Finding Things on Your Own Computer

Searching

 A lot of time can be spent just trying to find something you have on your computer. The most thorough way to do this is to go to the Start menu and then go to Search and then For Files or Folders. Choose what parts of your computer you want to search, enter the name of the file and have the computer search for it. You can also narrow your search by specifying the type of file you are looking for.

Downloading Effectively

Saving to the Desktop

When you are downloading something to your computer, it can be easier to find it once it is downloaded if you specify the desktop as the location to download to. Once you have downloaded and installed the program, you can either send the original installation file to the recycle bin, or save it in a folder along with other programs you might need to install again (for example if you have to reinstall your operating system).

Download folder shortcut

Another way to find what you download easily is to create a shortcut on your desktop to your download folder (the download folder is set up by default to store downloaded programs). This will help keep your desktop clean.

Organizing your documents for easy backup: go to my section on How to organize your information for easy backup.