Q A few days ago, I copied a document from a floppy onto my hard disk. Now I can’t find
it. I know the file is still there somewhere; I just can’t remember where I put it. Is there an easy way to
locate the file? – C.L.
A If you are using Windows 95, 98, or NT, the Windows Explorer program provides just about everything you need to manage your files,
including the ability to locate them. To run
Windows Explorer, click the Start menu, choose Programs,
and then select Windows Explorer.
Now you are ready to look for your file. To find
a file, go to the menu bar at the top of the window
and choose Tools|Find|Files and Folders. Explorer
displays a Find dialog box.
If you know the exact name of the file you are looking for, you can enter the file name into
the Named field. If you are only sure about part of
the name, you can use wildcard characters to
represent the parts you are unsure of. The most
commonly used wild card character is the asterisk (*). Here’s
an example of a file specification that uses a wild card:
Quarter*.doc
This example tells the Find dialog to locate
all files that begin with "Quarter" and end with
".doc." If you had files named "Quarterly Report.doc"
and "Quarter 4 Forecast.doc," this file
specification would find them both.
Next you need to tell the Find dialog where to
look for the file. Use the "Look in" field to do that.
You can use the drop-down box to select one or all
of your hard drives, or you can use the Browse
button to start the search in a specific directory. If you
want Find to look through all the subfolders under
your selected starting point, you should check the
Include subfolders box.
Finally you click the Find Now button. The Find dialog performs the search according to your
specifications and returns a list of the files it finds. To
open a file, you can double-click it in the list just like
you can in Windows Explorer.
