an arrow pointing downward. Each time you see that arrow for an item on the toolbar, it means that it is a menu that can be opened.
Views On the right side of the toolbar you will notice another button with an arrow pointing downward, signaling that it is actually a menu. If you click it, you will be able to change the way you view the files and folders displayed in the right pane. Your files and folders remain the same; only the way they are presented here changes, depending on which view you select. We will discuss views in more detail shortly.
Preview Pane On the right side of the toolbar, near the Views menu, you will find the button for enabling or disabling the Preview pane. When it's enabled, a third pane is displayed on the right side of the Windows Explorer window. When you select a file in the middle pane, you can see a preview of its content in this Preview pane. If you have a larger screen that can accommodate this pane, it is a good idea to enable it because it can be useful when navigating the files on your computer.
Arrows In the Navigation pane on the left side of the Windows Explorer window you will notice that many elements have a small arrow to the left of their name. You can use these arrows to expand or collapse the element. For example, if you click the arrow for Libraries, it will collapse them. Click it again and it will expand them.
Your computer stores not just your data but also lots of files and folders that are installed by the operating system and the applications that you are using. All this data is always stored in the Local Disk (C:) drive on your computer. You will always find this drive in the Navigation pane. Please note that the C: drive may have a different name because it can be easily customized, but on most computers it is named Local Disk.
When navigating this drive, you will see plenty of folders with names like Windows (this is where Windows is installed), Program Files (this is where applications are installed), or Users (this is where your user files and folders are stored as well as those of other users on the same computer). You can double-click any of these folders and explore their content. However, you should refrain from deleting or changing anything. Most of your work should be done in the Users folder. If you open it, you will see a subfolder for each user that has been created on your computer, and one of them will be yours. If you open your subfolder, then you will see your Documents, Pictures, and Music folders, and so on.
We mentioned earlier the concept of views. They are just different ways of viewing your files and folders. The views you can use in Windows Explorer are the following, as shown in Figure 1.15:
FIGURE 1.15 The views that are available in Windows Explorer
Extra Large Icons Displays the contents of your libraries and folders using very large icons. This view is generally useful for people with vision disabilities.
Large Icons Displays the contents of your libraries and folders using large icons. This view is useful when you want to see the pictures found on your computer and you want to see a preview of them instead of a small icon.
Medium Icons Displays the contents of your libraries and folders using medium icons.
Small Icons Displays the contents of your libraries and folders using small icons.
List Displays the contents of your libraries and folders in a list that contains only the name of each file and its respective icon.
Details Displays the contents of your libraries and folders by providing detailed information about each item, including its name, the date when it was last modified, its type, its size, and so on. This view is very useful when you want to learn more about each file and folder before opening it.
Tiles This view displays medium-sized icons for each file and folder, as well as information about their type and size.
Content When using this view, each file and folder are placed on a separate row. Each row has detailed information about each file and folder: the date when it was last modified, its size, its author, and so on.
You should definitely experiment with each view and learn how they work (Exercise 1.5) so that you can use them effectively depending on what you want to do.
EXERCISE 1.5
Using Views and the Preview Pane in Windows Explorer
1. On the taskbar, click the Folder icon.
2. In the Navigation pane, click Pictures in the Libraries section.
3. In the right pane, double-click Sample Pictures.
4. Click the Views menu and click Extra Large Icons.
Notice how the pictures are now displayed.
5. Click the Views menu again and then Details.
Notice how the way pictures are displayed has changed.
6. Click the Preview pane button. Note that a new pane appears on the right.
7. Click any picture in the middle pane to see a preview of it in the Preview pane.
8. Click the Preview pane button again to hide this pane.
9. Click the Views menu and choose Large Icons.
10. Click the X in the top-right corner of the Windows Explorer window to close it.
Understanding File Types
When working on your computer, you will create many types of files: documents, spreadsheets, presentations, music files, and so on. When you save a file, you are prompted to give a name to the file and choose a file type. If you get the file from somewhere else, it has already been assigned a file type.
When browsing your files in Windows Explorer, you can see the file type of each file when you are using the Content, Tiles, and Details views. The file type is generally denoted by a three- or four-letter extension that follows the filename and also by the icon used by Windows Explorer to display that file. For example, document.docx means a file named document with the extension .docx. The dot separates the name of the file from its extension. The file extension is hidden by default in Windows when viewing files, but it is added automatically when saving them.
You can opt to change the file type when multiple options are available and change from the default file extension to something else. In Figure 1.16 you can see Paint open and the options that are available for saving a file. To save a file, click the Save As option, choose a file type, and then type the name of the file. If you make changes to the same file later, you need only click Save.
FIGURE 1.16 The Save As options that are available in Paint
Some of the most common types of files are the following:
■ Microsoft Office files
■ Microsoft Word (.doc and .docx)
■ Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt and .pptx)
■ Microsoft Excel (.xls and .xlsx)
■ Microsoft Publisher (.pub and .pubx)
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