Windows Explorer is an indispensable tool for working with files and directories. To run Windows Explorer, go to Start, choose Programs, Accessories, and then Windows Explorer. You can now browse local and remote resources. You can use My Computer and My Network Places or This PC and Quick Access in Microsoft Windows 8 and 10 to perform many file manipulation tasks. All you need to do is double-click the icons on the desktop. Windows Explorer uses multiple viewing panes to access and organize your files and directories. The viewing tools are as follows; Explore bar that shows different views of Folders, Search, Favorites, and also History tabs. The contents section displays the contents of a result search or selected directory. Status Bar displays information about selected files and folders. Details tab display listings for files and folders (Chatterjee, Ericsson, & Clark, 2004).
General tools include the Desktop, a top-level folder that stores files, folders, and shortcuts for quick access. My Computer or This PC is a top-level folder containing all computer resources and folders. Recycle bin is a folder storing deleted files and directories where they can be recovered before they are permanently removed. My Documents folder contains personal files stored by a user. Drive a storage device identified with unique icons that store each and every file and folder available.
There are various approaches to managing files and folders. The first is folder redirection. This method redirects files and folders to new locations on a network. Users have access to these files from any location on a network. These files are backed up automatically to the server with scheduled backups. This method gives administrators permission to move folders to a new location on a different path. These folders may include My Documents and Desktop folders. Folders that have lots of data are the ones that get redirected often. These documents are worked on by users as if they were stored in their local computer (Moskowitz, 2006).
Another method is using Offline Files and synchronization manager. This process lets users access files and folders even when not online on a particular server. Offline Files makes files and folders that are offline to be available to a user. Before making files and folders on a computer available while offline, a user needs to first set up Offline Files. On setting up, click on My Computer folder. Click on Tools menu then open Folder Options. For Offline Files option, click on Enable Offline Files in case it’s unselected. Click on Synchronize all offline files before logging off for synchronization of files. Network resources can be synchronized with Synchronization Manager. When setting up synchronization, select Start then click on All Programs, select All Accessories, then select Synchronize. Select Setup. Click on Logon/Logoff. Select Scheduled and On Idle for configuration options (Moskowitz, 2006).
Configuring file permissions gives users different functionalities. These are read, written, and execute. Shared folder permissions can be set only by Administrators. To share folder permissions, you first need to place right-click on the directory up for configuration. Select Properties. On folder properties, select Sharing tab, and click Permissions. On Permission for, select Add. On Select Users option or Computers select Object Types. Now select Users, and finally select OK. On the Enter the object names to select option, select a name for the user that needs the permissions to share and press OK. On Permissions for the option where there is Group or user names option, select user or group where permissions are required. On Permissions for the option, choose to either deny or allow the mentioned permissions then select OK.
The operating system can be backed up via command lines. A primary method of backing up the System state data via the command line can be done by, heading to access Command Prompt. Gaining access to Command Prompt, a user needs to select Start option then select All Programs. Follow up by selecting Accessories, and finally, the Command Prompt option will be available. Type in the command, ntbackup backup systemstate. The command “systemstate” indicates that its data is in the process of being backed up. The backup type then copies from the initiation of this command. “ntbackup” can be typed on the command prompt to view a listing of available functionalities.
There are three types of file permissions that affect files and folders. Read permission that grants a user the ability to read files. The user views the file or folder name but can’t observe any further. Write permission that grants a user the ability to modify a file. Users can modify entries in the entire directory. Execute permission that grants a user permission to run an executable file. This permission affects programs so that users can run them.
There are three methods of changing permissions in Unix-like systems. The SUID mode is also known as set user identification. This method assumes the owner classes user identification. Users are given permissions as owners temporarily. The SGID is also known as the set group identification permission. This method assumes a group classes identification. Files and Folders that have been created from this directory carry over the group from it. The sticky mode is also known as the Text mode. This permission acts as a written protection. It prohibits altering the file involved by normal users except by implementors (Deo, 1998). Superusers and directory owners are the only ones who are exempt from the rule. Symbolic notations for command-line related permission scripts are (-rwrx-xr-x)– a regular file where the user has all permissions while other users can only read or execute the file. (crw-rw-r–)– user involved has the permission to read the file and also write while the other user can only read the file. (dr-x——)– user can only read the file and execute it while other groups have no permissions.
There are different methods of backing up a computer system data. The first and easiest is by manually backing up files on external storage. The user has to choose the information they want to save and copy it to an external storage device. The second method is by using a backup program. Depending on the program, the user chooses the files needed to be saved then follows the setup method to back up that data. Another way of backing up the computer system files is via uploading files in cloud storages. Cloud storages are safe since they are readily available from whichever location a user may be (Midgley, et.al, 2002).
- Chatterjee, S., Ericsson, G., & Clark, R. (2004). U.S. Patent No. 6,826,582. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
- Deo, U. (1998). U.S. Patent No. 5,720,033. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
- Moskowitz, J. (2006). Group Policy, Profiles, and IntelliMirror for Windowsa. 2003, Windowsa. XP, and Windowsa. 2000: Mark Minasi Windowsa. Administrator Library. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
- Midgley, C., Webb, J., Hess, T., Acott, J., Hansen, T., & Wilson, B. (2002). U.S. Patent No. 6,460,055. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.