CHAPTER THREE

ICT FILE AND FOLDER

MANAGEMENT

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 INTRODUCTION
Hard disk drives have become very large in recent years
and are capable of holding millions of data files created by
computer applications installed on the computer. As a result,
a method of organising these files is essential. Windows
uses folders to achieve this. File management is about
arranging your work on a computer in a way that makes it
accessible and easy to use. While working with your
computer programs, you create and save files, such as
letters, drawings, or budgets in an organized way. You use
folders to group related files, as with paper folders in a file
cabinet. In this chapter you will be able to use different types
of storage media to store information following the structure
of files, folders and directories.
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 File management
• File management is a way that an operating system
use to organize and keep track of files.
KEY WORDS:
• FILE
• FOLDER

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 FOLDERS
• A folder is a storage location for files and sub-folders. It’s
also known as a directory.
• Files can be stored in folders. Folders can be stored
within other folders and these are referred to as sub-
folders.
• Folders help in storing and organizing files in the
computer.

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 Common operations in relation to files &
folders
Creating a folder Renaming a file/folder
i. Right click in any i. Right click the file/folder
empty or free part of ii. Select the rename option
the desktop
iii. Give the file/ folder a new name
ii. From the drop down
menu, select new.
Other operations you need to know
iii. Then choose folder. are
iv. Give the folder an  How to move a file or folder
appropriate name.  How to delete a file or folder
 How to restore a file from recycle bin
(deleted file)
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 How to bypass recycle bin
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 Advantages of keeping files in folders

• Files in folders can easily be compressed and sent via e-

mail.
• Files can easily be protected by providing security on a
folder.
• Files can easily be shared on a network.
• Files in a folder can easily be copied from one location to
another.
• Folders allows better organization of files. Eg according
to type.
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 COMPUTER FILE
• A file is a collection of data stored in one unit,
identified by a filename.
• A file can be a document, picture, audio or video
stream, executable file (software), or other
collection of data.

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 FILE NAME
• A file name is the complete title of a file and file extension. For
example, "readme.txt" is a complete or full file name.
NOTE
• Each file has a file name
• Each file name has two parts, ie:-
i. File name or document name
ii. File extension
• In a file name, the first portion for example, "readme" is the name
of the file and ".txt" is the file name extension of that file.
• By default the computer allocates a name to a file which you can
change.
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 Tips for file naming
• Special characters such as ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) ` ;
< > ? , [ ] { } ' " and | should be avoided.

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 FILE EXTENSIONS

• A file extension is the last part of a file name after the

dot, containing characters based on the program used
to create the file.
• Most file extensions are three characters long, but they
can be shorter or longer as well.
USES OF FILE EXTENSIONS
• The file extension helps to identify the file type.
• The file extension is used by the operating system to
select the best application to open the file.
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The table below shows examples of some file
extensions
Application program File extension
Files created by Microsoft Word .doc / .docx
Files created by Microsoft PowerPoint .ppt / .pptx
Files created by Microsoft Excel .xls
Files created by Microsoft Access .mdb
Graphics Interchange Format, a digital .GIF
image file format
A graphics file commonly used for .JPG/.JPEG
photos and illustrations
Text files associated with the Notepad .txt
program
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 A File Short Cut

• What is a file short cut? A file shortcut is a link on the

user interface that points to a file located in a different
directory or folder from where the shortcut is located.
• Shortcuts are very commonly placed on a desktop.
Advantages of file short cuts.
1. Helps to launch/open a file very fast.
2. Can be used to avoid accidentally deleting files, since
the real files are kept in other directories(folders)
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 Organising Files
The management of computer files and paper files has much in
common. If all the paper documents accrued in a house or
business were stored in a single drawer without using paper
folders, it would soon become impossible to find anything. A well
organised house will have some filing system to segregate
electric bills from telephone bills and from bank statements etc.
Files on a computer should be managed in a similar manner. A
good practice is to use a Personal Folder to organise your files.
This is the equivalent of a filing cabinet in paper filing. It can be
created in the My Documents folder or in the C: Drive of the
computer. This folder is the Root Folder of the filing system.
Subfolders can then be created for subject areas. Within these,
further subfolders can be used to organise the files within each
subject. An example is shown below
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• Create a root folder in My Documents

• Create sub-folders within the root folder for subject

areas etc.
Note: This organisation will make files easier to find and backing up
your files will involve copying the root folder to the backup device
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 Managing Files and Folders
• Files and folders can be selected, copied, pasted,
moved, renamed and deleted.
Activity
3.3: Selecting Files.
• Open a drive or go to desktop where there are files and
folders.
• To select a single file, just click it. It changes colour on
selection
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 The selected file changes colour below

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To select consecutive files, click the first file, hold down the
Shift key and select the last file. The files in between are
automatically selected.

