CompTIA A_ Certification All-In-One Exam Guide, Seventh Edition - Michael Meyers [47]
Figure 4-34 Default My Computer view where many things are hidden
Go back into the View tab under Folder Options, click the Show hidden files and folders radio button, and then uncheck Hide protected operating system files. Click the Apply to folders button in Windows Vista, the Apply to all folders button in Windows XP, or the Apply button in Windows 2000. Your C: drive should look like Figure 4-35 (it shows the Windows XP version) when you are finished. As before, when you return to examining the folder contents, you will see the file extensions, and possibly some previously hidden files.
Figure 4-35 My Computer displaying hidden files and folders
Now that those files are visible, you have the awesome responsibility of keeping them safe. In general, the less you handle your vital system files, the better. You’ll learn some ways to do useful things with files that were previously hidden, but unless you really know what you’re doing, it’s best to leave them alone. Before you turn a PC over to someone who isn’t a trained PC tech, you’ll probably want to hide those system files again.
Microsoft has tried to help users organize their files and folders through various user folders and subfolders that you access through Windows Explorer. The different operating systems offer different choices, so let’s look at My Documents and the User’s Files.
My Documents, My [Whatever] All versions of Windows provide a special folder structure for each user account so users have their own places to store personal data. This folder grouping is called My Documents in Windows 2000 and XP. Many Windows programs take advantage of My Documents and by default store their files in the folder or in a subfolder.
Windows XP installations do not show My Documents on the desktop by default. On Windows XP, you can access it readily through the Start menu, or you can add it to your desktop. Right-click the desktop and select Properties to open the Display Properties dialog box. Select the Desktop tab, and then click on the Customize Desktop button to open the Desktop Items dialog box (Figure 4-36). On the General tab, select the checkbox next to My Documents, My Computer, or both, and then click OK to close the dialog box and make any selected icons appear on the desktop.
Figure 4-36 XP Desktop Items dialog box
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NOTE As with most tools in Windows, Microsoft gives you more than one way to accomplish tasks. In XP and Vista, try right-clicking the Start menu icon, selecting Properties, and choosing the Classic Start Menu radio button.
Windows XP adds a number of subfolders to My Documents: My Pictures (which offers filmstrip and thumbnail views of pictures you store there), My Music (which will fire up Media Player to play any file), My Videos (which, again, starts Media Player), and more. Figure 4-37 shows My Pictures, using the thumbnail view. Many applications have since jumped on the bandwagon and added their own My [Whatever] folders in My Documents. Before I retired my Windows XP machine, for example, I had My eBooks, My Web Sites, My Received Files, My Virtual Machines…My Goodness!
Figure 4-37 My Pictures subfolder in My Documents
User’s Files Windows Vista takes the equivalent of My Documents to a whole new level with the User’s Files option. (Although a Documents folder is available, it’s designed literally for documents, such as text files.) Click on the Start menu and you’ll see a folder option with the user name of the account that’s currently logged into the computer. With that option, not only do you get all of the folders you get in Windows 2000/XP, but Vista also adds a number of other folders as well as interesting but important data such as your Internet Explorer favorites and copies of recent searches.
Just as with Windows XP, the user’s folder does not show on the desktop by default. To see this folder, right-click on the desktop, select Personalize, and then