Maintaining a Computer - Strata Study Guide - page 185

If doing the recovery yourself doesn't work, the next step up is to use a professional
data-recovery service. Such services can easily run into thousands of dollars because not
only do they use professional-quality disk-recovery software, but they can also remove the
platters from a physically damaged hard disk and put them in another mechanical drive unit.

Managing Files and Folders

Working with fi les and folders in your OS of choice is an important basic skill to have,
both for Strata certifi cation and for everyday use. In the following sections, you'll learn (or
review) how to create, delete, rename, move, and copy fi les and folders, and how to print
fi les. Most of the examples focus on Windows, but other OSs are covered too.

Opening a File-Management Interface
In a graphical OS like Windows, Mac OS, or Linux, you manage fi les via a window-based
system where each fi le and folder is represented by an icon. In Windows, this interface is
called Windows Explorer ; in Mac OS, it's called Finder .
There are many potential entry points into the fi le-management interface, depending on
which location (drive and folder) you want to start in. For example, in Windows, you can
click the Start button and then choose Computer to start with a list of drives, or choose
Documents to start with your Documents folder, or choose Pictures to start with your
Pictures folder. You can also place folder shortcuts on the desktop or Start menu that
open to a folder of your choice. After you open the fi le-management interface, you can
navigate to other folders as desired.
A command-line OS like Unix uses text commands for fi le management. Windows, Mac
OS, and Linux all have optional command-line interfaces you can open to manage fi les via
text commands too.
Table 5.2 summarizes the methods of opening a fi le-management interface in Windows,
Mac OS, and Linux. In Unix, it's not an issue because the command line is the default
interface.

TABLE 5.2 Opening a file-management interface

Graphical Interface Command Prompt

Windows Vista
and Windows 7

Start Computer Click Start, type cmd , and press Enter.

Windows XP Start My Computer Choose Start Run, type cmd , and press Enter.

Mac OS Finder Choose Applications Utilities Terminal.

Linux Varies Varies; in Ubuntu, choose Applications

Accessories Terminal.