GETTING STARTED NT 95. Bytes and Megabytes Computing Basics Copying files Deleting files Desktop Drives Explorer File size Files Folders

Transcription

1 NT 95 Getting Started with Windows NT/95 ❶ GS1 ❶ Version 2 ❶ August 1999 Bytes and Megabytes Computing Basics Copying files Deleting files Desktop Drives Explorer File size Files Folders This document tells you how to work with windows, how to save your work to places where you can retrieve it again, and how to manage your files effectively. You do these things in the same way whether you're working in Windows NT on SHU's workstations; or in Windows 95 on your own computer. Windows 98 is very little different. If you don't know how to log in on SHU's workstations, refer first to the separate document An introduction to IT facilities at SHU. Corporate Information Systems GETTING STARTED Managing files Memory Moving files Opening files Renaming files Saving your work Selecting files Start button Taskbar Windows More

2 Contents Introduction...1 Computing Basics...2 About Memory; Operating systems Windows NT/95 basics...3 The desktop; The Start button 3 Working with windows: a trial run 4 The Taskbar 5 Saving and returning to your work...6 Files; Drives 6 Folders; Where and where not to save to: an exploration 7 Opening files you've saved: different ways 8 Managing your files with Explorer...9 Why use Explorer?; Why use the "details" view? 9 Creating folders; Selecting multiple files or folders 10 Deleting files or folders; Moving and copying files or folders; Renaming files or folders 11 Essential knowhow: checking file size 12 Companion documents to this one include Word 97: Getting Started; Word 97: Advanced Features; Excel 97: Getting Started; Access 97: Getting Started; Powerpoint 97: Getting Started; Graphics Handling: Getting Started. These and other useful titles are available at SHU from the main CIS reception (Atrium 4th floor) or from the computing Help Desks at Collegiate Crescent and Psalter Lane. Author: Jos Kingston Thanks to Paul Buckley and Fiona Kilner. Windows NT, Word 97, Excel 97, Access 97 and Office are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Screen shots reprinted by permission from Microsoft Corporation.

3 Introduction Jargon PC: personal computer. Low-cost computer designed for use at home or in the office. Apple Macs are also designed for this market, but they aren t referred to as PCs, and they have a different operating system and electronic architecture. Hundreds of manufacturers make PCs - but they all stick to the same common standards. Desktop: the screen you see when Windows is loaded. When you're working in Windows NT/95, the desktop is always there behind any windows where you have programs running. If you have your own computer, you can change settings such as background "wallpaper", and set up shortcut icons to take you straight to your most commonly used software, files and so on. Microsoft developed Windows 95/98 mainly for the home user and small office, and Windows NT for running large networks of computers like the one at SHU. Beneath the surface, NT provides a different set of operating and administrative tools, but from the software user point of view, Microsoft has set out to make the "look and feel" of NT its user interface identical to that of Windows 95. The key features introduced here are points you will need to understand when you're working on any PC running Windows NT, 95 or 98. This document is aimed both at users who are new to Windows NT/95, and new to Windows in general. Windows 98 has added some extra icing on the cake, but the basic ingredients remain the same. Whether you're using NT or 95/98, the software available and the layout of the Windows desktop can be very different indeed on different computers these are decisions made by whoever owns and maintains the computer. At SHU, student computers are set up with our Zenith desktop, designed to give you easy access to all the software and services you're most likely to want to use. If you're a complete computer novice, you'll need to spend some time straight away coming to grips with using a mouse. You must: 1. Be in full control of where on the screen the mouse cursor (usually a white arrow but sometimes other shapes) is pointing. 2. Know how to double-click with the mouse. 3. Know how to click and drag with the mouse. It's easiest if you can get somebody to give you a demonstration, then keep practising until you feel confident. At SHU, you have your own network homespace allocation. You must understand how to manage your work from here. See page 7 onwards. All Computer Services workstations at SHU now run Windows NT. At SHU, you need to have a login code and know how to use it before you can get started. See An Introduction to IT facilities at SHU (GEN 1). If you have your own computer, there's a great deal you'll need to learn which isn't covered in this document in particular, how to install software and devices such as printers or modems. If you're a novice, it's a good idea to get a general feel for the interface before you tackle such things. Introduction 1

