The most useful Windows Explorer hotkey. Searching for files and folders using Windows Explorer To use Windows Explorer
The function of libraries, or virtual folders, is new to the standard Windows toolkit, but many applications created by third-party developers have had it for several years. Virtual folders are a tool for organizing files and directories. They differ from ordinary folders in that they do not physically exist and contain only links to directories and documents located in them. Virtual folders are convenient because they make it possible to collect in one place content that is actually located in different folders, on different drives, and, possibly, on different computers located on the local network. This is a convenient tool for quick access to frequently used files.
Virtual folders have long been familiar to users of applications such as The Bat (where they are used to organize mail), Picasa (used to organize photos) and many others. Well, now you can work with this useful feature in Explorer.
In Windows 7, virtual folders are called libraries. To give users the opportunity to quickly understand the new function, the developers have already made several pre-installed libraries in Explorer - “Documents”, “Images”, “Music”, “Video”. You can open these virtual folders either from Explorer by selecting the Libraries section in the left panel, or from the Start menu.
The "Documents" library contains two subfolders with documents - "My Documents" and "Shared Documents". At the same time, when you go to this library, you can see the folders as if they were nested directories, although in fact they are just links to the real locations of files and folders.
Naturally, users can work not only with pre-installed libraries, but also create their own. To do this, just select the “Libraries” line in the left panel, and then click the “Create Library” button. A shortcut to the new library appears and the user is prompted to enter its name.
After this, you can go to the newly created library and find that there is not a single folder in it yet. Explorer will helpfully suggest adding a folder, which you can do right away.
Within libraries, you can work with folders that are located on your computer, on a USB drive, on an external hard drive, on different computers in a home group. Folders located on removable media, such as a DVD or CD, cannot be added to the library.
After folders are added to the library, you can view their contents. However, be aware that if folders contain quite a lot of files, indexing them may take some time, especially if the folder is located on an external device.
To change the library parameters, you need to open its settings window by selecting the “Properties” command in the context menu. In this window, you can perform operations such as adding new folders, deleting folders, turning on/off the display of the library in the Explorer navigation bar, and sharing the library. If you manually transfer files to a library, they are copied to one of the folders you added to it. In the library properties window, you can specify which one. To do this, just select a folder and click the “Set save location” button.
Typically, libraries are used to organize files of a specific type. In order to have specialized tools for sorting files at your disposal, it is worth setting the type of files stored in the library. By default, a "Common Items" library is created, in which files can be sorted by criteria such as date modified, folder, type, name, tag. If you select a different type in the “Optimize library” field of the library properties window, the list of fields for sorting will change and look like this:
- “Documents” - folder, author, modification date, tag, type, name;
- “Images” - folder, month, day, rating, tag;
- “Music” - folder, album, artist, composition, genre, rating;
- “Video” - folder, year, type, length, name.
The sorting options described above are available from the “Arrange” list located in the upper right corner of the window above the files.
As soon as you use them, the presentation of files within the library will be changed - the files will be organized not by folders, but by the selected criterion, and what folder they are actually in will not matter.
When working with files, you can quickly change their properties. To do this, simply display a panel with detailed information about the file by selecting the “Details pane” command in the “Organize> Presentation” menu. After this, you can select files in the Explorer window and change their characteristics. For example, you can quickly change the rating for a group of graphic files.
Even though libraries are virtual containers for storing folders and files, you need to be very careful with the delete operation. The fact is that deleting content from the library deletes it from the hard drive. However, if you delete the entire library, then all the files and folders whose links are stored in it will remain in place. To delete a library, simply select the “Delete” command in the context menu.
Even if you never open File Explorer to work with files, you still use it when you save or open files in various Windows applications. Therefore, take the time to add the folders in which you store your files to libraries. Libraries appear by default in the Save As and Open windows in all Windows applications, so when you save a document or downloaded file to your hard drive, you won't have to waste time navigating through folders.
Another convenience when working with libraries is that the folders from which they are created are automatically indexed by the system, so there is no need to manually add them to the search area. In addition, when searching within libraries, it is very convenient to use various search filters, which you can read about below. Finally, libraries are very convenient when working with external devices, as they can be used to quickly open files from USB drives, external hard drives, etc.
