Windows 8 Bible

About Folders

Information stored on a disk is organized into files. For example, a photograph is stored as a file. A song is stored as a file. The files may be organized into folders. Folders on a disk play exactly the same role as folders in a filing cabinet — to organize things so they’re easier to find when you need them.

If you’re confused as to why folders exist at all, look at it this way. Suppose you went to your filing cabinet (the real one with paper in it) and dumped the contents of every single folder onto your desk. You end up with a big messy pile of paper on your desk. Finding anything in that pile would not be easy. That’s why you put things into folders in filing cabinets in the first place — to make it easy to find things when you need them.

Disks can store millions of files. If every time you opened a disk’s icon you were faced with millions of filenames, you’d have the same basic problem as the mountain of papers on your desk. You’d spend all your time looking through icons and filenames rather than getting stuff done.

In short, folders on disks exist for exactly the same reason manila file folders in filing cabinets exist — to organize information. When you’re looking at a disk’s contents, it’s fairly easy to tell which icons represent folders:

• The icon for a folder usually looks like a manila file folder.
• Folders are usually listed first.

Figure 27.6 shows some examples of icons that represent folders.

FIGURE 27.6 Icons that represent folders

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