow folder button along the top right of the window. This folder button has a little star on the top corner. This is the Create New Folder button.

Folders can also be dragged and dropped from one location to another just like a file or document.

The Run box, (opened from <Start Menu/RUN> or Windows key and R), is used to quickly open programs, web addresses, execute applications, or open files or folders without having to hunt down the proper file or application and open it, then open the file you want.

If you don't know the location of the file or program, the <Browse> button can be used also to locate it.

Typing in their filename in the Run box (ie. wordpad.exe, notepad.exe and pbrush.exe) can launch programs such as Wordpad, Notepad and Paint.

Internet web addresses, also known as Universal Resource Locators (URL), can be typed directly into the Run box without first opening your Internet Browser.

(ie. http://sharon.k12.pa.us or http://www.yahoo.com)

NOTE: This work with Internet Explorer, AOL's Explorer and several others, I am not sure if it works with Netscape.

Shortcut keys can be a wonderful thing if your mouse has stopped working or you find it difficult to use the mouse because of the possible hand, arm and shoulder pains it can cause. Virtually everything you do on the computer can either be done solely with the mouse or keyboard, with the advantage of Shortcut keys, the time spend at the computer becomes more productive.

On the Shortcut key handout, there are several different ways the key combinations can be entered. Example, to Save a document or file, you can press CTRL+S. The Plus signifies to press both keys at the same time. There are a few that can be done sequentially such as ALT-Space-N, which minimizes the current window. The Plus and Hyphen sign let you know how the keys should be pressed.

NOTE: It is very common to press the keys several times because the user either doesn't realize they have or the results are not shown immediately. Do not panic, we will go over this during class time.

When you delete a file or folder, it is essentially removed from your computer. I stress essentially. The file or folder is actually placed in your Recycle Bin. Why not just wipe it right out? Well, if you accidentally delete something and you really need to get it back, you need to go no farther then the Recycle Bin to retrieve it. This allows a small room for error. Now, if you empty the Recycle Bin after deleting it, then it's gone for good. The Recycle Bin is located on your Desktop and in the root of each hard drive connected to your computer. These are all interconnected. Your Floppy drive(s) do NOT have a Recycle Bin and neither do CD drives, Zip drives, USB drives or Tape drives. NOTE: Depending on how Windows intefaces with your USB drive, while the drive is plugged in, it can have a Recycle Bin.

If you have deleted a file and you want it back, simply open the Recycle Bin up, it's nothing more that a folder/directory. Find the file you want back, now, you can recover it one of three following ways:

First is to click once on the file, goto <File/Restore> this will put the file back into the directory/folder it was deleted from. If the folder was deleted after deleting the file, it will recreate the directory/folder.

The second way is very similar, Right-click on the file you wish to recover and Left-click on <Restore>. Again, that puts it back to the previous location.

The third way is to Drag-and-Drop the file onto the desktop or into a specific folder. This is a little harder, I recommend learning the features of Drag-and-Drop before trying this.

To empty the Recycle Bin, you can open the Recycle Bin and select <File/Empty Recycle Bin> or, on the Desktop, you can Right-click on the Recycle Bin and Left-click on <Empty Recycle Bin>. Once you have done this, there is no turning back!

The more comfortable you are using Windows, the more you will understand how things like this work and how often to empty the Bin.

In the days of DOS (Windows operating system predecessor) formatting a floppy disk was a chore. The 'formula' to format a floppy disk from DOS was a little long and had to be an exact science. Some of the more DOS-knowledgeable people relied on small programs to make this easier for them.

Now to format a disk is rather simplistic! Here is the easiest way I am aware of. Open My Computer on your Desktop. Rick-click on your Floppy drive. There will be an option to <Format>. When this is opened, a window will pop up with several different options. The capacity window you don't want to change, Windows will typically see what size disk you have.

Under [Format Type] there are three options, <Quick> <Full> and <Copy System Files Only>. If it is a new disk, always use <Full>. If it is a disk you use often and DOES NOT hold important media, use <Quick>. If you need to make a simple bootable disk (not a System Recovery Disk), use the <Copy System Files Only>. The third method does not erase any material from the disk.

Under [Other Options] there is a large window for an 11-character name of the disk (if you desire to name it). If the disk has a name already, it will appear in this window. The first check box tell you whether to give it a name or not. The second check box (normally checked) will display a summary of the disk after formatting. Its corresponding window (opened after completing format) will tell the user if there are errors with the disk. The final check box is for copying system files to the floppy. This is not used with the <Copy System Files Only> selection from above…. but it also makes the disk bootable.

When you are finished with all of your work, you need to know how to shut down the computer properly. Before Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP, you could simply power down without a thought.

Now, like the Macintosh computers and Linux based computers, you need to shut the computer down with software. Go to the <Start Menu/Shut Down>, this will open a window with 3 or 4 options (Shut Down, Restart, Restart in DOS mode are the typical three). To Shut Down you computer, choose <Shut Down>. It will take Windows a moment to close. You will then see two screens. The first will display a message saying, "Please Wait while Windows Shuts Down". The Second screen will show up on some computers, it simply states that "It is now safe to shut down your computer". On some of the newer computers, the computer will power down without displaying this message. Do not fear! This is a feature of convenience.