Unfortunately, the libraries are not yet integrated with the Saved Searches feature, which, remember, was introduced in Windows Vista. Using this feature, you can find files on your computer that match certain criteria (for example, all JPG files) and save your search parameters. It is possible that the next version of Windows will expand the list of data sources that can be added to libraries by adding saved search terms, but for now these two useful features only work separately.
By moving through the tree of folders and subfolders. This is a great way to search for files on your computer. Right-click on the Start menu button and select the line from the context menu Open File Explorer or click on the Windows Explorer icon located on the taskbar (this icon resembles a stack of folders).
In the Windows Explorer window that opens, double-click the folder in the main window or in the list or folders displayed on the left to open the directory.
If necessary, open the sequence of folders until you are in the folder you want. When you find the folder you want, open it by double-clicking on it.
To see a file from different angles and get information about it in a Windows Explorer window, click the button Change view(looks like a series of columns) and in the menu that appears, select one of the view options: 
- Huge icons
- Large icons
- Regular icons
- Small icons
After selecting the option Table You can view details such as Modified Date or Size. If you select the option Tile, the file/folder name, type and size will be displayed. In presentation mode Content Only the modification date and file size are displayed. If you are working in a folder that contains graphic files, and if you select the Table, the images will automatically appear as thumbnails.
To display frequently used folders in Start There are several, namely: Documents, Images, Music And Games. Click on one of them and Windows Explorer will display the corresponding window
Search for files in Explorer using the search bar
To find the file you need, you can use the search bar located on the top panel of Explorer at the top right.
Configuring Explorer
The Folder Options window, which used to control File Explorer's presentation and organization of files, is a complete nightmare. Like many other elements of the Control Panel, this window is a throwback that has remained virtually unchanged for 15 years since the release of Windows 95.
Since many inconveniences are caused - and can be eliminated - by configuring Folder Options, it is best to start this section by explaining these very options.
The first option, Browse folders, is a return to the way folder windows worked in Windows 95. In Windows 7, selecting Open each folder in its own window will cause a new Explorer window to appear. when you double-click the file icon in the right pane, regardless of whether the Navigation pane (file tree) is shown. Explorer opens a new window every time you double-click a folder icon on the Desktop, or click on the Explorer icon, or when you Shift-click on the Explorer taskbar button.
"tv Press Ctrl when you double-click on the folder icon, and everything will change: open
yes*, a new window is created if the same window is to be used, or vice versa.
J lb (This will only work if the folder has not been selected.) Alternatively, you can always
* right-click on any punk icon and select Open in new window.
The Click items as follows setting allows you to choose between the traditional Double-click to open an item mode and the web browser Single-click to open an item mode. The purpose of double-clicking is to prevent you from accidentally launching a program or opening a folder when you're just trying to highlight, delete, move, copy, or rename a file, but it can also be cumbersome. Here's a way to help you work with any setting:
About Double-click interface
Let's say you don't like double-click, but the one-click interface even less so. Then you can configure additional buttons on “pointing” devices (mouse, stylus, trackball) to perform the double-click function. Set the middle mouse button (or stylus button) to double click and you will be able to work comfortably.
About Single Click Interface
If you choose the single-click interface, you will no longer be able to rename titles by double-clicking on them. Instead, you'll need to right-click on them and select Rename, or carefully hover your mouse over the icon and press F2.
There is a Show all folders setting in the Navigation area, but it doesn't do what it says. All folders will be shown, regardless of whether this option is enabled or not. The setting is only responsible for displaying special folders, such as Homegroup and Libraries, as well as displaying the user folder under the Desktop. For more information, see the “Setting the Navigation Area” section. The Automatically expand to current folder option is disabled by default, but it is advisable to enable it. Then you will see a folder tree with the active folder highlighted on the right. (Obviously, the Microsoft team who came up with this page believed that your brain is too small to comprehend the hierarchical view of folders when you first open the window.)
You can quickly change the Show all folders and Automatically expand to current folder options by right-clicking an empty space in the Explorer navigation area.
