Microsoft Windows 98 User Introduction

On completion you will be able to:

Understand Files
File Names
File Name Extensions
Locating Files
View the Contents of a File
Renaming Files
Moving Files
Copy Files
Delete Files
The Recycle Bin
Using Send To
Selecting Multiple Files
To Copy a File to a Floppy Disk
Undoing File Operations
Formatting a Floppy Disk
Accessing Files from the Desktop
To Create a Desktop Shortcut

Understanding Files
The term file refers to the documents, spreadsheets, records or other data you enter on to your PC. The more you work with your PC the more files you will create. Frequently you will want to go back to files created earlier to amend them, add to them or print them out. To enable you to find them again you need to organize your files into folders and provide file names which are meaningful.
 

Note:  When we tell to click on something we mean a LEFT click of the mouse.  If you need to press the right mouse button we will remind you to press the RIGHT button.

File Names
You can use file names of up to 256 characters, including spaces.
For example:
File names can have Letters (both capital and lower), Numbers, and Characters  !£$%^&()-_+=:#@~.;,

The following are some of the file name possibilities
My files about school.doc
or
My March Monthly Report.doc
or
the 23rd of June report.doc
all of these are valid file names.

However, certain characters are not allowed:
" * : \ | / ? < >
 

If you use any of these characters you will get a warning message and be unable to save the file. Remove the offending character and save again.
 

Note: If you will be sharing files with other users who are not using Windows 98 or higher, you will need to ensure your file names are limited to eight characters long. Spaces are not allowed in earlier versions of windows. Long file names will be truncated to eight characters once they have been accessed on an MS-DOS or Windows 3.x system. For example, a file called "february monthly report.doc" would end up februa~1.doc.  It can create a problem if you use more than one period.  Don't put a period in you file name let Windows add the period for you. .

File Name Extensions
The letters, numbers and characters that follow the last period of a file name are called File Name Extensions.  These are limited to 3 letters, numbers and characters.  If you change the extensions from what windows is expecting you may not be able to locate the file you have been working on.

Example:  My Monthly Report.doc or My Monthly Report.xls

The DOC after the period is a file extension.  This tells Windows what program to start when you click on a file.  In this case Windows would start Microsoft Word for the DOC and Microsoft Excel for the XLS.

Windows normally turns off the ability to see file name extensions.
To see all file name extensions
Open My Computer or Windows Explorer
Select the folder you would like to look at
From the View menu, select Folder Options...
Click the View tab

Select the Show all files option button
Deselect Hide file extensions for known file types
Click Apply and then OK
 

Locating Files
As you work with your computer you will increase the number of files (documents, spreadsheets and so on) you have, making a specific file harder to locate. You could browse through your folders in My Computer or Windows Explorer, but to find something quickly, or if you are not sure of the correct name or location, you are can use the Find command.

The Find facility allows you to search for files by name, location, date, type, size or for specific text. Once you have located a file double-click it to launch an application or if it is a data file, to launch the associated application and open the file.

To find a file
From the Start menu, select Find
Select Files or Folders...
The Find: All Files dialogue box is displayed.

In the Named: box enter the file name or part of the file name to search for
Tip: To speed up a search, you can type the name of the main (high-level) folder if you know it. For example, if you know the file is somewhere in the Windows folder on your C drive, type c:\windows or select the location by clicking the down arrow to the side of the Look in: text box.
If you want to refine the search, click Browse..., or click the Date or Advanced tabs
Click the Find Now button
Tip: For help on settings in the Name & Location, Date, and Advanced tabs, click a setting by using your right mouse button, and then click What's This?

The results of your search will be displayed in a panel at the bottom of the Find dialogue box.
 

To open a file you have located double-click on the file name.

View the contents of a file
Windows 98 has a Quick View feature that enables you to see the contents of a file without having to open the file and application first.

To use Quick View to preview a document
In My Computer or Windows Explorer, click/select the document you want to preview
From the File menu, select Quick View
The file contents are displayed.

To change the way the document appears, from the View menu, select the layout you require and click on the icon
To open the document for editing, from the File menu, select Open File for Editing
Tip: To preview another document, drag its icon into the Quick View window.

Note: If the Quick View command is not on the File menu, there is no file viewer available for the type of file, or Quick View is not installed.
 

Renaming Files
To change the name of a file
In the My Computer or Windows Explorer window, click/select the file you want to rename (You do not need to open it)
From the File menu, select Rename
Type the new name, and then press Enter
OR
Right-click the file you want to rename
From the shortcut menu, select Rename
Tip: A file name can contain up to 255 characters, including spaces, but it cannot contain any of the following characters:
\ / : * ? " < > |
 

Moving Files
To move a file
In the My Computer or Windows Explorer window, find and select the file you want to move
From the Edit menu, select Cut (SpeedKey: Ctrl + X)
The file is stored in a temporary location until you paste it where you want it.
Open the folder where you want to put the file
From the Edit menu, select Paste (SpeedKey: Ctrl + V)
OR
In the My Computer or Windows Explorer window, find and select the file you want to move
From the Explorer toolbar, click Cut
Open the folder where you want to put the file
From the Explorer toolbar, click Paste
Tip: To select more than one file to move, hold down the Ctrl key, and then click the items you want.
 

