PCs For Dummies® Windows®, 7 Edition

Chapter 21. Organizing Files with Folders

In This Chapter

• Understanding folders

• Visiting the root folder

• Finding your account folder

• Creating new folders

• Understanding libraries

• Using libraries

• Working in the Open dialog box

The most important thing on your PC is your stuff, the information you create or obtain and keep on the computer's storage system. That stuff dwells in containers called files, so understanding files is an important part of getting the most from your PC. The files themselves dwell inside their own containers, which are folders. If you want to build upon a happy relationship with your computer, it follows that after understanding files, you need to understand folders. Chapter 20 covers files; this chapter is all about folders.

About Folders

A folder is a container for files, and files are containers for data — the stuff you collect or create on the computer. Basically, folders exist to help keep your files organized. The objective: to maintain your sanity. If being sane is important to you, you need to know about folders.

More than just containing files, folders can be used to keep your stuff organized. Without folders, files would exist in one huge clump on the PC's storage media. That would be a Bad Thing.

Think about it: The typical PC hard drive stores between 10,000 and 50,000 files. Imagine finding just one file! Heck, it would take you a week to scroll through the list. I won't even go into the madness of duplicate filenames and how sluggish the computer would behave ...