Windows Explorer vs. My Computer

When you’re moving just a file or two, My Computer works fine; however, using it to organize many files on several disks often results in a frustrating game of hide and seek as you try to navigate through levels of device and folder windows.   Therefore, for more advanced file management tasks, many people prefer to use Windows Explorer.

In this class you will be expected to use Windows Explorer for file management.  When you open Windows Explorer, set it to unhide file extensions for known file types.  This will make it easier to see what type of file extensions all your files and Web pages have and, especially, that your images are using.  For example, whether your images are .jpg or .gif files.   NOTE: Image below is from Windows XP and may be slightly different for other Windows operating systems.  The defult lab and classroom settings are to show the file extensions, so this will mostly apply if you are working at home. Always use this setting when working at home so your screen shots will be correct for this and future assignments. If the machine you are working at doesn't show the file extensions then the following shows you how to set up Windows Explorer:

1. Open Windows Explorer - easiest way is to right click the Start button and choose Explore.
2. From the menu bar choose Tools - Folder Options.
3. At the View tab uncheck the Hide file extensions for known file types as indicated in the figure.  Click apply and OK.
   
   
   
4. When looking at your files in Windows Explorer, from the menu bar choose View - List so you can see the entire file name including the file extension. (To also see the file size you can choose View - Details or right click on the file icon and choose properties.)
5. Since the classroom and CRC computers reset each time they are rebooted or logged into you may have to make these settings each time when you first start to work. Again, most labs and classrooms are set to show file extensions. If not, then make the neccessary setting change as discribed above. NOTE: You should make these settings on your home computer if you plan to use it for most of your class work.

Later, in this class, you should keep a Windows Explorer window open when you are working on your assignments and especially, your Web Page Design project.   You can easily keep track of where your files are located by quickly bringing up the Windows Explorer window to look at your file structures.

Creating folders (directories) and files on your disk

For a refresher on folder management in Windows, click on the following link: Windows Folder Management.

1. If using a floppy (not recommended), insert a formatted disk that has been labeled CIS 120 - Disk 1, in the A:\ drive.  If using a USB drive the drive letter assigned will depend on what other devices are using drive letters on the computer. Your USB storage device could be drive D:\ or E:\ or F:\ etc.  NOTE:It is recommended that you use a USB drive as it will easily hold all of your work for this class.

2. Open Windows Explorer: Again, the simplest way is to right click on the START button and choose Explore.

3. Click on the arrow on the right side of the address bar and choose your disk (A:\, the floppy disk, or USB drive) from the drop down list.

4. Create a folder (directory) at the root level of your disk:

   The right pane of Windows Explorer should be empty, especially if using a floppy.   (You might have some other folders if using a USB drive) Right click in the right pane and choose New then choose Folder or go to File - New - Folder.   Name the new folder cis120_yourlastname (note the use of lowercase letters and no spaces in the name).  Press enter or click in the open space of the right pane to finish the name.

   NOTE: Do not use spaces in your folder or file names.  In fact, get in the habit of not using spaces for any file or folder names for this class.  Also, do not use uppercase letters in the folder or file names.  Unix/Linux based servers are often case sensitive and mixing upper and lower cases in your names can cause problems in getting the files to display.  Unix/Linux also doesn't like spaces in the folder and file names. (Microsoft encourages the use of spaces and mixed names. This is OK for most uses, but may cause problems when storing Web pages, etc. on servers.)

   Set the folder view to List from the View menu. To keep this setting, as you build your file structure, go to Tools - Folder Options - View tab and choose the Apply to All Folders button. Then click Appy and OK. NOTE: Use the List or Details setting when working in class.
   

   

5. Double click on the new cis120_yourlastname folder or right click on it and choose Open to open the folder.   The address bar should now read A:\cis120_yourlastname. (Remember these examples assume a floppy is being used. The drive letter will be different depending on your storage device. It should not say C: or you are working on the computers hard drive.)

6. Create the following subfolders (subdirectories) in the cis120_yourlastname folder (directory) using the same procedure as above:
   • core_projects
   • homework
7. Create the following subfolders (subdirectories) in the core projects folder (directory).
   • project_1
   • project_2a
   • project_2b
   • project_3
   • project_4
   • project_5
   • project_6
8. Create the following subfolders (subdirectories) in the project_1 folder (directory).
   • information_project
   • computing_timeline
   • ftp_elms
9. Create the following subfolders (subdirectories) in the project_2b folder (directory).
   • html_introduction
   • web_design_practice
   • lastname_webproject
10. Create the following subfolders (subdirectories) in the your web_design_practice folder (directory).
    • practice_3
    • practice_4
11. Create the following subfolders (subdirectories) in the your lastname_webproject folder (directory).
    • images
    • project
    These subfolders will be where you will organize and keep your assignments/projects.

