Tutorial 1.5

Viewing the Contents of Your Computer - Part II

Objectives :

1. View the contents of your computer using the My Computer icon
2. View the contents of a drive
3. Change the Size of Icons in a Window
4. Move Icons in a Window
5. Arrange Icons in a Window
6. Display File Information
7. Sort Items in a Window

My Computer

to view the contents of your computer, move the mouse over the My Computer icon and double click.

the My Computer window opens

In the window, you will see icons that represent the drives that your computer has access to. If your computer is part of a network, like here at Salsec, you will see the drives of the computer you are sitting at (C:, A:, and B:) and you will also see network drives (U:, D:, P: etc) that are in the 'server' in the cupboard under the printer. These 'network drives' are available to all the users in the school.

Viewing the Contents of a Disk

To see what is on a drive, double click on the drive icon. A new window will appear and show the contents of the drive. If you want to see the contents of a floppy or CD-ROM drive, make sure that it is inserted into the disk drive

The title bar tells you what drive you are exploring

The bottom left of the window will tell you how many objects are in the window.

To display the contents of a folder, double click on it and a new window will appear showing what is in it.

To run a program or open a file, double click on it.

Changing the Size of Icons Displayed in a Window

You can change the size of icons in a window by choosing View from the menu bar and selecting either Large Icons, or Small Icons. There will be a black dot to the left of the choice that you were viewing before you went to the view menu.

Moving An Icon in a Window

to move an item, place the mouse over top of the item, press and hold the left mouse button as you drag the mouse to where you want to place the item. Release the button and the item moves to the new location

Arranging Icons in a Window

you can have Window 95 automatically arrange items to fit neatly in a window

• choose View in the Menu Bar and select Arrange Icons. If there is no checkmark next to the Auto Arrange, turn on the Auto Arrange by selecting it. The icons will be rearranged to neatly fit into the window. Try it!

• If there is a checkmark next the Auto Arrange choice, the option is already on, and you can turn it off by selecting Auto Arrange

Tip : if you change the size of a wiindow when the Auto Arrange feature is on, Windows 95 will automatically rearrange the items to fit the new size. Try it out!

Display File Information

• Windows 95 lets you display information about the files listed in a window.
• Select View from the menu bar, and choose Details. The first column shows the name of each file, the second column shows the size of each file, the third column shows the file type and the fourth column shows the date and time each file was last changed.

• To see only file names choose View from the menu bar and select either List, Small Icons, or Large Icons.

Sorting Icons in a Window

You can sort the items shown in a window. This can help you find files and folders more easliy.

* No matter how you sort items, Windows 95 always lists the folders separately from the files.

• If you are viewing file Details : To sort the icon names from A to Z, move the mouse over Name and click, to sort the items from Z to A, click on Name again.

• To sort by size, type or date, repeat the above instructions, but click on Size, Type or Modified.

• If you are viewing Large Icons, Small Icons, just File names, you can sort by doing the following :

Choose View on the menu bar and choose Arrange Icons and click on by Name, by Size, by Type, or by Date. ** This method also works when you are viewing file details.

 

When you are ready to demonstrate the skills that you learned in this tutorial, see either Ms Beaulieu or Stephanie

Click here to see what kinds of things you may be asked about this tutorial.

Introduction to Windows 95