Day 1 – Introduction to File Structure
MS Word
(GEN 12/6/03)
In this session you will be introduced to the ways Windows stores your documents/files. Windows Explorer will be used to show the relationship between disk drives and file cabinet drawers. I captured this image of an old Word97 Class folder opened on my removable disk drive using Windows 2000.
Follow the line down under My Computer in the Folders pane. You see it has several branches. There is one at the 3 1/2 Floppy (A), LOCAL DISK (C:),Removable Disk (D:) and so on. You could consider each one of these branches as a drawer in a file cabinet. As in a file drawer you may or may not find folders inside. Likewise inside the folders you may or may not find files. A folder may also be inside another folder. A plus [+] in front of a folder indicates that all of this folder’s contents are hidden just like a closed file cabinet drawer. A minus [-] in front of a folder indicates that all of its folders are displayed in the left, Folders, pane; as in an open file cabinet drawer. No sign in front of a folder indicated that it does not contain any folders, although it may contain documents. Clicking on a folder, like Word97 Class, opens it and displays its contents in the right pane. This is just as if you had taken the folder from a file cabinet drawer and opened it in front of you . That is ALL there is to File Structure.
Open Windows Explorer using the Keyboard. The EASYway, just hold down the key and type E [ +E]. Using the Viewmenu the rightpane may be displayed as Icons, a List,Details or Thumbnails. In the figure above the View is set to the Details option.