The Favorites section lets you go directly to your favorite folders (by default, these include Recently Changed, Public, Desktop, Downloads, Network, and Recent Places, although you can customize this favorites list), while the Computer section lets you drill down through all the drives and folders and subfolders on your computer system. The easiest ways to navigate with Windows Explorer are to use the Favorites and Computer sections in the navigation pane. Learn more about libraries in Chapter 7, 'Extending File and Folder Management.' (You can also launch Explorer by opening the Start menu and selecting All Programs, Accessories, Windows Explorer.) In fact, Windows Explorer is one of the default icons in the new taskbar, as you can see in Figure 6.1 click the taskbar icon to open Windows Explorer. Yes, you can still open the Documents folder, but you can also launch Windows Explorer in and of itself. With Windows 7, the name Windows Explorer is back in vogue. So when you opened the Start menu and clicked My Documents, you launched Windows Explorer pointing to the My Documents folder. Each of these folders was really Windows Explorer, pointing to a distinct folder on your hard drive, even if it wasn't called that. So instead of launching Windows Explorer as a separate folder, you opened the My Documents or My Music or My Whatever folder. With XP, Microsoft decided to make Explorer more 'discoverable' and task based. That time was 2001, and the release of Windows XP. In fact, there was time when it really wasn't called Windows Explorer. Since that 1995 introduction, Windows Explorer has gone through quite a few permutations. In fact, Explorer replaced Windows' self-named File Manager application, which ruled the roost from Windows 3.0 (1990) to Windows 95. This makes Windows Explorer a file manager application. You use it to navigate all the folders and files on your computer.

Windows Explorer is an application that displays the contents of hard drives and folders. And working with files and folders in Windows means working with Windows Explorer.Īs often as you use Windows Explorer, wouldn't it be nice to personalize it just a tad, make it a little easier to work with? Well, your wish is granted, as there are lots of ways to make Windows Explorer look and feel your way. Working with Windows, more often than not, means working with files and folders. Microsoft Windows 7 Your Way: Speed Up and Customize Windows

Windows 7 sort folders by size