I worked today for someone that could have saved a lot of money if they had just learned how to use their computer. I don’t mean extremely deep, arcane and obscure Windows functions; I’m talking about learning simple, basic things that every computer user should know.
This particular customer’s hard drive was full. Sadly, they didn’t even know how to look for files that they themselves had made (documents, videos, photographs, etc.) in the hopes of deleting some of these files, thereby freeing up valuable hard drive space. I felt kind of weird teaching them how to do such menial, basic computer tasks and getting paid at the same time.
This customer had been using their computer for many years and didn’t even know how to delete a file. They had been experiencing frequent “drive is full” error messages and didn’t have a clue as to what to do. If only they had learned how to use Windows Explorer, a skill that every computer user should possess.
There are few programs that come with Windows that I use more often, or that are more useful than Windows Explorer, yet I’m amazed at how many computer users don’t even know that it exists. This is partly due to Microsoft’s dumbing down of Windows when they released XP, and the situation got worse with Windows Vista. Earlier Microsoft operating systems had Windows Explorer right up front.
Windows Explorer (different from the Internet Explorer browser) is your computers’ master filing cabinet, full of file folders that contain all of the files that make your computer work, as well as the files that you add, such as documents, photos and the like. Learn to use Windows Explorer, and you’ll have a much more satisfying and powerful computing experience, as it will let you add, view, move, copy, rename and delete files with ease.
To begin using Windows Explorer, and for the sake of convenience, place a shortcut to the program on your desktop. To do this, go to Start/All Programs/Accessories. Right-click on Windows Explorer, place your mouse pointer over “Send To” and select “Desktop.” You’ve now made a shortcut to the program on your desktop. Double-click it to run the program. This shortcut-making trick works for anything in your “All Programs” list, as well as files and folders on your hard drive.
Windows Explorer needs some tweaking to achieve its full potential. Once the program is running, highlight “My Documents” in the left pane, click “View” at the top, and select “Details.” Then, click on Tools/Folder Options. In the “General” tab, select “Use Windows Classic Folders,” rather than the “Show Common Tasks” option. Next, click the “View” tab. Click “Apply to All Folders,” and then “OK.” In the “Advanced settings” box, check “Display file size information.” Uncheck “Display simple folder view.” Check “Display the contents of system folders” and both of the “Display the full path…” options. Select “Show hidden files” and uncheck “Hide extensions…” and “Hide protected.” Click “OK” on any alert boxes that may pop up. You can leave everything else alone. Finally, click “Apply” and “OK.”
In Windows Vista, you can find these setting in Organize/Folder and Search Options. Or, press the ALT key to get the “old=style” hidden menu to appear and click on the Tools menu.
Sometimes, you may need to repeat the “View/Details” and “Apply to all folders” steps. If so, click on the little “+” next to “My Computer,” highlight Local Disk (C:) (or, whatever your hard drive may be named), and then repeat the steps. Once everything is tweaked, you can see practically every file that exists inside of your computer. In the left pane, you’ll see all of the “master” folders, and in the right pane, their contents. Double-click a master folder to show its subfolders. Alternately, click on the “+” symbol next to a master folder. For some goofy reason, Windows Vista has replaced the “+” symbol with a cute little triangle-shaped arrow thingy. Highlight a folder in the left pane to view the individual files on the right. Right-click a file or folder to cut, copy, delete or rename, as you like. Highlight a folder, click “File” at the top and select “New/Folder” to create a subfolder. When in doubt, read the Help files.
There are many websites that give thorough instructions on how to use Windows Explorer. Google for “how to use Windows Explorer” and you’ll see what I mean. Learn to use the powerful functions of Windows Explorer and you’ll soon be organizing your files like a pro.