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What's
a File? What's a Folder?
By Matt Western.
In
this article I will quickly explain what a file is and what a
folder is.
What's
a File?
Files
are mostly thought of as letters or documents you type up on a
computer.
For
example if you were to type up something with Notepad, Wordpad,
Word or any other word processor and save what you have typed,
the end result is a file.
However
there are many different types of files.
There
are files that are used by your computer, there are files that
contain other files, for example compressed files such as those
created by WinZip and there are files that you can listen to,
such as MP3 files.
Let's
create a file right now!
Click
on your Start Button, it's the thing in the very bottom left hand
corner of your computer screen with the word 'Start' written on
it.
Now
move your mouse cursor up to where it says 'Run' and click the
left hand mouse button.
In
the field titled 'Open' type the word Notepad and click the OK
button.
Notepad
should now be open.
Now
click your left hand mouse button anywhere within Notepad. Now
start typing. Type anything. When your finished, click on..
File
and then slide on down to where it says 'Save As' and click on
that. Now type in c:\myfile and then click on the Save button.
You
have just created a file. Pretty easy isn't it.
What's
a Folder?
A
computer folder is similar to a paper folder, it is used to store
files in.
For
example, if you write lots of letters, you may want to keep all
of those letters (files) in a folder called 'Letters'.
If
you download lots of MP3 songs, you may like to store all your
MP3 songs (files) in a folder called 'MP3s'.
If
you create lots of pictures, you may like to store all your pictures
(files) in a folder called 'Pictures'.
Folders
are an easy way in which you can organize your files into categories.
Let's
create a folder.
We'll
place our folder on our Desktop so we can find it easily.
Find
a clear location on your Desktop and click your right hand mouse
button. A small menu should appear and one of the menu items should
be titled New. Click on New and slide across to Folder.
You
should notice an image of a new folder on your Desktop pretty
close to where you clicked on your Desktop. This new folder should
be waiting to be given a name. Let's name the new folder, My Folder.
If
you happened to miss the chance of naming your folder, it's easy
to miss this bit, you will notice that your folder has been given
the name, New Folder.
You
can rename your folder. Simply click your mouses right hand button
and slide across and down in the menu that pops up until you get
to Rename. Now left mouse click on Rename and name your folder
My Folder.
Pretty
easy stuff isn't it, it's sure not rocket science.
Picking
a File from a Folder
So
now we've created a file and a folder, but how do we tell the
difference between them.
The
easiest way to show the difference is with pictures.
As
you can from the picture above, Folders can be identified by their
yellow image. Files can be identified as everything else.
You
will also notice that the images used to depict files are different
for different types of files. This helps to identify the type
of file and sometimes the program or application that can be used
to open and alter the file.
In
Summing Up
I
hope you have found this article useful, now you know the difference
between files and folders you may be able to locate things a little
easier as well as do things such group similar files together
in their own folder.
Article
© Matt Western - deTechnify.com
**********************************************************
Matt Western has been working in the electronics and IT areas
since 1983. These days he heads up deTechnify.com a web site aimed
at clearing away the technical haze surrounding computers computing
and the internet.
You can contact Matt via http://www.detechnify.com
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