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To select non-consecutive files, hold down the Control
key (Ctrl) and select the files in turn(one by one)

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To select all the files in a folder, click the Edit command and
choose Select All.

Or
From the keyboard, select Ctrl + A keys simultaneously,
all the files/folders will be selected
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Copying and pasting files
First select the required file/s. Then right-click the files and
choose Copy. The files are copied in an area of memory
called the Clipboard

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Browse to the destination folder, right-click it and
choose Paste

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Moving Files
The procedure is similar to copy and paste except that
instead of choosing Copy, you choose Cut

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Rename Files
Files must be renamed individually. To rename a file,
right-click it and choose Rename. Type the new name
and press Return/Enter key or click away from the file

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Deleting Files
Select the files to be deleted. Right-click any selected
file and choose delete from the menu. Click the Yes
button in the dialog box to confirm delete

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 The Recycle Bin
Files and folders deleted from the computer are
placed in the recycle bin. They are not lost until the
recycle bin is emptied

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Managing the Recycle Bin
• Delete a folder normally by right-clicking the folder
and selecting Delete.

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Check in the Recycle Bin to confirm if the folder/file has arrived.

To Undelete the folder, right-click the recycle bin and choose Open

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Right click on the file to undelete and choose restore.
The folder/file will be restored to its original location as
it gets out of the recycle bin
,

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 ACTIVITY
Define the following;
i. Compressing a file
ii. Saving a file
iii. Moving a file
iv. Deleting a file
v. Copying a file
vi. Editing a file
vii. Renaming a file
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 TAKING CARE OF FILES

a. Constantly keep saving your file you are working with on a

computer.
b. Install antivirus programs to guard files against viruses.
c. Make backup copies of files to prevent total data losses.
d. Delete all corrupt and unnecessary files on your computer.
e. Store files in a more safer format such as PDF, RTF to
prevent corruption and virus infection.

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 How to Manage and organize computer
files
i. Use of folders:- create a folder with descriptive names for easy
identification to store your files.
ii. Creating backups:- this helps to restore files in case of disaster
or failure.
iii. Creating passwords:- this will block un authorised users from
accessing your files.
iv. Separate your files:- avoid keeping unrelated files together.
Videos, images and programs files should be kept separately
v. Compress your files:- this creates more storage space on your
hard disk or for easy transmission
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 Ways of keeping files secure on a
computer
• Installing an updated antivirus software
• By putting passwords files.
• By limiting physical access or usage of computer
by unauthorized users.
• By encrypting the files
• By avoiding usage of old storage devices

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 Causes of data/file loss in computers

• Accidental deletion. This is when files, folders or content

in a file is deleted/erased unaware, which causes data
loss.
• Power fluctuation. Power fluctuations cause system
failure and data/information loss.
• Computer viruses. Computer viruses refer to computer
programs that cause/alter the normal functioning of the
computer. These also corrupt the files hence data loss.
• System failure caused by aging hardware.
• Natural disasters Eg floods that destroy hardware
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 Measurement of Storage Capacity
In a computer system, data is represented using the
binary system; combinations of binary digits (bits). There
are only two binary digits, 1 and 0.
These digits can be arranged in such a way that they
represent characters, digits and other values.
Data storage has various units including bits (b), Bytes
(B), Kilobytes (KB), Megabytes (MB), Gigabytes (GB), and
Terabytes (TB)

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 Activity 3.6:
Data storage units 1.
i. Distinguish between a bit and a byte.
ii. What is the relationship between bits, bytes, kilobytes,
megabytes, gigabytes and terabytes? Give examples
where necessary.

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 Activity of Integration 1
A researcher saved her draft work on a CD ROM from a
friend’s computer with an intention of sending it to her
supervisor by e-mail once she got home. However, on
reaching home, she realized that her computer could not
read a CD ROM.
Task:
How can you advise this researcher to have her work
sent to the supervisor without physically going back to
her friend?

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 Activity of Integration 2
• A student borrowed a computer with a hard disk of 40GB on
which he saved his project work for 3 years. The project work
on the hard disk is stored on a space of 30GB. Recently, the
owner of the computer requested to have it back and
provided the student with a pack of 100 CDs each with a
storage capacity of 700MB on which project data can be
transferred.

Task:
a) Describe how the project data could be transferred from the
hard disk onto the CDs provided by the student.
b) How many CDs full of data do you think the student used?
Give reasons for you answer.
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 Chapter Summary
In this chapter, you have learnt about:
a) Creating, saving and transferring files across
various media.
b) Converting data storage into various units.

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