Using the Explorer

The Explorer is the Windows replacement for what was FileManager under Win 3.x.
There are several additions and enhancements detailed below.

The following instructions in no way comprise everything you can do with the Explorer,
but are meant to be a way to get you started with the most important features.

With the Explorer you can:
    1. Copy, Move, Delete, and Rename Files or Directories
    2. Create Directories
    3. View or Change File or Directory Properties
    4. Drag and Drop Files or Folders to the Desktop or other Folders
    5. Start Programs
    6. Open Documents
    7. Find Files or Folders
    8. Make Network Connections

To Start the Explorer:

  1. Click the Start button

  2. Point to Programs

  3. Move down to Windows Explorer

  4. You should see a similar Explorer window
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It will display:

  1. The Directory Tree is displayed in the Left Panel

  2. Files in the current directory are displayed in the Right Panel

This Section Shows how to change the View of the Explorer

The Toolbar allows faster access to the most common tasks. From Left to Right the items are:

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  • The large box with Your Disk (C:) and an arrow to the right allows you to open up new folders.
    It is a quick way to move to other drives.

  • The next icon allows you to move up the directory tree one level .

  • The next two icons allow you to connect to and disconnect from Network Drives.

  • The next three icons allow you to Cut, Copy and Paste files.

  • The next icon is an Undo function.

  • The next two icons are Delete and Properties.

  • The last four icons determine the View in the right panel.
    You can experiment until you find the setting you prefer.

To View the Toolbar as in the example above:

  1. From the pulldown menu select:

  2. View / Toolbar

To Change the Icon View in the Right Panel

  1. Select View from the pull down menu

  2. Select either:

    • Large Icons

    • Small Icons

    • List or

    • Detail

  3. or Use the Toolbar as described above

To change how Files are viewed

  1. From the pulldown menu select View / Options

  2. The following screen will appear

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This section deals with Copying, Moving and Deleting files

Before you can manipulate files you need to know how to select them.

To Select or Highlight Files

  1. For a single file:

    1. Highlight it with the mouse

  2. For multiple files:

    1. Use the Ctrl-key with the mouse to select separated files

    2. For a selecting a Range of files you can either:

      1. Use the Shift-key with the mouse to select a range

      2. Click the Left mouse button and drag a rectangle around the files you want to select

To Copy Files

  1. Select the File(s) you want to Copy

  2. To Copy Files to the Same Drive:

    1. Hold down the Right Mouse button

    2. Drag the outline to the left panel to the directory where you want to copy the files.

    3. Caution: If you use the Left Mouse button on the same drive, you will Move the files, not Copy them.

    1. Or Using the Toolbar,

    2. Click on the Copy Icon.

    3. Select the directory where you want to copy the files in the left panel.

    4. Click on the Past Icon.

  3. To Copy Files to a Different drive:

    1. Select the files you want to copy

    2. Hold down the Left Mouse button

    3. Drag the outline to the left panel to the drive and directory where you want to copy the files.

    4. Or using the Toolbar, follow the same instructions as above.

    The example shows some files about to be copied to a Temp directory

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    Tip

    To Copy a file to a floppy disk:

    1. Select the files you want to copy

    2. Right click the mouse in the Right panel

    3. Select Send To

    4. Select the Floppy Drive were you want to copy the files

To Move Files

  1. To Move Files on the Same Drive:

    1. Select the File(s) you want to Move

    2. Hold down the Left Mouse button

    3. Drag the outline to the left panel to the directory where you want to copy the files.

    1. Or Using the Toolbar,

    2. Select the File(s) you want to Move

    3. Click on the Cut Icon.

    4. Highlight the directory where you want to move the files.

    5. Click on the Paste icon.

  2. To Move Files to a Different Drive:

    1. Use the Toolbar and follow the same instructions as above.

 

To Delete Files or Directories

  1. Select the File(s) you want to delete

  2. Either:

    1. Press the Delete key or

    2. Drag the files to the Recycle Bin or

    3. Right Click and select Delete or

    4. Click on the Delete Icon (the one that looks like an X in the tool bar)

 

To Rename a File or Directory

  1. Right Click on the File or Directory Name

    1. Select Rename

  2. Slowly Left Click on the name of the File or Directory Name

    1. When the box comes up around the Name, type in your new name

  3. Highlight the file or directory and press the F2 key

The last section deals with several other things you can do with the Explorer, but do not fit into any general category.