Copying Files
To copy a file
In the My Computer or Windows Explorer window, find and select the file you want to copy
From the Edit menu, select Copy (SpeedKey: Ctrl + C)
The file is stored in a temporary location until you paste it where you want it.
Open the folder where you want to put the file
From the Edit menu, select Paste (SpeedKey: Ctrl + V)
OR
In the My Computer or Windows Explorer window, find and select the file you want to move
From the Explorer toolbar, click Copy
Open the folder where you want to put the file
From the Explorer toolbar, click Paste
 

Tip: To select more than one file to move, hold down the Ctrl key, and then click the items you want.
 

Deleting Files
To delete a file
In the My Computer or Windows Explorer window, find and select the file
From the File menu, select Delete (SpeedKey: Delete)
OR
In the My Computer or Windows Explorer window, find and select the file
From the Explorer toolbar, click Delete
 

The Recycle Bin
If you delete a file by accident you can retrieve it at any time from the Recycle Bin. A retrieved file will be replaced in the folder it came from and can be used in exactly the same way as if it had not be deleted previously.

To retrieve a deleted file
Double-click the Recycle Bin icon
Click the file you want to retrieve
Tip: To retrieve several files, hold down the Ctrl key while clicking each one.
From the File menu, select Restore
 

To empty the Recycle Bin
Deleted files remain in the Recycle Bin until you empty it. At that point they are lost for good.

Warning: If your Recycle Bin is nearly full and you delete a file, it will be put in the Recycle Bin but you may lose existing files already in there.
Double-click the Recycle Bin icon
From the File menu, select Empty Recycle Bin
Tip: If you want to remove only some of the items in the Recycle Bin, hold down the Ctrl key while clicking each item, then from the File menu, select Delete.
 

Send To
When you using My Computer or Windows Explorer you can send files to other destinations by using the Send To command.
Click on the file you wish to work with to highlight it.  Then right click when the drop down menu appears click on Send To.  Choose the destination where you wish the file to go to then left click.
 

To Select Multiple Files

To select many files not in order:
In the folder window, hold down the Ctrl key, and then click on each file you want to select.

To select many files in order:
In the folder window, point to the first file you will be working with and click.  Find the last file you want and then press and hold down the Shift while you click on it.  This will mark all files between the first click and your last.

To select all the files in the window
From the Edit menu, Select All (SpeedKey: Ctrl + A)
 

Tip: Using Classic desktop style only, to select a group of files that are next to each other, hold down the mouse button and drag a rectangle around the files you want to select.
 

To copy a file to a floppy disk
Insert a disk in the floppy disk drive
Open My Computer or Windows Explorer and click/select the file you want to copy
From the File menu, select Send To
Click
 

Undoing File Operations

Windows 98 provides a multi-level undo facility. That is, if you make a mistake you can correct it with Undo. Undo enables you to go back one or more preceding actions such as file deletions, renaming, moving or copying.

To undo an action
From the Edit menu, select Undo
OR
From the Explorer toolbar, click Undo
 

Format a Floppy Disk
Although these days most floppy disks are preformatted, you may occasionally get some that are not.  If you do, insert the disk in the floppy drive.

Double click on My Desktop
RIGHT click on the 3 1/2 Inch Floppy Drive Icon
Click format
The Format dialogue box is displayed.
In the Format type panel, select Full
Click Start
Note: Formatting a disk removes all information from the disk.
 

Accessing Files from the Desktop
To open documents, files or programs that you use regularly you can create a link, or shortcut, to that file, program or document on the desktop. A shortcut is shown by the arrow attached to its icon. To use the file, double-click it.


To create a desktop shortcut
Using My Desktop locate the file you want to create a shortcut to
RIGHT click the file
click on send to
A message window will appear.  It will say "A new short cut will be placed on the desktop  OK.  Click on OK
A shortcut to your selected file is created.
Click on the shortcut name to change it to one of your choice

or

To create a desktop shortcut
Locate the file you want to create a shortcut to
Click the file with the RIGHT mouse button and hold
Drag it the desktop
A shortcut menu is displayed.
Select Create Shortcut(s) Here
A shortcut to your selected file is created.
Click on the shortcut name to change it to one of your choice

or

To create a shortcut using the Create Shortcut Wizard
On the desktop, right-click the mouse button
From the shortcut menu, select New and then Shortcut
The Create Shortcut dialogue box is displayed.
Type the location and name of the item you want to create a shortcut to
OR
Click Browse...
If you chose Browse, the Browse dialogue box is displayed.
If you want to create a shortcut to an application, keep Programs in the Files of type: list box selected
Only program files will be displayed in the dialogue box.
If you want to create a shortcut to a different kind of file, click the arrow at the side of the Files of type: list box and select All Files
Click Open
A shortcut for the item you chose is displayed on the desktop.