4 Computing Basics Jargon RAM. Short for Random Access Memory.Chipbased memory. Megabyte. (Mb) One million Bytes. A byte consists of 8 bits the bit is the lowest measure of computer memory, consisting of just a single on/off switch. One byte is enough memory to store a single text character, or one dot in a 256-colour picture. (3 bytes 24 bits are needed for one dot in a full-colour, photorealistic picture.) A Kilobyte (Kb) is, to be exact, 1024 bytes, but for simplicity think of it as 1000 bytes Mb = 1 Gigabyte. Different setups: New computers at SHU are purchased with 128mb RAM, but 64 mb RAM will usually serve you well enough on your own computer running Windows 95/98: you may just get by on 32 mb. If you're working with graphics, the heavy demands you're making on the computer's video display capabilities when you switch between software or files can cause problems, even when the computer has plenty of RAM. You need a good graphics card. Software these days takes up a lot of disk space. If you want to use "state of the art" software, don't buy a computer with less than a 3 gigabyte hard disk. And it must be a Pentium, not a 486 or less. Always check carefully before buying a secondhand computer that it will meet your needs. Any computer has three main elements: A processor - the electronic components where instructions are translated into actions. Some computers have much faster processors than others. Memory - see below. Input and output devices - "peripherals". The keyboard and the mouse are input devices; the monitor and printers are output devices. Some are for both input and output - for instance a modem, or a disk storing files. About Memory A computer needs two kinds of memory: RAM: Fast-access working memory - where all the instructions needed for whatever the user is currently doing, are stored. The computer can retrieve instructions much more quickly from electronic "chips" than it can from a disk, so the more of this kind of memory is installed on your computer, the faster it will run. Like any kind of computer memory RAM is measured in Megabytes. You would have a very miserable time, if you tried to run Windows 95 on a computer with only 8 Megabytes of RAM. Disk space: Storage space where files can be saved and retrieved. These files include program files where all the software instructions are kept; and data files where users have stored their work. On home computers you'll usually store files on the hard disk inside your computer. At SHU, students have a small network space allocation where you can store your current working files. To keep within your space allocation, you will need to move files from here for storage to floppy disk at regular intervals. See page 11. CDs and Zip disks provide much greater storage capacity than floppies a computer must have the right drives (page 6) fitted to handle these. Operating systems All computers must have an operating system, which loads up when the computer is first switched on. On PCs, this used to be DOS - Disk Operating System. In the 1980s Windows came along to provide the user with a more friendly interface to control how the computer looked and felt, but this still "sat on top" of DOS. With Windows NT/95/98 there isn't a separate operating system under the surface any more it's part of the Windows package. Macs, Amigas and so on have operating systems of their own. It's easy to move files between modern Macs and PCs, but files created on other operating systems are often impossible to use on PCs. Computing basics 2

5 Windows NT/95 basics Before you can run Windows NT on SHU's workstations, you need to log in. See An Introduction to IT facilities at SHU if you haven't got a login code or don't know how to use it. You must use the left mouse button for standard actions like clicking, double-clicking, click and drag. The desktop Once Windows NT/95/98 is loaded, you'll see the desktop on screen. On SHU's computers, this will look like the illustration. On any computer running Windows 95, It's possible to have a desktop covered in icons for every imaginable purpose, but whenever you have a program running it will occupy most of your desktop area, Desktop icons making them hard to get at. That's why using the Start button often makes more sense. Taskbar The Start button 98 or NT you'll see the same basic ingredients desktop icons, the Start button, and the Taskbar at the bottom of the screen. Desktop icons are intended to make the user's most frequent needs just a double-click away. (Or, in Windows 98, a single click.) On your own computer, you can create desktop icon shortcuts for any program or file you want. At SHU, we've gone for an uncluttered desktop the Start button is your one way in to all of our software and services. At SHU, the most commonly used software is easily available from the top of the Start menu. More things are available from Programs. On your own computer, you can reach all your software from Programs. 10 Click on the Start button. The Start Menu will pop up - this gives you easy access to everything available on the computer you're working at. 10 Without clicking, move the mouse up the list highlighting different items. Where an item on the list has an arrowhead by it, you'll see more choices when that item is highlighted. You only need to single-click to activate a highlighted menu item. Buttons also only need a single click. Make sure you understand about working with windows and the Taskbar before you get too carried away with opening programs! See the following pages. Windows NT/95 basics 3

