Changing file , Renaming and Deleting files ( Win. Vista & 7 )

Counting the number of files, files of a particular type in a folder

• Display the contents of the folder called Counting files.

• First list your files by type by clicking at the top of the Type column.  

• Select all the JPEG image files as illustrated.

• As you can see there are four JPEG image type files.  If there were a lot more you can use a trick to count up the number of selected files.  Right click over the selected files and you will see a popup menu.  Click on the Properties command which will display a dialog box.  Within the dialog box it tells you how many files you have selected, as illustrated.   

• Close any open dialog boxes.

Changing file attribute status

• Display the contents of the folder called File status.

• Click on a file called Sales chart.  Right click on this file and from the popup menu displayed select the Properties command.  This will display the Properties dialog box for the selected file.

• In the Attributes section of the dialog box you can click on the Read-only check box.

• This will mark the file as read-only.  Try it now and then press the OK button to confirm the action.  NOTE: If you make a file read-only you can still delete the file (by selecting it and pressing the Del key).  However if you were to open the file then the file would open without any problem, but if you edited the file you would have the save the file using a different file name as the original file name is marked read-only.  

• Use the same technique to mark the file read/write again, and after closing the properties dialog box, re-open the dialog box to confirm this change.  Close all open dialog boxes before continuing.

Renaming files

• Display the contents of the folder called Renaming.

• Select the file called Stock.  Press the F2 key and type in a new file name called Stock Levels.  Press the Enter key to confirm the file renaming.  NOTE: Normally you just see the file name without what is called the file name extension.  The file name extension is normally 3 or 4 letters, preceded by a dot (period).  For instance a text-only file has a file name extension of .TXT.    WARNING: To keep the display simple and uncluttered the file name extensions are not normally displayed within the Windows Explorer.  If you do see the file name extension displayed, be very careful not to alter the extension when you are renaming a file.    Windows can use the file name extension to tell what sort of file type a particular file is.  If you change the extension Windows may no longer understand how to process a particular file!

Deleting files

• Display the contents of the folder called Deleting files.

• Select the file called About computers.  Press the Del key to delete the file and you will see the following.

• Click on the Yes button to confirm the deletion.  The file appears to be deleted but is actually moved to the Recycle Bin.  The Recycle Bin is an area on your hard disk used to store files that you have deleted.  TIP: If you wish to delete a file completely rather than send it to the Recycle Bin, press the Shift key while you are deleting the file.  Use this trick with caution as you will NOT be able to recover the file once you have deleted it!

Restoring files and folders from the Recycle Bin

• Click on the Show Desktop icon (displayed at the bottom left of your screen next to the Start button). 

• This will allow you to see the Recycle Bin icon on the Windows Desktop.

• Double click on the Recycle Bin and you will see the following.    TIP: You may see lots more files contained within the Recycle Bin.  If so ignore the other files, just concentrate on the file we have just deleted.

• To restore the About Computers file, first select the file and then click on the Restore this item command displayed towards the top of the window.

  • The file will no longer be displayed within the Recycle Bin.   Close the Recycle Bin.  Click on the Show Desktop icon again and you should see the Windows Explorer window with the file that you deleted once again displayed.

Emptying the Recycle Bin

• Experiment with deleting more files within the Deleting files folder.  Open the Recycle Bin.  If you want to permanently remove files from the Recycle Bin rather than restoring them (i.e. un-deleting them), then click on the Empty Recycle Bin button displayed within the Recycle Bin.