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VA Healthcare Network Upstate New York - VISN 2
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Exploring Your Computer |
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Explorer's windowpanes. Your filing system is displayed in the left pane, contents of the item highlighted at left are shown in the right pane.
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Mastering your computer means mastering the file system of disks and the network to which your computer is connected. A great tool for finding your way around your files is the Windows Explorer program that comes standard with your computer.
Not to be confused with Internet Explorer for browsing websites, Windows Explorer is often new to people because it's lumped into the Start menu with other Programs rather than highlighted as a universal tool, and many users accomplish their work just fine without it. But when you need to locate the most recent version a file on your disk, access multiple files simultaneously, dig deep in your subfolders, or access a network share, Explorer is the way to go.
To open Explorer:
- For Windows NT 4: Start button > Programs > Windows NT Explorer
- For Windows 2000: Start button > Programs > Accessories > Windows Explorer
- Easy Shortcut: Right-click on the Start button and choose Explore.
Explorer uses a windowpane view of the world. Your computer and network filing system shows up in the left pane, and the contents of the disk or network share selected at left shows up in the right pane.
Left Pane Tips
- Your various local disks (inside your computer) and network-connected disks (such as P: for the VISN 2 Public drive) are labeled with letters and listed alphabetically.
- Click once on a disk or yellow folder icon at left to display its contents in the right pane.
- Click once on the tiny plus sign next to a folder to expand it and show subfolders. Click the minus sign to collapse folders.
- Collapsing folders when you're finished with them helps reduce scrolling in the left pane.
Right Pane Tips
- Double clicking a yellow folder in the right pane replaces the window with its contents. Double clicking a document icon opens the document. In Windows 2000 you can click once on a document icon in the right pane and receive a small preview of what the document looks like.
- Use the View menu to change the way your files are represented: as small icons, large icons, in a List format, or in a list showing Details.
- The View menu also lets you Arrange Icons for your files by Date, file Type, alphabetically by Name, or by file Size.
- To copy files, select or multiple select the files in the right pane, then drag them over to the destination disk or folder in the left pane. You can select multiple files by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking each file, or you can click and drag with your mouse around a group of files all at once.
Other Tips
- You can change the amount of space divided between the left and right panes by holding your mouse over the vertical pane divider until the pointer turns to a double arrow. Then click and drag the divider either direction.
- View > Toolbar and View > Status Bar provide additional commands and information at the top and the bottom of the Explorer screen. The Status Bar at bottom shows the number and size of a file or group of files selected in the right pane.
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| Reviewed/Updated Date: February 7, 2007 |
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