6 Working with windows: a trial run Title bar Menu bar Minimise Resize Close Control buttons Program button in the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. When a window is maximised, the resize button looks like this. Resize cursor Application control buttons Document control buttons On your own computer: if you have Office 2000 software, window controls don't work as described here: application and document windows no longer behave as separate items. Any software, service or utility running on a computer is known as an application. Any application you load opens in its own window. You must know how to move, resize, minimise, maximise, scroll and close windows. 1. Load a simple application from the Programs Menu: Highlight Accessories on your own computer, or Tools and Utilities if you're working at SHU. Click Calculator. This works exactly like a hand-held calculator does. 2. Click and drag on the Title bar at the top of the window to move it to a different position on screen. As long as it doesn't occupy the full desktop area, any window can be moved around by dragging on its title bar. 3. Look at the Control buttons at the top right of the window. Notice that in the calculator window, the resize button appears greyed out the size of this window can't be changed. 4. Click the Minimise button. The application window will disappear from the screen, but it's still loaded. In the Taskbar at the bottom of the screen you'll now see a program button. Click here to bring it back to life. 5. Return to Accessories, and click on Notepad. (Notepad can be very handy, but read the text contained within the illustration below if you want to make proper use of it.) 6. Click on the Notepad Resize button, and the window will be maximised it will now take up the whole screen. Click the button again to return the window to its previous size. Scrollbar 7. Provided a window isn't maximised, you can make it any size you want. (Unless it's a fixed-size window like the Calculator one.) Move the mouse until the cursor is sitting over any edge of the window. The cursor will change to a two-way arrow, as in the illustration. Click and drag until the window is the required size. 8. If a window isn't large enough for all its contents to be displayed, you'll see a scrollbar down its right-hand and/or bottom side. Click and drag on the long bar or arrow buttons to scroll down or across the window. 9. Now try opening, minimising and closing a more sophisticated application such as Microsoft Word 97. You'll see two sets of control buttons at the top of the screen. The top set controls the application window exactly as described above. The lower set of buttons controls just the document window which you currently have active, without affecting the application window. More and more in Windows software, any kind of file gets described as a "document". 4 Windows NT/95 basics

7 The Taskbar The Taskbar shows you all the programs you currently have open, and allows you to switch between them at the click of a button. Keeping your eye on the Taskbar is an essential when you're working in Windows NT/95. The button which is "switched on" is the currently active program Notepad in the example. If the Taskbar isn't visible on screen: 10 Your keyboard may have a special Windows key on the bottom row. If so, click on it. If not: on your keyboard, hold down the Ctrl key (bottom left) while you press Escape (top left) the Taskbar will spring into view. 10 On your own computer: if the Taskbar isn't always in view, and you want it to be: Get it in view as above, then click on any blank area of the Taskbar with the right mouse button. A popup menu will appear. Click Properties, and the Taskbar Properties box will open. Click the Taskbar Options tab, make sure Always on Top is ticked, then click OK. Object properties are a key concept in Windows NT/95/98. Just about anything is thought of as an object for instance, a file, a toolbar, a box in a drawing. Different types of object have different properties for example, how a paragraph of text is formatted, or how a printer is set up. At SHU, students aren't given rights to change all types of object property. Using the Taskbar On your own computer: Office 2000: Office 2000 uses the Taskbar in a different way from Office 97. All open documents are displayed in the Taskbar, and you switch between them from here. So, if you're running Office 2000, a large number of document icons in the Taskbar is no longer a warning sign that you need to take heed of! 10 If you haven't got at least two icons in the Taskbar, go back to the Start menu and open a few things. Experiment with clicking between different items from the Taskbar. Keep an eye in the Taskbar on what software you have open. Close software when you've finished with it. There's a limit to how much your computer can handle at once this depends mainly on the amount of RAM it has (page 2). Check in the Taskbar that you haven't unintentionally loaded the same software more than once. This is especially likely to happen if you don't realise the software is already loading and click it a second time; or if you forget that you already have an item open and minimised. In the top illustration, Word 97 has been loaded twice in error. If you try to to save changes to a file which is already open elsewhere, you'll get "read-only" messages. Close down one of the Word windows before carrying on. Bottom, a lot of image files have been opened by doubleclicking in Explorer or My Computer (see page 8), and each time Windows has loaded the Paint accessory. Windows NT/95 basics 5

