Understanding File

Management
The Path to Successful Computer
Use.
 Data Storage Terminology
Computers store information in “bytes”. One byte of
information equals approximately 8 characters
 1000 bytes = 1 kilobyte (kb)
 1000 kb = 1 megabyte (mb)
 1000 mb = 1 gigabyte (gb)

1000 gb = 1 terabyte (tb)
A one page typed letter ≅ 25 kb
One average digital photo ≅ 1 – 5 mb (1000-5000
kbs)
One mp3 format song ≅ 4 mb
A dvd movie ≅ 4.7 gb (4,700 mb)
 Data Storage Comparisons
Newer computers are capable of storing at least: 30,000
photos, 1.5 million word processing documents, or
10,000 songs.
CD-R/RW discs can hold 700 photos, 28,000 word
documents or 175 songs.
Dvd+R discs can hold 6x that of a CD-R
Jumpdrive storage space varies from hundreds of
megabytes per drive to a few dozen gigabytes per drive.
 What is a drive?
Drive refers to the physical object where your information
is stored.
Windows identifies your drive by a letter, usually C:
More specifically, a drive reads the information from a
disk placed into it. Sometimes the drive and disk are
one unit. (I.E. Hard drives, Flash(Jump)Drives, etc)
 Hard Drive
Physical disk inside your
computer that stores your
programs and data.
Size is measured in
GB(Gigabytes)
Most commonly your “C” drive
If a hard drive is partitioned it
could be C, D, etc.
 Optical Drive
Optical drives come in
many flavors; DVD,
CDR/RW, DVD-R,
CDROM, etc.
CDs can store a
maximum of 700 mb
DVDs can store a
maximum of 4.7 GB
Its drive letter will usually
start somewhere after the
Hard Drive letter (D, E)
 Other Drives
There are many other
types of drives from old
floppies to new ‘thumb’ or
flash drives.
All drives are assigned a
letter by Windows to keep
track of various drives we
connect
We can access all these drives by their corresponding
letters by double-clicking on “My Computer”
 More Terminology..
ALL drives/disks have the ability to maintain an
organizational structure to help us find our data quickly.
This is done with FOLDERS.
 Folders are the containers that keep our information


separated and organized
 Any folder can contain many other SUB-FOLDERS to
further organize data
Folders, Sub-Folders & Files
After your drive, folder
offer the first level of
organization.
Sub-Folders can be
created to organize data
Files are the objects we
or programs create like
photos, documents,
spreadsheets, databases,
etc.
Drive
Folders

Sub-Folders

Files- Data that we create.

 Desktop

The Desktop is the name of the screen that

opens after the Operating System has
loaded.
You can store folders, files and application
short-cuts on the desktop.
 Task Bar on Desktop
The “Start” button (left side of toolbar) can be clicked with your
mouse pointer or you can use the Windows short-cut key on your
keyboard.

The icons from the “>” button to the right are in what is called the
“System Tray” These items come up here when your computer is
started. To the far right is the time, you can adjust clock and calendar
settings by double-clicking here if the administrator has enabled it

The icons to the right of the start button are programs that are open.

System Tray
 Launching Applications
There are many ways you can open your applications.
 You can use short-cuts placed on the desktop.
 System Tray Icons
 Find the program by using the “Start” button. Most programs are
installed under “All Programs”

Demo
.
Creating Your Own Shortcuts
You can create your own application short-cuts for easy
access later on.
Useful if you hate digging around in “All Programs” for
your applications.

Right-Click the program you want to make a short-cut for

Highlight “Send to”

Click “Desktop (create shortcut)
When you look at your desktop, the short-cut should now
be there
Demo
 Menu Bar

You can either use your mouse and click on the word to
open the drop-down menu or use the short-cut key by
pressing and holding down the Alt key + the letter that is
underlined in the menu bar.
Example: Alt+F will bring down the File drop-down menu

Demo
 Opening a file
 Click “File” on the menu bar

 Find the file name that you want to open


Look for drive letter, folder, then file name

3. Highlight “Open”. Press Enter

4. Click on “Open”

Demo
 File-Open
* This drops down
your directory

*Clicking here allows

you to go up one folder.

*Clicking here allows

you to select the
filename

Clicking here allows you to select the file type. HINT:

use “all files” to show all file types.
Demo
 Caution
Make sure that you only open a file from the same
application.
 .doc is a Word document
 .xls is Excel
 .ppt is Powerpoint

.mdb is an Access Database

.pub is a Publisher file
A warning box should come up when you open a
different file type in an application.
 Saving a file
Save your file by following these instructions:
 Click on File
 Highlight Save As, Press Enter
 Specify the correct folder in the Save In field

Name your file by typing a file name in the File Name field.

Click on Save
 Making a folder when saving

Click this icon to open up the folders.

Click this icon to go up one tier

Click on this icon to create a new file folder

 What’s the difference between
Save and Save As?
Save - overwrites or updates the file you
are working in.
Save As – Allows you to change the name
of the file and/or location of the file, but will
work the same way as “Save”.
 Saving Tips
When saving a file, always pay attention to where the file
is saving to. Try to organize your folders and subfolders
in a way that makes sense to you.
If you have “lost” a file, try looking in “My Documents”, as
this is usually the default save location. Or, try the last
location you saved in.
 Questions?
Next Up:
 Review website and field questions about
attachments and address book.
 Internet safety