Getting the most out of Windows

Making the Windows Explorer your friend

Where would we be these days, without our computer? We use them for so many things that it’s easy to forget that they are tools which, like a drill or a wrench, need to be used properly.

When using a Windows computer, the very first thing to learn is how to use the Explorer. No, not the Internet Explorer! The Windows Explorer! This is an important tool to learn because it not only displays all of the drives on your computer, but also your files and folders. Even when using the Internet Explorer to download a simple file from the Internet, you eventually use the Windows Explorer to tell the computer where to save the file.

If you use a USB drive to copy files onto, Windows’ Explorer is the tool you need to move this data back and forth. If you are copying files to a CD Burner, you need to know where those files are and what folder they are in. No surprise here; you cannot back up files if you don’t know where they are.

So what is there to know about this mysterious piece of software that is built in to Window operating systems? A LOT, as we will see! First and foremost, you need to know how to display it. Sure, you can go through the menu if you wish: Start Menu, then Programs, then Accessories, then finally you will see Windows Explorer. There is no need to go through all of that, however. You can double-click the ‘My Computer’ icon that’s on your desktop also. Or if you are a keyboard shortcut person as I tend to be, just simply press the Windows Flag key, then press “E” while your thumb is still holding down the Windows key.

Voila! You see before you all the individual drives listed on the left side of the screen. On the right side, you will see all of the actual folders and files on whichever drive you have selected on the left. When you click the FOLDERS icon at the top, the view changes. You can toggle the view back and forth by simply clicking that icon. Individual files appear with the icon of the program that reads them or created them. The folders are yellow and, oddly enough, actually look like folders! As you click on them you will see the individual files within them. Be sure you know the difference between your files and folders. They are completely different; it’s the folders that contain the files.

Clicking on the VIEW menu at the top of this Windows Explorer, you will see choices. You can choose how the file folders are displayed to your liking, or to maximize your productivity and/or desktop space if you need to.

Here in the Explorer, the magic of File Transfers and Backups can take place. Let’s say that you want to backup or copy a file onto your USB drive, from the hard disk. While looking at the Windows Explorer you will see both drives. But what do you do next? Highlight the backup drive, and in the right pane click an empty area with the right mouse button. From the menu that appears, click NEW and then FOLDER. Give the folder a name of your liking and highlight it on the left side of the screen. Now the right pane will be displaying the contents of your new folder …. Nothing.

How do we get the file into the folder? Simply drag it over! Find the file on the hard drive, and drag it over to the new folder. That is all there is to backing up a file! The same applies to folders too. If you have a folder full of things that need to be copied, you can simply drag the whole folder over onto the USB drive.

What happens if it’s not easy to drag the files from one drive to another? This can happen for instance, if your PC has several drives, such as multiple hard disks, CD Rom and a DVD player. Plus perhaps there are more than one USB drives like card-readers built into printers. In these cases the Windows Explorer will have quite a few devices listed in the tree on the left side of the screen. Very often it is just easier to have two instances of the Explorer open. While it’s already open and you have your hard drive file(s) highlighted and ready to be copied, open up yet another instance of the Explorer. It’s just fine to have it right on top of the other if you wish.

Arrange the windows so that you can have the source files in one and the destination drive in the other. Then you can simply copy the files or folders right where you want them! Yes, it really is as easy as that to backup your files!

If you need to copy them on to a CD rom, there is an additional step. After you first drag the file(s) on to the CD drive, you will need to right-click on the drive letter and tell Windows to “Write these files to the drive.”

I hope this information helps. Feel free to contact San Diego PC by either using our website or phoning 619-850-5218 if you need assistance in any way or would like to schedule an appointment.

Thank you!
Paul Brustas
President, San Diego PC