Windows Explorer: How to Open It

February 26th, 2008

A lot of times when I am speaking to customers I need them to make changes to their files or look at their files in a specific way. I will often tell someone to open Windows Explorer and tell me what they see. In many occasion I have had customers open Internet Explorer instead. Because Windows Explorer is a valuable tool that I think everyone should understand and know how to use, at least at a beginner level, I have decided to take a few weeks and write about it.

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Click on Start then Accessories and then two from the bottom is Windows Explorer.  Click on it and you will then be given the following program. 

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Windows Explorer defaults to the “My Documents” Directory. As you can see all the files and folders you have in your My Documents folder are now displayed.

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Below that is “My Computer” clicking the plus sign next to it will now display any mass storage devices Windows sees connected to the machine (i.e. your C drive and CD-Rom drive). From here you can also see your Control Panel, Mobile Devices, as well as Shared Documents and your My Documents folder again. We go further into the Control Panel and Shared Documents in a later blog, for now we are just trying to see what we are able to look at in Windows Explorer.  You will notice you also have access to your Recycle Bin and any folders that reside on your desktop. (Note: You now have full access to your files, if you delete from here it will be sent to the Recycle Bin.)

To Be Continued…

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