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File Management is very important, firstly computer files need
to be found. If they are not stored in an ordered, methodical way
you may never be able to find them again or a lot of time may be
wasted trying to find a particular file. Secondly, files need to
be backed up. Diskettes, Zips and even hard drives can become corrupted.
It is also possible to delete important files by mistake - human
errors occur frequently when a person is very tired - leading to
the loss of that important assignment. If only there was another
copy on another disk...
*GATCF - General Access and Teaching Computer Facilities.
What is a file?
Disk/Hard
Drives
Home Drives
I:\
Temporary
Storage
Folders
Why
do files need to be managed?
ExploreLab
Disk
Utilities
Creating
Folders
Saving
Files
Copying
Files or Making Back Ups
Moving
Files
Deleting
Files
Deleting
Folders (directories)
What is a file?
Computer information is stored in a file. When you create data
on your computer, at your direction the computer will save it as
a file. You designate the file name. You should give your file a
name that not only has meaning now, but will also have meaning in
the future.
(eg CP1010_Designing_a_Multimedia_Page.)
Disk/Hard Drives
Disks/hard drives are the storage devices for your files. In the
GATCF*, you will be required to store your data on:
- Removable 3 ˝ inch Floppy Disk (A:\)
- Removable USB Flash Hard Drives (G:\)
- Removable CD/CD-Writer/DVD Drives (F:\)
- ZIP Share Drive (E:\)
- Home Drive (I:\)
NOTE: The Drive letters may be different on different machines
SO BE CAREFUL.
Home Drives I:\
Each Student has 10 megabytes of storage space on the central server
known as Homes Drive. When using the GATCF you can save files to
your Homes Drive which is also known as I:\ Drive. (looks like this:
[Account Code] on ‘homes’ (I:).] These files can later
be retrieved from another GATCF machine or any computer anywhere
with an Internet connection. (go to the InfoHelp Guides on How
to Access your ‘Homes’ (I:\) Drive)
Temporary Storage (ZIP SHARE)
There is a temporary storage space, which has a maximum capacity of 1
Gigabyte. This storage space is communal, that means that if you place
your document on this space ANYONE can look at your documentation.
Furthermore this space is temporary and all files and documents
will be DELETED each night.
Folders
Folders (directories) are storage units, in which you can create
folders to store your files, to make them easier to locate. The
concept is similar to that of a filing cabinet. If files were placed
in a filing cabinet in no particular order, then they would be difficult
or even impossible to find. They are therefore placed in drawers,
folders and subfolders.
Equivalently, your disk can be broken up into a series of folders
and subfolders.
Why do files need to be
managed?
Computer files need to be found. If they are not stored
in an ordered, methodical way you may never be able to find them
again or a lot of time may be wasted trying to find a particular
file.
For instance, you may create a folder called 2001, to store all
your data for the year 2001.
Within that folder you could create folders for each of your subjects,
by subject codes.
Inside your subject folder, say CN3300 you could then create other
folders such as Assignments and Notes.
You could then save your first assignment for CN3300, in the Assignment
directory within the CN3300 directory (which is in 2001 directory).
You could save as One_AssignmentTitleName. Finding this file should
then be relatively intuitive.
Computer files need to be backed up - it is easy to lose
an entire assignment or your thesis due to a corrupt disk. It is
also really easy to delete a file or forget to save it properly
when you are very tired or in a hurry.
My Computer
File management on the GATCF computers is done using My Computer. Open
My Computer, by double clicking on the My Computer icon on the desktop.
You will see a list of devices available to your computer. (the figure
below shows you whatMy Computer looks like)
You will have access to (A:) (floppy disk drive) to save or read data
from a removable diskette, (E:) to save data to the ZipShare, (F:) to
save or read data from a CD Rom or DVD, and your Homes drive will be shown
as your logon ID. To see what is in these drives you can double click
on the drive (A:, E:, F, or I:) and the contense of the drive should appear
in the ‘Contense Window’, to the right, of the ExploreLab. This will show
all Folders and Files in the drive. (The fig below shows what happens
when you double click, with the left mouse button, on the Homes drive.)
You can explore futher by double clicking on each folder until you ether
locate the file you are searching for or the location you wish to save
your file in (most applications default to My Documents
Copying Files or Folders in My Computer
To copy a file or folder from drive to drive you:
- Click (with the right mouse button) on the file or folder that you
want to copy.
- Select Copy from the drop down menu.
- Then navigate to the folder or drive/disk you want to place your copy
into.
- Right click within the folder or drive and select Paste
To exit My Computer, click on the cross in the top right corner or choose
the menu File, then Exit.
