Now, Where On My Computer Did I File That, Anyway?

When was the last time you knew you had an email message or a document in your word processor but couldn't remember where it was filed on your computer? I find myself in this position almost every day and my "find" button has become my best friend.

To find files on your hard drive, if you are using Windows, click the "Start" button in the lower left hand corner (unless you moved it someplace else). Go to Find and then Find Files or Folders. You can find almost anything in the Name & Location section of the screen by typing a word that would be in the document you are looking for and clicking on My Computer.

Here is an example of how I use the Find function almost every day. The computers in our office are networked and periodically I have to find something on another computer. I have no idea what they may have named the file or what computer or drive it may be on. I go to Find Files and Folders, type in specific text I know is in the item I am looking for (I try to use a phrase that won't appear in 100 other items) in the section marked "containing text". Where it says "Look in:" it usually displays a specific hard drive. I change this to "My Computer". A search is performed on all the drives connected to my computer and a listing of all of the files containing that specific text are listed and what folders they are in. I can find the one I am looking for without much effort at all. You can also search by the date a document was created or various other ways.

I am forever looking for a message in my email program. Who knows how many file folders I have created or which folder a message may be in. If I am looking for a message from a specific person I can type their name in the from section of my find utility and it will search for all of the messages from that person. If I know the content of the message I am looking for I can type in a specific word or phrase for what I am looking for and will receive a list of all of the messages containing that word or phrase. This will sometimes give me a fairly long list but I can usually find what I am looking for without overtaxing my poor brain or spending a lot of time looking for the message I need.

I will never forget the time I had used an article in my newsletter, the author of the article had made some changes in the links in his bio. The author contacted me and asked me to change the information. In order to quickly find the article I used my Find feature. I not only came up with the issue of my newsletter it was used in and my source for his article, I also found that it had been in some other newsletters I had received. I forwarded this information to the author and he was grateful that I had come up with the information so quickly and the additional newsletter publishers who had used his article so he could contact them also. It took me all of about 10 minutes to find the message, forward the information to him and change the information in my past issues.

With the fast paced world we live in anything to save time is a blessing. Get to know the time-saving functions of your computer. Practice using them and you won't know what you ever did without them.

About the Author

Pam Jones is the publisher of PIP News and PIP Quick Tips. She specializes in offering informative information and services that will keep you on the right track with your online marketing to help you explode your online profits. Visit the Internet Marketing Resource Center at http://www.i-m-r-c.com or find out about services available at profitpowerpromo.com

pam@profitpowerpromo.com
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