The View tab (Fig. 2.2) contains settings that set the amount of information displayed by Explorer.
Unfortunately, all the default settings are made in favor of a "simpler" (read dumber) interface, which ironically makes it more difficult to do many common tasks, such as organizing files, sharing files over the network, or even opening certain folders. Here are some ways to make File Explorer more useful:
О Restore previous folder windows at logon
Enable this option if you want Windows to remember which folders were open when you shut down your computer or log out, so that you can open them the next time you log in. Another way to do this is to not turn off the computer at all, but to go to sleep mode, as described in the "Start Windows immediately (almost)" section.
О Always show icons, never thumbnails
This Windows setting has always been missing. By default, Explorer automatically displays large thumbnails when a folder (or search results window) contains primarily image files. Enable this option to not display thumbnails unless you force Thumbnails from the Views drop-down menu. Another reason for using this setting is described in the Green Ribbon of Death section.
О Always show menus
You can display the menu bar in Explorer by simply pressing Alt. Enable this option to make the menu display permanent.
О Display the full path In the title bar (Classic theme only)
This misnamed setting does more than you might think. If you're using the Classic theme (open Personalization in Control Panel), you can enable this setting to display the full path to the current folder (for example, C:\Program Files\Windows Journal\Templates instead of just Templates).
But when using the modern Aego theme, turning this option on causes the full path to be displayed in the Taskbar, Jump Lists, and Alt+Tab window.
Regardless of this setting, the File Explorer title bar never contains any text when using AEgo, and the full path to the current file is always shown in the path field at the top of the window. More detailed information on the path field is given in the subsection “Navigation through files and folders”.
О Launch folder windows in a separate process
By default, the Desktop, Start menu, and all open Explorer windows and individual folders are managed by one copy of Explorer. That is, only one copy of the Explorer.exe application is present in the computer's memory at any given time. Enable this option if you want each Explorer window to work with a separate copy of the program. Although this will use a little more memory and may slightly increase the wait time when opening the first Explorer window, if one of the Explorer windows crashes (see the Green Ribbon of Death section), the functioning of the Desktop or Start menu will not be disrupted.
To see the evil function in action, open the Task Manager (Ctri+Shift+Esc). - , select the Processes tab and click on the Image name column header to sort the list alphabetically. At first % * you will see only one copy of Explorer.exe in the Image name column. But as soon as you open several Explorer windows, you will see a second copy of Explorer.exe.
If you want each Explorer window to open as a separate copy of the program, which means three or more Explorer.exe images may appear in the Task Manager, read the “Launch Explorer with any folder” section.
О Use sharing Wizard
Disable this feature to use the Advanced Sharing window instead of the awkward Sharing Wizard
Wizard) whenever you right-click on a folder or drive and select Share. Although Microsoft apparently recommends using this feature, only the Advanced Sharing window allows you to specify permissions to share specific files to protect your data.
О Use check boxes to select items
If you enable this option, you can select multiple files without dragging the selection area or using the keyboard. Tips for using this function are given in the section “Tricky ways to select files.”
О Show drive letters
Disable this feature to hide drive letters (for example, C:, D:, N:) in the Explorer directory tree.
About Display file icon on thumbnails
This option allows you to display a shared file icon overlaid on the dynamically generated preview. Turn it off. to view only thumbnails, or enable if you want to distinguish a .jpg image from a Photoshop document. An even better option is to disable the Hide extensions for known file types option described later in this section.
О Show preview handlers in preview pane
Preview handlers are dynamic link libraries (DLLs) used to create preview thumbnails for some files (for example
О Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items
Commonly known as “tooltips,” these descriptions provide additional information about the file and folder where the mouse cursor is located (excluding folders in the Navigation pane). Disable this setting to hide tooltips. Similar settings are also described below when discussing the Display file size information in folder tips option.
