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.You can start any program that s installed on your computer from the Start menu, orthe All Programs option available on that menu.WINDOWS: The files that make up your Windows operating system are stored within thisfolder.This is another folder you ll want to stay out of, unless you re an expert who hassome reason to be working directly with Windows files.To return to the My Computer view of things, click the Back button on Explorer s toolbar.Your hard disk is nonremovable, in the sense that you can t take it out of its drive.So you can alwaysopen that icon to view the hard drive s contents.Obviously, you can insert and remove disks from drivesthat support removable disks, such as your floppy (A:) and CD-ROM or DVD (D:) drive.To view thecontents of such a disk, insert the disk into its drive.Then open the drive s icon in My Computer.Explorer will display the contents of that drive as file and folder icons as well.What Happened to My Documents?If you re an experienced Windows user, you might wonder why the traditional My Documents folder isn tvisible when you first view the contents of your C: drive.The My Documents folder now exists as asubfolder within Documents and Settings.If you open that folder, you ll see a folder for each user whohas an account on this computer, as well as a few other folders.If you open the folder that bears youruser name, you ll see your My Documents folder within that folder.The reason for the change has to do with the improved support for multiple users that XP provides.Each user has her own My Documents folder, which prevents multiple users from overcrowding a singleMy Documents folders.Each user also has his own desktop, and Start menu settings, Favorites, and soforth, and these too are stored within the user s folder.These changes are pretty transparent when you re working in Windows.Normally there s really no needfor you to ever dig around in any subfolders within Documents and Settings.You can get to your ownMy Documents folder from many places on the desktop and within Explorer.There s really no need to drill down to the folder via the Documents and Settings folder.Note If you attempt to view the contents of such a drive while it s empty, you lljust see a little message asking you to put a disk into the drive.When youinsert the disk, the message disappears and Explorer displays thecontents of the disk.You rarely need to use My Computer to use a CD-ROM or DVD disk.Most of these have an autostartcapability.Just insert the disk into its drive and wait a few seconds for something to appear on-screen.Ifnothing happens, you can open the icon for the drive in My Computer.Be aware, however, that doing somight automatically start some program on the CD, in which case you won t be taken to the traditionalview of the drive s contents.page 52 Windows XP BibleIf you do get to a traditional view of the drive s contents, and you re looking to install a program that s onthat CD, you can probably just click (or double-click) the icon for the file named SETUP.EXE on thatdisk.Refer to Chapter 16 for detailed information in installing new programs.Introducing My DocumentsEven though most of the folders on your hard disk contain still more folders and files that you probablydon t want to mess with, there is one folder on your hard disk that s especially reserved for you and yourpersonal files.Its name is My Documents, and you can quickly get to it using any of the followingmethods, as illustrated in Figure 2-33:Click the Start button and choose My Documents.Or, if you re already in an Explorer window, choose My Documents from Other Places in theExplorer bar at the left side of that window.Or, if you see a My Documents icon on your desktop, just open that icon.Figure 2-33: Various places from which you can open your My Documents folderTip To add a My Documents icon to your desktop, right-click the desktop and chooseProperties.Click the Desktop tab, and then click on the Customize Desktop button.Under Desktop Icons, choose My Documents.Then click each open dialog box sOK button.Windows Explorer opens and displays the contents of your My Documents folder.That folder mightcontain still more folders, such as My Music and My Pictures.And it might contain some documents,such as the Things to Do document in Figure 2-34.Figure 2-34: Contents of a sample My Documents folderKeep in mind that the My Documents folder is yours, and yours alone.Other people who use this samecomputer and who log on with their own user names will have their own My Documents folders.Anyfiles that users of this computer can share will be in the Shared Documents folder.page 53 Windows XP BibleIntroducing Shared DocumentsAs the name implies, the Shared Documents folder contains files and folders that all users of thiscomputer can access.You can open Shared Documents by choosing that option under Other Places inthe Explorer bar.You also can find its icon in My Computer.As always, you ll see the folders and filescontained within the Shared Documents folder.And you can open anything in that file or folder byclicking or double-clicking it.Tip To create a shortcut to Shared Documents on your desktop, open My Computer asdescribed earlier.Then drag the Shared Documents icon out to the desktop anddrop it there.More on creating shortcuts in Chapter 4.The main thing to keep in mind is that shared items don t appear within your My Documents folder even though other people are willing to share.You must specifically go to the Shared Documents folderto find those shared items [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]