A file is a single document. The file might be a Word document, and Excel spreadsheet, or a PowerPoint presentation. When you double click the file icon, it will open the software that created it and the file itself. (Or you can right click and select OPEN to open the file.)
A folder is where you can save files to keep them organized. A folder icon looks like a folder that you might have in real life. When you open it, you will see a list of files stored in the folder. It can even store other folders.
Drives
You can think of drives on your computer as filing cabinets used to store folders and files in different places.
The filing cabinets (or drives) are different sizes, and each one is named after a letter (A:, C:, D:, E:, H:) Inside of each filing cabinet are multiple folders with different names. Inside each folder are the actual files. All of the drives connected to your computer are listed in My Computer or Computer. Click the start button, then click My Computer or Computer in the right hand column. You will see the different drives or “filing cabinets” that are currently installed. Each filing cabinet (drive) has a letter and a name.
Space in a computer is measured in Bytes.
Bytes are very small. When we talk about space on our computer, we talk about thousands and millions of bytes:
1 Kilobyte (KB) = 1,000 Bytes
1 Megabyte (MB) = 1,000 KB
1 Gigabyte (GB) = 1,000 MB
Sizes of common files
• Word document (30 pages) =200 KB
• Image file (4”x6” for print) =6.2 MB
• PowerPoint (100 slides) =25 MB
• Sound file (3 minutes) =30 MB
• Image file (2’x3’ for print) =100 MB
Local Disk (C:) This is a hard drive that is built into the computer. You can only access it on this specific computer.
3½ Floppy (A:) Floppy disks work well to transfer small files (like Word) from one computer to another. However, they have very limited storage space and they fail over time. Floppy disks used to be very common. Some new computers no longer have floppy drives. Size: 1.4 MB
CD-RW or DVD/CD-RW Drive (D:, E:, or F:) DVDs hold 12 times the amount of bytes as a CD. To write (that is, to store information on a CD or DVD), the computer needs a CD-RW or DVD-RW drive. The RW stands for Read and Write. Some drives will only Read the information but can’t Write new information on the CD or DVD. CDs and DVDs can scratch and lose data over time. Size: CD: 650/700 MB, DVD: 4.7/8.5 GB (dual)
USB/Flash Drive (D:, E:, or F:) Flash drives are small portable devices that plug into the USB port on a computer. Some computers also have built in flash memory card reads that can read cards from phones or cameras. Newer ones work very fast, but older ones can be quite slow. Many sizes are available and they are very stable (that is, they won’t break as frequently as other drives) because they have no moving parts. Size: 2MB to 128GB
Saving, deleting, and restoring files are some most important computer skills. After all, you want to be able to find your files! It will take some practice. Do these steps many times until you are comfortable saving, deleting, and restoring files.
To create a folder with your name on the desktop:
Right click – select New – select Folder
OR
Click the Start button, then Computer, click Desktop from the list of locations on the left, then find New Folder in the toolbar across the top
Highlight the name New Folder and type your name
To create a folder on a jump drive
Attach the jump drive to your computer
Click the Start button, then Computer
Locate the jump drive from the list on the left (it is typically listed as Removable Disk or the brand name of the jump drive)
Click New Folder in the toolbar across the top
Highlight the name New Folder and type your name
Exercise - Deleting and restoring folders
To delete a folder:
Locate the folder you want to delete (go to Start Button – My Computer….)
Right click on the folder, then Delete
OR
Locate the folder you want to delete (go to Start Button – My Computer….)
Click and drag the folder to the Recycle Bin
To restore a folder:
Double click the recycle bin to open
Locate the folder you want to restore
Right click, then click Restore
The folder will return to its original location
Saving files:
In Office 2007
Click the Microsoft Office Button
Click Save As.
A Save As dialogue box will appear.
In Office 2010
Click the File tab  This opens what is called the Backstage View.
Click Save As.
A Save As dialogue box will appear.
There are three things you should look at when saving a document: where you are saving the document, the name of the document, and the file type.
Navigate to the directory where you want to save your document.
Name your document.
The file type will automatically be the version of Word in which you created your document.
| 