About Display file size information in folder tips
The name of this parameter is slightly misleading. If it is disabled, the tooltip that appears when you hover your mouse over a folder located on the Desktop or in the right pane of Explorer (but not the left) shows only the date and time the folder was created. Turn on the Display file size information in folder tips option, and the pop-up window will also show the total size of the entire folder's contents, as well as the names of the first few files. The only reason to disable this feature is that tooltips do not appear immediately on slow computers (it takes time to process files and subfolders of large branches). To turn off tooltips altogether, use the Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items option described earlier in this section.
О Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color
Additional services provided by the NTFS file system (see Chapter 4) include support for online file encryption and compression. Enable this option to visually distinguish between encrypted and compressed files and folders by displaying their names in blue.
A When typing into list view
Tips on this setting can be found in the section “The keyboard is my friend.”
About Hide empty drives in the Computer folder
This is one of the strangest options in this window, especially given the number of unused items that cannot be deleted, and it is enabled by default. The developers tried not to frighten users with a large number of letters in the alphabet and decided to hide disks that have no information. Never mind that those same users will be even more frightened by the disappearance of blank USB drives, new hard drives and blank DVDs.
*" To hide a drive you don't use, simply unassign
letters using the disk management tool.
About Hide extensions for known file types
File extensions - the last few letters of a file name after a period - are hidden by default, and have always been so since Windows 95. File extensions (for example, .txt, .jpg, .doc) determine how Windows interacts with documents, and hiding this information makes it difficult to find files and does not allow you to understand what to expect when opening them. For example, the files tardis.jpg, tardis.xls, tardis.pdf will be shown by default in Explorer as tardis, tardis and tardis, and can only be distinguished by a tiny icon. For more information and an explanation of why you need to enable this setting, see the File Type Mapping section.
About Hidden files and folders
By default, Windows does not show hidden files. If you set the Show hidden files and folders option, any files with the hidden or system attribute will appear in Explorer, but their icons will be semi-transparent.
* » 1 To hide (show) a file or folder, right-click on it
I mouse, select Properties and change the Hidden attribute. To quickly access file attributes, use the Change file attributes tool, which is part of Creative Element Power Tools (http://www.creativelement.com/powertools/).
About Hide protected operating system files
When this feature is enabled (the default), files with the system attribute are not displayed in Explorer, regardless of whether the Hidden files and folders option described earlier is enabled. The so-called system files include most of the boot files discussed in Chapter 1, the $RECYCLE.BIN and System Volume Information folders located on each hard drive, the hiberfil.sys hibernation file, and several other files. I don't like it when Windows hides things from me, but you probably won't need these files. Keep this option enabled to protect your important files from accidental damage. If you need to deal with all this chaos, you can always disable this option.
Windows Explorer, or Explorer, is the program you use to perform most activities in the Windows operating system. With the release of the Windows Vista operating system, Explorer introduced a large number of additional functions that most users are not even aware of. In this article we will talk about how you can use these features to improve Explorer, making your computer work faster and more efficient.
Favorites
The Explorer window is divided into two parts. There is a special “Favorites” menu in the left panel. You can add all the folders you frequently work with to this menu. To do this, you just need to drag the folder from the right side of the window.
You can also assign a unique icon to any folder added to this menu. To do this, you need to call up the properties of the folder located in the “Favorites” menu and click on the “Change Icon” button on the “Shortcut” tab. Using unique icons will allow you to quickly find the desired folder.
Checkboxes for selecting items
You can use checkboxes to highlight files or folders. To do this, open the “Folder Options” menu (hold down the Alt key and launch the Tools – Folder Options menu) and on the “View” tab, check the box next to “Use checkboxes to select items”
After this, a space will appear opposite the files and folders in which you can place checkboxes, thus highlighting the files or folders. This allows you to avoid using the keyboard when selecting a large number of elements.
Automatically expand to current folder
Another useful feature that few people know about. As in the previous case, in order to enable this function you need to launch the “Folder Options” menu. On the “General” tab, you need to enable the “Automatically expand to current folder” option.
After this, when you navigate through folders, the entire folder structure will be displayed in the side of the window. This will allow you to quickly navigate to the desired folder.
Using the right side menu
There is also an additional menu on the right side of the Explorer window. It is disabled by default and to enable it you need to click on the icon in the upper right corner of the window.
This will open the right side menu where you can view photos and text documents.