Working with File Explorer Folder Options
Folder Options in Explorer allow you to view hidden files and folders, and file extensions, as well as other choices. But,
the most useful options are the "Show hidden files, folders, and drives" and "Hide extensions for known file types". "Show hidden files,
folders, and drives" allows you to see hidden items that you might otherwise not, as it implies. However, unchecking the "Hide extensions for known file
types" option allows you to see file extensions on the file names so you can identify their filetypes. This will even help you with the next two sections.
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The reason you might want to see the filetype extensions on the filenames is that it helps you learn how to handle different filetypes by extensions, which specify the type
of file objects they are to the system and programs. This is necessary because each object type must be handled in a certain way in order for it to make sense to the system,
program, and you. But how do you get to these settings? There are a few ways…
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One way to get to "Folder Options" is through the "Contol Panel" under the category of "Appearance and Personalization". Another way is to just
open File Explorer (either from the Start Menu, the Taskbar icon/button, or by using the shortcut keys from "Windows Basics") then type
[Alt]+"F" and [Alt]+"O" and click the "View" tab. There are lot of interesting and useful settings in the Folder Options
panel tabs to "tweak" your Windows Experience.
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Working with ZIP "Zipped" (Compressed) Folders/Files
When confronted with a zipped folder/file ("*.zip"), some users, familiar with older operating systems, will assume
they cannot open it without special software for working with compressed "archives". Since the advent of Windows XP, this is no longer necessary because Windows
XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10 all have native support for "zipped" (ZIP) folders/files.
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By just right‐clicking a *.zip file, you can choose the "Extract All…" command to extract the content of the archive into the location and
foldername of your choosing. Furthermore, you may simply open the *.zip [archive], directly, like any other folder on your system, to view
and copy the file(s) & folder(s) contained within the [archive]. You may, also, copy any or all of the content and paste it somewhere
outside the ZIP folder, thus extracting only a subset of the content, as desired.
Most files within the [archive] will open with their default, registered application. However, some plain-text files cannot
be "opened for editing" in Notepad, without extracting them first, and then choosing "Edit" from the right‐click Context Menu. (Examples:
*.cmd, *.vbs, *.htm, *.html, *.xml, *.js, *.php, *.css,
*.reg, etc.)
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Note:
An added benefit of the native support for *.zip files in modern Windows OS is the ability to create your own ZIP archives. If you select the folder(s) and/or
file(s) you wish to zip and right‐click the highlighted group, you can mouse to the "Send To" option, then left‐click "Compressed
(zipped) Folder". This will create a "zipped" archive from your selected group of file(s)/folder(s). You can name/rename the
resulting file anything that makes sense, or leave the automatically generated name as it is.
If you must, you can still download compression software from your chosen vendor or online resource. A word of caution to be careful in your choice – some compression
programs, by design, "highjack" your system’s archive facilities, completely taking over that functionality, and limiting the options you would normally
have, such as locating and naming the resultant folder(s) extracted from your archives, for example. Some users, however, swear by them because some
"highjacking" software try to "idiot‐proof" the operations by removing some of the decisions.
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Working with DOC, DOCX, RTF Files
Word Documents ("DOC/DOCX" files, or "*.doc" & "*.docx") present a challenge when budget constraints prevent the purchase
of "Microsoft Word", or an entire "Office" suite, for that matter! But, there's a powerful champion on our side! The trick is to right-click and choose "Open with"
to see if WordPad may be able to open the file – or even open WordPad and browse to the file.
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Every modern Microsoft Windows® operating system comes complete with a
"Windows Accessory" known as "WordPad", like "Notepad" but more powerful. This app has the power to open, edit, save, print – *.doc, *.docx, *.rtf, etc.,
types, as well as others that Notepad can handle, such as *.txt, *.html, *.htm, *.css, *.xml, *.js, *.php, *.vbs, *.csv, *.log, etc., etc.
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Also, the RTF (Rich Text Format, *.rtf) files offer basic text editing with some of the formatting power of Microsoft Word. In addition to plain black & white text, you may do
colors, fonts, bold, underlining, highlighting, hyperlinks, pictures, other objects, etc., etc., all within a [free] lightweight application. While this still doesn't really compete with
the full-fuctionality of Word, the possibilities are endless. And, there's no more "I couldn't read it because I don't have Word or Office!"
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A side note of interest: The newer format of Word Documents (DOCX, or "*.docx" instead of "*.doc") is derived from the fact that
the new format no longer uses the old raw structure, but instead, uses a compressed collection of XML ("*.xml") files (in folders,too). To prove this, change the ending (see section
on showing extensions below) of a less than critically important "*.doc" file to ".zip" and double-click the new file as if it were a folder, then you will see inside the
document. You will then notice that there are "*.xml" files stored at different folder levels. If this is not just a test file that you can delete, make sure to carefully rename the
file back to "*.docx". This shows you the power of XML, from which HTML is derived.
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