Windows 2000 Explorer Basics

In order to make working with Windows Explorer simple and easy, it is important to learn some basic techniques, terms, and conventions involving Windows Explorer.

Opening Explorer
Exiting Explorer
Moving Around in Explorer
Terms
File Naming Conventions

Opening Explorer

There are two options for accessing Windows Explorer on campus computers: the right click option and the Start menu option.

NOTE: The Start menu option may not always work, due to periodic Start menu reorganization.

Right Click Option

On the desktop, right click MY COMPUTER
The Quick menu appears.
From the Quick menu, select Explore
Windows Explorer opens.

Start Menu Option

From the Start menu, select Programs » Accessories » Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer opens.
NOTE: The Start menu option may not always work, due to periodic Start menu reorganization.

Exiting Explorer

There are two different ways to exit Windows Explorer.

From the File menu, select Close
OR
In the upper right corner, click the X

Moving Around in Explorer

As you work with Explorer you are likely to encounter the following activities. Included with the activities is a brief description of how to accomplish the activity.

Display the Contents of a Folder/Drive

From the Folders listing, select the appropriate folder/drive name
The contents of the folder/drive you selected will appear in the Contents listing.
From the Contents listing, double click the folder/drive name

Moving to Sub-Folder

If you want to view the contents of a subfolder, use the methods described above for displaying the contents of the folder.

Viewing Subfolders of a Folder/Drive

If you want to see the subfolders of a folder/drive but you don’t want to see all of the contents, you can click the "plus"(+) sign next to the folder/drive name.
To collapse the folder listing, click the "minus"(-) sign.

Terms

The terms file, folder, and path are key words to know when working with Windows Explorer.

File	A file is a single document that is saved to a diskette or hard-drive.
Folder	A folder is where files are stored.
Path	A path is the line of folders you must follow to locate a specific file; it begins with the drive designation and includes the folders. For example, c:\data\reports\status.doc is a file named status.doc that is on the C: drive and is in the reports folder of the data folder.

File Naming Conventions

About Long Filenames

When working with Windows 2000, you have a lot of flexibility with your filenames. Windows 2000 supports long file names so you can have up to 255 characters including spaces; however, extremely long filenames are discouraged as they take additional memory.

When naming your files, you can use all of the alphabetic characters, numeric characters, and spaces. In addition to control characters (characters that require a keyboard combination to create) the only characters that you cannot use are displayed below.

\ / : * ? " < > |

NOTE: Spaces and special characters should not be used in web publishing or WebCT files.

While filenames with Windows 2000 are not case-sensitive, Windows 2000 will remember the case you use to create the name. This means that you cannot have the following two Word documents in the same folder:

Course Syllabus
course syllabus

Depending on the settings, Windows 2000 may hide the extension, which would cause the Word file of Course Syllabus to exist in the same folder as the Excel document named Course Syllabus. The Word file will have a DOC attached to the filename and the Excel document will have an XLS extension added to its filename.