It's a sad, but true fact. Most computer owners have no clue how their own files are set up. Your computer and it's supporting software titles make up a very powerful tool set that permits YOU the computer USER to CREATE things. Loading and saving files is the most common activity on your system, yet if you don't understand and familiarize yourself with your storage medium, you'll never be able to FIND what you save. EVERYONE has, in the beginning, saved or downloaded a file, only to discover later that they have NO clue where they PUT it.

Your hard drive is a huge filing cabinet, but without drawers to start with.  Just a large empty box without compartments.  You COULD write files directly to the hard drive and NOT inside ANY folder, and this would be called the ROOT of the hard drive.  When you install an Operating System (Windows) it will create some of it's OWN compartments to keep data files in.  These compartments are called FOLDERS or sometimes DIRECTORIES.  You may have several hard drives installed in your computer, but only ONE system drive (the one that hosts the Windows files that you're computer is running).   This is commonly (but not always) your C: drive.   Your floppy disk drive (if you have one) is your A: drive.

You, as the user, can create, use, edit and delete said Folders, as you see fit.  Folders are where you can keep files.  Anything that creates and saves things to your hard drive, creates a FILE.  There are many types of FILES for all sorts of purposes, and each one contains a FILE TYPE, as indicated by the FILE EXTENSION (The last three or four letters of the filename, displayed to the RIGHT of the DOT).   Most Windows Operating systems do not show the file extensions of files in their default configuration, and this is a problem for many reasons.  I'll show you how to correct this below, after the description of Windows Explorer software.

Folders can further have SUB folders contained within themselves, so you could create an entire organizational system using "nested folders".   For example, let's say that you want to create folders for Music, Text, and Photos at the Root of your C: drive.  You could further create folders inside of MUSIC for let's say... MP3, WAV, and MIDI.  You could create folders inside of Text for Letters, Notes and Important Documents.   And in Photos you might create folders for Personal, Business and Emailed.   While Windows will allow you to include spaces in your file names, it is NOT considered good practice.  Also avoid special characters and stick to letters and numbers, with perhaps a dash or an UNDER_SCORE in your filenames.

How you express the location of folders and files on your computer is called a PATH.  It's expressed as a chain of folders leading to the file or folder, seperated by a BACK SLASH (located under your BACKSPACE on your keyboard).  For example, the folders we created in the above example could be expressed with the path of C:\Music\MP3\filename.mp3

MicroSoft has, in their (in)finate wisdom, given us a PRE-existing location for our media, located in the My Documents folder.  You may choose to use these folders, or create your own.  There are NO rules, other than it's considered unsafe to mess with the Windows system folders if you're not sure about what you're doing.  If you're like most, you are using a reasonably new computer with a LOT of Hard Drive space.   And if you don't learn to master your file organizational skills, you'll soon not be able to FIND anything.  When you download a file from the Internet, for example, you'd better be familiar with your Hard Drive folder structure so you can FIND what you save.   What I do is create a folder at C: named DOWNLOAD (C:\DOWNLOAD) and I use IT to receive ALL of my downloaded files.   Then I sort it out later and place it into a more logical location on my system.  Some prefer to point their downloads to DESKTOP, and while that does work, it's considered messy business to load files into your system folders.  IF you DO use DESKTOP, you'll be interested in deleting or moving it elsewhere when you're done with it.

Ok, now that you have an idea of WHAT needs to be done, HOW do you do it?   There are many ways, but the two most common is your desktop and folder structures directly, or via a Windows program called Windows Explorer (A File Manager).

Windows Explorer will probably wind up being your most used software, so you might want to move a shortcut of it onto your desktop if you don't already have it there.  It's icon looks like a yellow file folder.  To create the shortcut, click your START button on the left side of your taskbar at the bottom of your desktop.  Under your START, find Programs/Accessories and then RIGHT click on the Windows Explorer icon and choose SEND TO / DESKTOP AS SHORTCUT.  This will place the yellow folder icon for Windows Explorer onto your desktop so you don't have to HUNT for it every time you need it.

Once you're in and you're looking at the Windows Explorer interface, notice the two areas that list your contents.  Although these may be changed by you, the default view contains your FOLDERS (and drives) on the LEFT and the files (and sub folders) on the RIGHT.  You may navigate your system by double clicking (two rapid clicks using your LEFT mouse button)  on whatever you need to enter (or view).  Windows will use the last three or four letters in the file name (called the file extension) to determine what to use to open the file you're clicking on.  If you can't SEE the file extension  (a DOT followed by three or four letters) then follow these directions.  From the pull down menus at the top, find FOLDER OPTIONS.  This is under TOOLS in Windows 2K.  Choose the VIEW tab and then find the setting for: Hide file extensions for known file types".  REMOVE the checkmark from that setting... (UNselect it) but don't go anywhere yet... we're not done.  Notice at the top there is a Folder Views area that contains an option to set ALL folders Like Current Folder.  Click the Like Current Folder to use the recent setting change on ALL instances of Windows Explorer.   NOW, click on the OK button at the bottom...  From here on in, you'll be able to SEE what filetype each file IS.

To CREATE a folder IN a folder, first navigate TO that folder.  Then, on the right side (in the file listing area) find a BLANK white area (not on a filename) and RIGHT click.  This will pop up a menu.  Choose NEW and then FOLDER.  The folder will be created with the default name of New Folder.  Simply rename it to your liking.  (TIP: To rename a file or folder, first select it by clicking one time on it.  THEN press the F2 key on your keyboard to allow editing of the file/foldername.)

To delete a file or folder, first select it by clicking one time.  THEN, simply press the delete key on your keyboard, OR optionally choose DELETE from the right click menu.

Your RIGHT CLICK menu will differ from others, depending on what software you have installed that provides a right click option.  But most everything is CONTEXT SENSITIVE in Windows and a right mouse click will always pop up whatever is pertinent to your location.

Play with Windows Explorer every chance you get.  It is quite important that you learn to manage your files, and Windows Explorer is the tool that comes with Windows for the job.  You may optionally download and install any number of file management programs, but it is suggested that you become familiar with the process before you do.