To restore your Documents, Music, Pictures, or Videos folder to its original location, click the Restore Default button on the Location page of the Properties dialog box for the folder.

PAGEFILE.SYS and HIBERFIL.SYS

As mentioned a page or two ago, not all the files needed to keep Windows running reside in the Windows folder. There are a couple of massive exceptions:

the paging file and the hibernation file. If you look at the root of the drive on which Windows is installed, you should see a large file named PAGEFILE or PAGEFILE.SYS, depending on whether Windows Explorer is hiding or display- ing file extensions. If you don’t see it, turn on the display of protected and hidden files as discussed a couple of pages ago. This is the paging file, a file in which Windows stores information temporarily to supplement the RAM physical memory in your computer. Article 15 discusses what the paging file does and how you can optimize and move it. Windows keeps the paging file locked, so don’t try to access it from Windows Explorer.You may also see another large file, this one called HIBERFIL or HIBERFIL.SYS. This is the hibernation file, the file in which Windows stores the contents of RAM when you put the computer into Hibernation mode. The hibernation file takes up as many megabytes of disk space as you have RAM. Don’t mess with this file either. If you don’t need hibernation, you can get rid of the hibernation file and reclaim the space it takes. See the section “Cleaning Up Your Own User Account” in Article 10. You may also see a file called ERRORLOG or ERRORLOG.TXT. As its name suggests, it is a log of critical errors that have occurred on your computer. If you haven’t had any critical errors, there won’t be an error log file yet.

The autoexec and config.sys Files

On your system drive, you’ll also find two other files:

•    The autoexec file is a dummy file used for command prompt sessions.

•    The config.sys file is a configuration file provided for compatibility with programs that expect to be running on earlier versions of Windows.

Hiding Hidden Files and Protected Operating System Files

Now that you’ve seen the folder structure, you might want to hide the program folders, system folders, and hidden files again so that you see Windows as Microsoft intended. To do so, follow these steps:

1.  Choose Organize   Folder and Search Options. Windows displays the Folder Options dialog box.

2.  Click the View tab. Windows displays the View page.

3.  In the Advanced Settings list box, select the Do Not Show Hidden Files and Folders option button and the Hide Protected Operating System Files check box.

4.  Click the OK button. Windows closes the Folder Options dialog box and applies the changes.

Using Views

Windows Explorer supports a number of views to let you browse folders and files comfortably and be able to tell what you’re looking at:

Icons view This view displays an icon for each file or folder. If the file contains a preview, Windows displays the preview as the icon, together with an icon indicating the program associated with the file. If the file doesn’t contain a preview, Windows displays just the icon for the associated program. You can change the icon size by choosing Extra Large Icons, Large Icons, Medium Icons, or Small Icons from the View drop-down menu or by dragging the slider to one of these positions or an intermediate position.

List view This view displays a list of folders and files, showing only the filename or folder name and a small icon for each. List view is good for sorting through folders that contain a large number of files or folders.

Details This view displays a list of files and folders, showing the filename or folder name, a small icon, the file size, the file type, and the date on which it was modified. You can customize the details displayed for a folder. See the end of the article for instructions. Details view is good for sorting files and folders by different types of information to quickly locate the file or folder you need.

Tiles view This view displays a medium-sized icon for each file or folder. Windows Explorer displays icons rather than miniatures for graphics files. Tiles view is good for sorting through folders that contain relatively few files or folders. You can apply a view in any of these ways:

•    Click the View button on the toolbar, and then choose from the drop-down menu.

•    Right-click in an Windows Explorer window, choose View from the context menu, and choose from the submenu.

Arranging Icons

Once you’ve applied a view, you can choose how to arrange the icons displayed in the view. Windows Explorer lets you sort icons, group them, and stack them.

Sorting Icons

To sort icons, right-click empty space in the folder, select Sort By on the context menu, and then choose the sort item on the submenu, as shown here. You can sort by any of the columns of information displayed - for example, by Name, Date Modified, Type by the file type, Size file size, or Tags any tag information applied to the file. You may want to display other columns, as discussed in the section “Choosing Which Columns to Display in Windows Explorer Windows” at the end of this article, so that you can sort by them. As well as choosing the means of arranging the icons, you can choose either the Ascending item to sort in alphabetical and ascending order or Descending to sort in reverse order. For Icon view and Tiles view, you can toggle on and off two further options as suits you:

Auto Arrange This option tells Windows Explorer to arrange the icons into the specified order automatically. This option is good for keeping the icons in order.

Align to Grid This option tells Windows Explorer to snap the icons back to an invisible grid, thus tidying up the window.

