Finding
Lost files
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Business Computing Tips
By K&K Fainges kfainges@bigpond.net.au
Ever saved a file, particularly from the web, and just lost it? Most times
it will turn up somewhere in My Documents (assuming you are using later than
Windows 3.1). But not always. Sometimes it saves to a temp file and then its
gone.
There are ways to track it down. If you opened the File in a program, many
of these programs have a list of the last few documents opened. You just click
on the latest one and then use the FILE = SAVE AS command to save it where you
can find it again more easily. But that doesn't always work.
What does work is using Windows Explorer. Simply right click on the Start
Button on your desktop (the bit you see when you first start up), then click
on Explore. Go up to the heading TOOLS on the Menu bar (up the top, normally
in grey) and go TOOLS = FIND = FILES OR FOLDERS.
Type in the name of the document. If you can only remember part, that works
too. Then hit the Browse button below the LOOK In box. Change that to My
Computer by Clicking on the words. Hit OK to get back. Then hit the FIND NOW
button.
If you can't remember any of the title, or saving from the web has caused
the title to change (it does this a lot) then you can type text from the
document into the CONTAINING TEXT box. Remember to delete anything you have
typed into the TITLE box first. Obviously this takes a lot longer though. You
can narrow down the search by clicking on the DATE tab and clicking in the
circle that makes sense.
The Advanced tab lets you chose the file type and size too, but it's not
often you know that information.
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Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I wrote
it.
Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of Vocational
and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14 years of having to
make sales or starve that makes her think she has really learnt what does and
doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she specialises in helping people get
started on the long road to technology.
"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."
