Computer Clarity

What you can do with Windows Explorer

How to open the program

With the keyboard: Hold the Windows button and the letter E

With the mouse: Right-click on the Start button, and choose Explore

The hard way: Click on Start / Programs / and find Windows Explorer in the list

What it does

Windows Explorer opens in a window with two panels. The left one shows all the devices and folders on your computer, including Desktop, A: drive, C: drive, CD-ROM. Etc. The plus sign expands to show all the folders within a drive letter.

The right panel shows the contents of the item you clicked on the left side. For example, to see the contents of My Documents, click on it in the left panel, and the files show up on the right side.

How to view file features

To see the date and time files were created, click View / Details.

To sort the list by date, click on the grey ‘Modified’ bar at the top of the date column.

To sort by name again, just click on the grey bar marked ‘Name.’

One click puts it in A to Z order, another click changes it from Z to A.

Managing files

Right click on a file to rename it

Copy or move a file from one folder to another by dragging it from the right side of the screen to the left.

Make a new folder by clicking File / New Folder. Then immediately type a name for the folder. It falls into the alphabetical order when you are done.

Highlight several files you wish to delete. If the files are in consecutive order, hold SHIFT and the down-arrow to highlight all of them. If they are not in order, hold CTRL instead of shift, and use the arrow or mouse to highlight each file.

Searching

Windows Explorer is smart enough to find a file, even if you don’t remember the name, date or where you saved it. In Windows 98, click Tools / Find / Files or Folders. The next screen gives you options to search for a file by name, date, or even a fragment of text. If you know the file contained the word “education” that might be a tough search, but if you know it was created in the last 30 days, and it ended in .doc, and had the words “early childhood,” you could find it in seconds. This is a powerful search function that is often overlooked.