How to Use Windows Explorer for Filing Your Documents

What is Windows Explorer?

Windows Explorer shows you where all your files are on your computer. If you are an advanced computer user, you can use it in many ways for many different things, but this article is geared toward people who deal with many documents and need to keep them organized. Windows Explorer is your online filing cabinet and you can arrange it any way you want. Windows automatically provides you with default locations for your files called “My Documents” or “My Pictures” but the location for these files is not logical. Within the actual file structure, they are under C:\Documents and Settings\your user name\My Documents.” This location was created for multiple users and light use. It is not good for several reasons:

If the link within the program you are using (such as Word) gets erased, you will not be able to find the documents easily.
If you try to do anything complex (such as creating web pages) you cannot use these default locations successfully.
Let’s face it, do you want to save your documents (such as a dissertation) in a folder called “My Documents”?

If you are doing any serious, long-term work on the computer, you need to set up a filing system. This will keep your projects in separate folders, allow subfolders within folders, and also make backup (and transporting your files) easier. Then, if you are like me, the first thing that you will do when you turn the computer on is open Windows Explorer.

Techie Note: Unfortunately, you can’t delete “My Documents” because it is a default location and, because most Microsoft programs default to it (including Windows Explorer itself) you have to constantly navigate away from it to your main filing system on the hard drive. This is annoying but you can fix it. There are several solutions, depending on your version of Windows. For Windows XP, right-click on the Windows Explorer icon, select Properties, and, under the Shortcut tab, changed the Target field to read %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e, c:\.

Creating a Shortcut to Windows Explorer

Windows Explorer does not appear on the desktop automatically and, in fact, sometimes it can be hard to find. One quick way to open it is to right-click on the Start button and select Explore. I usually create an icon for the desktop as well. To do this, follow these steps:

Locate Windows Explorer in Start/Programs. In some versions of Windows, you will find it under Start/Programs/Accessories and in some versions you will find it under Start/Programs.
When you find it, right click on it and choose Create Shortcut. That will create a second shortcut, next to the first.
Left-click on the new shortcut and drag it to your desktop. It will drop onto your desktop and create an icon.

Change View

This is a very important step. You can look at your filing system as if it were a bunch of disorganized and unidentified papers laying on your desktop (like in the Icon view) but the simplest way for me it to choose Detail view. You change the setting by going to View/Details:

This gives you list of files that looks like this:

You can choose which details to display in View/Choose Details. The great advantage of this is that I can now search these files either alphabetically, by size, type, or date modified, simply by clicking on the grey bar at the top of the list. When you quickly want to find the file you were working on last or all of your pictures, this saves much time.

Folder Options

Folder Options allows you to change the way the folder looks and, more importantly, what information it presents to you. By default, most versions of Windows give you large icons with little information available. Since Windows Explorer is a filing structure, I prefer a plain list with the maximum amount of information. Since the Folder Options function works differently in each system, the instructions below may not be perfect, but with several tries you can get your filing system to appear the way you want it.

In Windows Explorer, go to Tools/Folder Options.
In the General tab, you can do whatever you want. I prefer
“Use Windows classic folders”
“Open each folder in the same window”
“Single-click to open an item (point to select)”
Ignore the File Types tab.
In the View tab that is important here. You must DE-SELECT “Hide extensions for known file types.” If you plan on any advanced use (such as locating lost programs, you may want to select “Display the contents of system folders

Then you can apply these settings to all of the folders in Windows Explorer by clicking “Apply to All Folders.” In Windows XP there is another option called “Reset All Folders.” The difference between these two commands is one of the inscrutable mysteries of life, so if you figure it out, let me know.

Creating Folders and a Filing System

Highlight or select the place where you want to create a new folder. If it’s going to be a root folder, you will want to highlight or select C: (your hard drive). Then go to File/New/Folder. A folder with the name “New Folder” will appear somewhere on the list of folders on your C: drive. While the name “New Folder” is still highlighted, type in the name of the folder you want. Hit Enter and the renamed folder will bounce to its place in the alphabetical list.

Naming Conventions: Everyone has their own needs and will create their own system of naming their documents and folders. I have only one hint: if you want the folder to appear at the top of the Windows Explorer list, start the name with a number. Numbers precede letters in Windows. Therefore a folder list could look like this:

1 Important things

2 Semi-important things

3 Not so important things

z Things I want to avoid looking at

You can create folders inside folders, inside folders, inside folders, etc. This way you can have a project or an activity and keep all of the documents regarding it in one place.

Misc. Tasks

Backing Up Data

If you are smart, you will back up your data frequently. You can use floppy disks and/or other storage devices or remote servers. When you have a filing system in Windows Explorer, it’s easy – just drag-and-drop a folder onto the disk and the entire folder, with all of its documents, will be copied to that location.

Renaming and Deleting Folders

Right-click and select Rename or Delete.

How to Submit Assignments in WebCT:

Click Assignments. The Assignments screen appears.
Click the hyperlinked name of the assignment you want to submit. The Assignment Information screen appears.
Click Upload File.
Click Browse to locate the file on your computer.
Select the file by clicking on it. The Upload File For Assignments screen reappears, with the name of the file in the Filename text box.
To upload the file, click Upload.
To submit the assignment, click Submit Assignment. A confirmation box appears asking you to confirm the procedure.

Click OK. The Assignments screen reappears, with the message Not Graded appearing in the Status column. When the assignment has been graded, this message changes to a hyperlink that says Graded and your grade appears in the Grade column. Click the hyperlink to view your instructor's comments about your work.