University of Botswana History
Department
Computer services pages
Finding your files:
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NB: several of the computer services pages include illustrations showing what will appear on your screen as you follow step-by-step instructions. Although we hope these will be useful, the text is intended to contain all the necessary information, so if you find downloading the pictures too slow, then don't bother - they are not essential.
Computers store information as files which are written electronically on a storage device such as a floppy disk or a hard disk (hard drive). Each MS-Word document is a file. Because most people have lots of files, these files need to be organized somehow. On all modern computers, files are organized in a hierarchical structure.
The easiest way to understand this is to imagine a filing-cabinet drawer. Within the drawer, we have a series of large folders, which might be labelled "Student records", "Old tests", "New writing" and "Miscellaneous". If we look in the "Student records" folder, we find the following:
When we look inside the "Last year's records" folder, we find that it contains the class lists for H399 and H499 for last year. In the "Old records" folder there are yet more folders, one for each year.
Files on a computer disk are stored in an analagous manner. The disk corresponds to the filing-cabinet drawer. Within it are folders (sometimes called directories, but the word "folder" makes the concept clearer). Within folders there can be files and/or other folders. (Note that a file can also be at the top level, on the disk but not in a folder, like a document in our filing-cabinet drawer but not in a folder.)
We can now describe exactly where a file is in the disk by giving its file path. For example, consider the results for H499 for last year. To find it in the filing cabinet, we look
The position of a file on a disk is described in the same way. The steps of the path are separated (in DOS and Windows) by the "backslash" character "\". The disk itself is indicated by a code. The hard disk is usually c: and a floppy disk (whatever disk happens to be in the floppy disk slot at the time) is usually a:
Thus, if our file was H999.doc, its path would be
c:\Student Records\Last year's records\H499.doc
There cannot be two files with the exactly same name in the same folder. However, there can be two files of the same name in different folders. For example, this year's H499 records are
c:\Student records\H499.doc
In an Internet address (URL) you will see forward-slashes rather than backslashes, but the principle is the same. The University of Botswana History web-site is in a folder history on the humanities.ub.bw server. The file which you access as
http://humanities.ub.bw/history/ub/compu/hcsfol1.htm
is a file hcsfol1.htm, in folder "compu", in folder "ub", in folder "history", on the humanities.ub.bw server.
There are several ways to find and move or copy documents. Two of the most starightforward are by using "My Computer" or the "Windows Explorer". When you have found a file, you can cut it and paste it somewhere else as you would with text while word-processing. You can also drag files from one place to another. (To drag something on the screen, position the mouse cursor over it and press the left mouse-button down. Do not release it, but move the mouse. The object will be "dragged" along. When you release the mouse-button the object is released in th new position.)
Using "My Computer"
On the Desktop (the computer screen you see when you start, before any programs such as MS Word are started) you will see an icon for "My Computer". Double-click this. A window will open showing the various storage devices on your computer. These will include a floppy drive a: and a hard drive c:. Double-click the hard drive. A further window will open showing the folders on that disk. By double-clicking folders you can find documents.
The Windows Explorer
This is different from the Internet Explorer. The Windows Explorer helps you search through your disk. Start the Windows Explorer by going to the Start Menu, selecting Programs, and selecting Windows Explorer.
Other applications
Many applications also allow you to hunt for files through windows rather like the Windows Explorer. In MS Word, go to the File menu and select "Open..." A window will open for finding files which allows you to move up or down through folders.
Copyright © University of Botswana History
Department
Last updated 23 October 1999