Grouping Icons

In Icons view, Tiles view, or Details view, you can group icons as well as sorting them. To group icons, right-click empty space in the folder, select Group By on the context menu, and then choose the group- ing item on the submenu. You can group by any of the columns of information displayed, and you can choose between ascending and descending grouping.

Stacking Icons

Windows offers a further way of arranging icons:

stacking. Stacking creates stacks, or search groups, arranged by the attribute you chose. To stack icons, right-click in open space in the folder, select Stack By on the context menu, and then choose the stack item on the submenu. You can stack by any of the columns of information displayed, and you can choose between ascending and descending order. Windows treats stacking as a form of searching, so when you issue a Stack By command, the Address bar of the Windows Explorer window switches to “Search Results in” and the name of the folder. To return to the folder itself from the stacks, click the Back button. Alternatively, you can also remove stacking but continue using the Search Results view. To do so, right-click in open space in the window, and then choose Stack By   None from the context menu. The parentheses appear around the “None” item on the submenu.

Sorting and Filtering Using Column Headings

You can click any column heading to sort by that column in ascending order, or click again to sort in descending order. The column button displays an upward-pointing arrow to indicate a sort in ascending order or a downward-pointing arrow to indicate a sort in descending order. To filter the items shown, click the drop-down arrow that appears when you hover the mouse pointer over a column heading, and then choose filtering options from the panel that appears. For example, you can click the Authors drop-down arrow and then select the check boxes for the authors whose documents you want to view . The column heading displays a check mark on its drop-down button to indicate that a filter is in place. Navigating among Folders

To navigate among the folders you’ve used recently, use the three buttons in the upper-left corner of the Windows Explorer window:

Back button Click this button to move back to the previous folder or view that was displayed. Forward button This is the counterpart to the Back button, and becomes available only when you’ve used the Back button. After you’ve moved back along the path of folders you’ve browsed through, you can use the Forward button to move forward through them again. Recent Pages button Click this button to display a list of folders and views you’ve used recently. Choose a folder or view from the list to display it.

Using the Address Bar

The Address bar lets you navigate quickly among the drives and folders on your computer.

Rearranging the Panes in the Windows Explorer Window

Windows Explorer window normally display the Navigation pane the pane containing the Favor- ite Links list and the Folders bar and the Details pane the pane at the bottom that shows details of the selected item. You can also display a Search pane, the Preview pane, and the menu bar . To control which items an Windows Explorer window displays, choose Organize Layout, and then click an item on the submenu to display it if it’s hidden or hide it if it’s already displayed.

Navigating Windows Explorer with the Keyboard

If you prefer the keyboard to the mouse, you can perform some basic navigation with keyboard shortcuts.

Navigating by Using Type-Down Addressing

Instead of navigating with the mouse, you can navigate through folders by using the keyboard and type-down addressing. This technique works best for accessing a file or folder whose name and location you know, but you can also use it for browsing through folders or files if you find it fast and comfortable. Type-down addressing sounds forbidding, but it’s easy and intuitive - and a great saver of time and effort. To use type-down addressing, you put the focus in the appropriate area - for example, in an Windows Explorer window or in the Address bar. You can then type down through the contents of the folder. As you type each letter, Windows Explorer selects the files or folders that match what you’ve typed, progressively narrowing down the possibilities until you reach the file or folder you want. At that point or before, you can select it as usual. Here’s an example of using type-down addressing:

1.  Choose Start   Computer. Windows displays a Computer window.

2.  Click the Address bar, or press Alt+D, to select the current entry Computer.

3.  Type the letter of the hard drive on which Windows is installed, followed by a colon and a backslash. For example:C:\ 4.  Windows Explorer displays a drop-down list of the matching folders and files.

5.  Type u. Windows narrows down the selection to the files and folders that start with the letter u - typically, the Users folder.

6.  Press the  key to select the Users folder, and then type a backslash \. 7.  You can then type down through the Users folder to reach the folder or file you want.

Refreshing the Listing in a Folder

If you take an action in an Windows Explorer window that causes the contents of the folder displayed to change, Windows Explorer automatically refreshes the display. For example, if you create a new folder within the folder, Windows Explorer updates the display to show the new folder along with the previous contents. If you delete a file from the folder, Windows Explorer removes the file from the display. But if the contents of the folder displayed in an Windows Explorer window change because of an action not taken in the window, Windows Explorer doesn’t usually notice right away. Periodi- cally, it will reread the contents of the folder and update the display. But if you don’t want to wait, you can refresh the display manually. To do so, press the F5 key, or right-click empty space in the folder and choose Refresh from the context menu.