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Clean Up Your Computer Files! Tip 1!
 
 
Tip 1: Find Your Files!
In Windows XP, My Documents is your personal folder. It contains two specialized personal folders, My Pictures and My Music. You can make your personal folders available to everyone, or you can make them private so that only you can access the files within them.
 
Windows creates personal folders for every user on the computer. When there is more than one person using the computer, each personal folder is identified by the user's name. For example, if Gary and Jane use the same computer, there will be two sets of personal folders: Gary’s Documents, Music, and Pictures, and Jane's Documents, Music, and Pictures. When Gary is logged on to the computer, his personal folders appear as My Documents, My Pictures, and My Music, and Jane's appear as Jane's Documents, Jane's Pictures, and Jane's Music.
 
Windows also provides a Shared Documents folder for files you want to share with other users. Like My Documents, the Shared Documents folder contains a Shared Pictures and Shared Music folder. These folders are for pictures and music you want to share with other people who use your computer.
 
You can use Windows Explorer to access your personal folders or the Shared Documents, Music, and Pictures folders. To open Windows Explorer, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.
 
When you do, you'll find all the files you've created on your computer provided you store your files within your "My Documents" folder. (If you store your files in other locations, you can use Windows Explorer to go through the different file locations on your system until you find your files.)
 
If you're new to using Windows Explorer, I encourage you to take time now to get comfortable using this essential tool. Learning how to manage the files on your computer may not sound exciting, but being able to quickly find the file you need (and making sure you don't accidentally lose an important file) is a skill that will make all of the other things you do with your computer that much more productive and enjoyable. Before you start working with your own files, why not do some practice exercises? Create some files and folders you don't care about then move them around. (You can easily create new files by copying old ones and renaming them. Use the Help provided with Windows Explorer if you're not familiar with how to copy and rename files and folders.)

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