1. Drives, directories, files
2. Make a plan
3. Saving Files
4. Retreiving Files
5. Backing up

Drives, Directories, Files

1. Drive names: a letter followed by a colon.

Your computer has two or more disk drives. Generally, the hard drive is called C:, the diskette drives (for 3.5 inch and / or 5.25 inch diskettes) are A: and B: The CD ROM drive is usually D:

(Note this is only "general". For example, I have a hard drive partitioned into C: and D:)

2. Directories (Folders)

The drive is divided into directories, and directories can be further divided into subdirectories, so you have a tree structure. Directory names are up to 8 characters (*) preceded with and followed by a backslash (\)

If you have Windows, you can see the directory structure in File Manager. It might look like this:
C:\DATA\BUSINESS\
C:\DATA\PERSONAL\JOHN\
C:\DATA\PERSONAL\MARY\
C:\DATA\TAXES\
C:\LOTUS123\
C:\WINDOWS\
...etc.

3. Files

File names in DOS and Windows are in the format NNNNNNNN.EEE (*) where N is the name (maximum 8 characters) and E the extension (max 3 characters). Generally the extension is used to indicate what type of file this is. For example .TXT means text. Many programmes assign these for you. If you save a letter in Write, it assigns .WRI, Notepad assigns .TXT

(*) Windows 95 allows more characters, but will "translate" for DOS by truncating after 6 and inserting a tilde (~) and number. Thus "MyDirectory" becomes "MYDIRE~1" . Also, directory names can include an extension (eg. \MYDATA.001\) but ... don't.

Make a plan

"Design" your hard drive as you would a new house - decide what goes where, and set up the necessary space.

To create directories in Windows:

1. Open File Manager
2. Highlight the top level (eg. C:)
3. Select File / Create Directory from the menu
4. Type the directory name (eg. DATA)
5. To create another level within DATA,
   • highlight the DATA folder
   • Select File / Create Directory
   • Type in the subdirectory name (eg. PERSONAL)
6. Repeat to create your directory structure

To create directories in DOS use the MKDIR (Make Directory command)
eg. MKDIR \DATA\PERSONAL\
MKDIR \DATA\PERSONAL\MARY
MKDIR \DATA\PERSONAL\JOHN

Saving Files

1. On the right side is "where", and shows the current directory - for example C:\WINDOWS. To change this to the directory you want, double-click on the top item (C:) to "move" up the directory tree. The top line wiil change to C: Now scroll down the directory list until you find the one you have chosen (eg. DATA). Repeat this until you see the proper directory in the top line (eg.C:\DATA\PERSONAL\JOHN)
2. On the left side of the window is the file name. The top box has *.EEE where EEE is the assumed extension (eg. .WRI for Write). Below that is a list of files in this directory with that extension. Type the name of the new file in the top left box (eg. RESUME.WRI). Click OK.

   You have now created file RESUME.WRI in Directory C:\Data\Personal\John.

Retreiving Files

This is almost the same as saving.

1. Open the Windows application (eg. Write)
2. Select File/Open, and you will see the same file window as before.
3. Scroll through the directories on the right (eg. to find C:\Data\Personal\John)
4. Scroll through the files on the left to find your file (eg. Resume.wri)
5. Click OK to load that file

Backing up

If you have a lot of data, copy the lower levels of the directories. For example, backup C:\Data\Personal\John to one diskette, and C:\Data\Personal\Mary to another.