What’s the difference between folders and files?

Folders - are very similar to manila folders in a file cabinet. Inside each of the Folders we will store our “files”. You can create sub-folders, or sub-sub folders to keep your “files” even more organized on different projects that you may be involved with. Such as initially you might have a folder for “Insurance”, but once it begins to get full – you may want to have sub-folders for different types of insurance: health, life, car, home, boat etc..

Files - each individual item we save on the computer – whether it is a photo, document, spreadsheet, song or video is known as a File. Files are the items that you are able to view and to work on if desired. An example would be the images you download from your digital camera; or the Word document that you've created. If you download a CD of music to your computer – although it is only 1 CD, each individual song or track of music is then an individual file.

TIPS:

• When naming files or folders we cannot use computer language symbols such as back or forwarded slashes ( / or \)
• When naming a file with dates you can use: 8.24.10 or 8-24-10 but cannot use 8/24/10.
• Use spaces when you name files or folders to make your filing easier.
• The filing system on the computer always puts numbers before letters 0-9 will always go before a-z, so if you want a file or folder to stay at the top, name it 0.0 to do - the zeros will keep it at the top, vs. naming it to do which would it put it towards the bottom of your list

Folders vs. Files – What’s the Difference?

When you are "saving/filing" items on your computer - it is helpful to know the difference between a file and/or a folder... sounds obvious - but to many this is confusing...

FILES – are each individual item on your computer that has a name – so if you take 5 photos, your camera will give them each a name – that “name” is a file – all file names end with an extension that tell us and the computer what the file is most photo’s will end in .jpg or maybe .bmp, .gif, .png, .tif etc.. If you have a music CD you want to copy/download to the computer, and that one CD has 12 music tracks – then there will be 12 different file names – music/audio file extensions might be .mp3, .wav, .wma

FOLDERS – symbolized with a manila folder – are the places where we store/file things of a like nature – PC’s are shipped with common folders - With Windows 98 and XP Operating Systems, the common folder names are: “My Documents”; “My Pictures”, “My Music”, “My Videos”, “My Scans”; in newer Windows Operating Systems, Vista & Windows 7, the word “My” has been dropped in your filing libraries

You can create as many folders, sub-folders, sub-sub folders, etc. as you would like. When you create a new folder - remember that whatever folder is highlighted in Windows Explorer or in the Filing Name Drop Down Box - that becomes the "Parent" to your new folder and therefore your new folder can & will be found "inside" that highlighted folder...

Organize Files & Folders on your Computer

WINDOWS EXPLORER shows you where all your files are on your computer – an easy way to access this is to hold down the Windows Flag key + Tap “E” on your keyboard using the same “folder system” you would in a “filing cabinet”. Folders and sub-folders are "containers" to store files (documents, picutres, videos, movies, music etc). Every item named on a computer is a file and files are sorted into foldder, sub-folders and sub-sub-folders, which you create and name.

Some of the standard folders/drawers that Windows creates are: My Documents, My Music, My Pictures & My Videos. In Windows Vista & Windows 7, the word “My” has been dropped….They get their names from the fact that you use them as follows:

• My Documents: Use this folder to store other types of documents you save, such as typed text or spreadsheets
• My Music: Use this folder to store music you copy to your computers
• My Pictures: Use this folder to store pictures, such as those you get from a camera or scanner, or from the Internet
• My Videos: Use this folder to store videos, such as those you get from a video camera, emails or from the Internet

WINDOW EXPLORER BASICS:

• Windows Explorer Is The Computers “Filing Cabinet” Allowing You To Quickly & Easily Move And Or Copy Item (S) From One Folder And Or Drive To Another
• The Windows Explorer Screen Is Divided Into Two Sections/Panes: Left & Right And Divided With Separator Bar
• Windows Explorer for Windows 95 thru XP Uses Plus (+) And Minus (-) Signs To Display Or Close What Is In A Folder; Windows Vista & Windows 7 use the common Arrow signs
• Whatever Is Highlighted On The Left Pane Is What You Are Looking At On The Right Side Of The Screen