Viewing Folders and Files in Different Ways

The Windows Explorer window is dynamic and changes to reflect the content you are viewing. You can also customize the window to suit the way you work. The Back and Forward buttons, the Address bar, the Search box, the toolbar, and the Content pane are always displayed, but you can display or hide other elements by clicking Organize on the toolbar, clicking Layout, and then clicking the element. These optional elements include the following:

• Navigation pane. When you become accustomed to navigating from the Address bar, you might want to turn off the Navigation pane to provide more space for the Content pane.

• Details pane. This pane at the bottom of the window provides information about the displayed content, such as the number of items in a folder, or the file type of a selected file. This information might or might not be useful, depending on the Content pane view.

• Menu bar. If you prefer working with menus and commands rather than toolbar buttons, you can display the Menu bar above the toolbar.

• Preview pane. This pane on the right side of the window displays a preview of the content of a selected file so that you can see what it contains.

• Search pane. When you search for information on your computer, you can display this pane above the toolbar to refine the search.

In the Content pane, you can view folders and files in different ways by making a selection from the Views list on the toolbar. You can set the view for each folder, or you can set a default view for all folders. Available views include the following:

• Icons. The four Icon views (Extra Large, Large, Medium, and Small) display an icon and file name for each file or folder in the current folder. In all but Small Icons view, the icons display either the file type, or in the case of graphic files (including PowerPoint slides) the actual file content. Folder icons display the contents of the folder.

• List. This view is similar to Small Icons view in that it shows the names of the files and folders accompanied by a small icon representing the file type.

• Details. This view displays a list of files or folders and their properties. The properties shown by default for each file or folder are Name, Date Modified, Type, Size, and Tags. You can hide any of these properties, and you can display a variety of other properties that might be pertinent to specific types of files, including Author and Title.

  Tip

  Although the Content pane always displays column headings, they are pertinent only to Details view.

  
  

• Tiles. This view displays a medium-size icon and the name, type, and size of each file or folder in the selected folder.

You can display the properties of a folder or file in the Details pane by selecting the folder or file in any view. You can further refine the display of files and folders by changing the settings in the Folder Options dialog box, which you can display by clicking Organize on the toolbar and then clicking Folder And Search Options. You can also change how you browse folders and whether you click or double-click to navigate in this dialog box.

For example, you can specify whether Windows Explorer and all Windows programs should display file name extensions, which are hidden by default. All file names have an extension, separated from the name itself by a period, that designates the file's type or the program in which it was created. If you often need to know the type of a file, it might be easier to turn on the display of file name extensions so that they are visible in all views than to have to constantly switch to Tiles or Details view to see the file type.

In this exercise, you will adjust the display of the Windows Explorer window and view the contents of a folder in different ways. You will also explore the Folder Options dialog box.

1.	On the Start menu, click Computer. The Computer window opens.
2.	On the toolbar, click Organize, point to Layout, and then in the list, click Details Pane to hide the pane. Troubleshooting If Details Pane does not have a blue border around it on the Organize list, it is already hidden, and you can skip Step 2; otherwise, clicking Details Pane will display the pane instead of hiding it.
3.	Display the Organize menu, point to Layout, and then click Navigation Pane to hide the pane. The Content pane now occupies the entire area below the toolbar. [View full size image] Tip If you have changed the default folder view, your window might look different from this one.
4.	In the Address bar, click the arrow to the left of Computer, and then click your personal folder.
5.	In the Content pane, double-click Documents, double-click MSP, double-click SBS_WindowsVista, double-click Chapter03, and then double-click 02_Presentations. The 02_Presentations folder contains two files, which are currently displayed in Details view.
6.	On the toolbar, click the Views button (not the arrow) four times to cycle through the four most common views: Tiles, Large Icons, List, and Details.
7.	In the Address bar, click Chapter03 to display the contents of that folder. Then if the folder is not displayed in Details view, click the Views button to switch to that view.
8.	On the toolbar, click the Views arrow. A list appears, showing the available view options. The slider on the left indicates which view is currently selected.
9.	In the list, drag the slider up and down without releasing the mouse button, pausing to see the effect on the display in the Content pane.
10.	Release the button when the slider is to the left of Medium Icons. Tip You can also switch views by clicking the view you want in the list. Notice that the graphic files are represented by thumbnails, and the folders and other files are represented by type icons. [View full size image]
11.	Display the Views list, and then click Details. [View full size image]
12.	Point to each of the five column headings in turn (Name, Date Modified, Type, Size, and Tags). As the pointer passes over each heading, the heading changes color to indicate that it is selected, and an arrow appears at the heading's right end. You can click the arrow to filter the contents in various ways.
13.	Click the Size heading (not its arrow). The files are sorted in descending order by file size, as indicated by the downward-pointing arrow above the Size heading.
14.	Click Size again. The files are re-sorted in ascending order by file size, and the arrow changes direction to indicate the change of order.
15.	Right-click anywhere in the column headings. A list of attributes that might be attached to a file or folder appears; those currently displayed in Details view are indicated by check marks. Name is unavailable (gray) because the file name must be displayed.
16.	In the attributes list, click Authors. A new Authors column is displayed, and the names of the people who created the files are listed.
17.	Right-click anywhere in the column headings, and then in the attributes list, click More. The Choose Details dialog box opens. The currently displayed properties appear at the top of the list.
18.	Scroll through the list to see the approximately 240 file attributes you can display in Details view. Then clear the Authors check box, and click OK. The Authors column disappears from the window.
19.	Click the Name column header to return to the default order. Then in the Views list, click Tiles. Tiles view displays a thumbnail or icon for each item, along with its name, file type, and file size. [View full size image]
20.	On the Organize menu, click Folder and Search Options. The Folder Options dialog box opens, displaying the General tab. On this tab, you can change the basic way that Windows Explorer works. Important If you change any of the settings on this tab, the instructions in this book will not work for your computer. We recommend that you wait until you are an experienced user of Windows Explorer before changing these options.
21.	In the Folder Options dialog box, click the View tab. On this tab, you can set the default view for all folders, and you can change specific view settings. Tip When you first start working in Windows Vista, the default view for each folder is determined by its type. If you apply the current folder view to all folders and then change your mind, you can click Reset Folders to restore the type-based default views. For information about folder types, see "Viewing Information About a Folder or File" later in this chapter.
22.	Scroll the Advanced settings list, and note the ways you can change the Windows Explorer display. Notice that by default, Windows Vista system folders and files that have been assigned a hidden attribute are not shown. Also notice that extensions for known file types are hidden. If you don't want to view files in Details or Tiles view to ascertain their file types, you can clear the Hide Extensions For Known File Types check box to display file names with their extensions; for example, 01_cat.jpg. Then the file name identifies the type of each file.
23.	Click Cancel to close the dialog box without changing any settings.