Files and Folders

Files   - it would be impossible to understand software if it was an endless stream of data, with no common boundaries, beginning, and end points.  Therefore, software is divided up into self-contained units called "Files".  ALL SOFTWARE IS STORED IN FILES !!  A file is simply a segment of data, with a beginning and an end.  A file has a specific size, in bytes.  It can be anywhere from 1 B (byte) to hundreds of MB (MegaBytes).

Folders (Directories) - files are stored on your hard drive, and are arranged into "directories" (which are now commonly called "folders", due to the icon that Windows uses for them - a yellow folder).  A folder can contain both files and other folders as well.  There are a number of ways to describe the structure, which is in the form of a Tree.  

Analogies

If you are new to the concept of folders and files, let us go over a couple of analogies.  Once you understand the analogies, it is extremely important to begin using Windows Explorer as you new tool for file and folder management.  Throw away the Start Button method . . . throw it away !!  Once you begin exclusively using Windows Explorer and creating shortcuts and folders on your desktop - you will truly understand and follow what is on your hard drive.

NOTE: do not confuse "Windows Explorer" (file and folders manager) with Internet Explorer (IE, which is a web browser).  When you hear the term, "browser" - it will always mean either IE, or Netscape (AOL's web browser).  More on web browsers later.

File Cabinet Analogy

Your computer is a filing cabinet, which may have one or more drawers - each drawer is a hard drive :

Each drawer (hard drive) is also a special folder called the "Root".  The drawer itself is considered a giant folder.  When you open a drawer, you will see folders inside - each of these is a subfolder of the root folder :

When you open a folder, you may will see other folders and/or papers inside - the folders inside are subfolders of that subfolder, and the papers are files.  The following blue folder has some files in it (papers) and an orange subfolder :

The Root folder of the Tree is simply your drive itself.  The next level down from that contains a number of folders - some of them very common and even mandatory within Windows.  The following is a screenshot from Windows Explorer, which is the main tool you should use to access and manage your files.  To see your own hard drives using Windows Explorer, simply click Start/Programs/Windows Explorer.  Later I will show you how to never have to start programs this tedious way again.  Windows Explorer is the best way to view out analogy of the "File Cabinet, drawers, folders, and files".

Tree Analogy

In the old days of DOS, folders and files were approximated as a "tree".  Actually, at that time, the term folders was non-existent, and instead, they were called "Directories".    The root of the tree is the hard drive, the branches of the tree is folders and sub-folders, and the leaves of the tree are the files.

Windows Explorer - an Upside Down Tree of Folders and files

From this point on, instead of using the analogy, we will simply refer to the drives (C and D), the folders, and the files.  Actually, the subfolders are typically just called "folders" - subfolder is just a term that clarifies it when  you are trying to show a relationship between 2 folders.