Managing your Files and Folders

EASY FILE RETRIEVALSAVES TIME

QUICKER BACK-UPLESS STRESS

HAPPIER TEACHER

Managing your Files and Folders

What we will cover

Setting up a folder systemCreating shortcuts to frequently used

foldersCreating and naming foldersUsing the path to navigateViewing files in a range of modesBacking–upNaming files for easy retrievalMoving files and folders around

The Folders that Windows offers

DocumentsPicturesMusicVideos

Each folder is set up to handle its contents, egto burn a music CD

What sort of structure?

A hierarchical, branching structure works well for many people, eg:

Create YEARLY folders in some areas

A next year’s folder is good for planning

Inside this, create folders for relevant areas

Path: Documents / Work / Maths / 2010 / Year 8

Consider what folders you really need

What to avoid: being too shallow...

Too many folders at the same level:

Takes too long to scroll through

Makes it more difficult to recall what is where

...and being too deep

Folders within folders within folders within folders : (

Makes finding a particular file very time-consuming

You can use shortcuts to find folders easily

Back arrow

Shortcuts to most used

folders

How to create a shortcut to a folder ...

Right click the

folder

Choose “Create Shortcut

”

... continued

Shortcut has a small arrow on its icon

Drag it to Fav. Link

s

You can drag the link up or down the list

You can use the path to navigate

Click any folder in the path and a list of all its sub-folders will drop down, (with the current one highlighted). Choose the one you are looking for.

If the path is too long for the screen...

Click the little double arrow at the start to access the other folders further up the path. A menu will drop down.

You can expand /contract in Folders area

Expand /contract

folder

Folders view

Make a new folder

Select the small arrow next to Organise. Select New Folder.Type a name into the new folder

Make a new folder

OR Right-click a blank area of screen.Select New, then select Folder.Give the new folder a name.

Change the name of a folder or file

Click the filename SLOWLY twice

ORClick F2

Type a new nameKeep the file extension if

you can see it.

Choose how to view the contents of a folder

Go to Views

Use the slider to select different

views

List view

Medium Icons view

Extra Large Icons view

Details view

Details view: useful for searching and sorting

Click Date Modified to move the most recent file to the top

Click Name to sort alphabetically

Backing Up for Disaster Prevention!

What if I lose all my files? Can I get them back?

How many back-ups should I have?

Where should I back-up to?

How often should I back-up?

Can I retrieve lost files if my laptop dies?

There are lots of causes of death, some more serious than others

Sometimes the files can be retrieved and copied, eg, onto another laptop

The hard-drive is where all your files are stored and can crash with little warning

When the hard-drive crashes, its files are virtually impossible to retrieve

Blue Screen of Death!!! Back-up NOW!

How many back-ups is enough?

One back-up at home

One at school (apart from your laptop itself)

Consider a third place for vital files

Remember, these files may represent your life’s work!

Where should I back-up to?

GOOD – a portable Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

BAD – Flash memory(aka Memory Stick, USB or “nerd” stick)Highly misplaceable!

Smaller, portable and cheaperMassive, non-portable and fairly cheap

DATED – CDs or DVDs• difficult to store• non-rewriteable

LIMITED – you have a small amount of space on the EHS network

How often should I back-up?

This depends on how valuable your files are to you!

Once a day is ideal

Once a month is manageable. (Use your DIARY to remind you.) BUT you can generate a lot of files in a month!

Quick fix for a file you couldn’t bear to lose:EMAIL it to yourself

Naming files and folders for easy retrieval

my-funky-thing.jpg is difficult to remember later

Short descriptive names, eg: simple_verbs_yr8.doc

By number, eg: 001_shapes_exercise.pdf

By date (dd.mm.yy), eg: 02.03.10_minutes.doc

Ideally, no caps, no spaces (especially for web files)

Moving files and folders

Cut and Paste is reliable Right-Click Edit (if available)

orKeyboard shortcuts:Cut = Control + X Copy = Control + CPaste = Control + V

Selecting a block of folders or files

To select a “block” of files

and folders, select the first then hold down shift and select

the last

Selecting files separated by others

To select files and folders

that are separated by others, hold

down Control.

Here, 5 files are selected

Dragging files around

Drag the files to a folder.A small confirmation box will appear.The number of files is shown.

Number of files

Keystrokes and Dragging - with care!

Alt + Drag

= Create a shortcut to the selected files/folders

Control + Drag

= Make a copy of the selected files/ f0lders

Summary

We have covered: Setting up a folder system Creating shortcuts to frequently

used folders Creating and naming folders Using the path to navigate Viewing files in a range of modes Backing–up Naming files for easy retrieval Moving files and folders around