Understanding Files

In order to use Windows correctly. it’s very important to know how to manage files. Most people understand the basics like copy, delete, or move. Not as many have a full grasp of how files work or are stored. Today we want to help you understand more about files. Are you ready to be awash in exciting, new knowledge?

Computers, by definition, are electronic devices that process and store information in a systematic way. Computers store information in several areas, but the main area is typically the hard drive inside the computer itself. The hard drive stores your operating system, programs, and data files. Data files are, for example, your documents, pictures, and emails. The operating system—OS X on a Mac, or Windows on a PC—manages these files, organizing them into folders. Folders can also have sub-folders. You can easily move files around in your folders so that they are easy to find and understand.

Windows file names typically have two parts: the name, then a period and the extension or suffix. The extension is typically three to four letter abbreviations that come after the period. For example, in userfile.doc the filename is “userfile” and the extension is “doc”.

Extensions are very important because they tell your computer what icon to use for the file, and what application can open the file. The operating system includes a registry, which stories lists of file types The registry keeps track of what actions can be done, what software is used, and where that software is located. Returning to our previous example, userfile.doc, the extension “doc” tells your computer that the file is a Microsoft Word file. Some software applications create files in a specific, proprietary format. It’s often the case that different applications can’t read each other’s files. For example, a letter open in Microsoft Word could not be opened in Windows Media Player, and a music file that opens in Windows Media Player could not be opened with Microsoft Word.

Some files can be used or open by several programs. Most files have a file association. A file association is when a specific type of file is, by default, associated with a specific program or software. So when you double click on a file it will automatically open in the default program. File associations can be changed or edited so you can change what software or program opens the file. Below is a list of common Windows extensions, what they stand for, and what opens them.

.JPG – Graphics, Pictures – Opened by the default graphics program or by the default Internet browser

.XLS – Spreadsheet – Opened by Microsoft Excel

.GIF – Graphics, Pictures – Opened by the default graphics program or by the default Internet browser

.BMP – Graphics (large file sizes) – Opened by Paint or by other graphics programs

.TXT – Text file – Opened by Notepad or other word processing programs

.DOC – Word Document – Opened by Microsoft Word

.PDF – Portable Document File – Opened by Adobe Reader

.HTML – Web pages – Opened by the default Internet browser

.MP3 – MPEG Audio Layer 3 file – Opened by Windows Media Player

.WAV – Waveform Sound file – Opened by Windows Media Player

.AVI – Video clip – Opened by Windows Media Player

.RM – Video clip – Opened by Real Player

.DLL – Dynamic Link Library file – Used by different software programs

.EXE – Executable file – An executable program

.ZIP – Compressed file – Opened by WinZip

Sometime you find a file format that won’t open with any program on your computer. If this happens you can buy the program or convert the file to a format that your computer can open it. Below are my favorite free file converters for video, music, image and documents. Just click on the name and it will take you to the correct site for downloading. Note: During the setup of theses free converters, they will ask if you would like to install unrelated software! Always read these messages carefully!

Freemake Video Converter – Converts video

Free Studio – Converts audio

XnView – Converts images

MyMorph – Converts documents