To View Subdirectories:

  1. Simply click on the + next to a directory name

  2. This will open up one directory below the current one.

To Create Directories

  1. In the Left Panel, highlight the Directory you want to start from

  2. In the Right Panel, Right click the mouse

  3. Select New / Folder

  4. A new Directory will be created below the one you highlighted.

  5. Type in the Name for the new Directory

View or Change File and Directory Properties

  1. Select the File or Directory

  2. Right click the mouse

  3. For a File, you can:

    1. View the Size of the File

    2. View or Change the File Attributes

  4. For a Directory, you can:

    1. View the Size of the Directory (including all sub-directories)

    2. View or Change the Attributes of the Directory

    3. Share the Folder on a network

Drag and Drop Files

One of the new features in Win95 is the ability to have Programs and Data Files right on the Desktop.
To do this you need to Drag and Drop the file.

  1. Press the Right mouse button and drag the file to the Desktop or Folder on the Desktop.

  2. When prompted, you can either

    1. Move the file to the Desktop or Folder

    2. Copy the file to the Desktop or Folder

    3. Create a Shortcut to the Desktop or Folder

  3. The difference between Copy and a Shortcut

    1. Copy makes a copy that is not associated with the original other than the name

    2. Shortcut creates a link to the original. Any changes that happen to one are reflected in the other.

    3. For example, if you have a shortcut to a document on your desktop,
      you can edit the shortcut and the original file (which is elsewhere on your hard disk), is the one edited.

Tip: If you create a shortcut of your Printer on the Desktop, you can print files by simply dragging them to the Printer icon

Tip: To create a shortcut for the Explorer:

  1. Start the Explorer

  2. Go to the \Windows\Start Menu\Programs folder

  3. Create the shortcut for Microsoft Explorer

 

To Delete Files or Directories

  1. Select the File(s) you want to delete

  2. Either:

    1. Press the Delete key or

    2. Drag the files to the Recycle Bin or

    3. Right Click and select Delete or

    4. Click on the Delete Icon (the one that looks like an X in the tool bar)

 

Starting Programs and Opening Documents

  1. To start a program or open a document, simply have the program file displayed in the Right pane and double click on it

  2. If it is a program it will start

  3. It is a document, the program that created it will start and then load the file.

Finding Files or Folders

  1. From the pull-down menu, select Tools / Find

  2. This will bring up the following dialog box

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You have quite a lot of options in selecting the files to search for.

To Search by Name and Location, you can specify:

  • The filename itself.

  • The drive and subdirectory.

  • Whether to include subdirectories in the search.

  • Note: You can now enter any part of the filename for a search.
    For example, to find all the .BAT files you can simply type in BAT for the search criteria.

To Search by Date Modified, you can specify

  • All Files regardless of date (the default setting

  • All Files between two date

  • All Files created during the previous months or days

  • Advanced Options You can specify:

  • Search by Registered File Types

  • Files that contain Certain Text

  • File Size

Once you are done with a search you have several options of what to do with the results.

  • Go to the directory where the file is located (File / Open Containing Folder)

  • Send To a Drive (File / Send To)

  • Save the search results to the Desktop (File / Save Search

  • There are several other options available. Click around and experiment

Make Network Connections

  1. Select Tools / Map Network Drive or

  2. Click on the first icon that looks like a disk drive with a star.

  3. A Dialog box will come up with the first available drive letter

  4. You can select that drive letter or another one by typing in the letter itself or using the pull-down

  5. Then type in the server and offer (\\server\offer)

  6. If a password is required you will be prompted for it.

  7. If the connection can be made it will show up as a new drive letter in the Left Panel.

 

Right Click EVERYWHERE

There is lots more out there. Start clicking around. I learned a lot just writing this up.

Go to Explorer Switches
Go to Explorer Tips

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