8 Saving and returning to your work Different setups: When you move a file with a long file name to a pre- Windows 95 PC setup, the name will be automatically changed to obey the oldfashioned rules. This has happened if you see the ~ (tilde) character in a file's name. You must always be conscious of where you're saving your work to. Don't just take it for granted that the computer will put it somewhere you can easily find it again. It's essential that you understand about files, drives, and folders. Files Any work you save on the computer is saved in a file, which you must give a name to. When you re using Windows NT/95/98, your file names can be as long as you like, but short and to the point is usually best. Before Windows 95, file names on PCs had to be restricted to 8 letters or less, and you couldn t include any spaces in the name. Most Windows software will automatically add an extension to your file name for example.doc for a Word file,.xls for an Excel file. These tell the computer what software is associated with a particular file. Drives Below: icons used by Windows NT/95 to depict different types of drive. Specific letters don't always correspond to a specific type of drive. At SHU, you will see this shortcut to your network homespace (Drive F:) on the desktop. All areas on your computer where data is stored hard disk, floppy disk, CD-Rom and so on are reached via drives. A drive name is denoted by a single letter, followed by a colon. 10 A: is always a floppy disk drive. 10 C: is the hard disk inside the computer. Sometimes a hard disk is partitioned into two drives usually C: and D: The initials used for other types of drive will vary depending on how the computer where you're working is set up. 10 If your computer has one, a CD drive is usually but not necessarily D: or E: Similarly with a Zip drive. Zip drives are useful because a Zip disk can hold up to 100mb of data 70 times as much as a floppy. CDs now come in writable as well as read-only (CD-ROM) format. You can't write (i.e. save files) to CD unless you have a special kind of CD drive. 10 F: is your network homespace allocation on SHU's computers. You have 8 mb available - some of this is taken up with your personal system files, which you shouldn't delete. 10 If you're working on networked computers, you may also see other drive letters referring to different areas of network space. At SHU, these refer to locations which the computer needs to access for operational reasons you can't save to or copy from these drives unless you're specifically told otherwise. 6 Saving and returning to your work

9 Folders Folders are just the same as what used to be called "directories" in the days before Windows 95. Files need to be stored in an organised way for ease of retrieval. This is done by placing files within folders, and folders within other folders, just as you would in a filing cabinet. 10 When software is installed on a computer, the folders to hold it are set up automatically. 10 When you save work on your own computer, unless you specify something different it will be placed where the software chooses to put it. In Word this will be the My Documents folder; in other software it may be to the Desktop (which is just a glorified kind of folder), or even muddled up with the program files. It's best to plan and use a folder organisation of your own see page On SHU's computers, most software is set up to save straight to your network space allocation (drive F:). If for any reason this isn't available when you log in, your work should be saved in the Common Workspace folder on the hard drive (Drive C:). If you use this, you must remember to copy your files to floppy disk at the end of your session. See pages Where and where not to save to: an exploration Jargon: Dialog Box - a command window where the user sets their choices before the action is taken. 10 Activate Notepad from the Taskbar (or Programs menu if not already open: page 4). Type in a word or two. 10 From the File menu, select Save. The first time you save a file, the Save As window will appear. Move the cursor slowly over the icons at the top of the window - a yellow tool tips box will appear telling you what each one does. 10 Keep clicking the Up one Level icon until the button greys out. The Save In display will show Desktop. On your own computer, a file saved here will be available to you in future simply by double-clicking its icon on the desktop if you can find it amongst the clutter which will soon build up! At SHU, you can't store files on the desktop you'll get an error message if you try to. The contents of the desktop get wiped clean for each new user login. 10 Click on the arrow right of the Save In box. You will now see a list of the drives on your computer. Click the drive you want. Unless you're saving straight to floppy, you'll then need to select the correct folder double-click on its icon. 10 Check the Save in box displays the correct drive or folder. 10 If you want to save this file now, enter a name in the File name box and click Save. If not, click the Cancel button. Saving and returning to your work 7

