Win Folder organization

Win Folder organization

All the software and data in a computer are stored on the internal hard disk as "files," and files are organized into "folders" in a hierarchical structure. A disk folder simulates an ever-expanding paper folder in a file drawer, and the route to a file is called the "path." The hard disk folder hierarchy is visually navigated with the Explorer file manager that comes with Windows. To launch Explorer, right click the Start menu and select Open Windows Explorer or Explore, depending on your Windows version. See Win Explorer.

The Hard Drive Is Local Disk C:
The "C:" is a legacy designation. The first personal computers had two floppy drives labeled A: and B:. Thus, when the hard drive was added, C: was the next letter. Additional data and programs may be stored on external hard drives that are connected when needed, and they become drives D:, E:, etc.

The "My" Folders Are the Defaults
Windows comes with predefined folders, and applications default to saving data in My Documents, My Music, My Pictures and My Videos. However, the exact location of these folders changes with each version of Windows.

Notice the folder hierarchy in the Windows 7 example below. The white, right facing triangles indicate that there are subfolders in the folder, and clicking the triangle makes the next subfolder level visible. When the subfolders are displayed, the triangle turns dark and faces downward.

Windows 7 Hierarchy

Favorites, Libraries, Computer and Network (arrows on left) are the high-level folders in Windows 7. Although Desktop and My Documents are in Libraries, they also appear under Users in the C: drive, because everything is really in the hard drive. Note the My Music, My Pictures and My Videos folders under Users. Each library folder has its own "My" folder.

Windows XP Hierarchy

In Windows XP, My Documents is located at the top under Desktop, but is actually stored under Documents and Settings. Each version of Windows relocates the default folders. For example, Vista changed the name of My Documents to Documents and made it visible in three places in Explorer.