Managing your Files and Folders

EASY FILE RETRIEVAL SAVES TIME QUICKER BACK-UP LESS STRESS HAPPIER TEACHER Managing your Files and Folders

What we will cover 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

The Folders that Windows offers Documents Pictures Music Videos Each folder is set up to handle its contents, eg to 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. Links 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 OR Click F2 Type a new name Keep 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 cheaper Massive, 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: 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: _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) or Keyboard shortcuts:  Cut = Control + X  Copy = Control + C  Paste = 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