Disk Utilities
Disk Utilities is another management tool that is available on
the GATCF computers. It allows you to copy the entire
contents of your floppy/Zip disk to another. This program can be
used to format your floppy disk.
Creating Folders
To create a new folder, open ExploreLab and double
click on your disk or drive. From the menu bar (top of the screen),
choose File then select New and choose Folder.
You will then be prompted for the name of your new directory (Newfolder).
You can now type in your chosen name for this folder. Folder names
should have meaning so that it is easy for you to know what is stored
in that folder. (Make sure that the New Folder name is highlighted
before you name the folder.) If you wish to put a folder within
a folder, open the existing folder (by double clicking on it) and
create and name a new folder as before.
Saving Files
Ask yourself. "Is my document worth more than the price of a floppy
disk, CD or zip disk???" I'm sure the answer is always yes.
You should save files regularly. If for some reason the computer
shuts down or hangs, while you are in the middle of your work, you
will lose everything since your last save. You can save files on
your Homes drive (I:), floppy disk (A:) zip drive (D:) [SHARE or
Zip Disk] or CD-Writer. (For information on all the drives go to
the section Disk/Hard Drives .) If
you are in a pinch you could save your file to the zip SHARE drive
and then save it as an attachment and email it to yourself. Another
idea is if you copy and paste the file in your email body and the
send it to yourself. (this is handy if your file is all text) To
save a file simply click on your File menu then click Save
As and this window appears:
in File name you should put a name that has meaning for easier
management. (go to this section Why
do files need to be managed for details). If you have already
saved a file you can go to the File menu and click on Save.
Copying Files or Making Backups
It is important to have more than one copy of a file, since disks
can be damaged and you can lose them as well. Backing up your files
will prevent the misfortune of lost data, which is equivalent to
lost work and time.
To copy the entire contents of one floppy disk to another or of
one zip disk to another, choose the Disk Utilities icon (by double
clicking with the left mouse button). To copy from one floppy disk
to another, choose COPY FLOPPY (click on this button with the left
mouse button).
You will then be asked to insert a disk into A: drive. Insert your
floppy disks and press the ENTER key. Follow the instructions on
the screen. You will be asked to insert another disk into A: drive,
remove the disk currently in the drive and insert the one that want
to put your backup copy onto.
To copy the entire contents of one zip disk to another, choose COPY
ZIP and follow the instructions on the screen. (To copy a CD to
another go to TO Be Decided.)
If you want to copy only one file or document from drive to drive,
disk to drive or vice versa you can use ExploreLab (for details
go to Copying Files or Folders in ExploreLab).
To copy a file or folder from Disk to Disk the best way is to make
a 'Temporary' file in your Homes drive or the Zipshare drive (see
Creating Folders for instructions)*. Next
copy the file or folder you want to that 'Temporary' folder ' (look
at Copying Files or Folders from ExploreLab
for instructions). Check that the file has copied correctly to the
'Temporary folder'. Then click on a hard drive. Now insert the other
disk you want to put the file or folder in and copy from you 'Temporary'
folder to your other disk drive.
The same procedure applies for copying from disk to CD, zip or I:drive and vice versa. Copying drive to drive or disk/zip/CD to drive
you do not have to make the 'Temporary folder' you can copy straight
into the drive or disk/zip/CD.
*(Remembering that the files or folders will only stay in the Zipshare
drive for 24 hours and ANYONE can look at these file or folders.)
Moving files
Files can be moved to different folders (directories), or from
one disk drive to another. To move a file between folders, you will
need to view the available folders. Folders are arranged like a
'tree'. The 'tree' may have a number of 'branches'. To see all the
folders available expand the branches of your file tree. Each branch
should have a plus sign beside it if you click on this plus sign
then the 'tree' expands. If it has a minus sign, then click on this
to collapse the branch. To move a file between folders and which
are on different drives, open the folder that currently contains
the file, by double clicking on it. Click on the file using the
left mouse button (this should highlight the file). Hold the shift
key down. While holding the left mouse button down drag the file
to the new folder. If you are moving folders or files in the same
drive in ExplorerLab just drag and drop.
Deleting files
Click on the file that you wish to delete. To delete the file,
click on the delete icon (which looks like a hand written cross)
or choose File and then Delete. You will be asked
if you want to delete this file, if you do choose yes and the file
will be deleted. Otherwise choose No.
Deleting folders (directories)
You can delete a folder and its contents if you wish. Click on
the folder that you wish to delete and continue as per Deleting
Files.
Note that deleting a folder will delete all files
and folders within that folder. Be sure that this is what
you want to do before answering Yes to the prompts. When asked if
you want to delete the folder and its contents. Once you delete
a file in ExploreLab it's gone for good!
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