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The most important thing about saving files is to be careful to notice where you are saving the file. In most programs to save a file you will click on “File” and then choose “Save”. You can also save a file by clicking on the Save icon, which in most programs, looks like a little floppy disk.
The first time you save a file you will be prompted for a file name and location. Next to “Save in” at the top of the screen will be a location where the file will be saved. If you click on Save and do not choose another location, the file will be saved in the folder named in the “Save in” box. By clicking on the small down arrow next to the given location you will be able to see the various other locations and folders in your computer. This is a little confusing since you will see different locations in your computer like the A: floppy disk, the desktop, My Documents, and the CD drive as well as the C: hard drive. You may have to drill down, opening locations and folders until you find the place you want to save the file. After you change the location the file will be saved in whatever location is named in the save in box when you press the save button.
While you have the “Save” window on the screen be sure to look at it carefully because it has several useful options. If you click on the New Folder icon (A yellow folder with an asterisk in the upper corner) the computer will create a new folder in the location indicated by the Save In box. After you name your new folder, you can save your file inside it. You will also see several buttons on the left side of the box. These are shortcuts to frequently used locations. When you click on any one of them, that location will immediately appear in the location box.
You may notice that under the file name in the Save dialog box, there is an option labeled “Save as file type”. This option adds a period and a three-digit extension on the end of the filename. This enables Windows to easily recognize the type of file that it has encountered. For instance, Word documents have a .doc extension and Excel documents have an .xls extension. In most cases it is best to accept the file type that is suggested in the box without any changes.
Many software programs use the “My Documents” folder as the default location for saving files. This is a convenient place to save files. If you create folders inside your My Documents folder you will be more organized and will be able to retrieve your files more easily. You can create new folders on the fly as noted above. You can also do this by double-clicking the My Documents icon, or you can access My Documents from the Start button menu. Once the My Documents folder is open on the screen, click on “File”. Then choose “New”. Click on “Folder” and you will be presented with a new folder. The name of the new folder will be highlighted, ready for you to type in the name of your choice.
If you click on the File menu, you will see another choice for saving files. This is called “Save As”. The Save As dialog box looks just like the Save dialog. Generally, the “Save as” option is used to rename a file that has already been saved. The idea behind the Save As option is for you to choose “Save As” and give the file a new name. When you do this the original file will remain with the old name and another copy of the file (with any changes that you made to it) will be saved under the new name. This option is very useful for saving files that may be similar, but not exactly the same. For instance, if you do a monthly report, you can open the July report, make changes to it, and use the Save As option to save it as an August report, leaving the July report intact.
Before you start saving files you may want to create an organization structure. This can be just about anything you can imagine that suits your needs. A typical organization scheme would be to created folders called Correspondence, Personal, Business, etc., or perhaps to name your folders by month with folders like January, February, March, an April. Whatever organization scheme you choose, if you are careful in saving your files you will be rewarded with an organized hard drive and easy access to all your files and folders.
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