12. Print Screen your file structure for your disk. First navigate to the homework folder so its contents are displayed in the right (contents) pane. The folder should be empty at this point. See the example Figure 1 below.

    On the left pane expand all of your folders and subfolders to show your folder (directory) structure. You expand the folder by clicking the plus sign and contract it by clicking the minus sign.

    Do a Print Screen (see instructions in item 12) and paste the Windows Explorer window into a Word document.   It should look something like the picture below.   Be sure the full path shows in the address bar.   Reduce the size of the window so it just shows the file structure before doing the print screen process.
    
    Figure 1
    
13. To Print Screen the Windows Explorer window, be sure it is the active window (title bar is blue) and hold down the Alt key and press the Print Screen button.   Open a blank page in MS Word and type: File Management Project Homework, your name, and campus at the top.   Hit enter twice and go to Edit - Paste.   The image should appear in the page below your text.   Hit enter twice to move the cursor a few spaces below your screen print.   LEAVE WINDOWS EXPLORER OPEN FOR NOW.

14. SAVE YOUR WORD FILE AS: filemgt_hw.doc in the homework folder of your disk.   DO NOT CLOSE THE WORD DOCUMENT AT THIS TIME.

15. Open a Notepad document (Start - Programs - Accessories - Notepad) and write at least 2 paragraphs introducing yourself.  Include information such as, but not limited to:
    • Biographical information about yourself.
    • Educational goals
    • Hobbies/interests
    • Anything else that might be of interest to the class and me; you will be using this later in core project 2B to post to your Web project home page.

16. Save the file in the homework folder of your disk as lastname_personal.txt where you use your last name.  For example, my file would be called erdman_personal.txt Notepad will, by default, save as a .txt file.  Make sure you are saving to your disk and in the homework folder.

17. Print a copy of your personal information lastname_personal.txt file.

18. Go to the Internet and find an image of something that interests you, a picture that you might want to use in your own Web page, such as, a picture of your favorite car, sports star, etc.   Follow the instructions below to find a picture:
    1. Open Internet Explorer browser and go to www.google.com/images or any search engine you prefer.
    2. Enter the name of the image you wish to find, for example, Mercedes-Benz  (NOTE: Many images on the Internet are copyrighted and you should be aware of this when downloading images.  There are many free sites and doing a regular Web search for free sites will give you a list to check out.)
    3. Once you find a picture you like and select the size you like, right click on the image and choose Save Picture As.. from the pop up menu.   Select your disk and save the image to the homework folder.   Be sure to give the image a name that makes sense.   Many will have a number or other nonsensical combination of letters and numbers if you use the name that appears when you try to save the image.   BE SURE YOU DON'T USE UPPERCASE LETTERS OR SPACES IN THE FILE NAME.
    4. Copy the URL, that is, the Web address for your picture from the browser address bar and paste it into your Word file management document.
       • Highlight the Web address and select Edit - Copy from the browser window.
       • Return to your Word document and paste the Web address into your document, then hit enter twice.

19. Insert a copy of your picture in your Word document.
    1. In your Word document go to Insert - Picture - From file if using Word 2003.   If using Word 2007 click the Insert tab then click the Picture icon. An Insert Picture dialog box will open - navigate to your disk and insert your picture.
    2. When the Insert Picture window opens, navigate to your disk and to the homework folder, select your picture and click on Insert.  Your picture should appear in your document.   Hit enter twice and save your file.  DO NOT CLOSE THE WORD DOCUMENT AT THIS TIME.

20. Finally, return to the Windows Explorer window.  It should now show your image file and its extension in the homework folder along with a list of the other files you created in the homework folder.  If the file extensions don't show (.doc, .txt, .jpg, .gif or .bmp) after the appropriate file name, then you did not set up Windows Explorer as instructed at the beginning of this exercise.   Go back and make the adjustments. You will lose points if the file extensions are not displayed in your screen prints.

21. Collapse the core_projects folder then take another screen print of Windows Explorer that shows your picture file, lastname_personal.txt file and filemgt_hw.doc file listed and paste it into your Word document.   The image should look something like the following in Figure 2:
    
    
    Figure 2
    
22. Go to the Windows Folder Management Tutorial, read it and answer the following questions at the bottom of your filemgt_hw.doc file.  The answers should be typed in your filemgt_hw.doc file.
    1. In the left pane of Windows Explorer how can you tell that a folder contains additional items?
    2. How do you expand (maximize) the folder to see the directory structure?
    3. Describe one way to change the Folder view in Windows Explorer.
    4. Describe one way to create a new folder.
    5. Describe one way to copy a file from one folder to another folder.


23. Save and print your Word document (filemgt_hw.doc file).  Turn it in, along with the printout of your lastname_personal.txt file, on the due date.  DO NOT LOOSE OR DELETE THE HOMEWORK FROM YOUR DISK.  You will need to use the files in a later project.