File management
Recovering deleted files
Personal files can be precious. If one gets accidentally deleted and you empty the Recycle Bin before you realize that the file is gone, what do you do? Because it’s not unusual for home PC users to ask me this question, periodically I mention software for recovering deleted files (for example, at this post). A [...]
How file compression works
Just about anyone using a computer will have encountered one of the compressed file formats, especially ZIP files. Have you ever wondered what is involved in compressing files so that they are smaller? Here’s a link to How Stuff Works that explains how it’s done.
More on opening email attachments
In a previous post I discussed some common file types and scenarios that cause average PC users to have trouble opening an email attachment. A file type that I didn’t mention is the Microsoft Works file WPS. This type of file is created by the word processor that Works used to have instead of Word. [...]
What to do when you can’t open an email attachment
(Because of rampant “borrowing” of posts by spam blogs, I am including the following: this post is originally from Vic Laurie at tips.vlaurie.com.)
Certain questions about using computers keep coming up. One of the recurring problems that home PC users seem to have is being unable to open certain email attachments. Now I could go [...]
Quick way to open “Documents and Settings” folder
In Windows XP, the “Documents and Settings” folder contains subfolders for each user account. In turn, these account folders contain a number of important folders with individual files and computer settings. Instead of going through “My Computer” to access this key folder, you can use a shortcut. Open the “Run” line in the “Start” menu, [...]
All about file systems
One of the more technical aspects of a computer is the file system. Most of the time, average PC users need not be concerned with what file system is on their computer. Sometimes, however, it is something that has to be considered, as when Microsoft started using NTFS instead of the various FAT systems. Thus, [...]
How to find out what a specific file extension means
I talk about file extensions a lot because understanding them is key to file management. Unfortunately, there are thousands of file extensions. Although most of us encounter only a few of the common ones, there are times when you might need to look up a particular file extension. Because file extensions are so important, the [...]
Very useful backup utility updated
Over the years I have mentioned a number of free utilities from Karen Kenworthy. Her backup program Replicator is one that I use a lot and it has just been updated. Here’s the description:
Automatically backup files, directories, even entire drives! Karen’s Replicator copies selected files from one drive/folder to another. Source and Destination folders can [...]
Enable the Desktop Toolbar
Related to the subject of the previous post is the desktop toolbar. It’s all very well to have shortcuts conveniently located on the desktop but in the course of normal work the desktop is frequently covered with opened windows. Then the shortcuts are not so convenient after all. One way around this problem is to [...]
Unclutter your desktop- part 3
Something that is often overlooked is the ability to create your own toolbars. A toolbar can be created that contains any of your folders. Access to that folder is then always available in the taskbar. In part 2 of this series I mentioned making a folder on the desktop to contain shortcuts. You can also [...]
What everybody should know about file extensions and associations
This isn’t a new topic and some readers may wonder why I’m posting about it. Power users may know all about the subject but there are tens of millions of PC users who do not know many of the elementary things about Windows that they should. File extensions and associations constitute one of those neglected [...]