10 Opening files you've saved: four different ways There are different ways you can open a file from Windows NT/95/98: 1. Load the software the file was created in, then Open the file from the File menu. (Sophisticated software provides a toolbar with an Open button to save going to the menu.) Select drive and folder from the Look In box just as you do from the Save In box (see previous page). Notice the Files of Type box if you click on the arrow to its right, you can change between showing files just of the type the software usually handles, or all the files in the selected drive or folder. This is useful if, for instance, you have a WordPerfect file you want to open in Word 97. But remember that most software can only handle a limited number of file types if you open a file in inappropriate software, you may just see gobbledegook! Above: files shown as icons. Below: file details shown. 2. Use My Computer or Explorer to locate the file, then doubleclick on its icon. My Computer is always available from a desktop icon; Explorer is reached from the Start menu as described on the next page. Both My Computer and Explorer can display files and folders as icons; or as listings containing file details. Behind the scenes, Windows NT/95/98 associates different filename extensions (see page 6) with different software. When you double-click on, for example, a Word file, Word is loaded and your file is opened "all in one go". My Computer/ Explorer can be set up either to show or hide filename extensions associating works the same either way. There can be disadvantages to opening files from My Computer or Explorer. You may not always want to use the software which Windows associates with your file. Additionally, networked computers aren't always set up to permit software being loaded this way. 3. If you're using your own computer and have saved files to the Desktop, double-click the desktop icon. Once your desktop starts getting cluttered, you'll find it much easier to put your files into an organised set of folders. You can still create desktop shortcuts to any of these files if you want. 4. Click on the Start menu, then Documents. On your own computer, you can select from all your most recently used files; on SHU's computers, only the ones you've used in your current login session will be listed. As when opening files with My Computer or Explorer, your file and the software will be loaded "all in one go". 8 Saving and returning to your work

11 Managing your files with Explorer When you're managing files, single-click only to select them for moving, deleting, etc. If you doubleclick, you'll open the file. Why use Explorer? Microsoft puts "My Computer" on the desktop because it's intended as a simple "navigation tool" for beginners to start with. But Explorer offers much better capabilities for managing your files. With Explorer, you can see in one window both the hierarchy of folders on your computer, and all the files and folders within the folder you've selected. This makes it much easier to copy and move files. You can see that the Explorer and My Computer Toolbars are identical. So are the Menu bars, except that Explorer contains a Tools menu. This has a useful Find File feature. 10 Click the Start button, and from the Programs menu, load Explorer. Run the mouse slowly over the Toolbar icons. A tool tips box pops up to tell you what each one does. 10 Look at the All Folders tree on the left of the window. Some folder icons have a + or sign beside them. This means that they contain further folders. Click a + sign, and this branch of the folder tree will expand to show the folders within it. Click the sign to hide "sub-folders" from view. Why use the "details" view? Toolbar Menu bar The Explorer window (left) and My Computer (above), both in Large Icons view see below. If the toolbar isn't visible, in the View menu click Toolbar. Details bar 10 From the Toolbar or View menu, try out the different view modes: large icons, small icons, list, and details. When you've looked at the choices, select the Details view. Whatever view mode you're using, you can order it by file Name, file Type, Size, or Date last modified: 10 From the View menu, select Arrange Icons. Alternatively, just click Name, Size, Type or Modified in the Details Bar. If you're viewing files as icons, they'll be rearranged according to your choice, but you still can't easily view size or date information. Icons may be more "user-friendly", but seeing information about file size and date created makes it much easier to manage your work. Managing your files with Explorer 9

12 Essential actions The illustrations show the folder structure within a SHU student's network homespace. Two of the folders are for system purposes, and shouldn't be deleted. Create your own folder structure within my files, or use the images and office folders set up for you. my files Creating folders Whether you're working on your own computer, storing files in a network space allocation or on a Zip disk, you'll soon appreciate the benefits of setting up a folder structure to organise your work. 1. In the All Folders tree on the left of the Explorer window, single-click to highlight the location where you want your folder to be placed. If you want the folder branching from the bottom level of a drive, click on the drive icon. If you want to place it within another folder, make sure you have selected correctly. In the example, the student has selected the my files folder on their network homespace, and wants to create a new folder within it. 2. From the Explorer file menu, select New, then Folder. At the bottom of the right-hand (Contents) side of the Explorer window, you'll see that a folder icon has appeared, with the default title of "New Folder". The cursor will be blinking, waiting for you to type in your own folder name. 3. Type in the folder name of your choice to replace the "New Folder" default, then press the Enter key. Alternatively, most Windows software will let you create a new folder "on the fly" when you first save a file. To do this: 10 In the Save As dialog box, locate the folder to branch from and double-click to open it. Make sure the correct folder name is displayed in the Save In box, then click the Create New Folder toolbar icon. Type your new folder name in the box which appears. Your file can now be saved to this new folder. Selecting multiple files or folders You'll often want to delete, move, or copy a group of files or folders together rather than one by one. Select them from the Contents (right-hand) side of the Explorer window. 10 If the files are in a block: single-click on the first one in the set, then hold down the Shift key while you click on the last one. This will select all the files in between. If the files aren't next to each other: hold down the Control (Ctrl) key while you click on each one. When you're selecting files or folders for deleting, moving etc., click on the icon rather than the file name. Otherwise you may find that Explorer (or My Computer) assumes you want to rename the item. 10 Managing your files with Explorer

