Free Tutorial from PrillyCharmin.com

Learn How to Use
Windows Explorer

OBJECTIVE: Learn how to make a folder to hold all the pieces of your web site project. Then, move or copy your files to that folder.

If you will spend a few minutes learning how to get around in Windows Explorer, you will be able to enjoy your computer much more! This knowledge is essential if you work on a computer much. There are a few basic things you need to learn, and then you will feel much more confident in your work.

WORKING OFFLINE... It's easier and faster to create your web site on your own computer than trying to use the online tools. There are a lot of advantages in "working at home", so to speak!

The main thing to remember: put all your web site files in the SAME folder! If you choose files from all over your computer, then your HTML pages will not work when you move them to the internet.

Save yourself a lot of headaches and put EVERYTHING in one folder together. There's nothing worse than the "Dreaded Red X" that appears when a picture cannot be found.

So,... I'll show you how I set up folders for web site projects.

OPEN WINDOWS EXPLORER NOW... Go to the START button in the lower left of your screen.

• Click START.
• Click Programs.
• Click Accessories.
• Click Windows Explorer.

Arrange your computer screen so this window is open, alongside the Windows Explorer window. Now you can look at Windows Explorer as you read through this tutorial.

I like to see the Directory Tree on the left side, so please click the FOLDERS button at the top. Now your screen should look like this.

On the right side, you can choose what view you want. Thumbnails will show any pictures in the folder. TILES, ICONS, LIST and DETAILS will each give you a different view of the files in this folder. Most of the time I use the LIST or DETAILS options.

COMPUTER DRIVE LETTERS... Notice the Drive letters on the left side. Drive C:, D:, E:, F:, G:, H:, I: and J:. These Drive letters identify different pieces of equipment on your computer. Drive C: is almost always your main hard drive. It contains almost all the information on your computer.

If you look at your C: drive you will see the WINDOWS directory there, and PROGRAM FILES where most of your software is installed. To look at the contents of a drive, click the little white box next to it.

Some folders (directories) are standard on any computer with Windows on it:

• WINDOWS is the system folder, which runs your computer. Don't ever go messing around in this folder unless you know exactly what you are doing!
• PROGRAM FILES are the different software programs that you use.
• DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS stores your work... it is a very extensive and confusing system of folders.
• RECYCLER is where your deleted files are moved, whenever you delete things from your computer. You can retrieve files from the Recycle bin if you discover you deleted the wrong file! The Recycle bin should be emptied occasionally.

Most of the time you won't need to do much on Drive C:. You will be working primarily in MY DOCUMENTS.

Moving on... My Drive D: currently has a CD in it, with WEB graphics on it, so that's what the WEB identification refers to. My CD Drive E is empty. The G:, H:, I:, and J: drives are for various kinds of disks that are used in cameras. I don't use any of those drives, but it's handy to have them sometimes.

If you see a hurricane coming and you can only carry what will fit in your pockets, then take the hard drive out of your computer - because hard drive C: stores everything on it. If you save the hard drive, you have saved what's important about your computer. The actual hard drive is about the size of a grilled cheese sandwich.

FOLDERS & FILES... The most important Folder is the MY DOCUMENTS folder. This is where most of your personal files are stored.

Do you see the little white box next to MY DOCUMENTS, in the picture above? There is a plus sign on it. Put your mouse cursor on the PLUS sign and click on it. The My Documents folder should expand so you can see all the folders that are on the My Documents tree:

You can see that I have a whole lot of folders in My Documents!

NOTE: the My Documents folder is located on your main hard drive (Drive C:) , Even though Windows Explorer arranges the tree so it appears as if My Documents is separate from Drive C. - It's not.

Because My Documents is the folder you are most likely to go to, Windows Explorer intentionally puts My Documents where it is easy to find. You can always get to My Documents easily, no matter where you are working in Windows.

This is a bit of "magic" on the part of Windows, because the truth is that the real My Documents folder is buried deep in the directory tree on hard drive C: and it's not easy to find. So it's a good thing that the people at Microsoft have made it convenient for us to get to My Documents.

You can see that I have a DOWNLOAD folder in My Documents. This is where I put any files that I download from the internet. If I decide to save the download files, then I move them to other folders, such as My Programs.

And, you can see that I have a folder named MY HTML. This is where I put all my web site projects. I set up each project in a folder of it's own.

These web site lessons are going online at PrillyCharmin.net, so that's where I set up my project folder. All the pictures, templates and miscellaneous files that I am going to use with my web pages are moved or copied to this folder. I move them to this folder BEFORE I add them to my web page.

You have to put all your miscellaneous files and photos in the SAME folder together. This is critical! Otherwise you'll get the dreaded red X when you move them to the internet.

OKAY... that is how I set up my web site project!

Now you need to do some Homework. If you finish this lesson ALL the way to the end, you will always be grateful that I made you do it. Learning how to use Folders and Files is important for everything you do on a computer, and even more so when making web sites. So, please do these Homework assignments carefully....

~ ~ HOMEWORK ~ ~

You possibly need more training on how to make folders, move files, copy files and do other basic tasks in Windows Explorer. If you are using Windows XP, there are tutorials installed on your computer.

Click the START button in the lower left corner of the screen.

Click on HELP and SUPPORT.

In the SEARCH form, type these search words: FOLDERS FILES. Then click the green arrow. Your search should bring up the following results. I put a red star next to each of the tutorials that you should do.

If this is too small for you to read, the essential tutorials are:

• Practice: Creating and Renaming Files and Folders

• Practice: Moving and Copying Files and Folders.

• Practice: Deleting and Recovering Files and Folders

~ ~ HOMEWORK ~ ~

If you don't have Windows XP, you will be able to find similar tutorials on your computer. Or, here are some online Tutorials that are very good:

• U of Wisconsin, Working with Folders

• U of Wisconsin, Working with Files

• Duke University: Windows Explorer: Managing Your Files

IN CONCLUSION... I strongly encourage you to learn the basics about managing Folders and Files on your computer. Your computer will not be such a mystery to you, if you will learn how to do these basic essential tasks.