13 Keyboard delete Toolbar delete Deleting files or folders 10 Single-click to highlight the file or folder you want to delete. Follow the instructions on page 10 if you want to select multiple files or folders. Click the Toolbar Delete button, or the Delete key on the right of the keyboard (not the backspace), then confirm when prompted. Moving and copying files or folders Warning: Files can't be copied if they're open in any software. To be safe, it's best to close all software except Explorer before copying files. Important: on SHU's computers, you should regularly clear files from your network homespace, and back up important files. Keep your homespace as empty as possible to avoid problems with saving your work. 10 In the Contents side of the Explorer window, select the item or items you want to move or copy. 10 In the All Folders side of the Explorer window, make sure that the drive or folder where you want to copy to is visible. 10 Make sure that the mouse cursor is pointing directly into a highlighted area as in the illustration, then click and drag to the All Folders tree. Take your finger off the mouse button when the destination drive or folder is highlighted. Explorer will assume that if you drag items to a different drive you want to copy them; and that if you drag them to a different folder on the same drive, you want to move them. You'll see a + sign attached to the cursor when copying. 10 If you want to copy when Explorer expects you to move, or vice versa, click and drag with the right mouse button instead of the left one. When you take your finger off the right mouse button, select your action from the popup menu which appears. When you're moving or copying files within a complex folder structure, it often helps to have two Explorer windows open at once so you can see both source and destination. Load Explorer a second time from the Start menu, set up the windows as you need, then click and drag selected files between windows. Always make backup copies of important files! To copy items from one floppy to another: 1. Copy the items from A: into your network homespace, or (on your own computer) an empty folder on the hard disk. 2. Place the floppy you want to copy to in the disk drive, and check there's sufficient space on it (see next page). 3. Move the items from network space or hard disk to the floppy. Renaming files or folders 10 Click with the right mouse button on the file or folder you want to rename, then select Rename from the popup menu. 10 Continue as when naming a New Folder (see previous page). Be cautious about renaming never rename program folders or files. The computer will become confused! Managing your files with Explorer 11

14 Essential knowhow: checking file size Jargon: swap space. Disk space used by Windows for quick access to data likely to be needed which won't fit into RAM data is swapped from here into and out of RAM. If you need to keep within a network space allocation or store work on floppies, you'll have endless problems if you don't understand about file size, and what will fit in the space available. Even on your own computer with plenty of hard disk space, you're likely to be surprised by how quickly it fills up. Files containing pictures or sound can grow very large. A colour picture scanned in at A4 size might take up 10MB unless you save to a compressed format. If you're working with video clips or computer animations, just a brief sequence can occupy hundreds of megabytes. In Details view (page 9), file size is displayed in kilobytes. If a file's size runs into megabytes, the number will be four (or more) figures long. In the example, not all the files listed would fit onto a floppy disk, which holds only 1.4MB (1,400KB). Just the file called Access-1.doc would almost fill a floppy disk. Don't try to work from a disk or network allocation which hasn't got plenty of free space available. It's OK to fill a disk or space allocation to capacity if you're using it purely for storage purposes. But on whatever drive you're working from, the computer needs at least as much extra space available as the size of the file you're currently working on. If your file is larger than around 500KB, it's safest not to work from floppy disk - copy the file first to network space or hard disk. On your own computer, remember that Windows depends on having swap space available on hard disk it's wise to leave at least 100MB always free. You'll often want to know how much space the contents of an entire folder, or a group of files, takes up: To check the size of a group of files: 10 Select the files see page 10, then look at the bottom left of the Explorer window to see the total space they occupy. To check the size of a folder: the reading you get at the bottom of the Explorer or My Computer window when a folder is selected only applies to the files directly within that folder, not to files contained in any sub-folders. If you want a total reading: 10 Single click on the folder icon with the right mouse button, then select Properties from the popup menu which appears. The Size reading in the property box includes sub-folders. If you're using SHU's computers and working with specialist graphics or CAD software, you may have problems working from your network space. If so, use the Common Workspace folder on C:. You must remember to copy your files to your own space at the end of your session, otherwise you will lose your work. 12 Managing your files with Explorer