Tech Files
My Computer: Your Personal PC Landscape
As you’ve probably noticed, it’s rare to see two Windows PCs that are exactly alike. Even in a classroom, where a dozen or more PCs might all have identical hardware, little differences can creep onto the various Windows desktops. After all, users like to customize the look of their desktops—changing the wallpaper, adding a screen saver, rearranging the icons—and tweaking those little things can be a fun part of the learning process.
Because different people use their computers differently, you never know what program icons and shortcuts you’ll find on someone’s computer. But one item that’s a native part of every desktop from Windows 95 through Windows 2000 is the My Computer icon, shown below.
This familiar little icon is a powerful tool for navigating and managing a PC’s files and directories. When you double-click it, you open a window that provides a view of the entire system: hard drive(s), floppy drive, CD-ROM, and any network drives or external storage devices. You can then browse the various files and directories, or search for specific file types or names. In the My Computer window, you can also cut, copy, and move files and directories.
File management in My Computer works in much the same way as it did under Windows Explorer: you can click and drag files from one visible folder to another, for example.
Here are some moves you can use when working with files in the My Computer window:
- Click and drag files to other directories to create copies of those files
while leaving the originals in place.
- Hold down the [SHIFT] key while you click and drag files to move without
copying.
- You can also alternate-click and drag a file—either within the same
directory or to another directory—to see a pop-up menu with options
to create a copy or a shortcut.
In addition, the My Computer window gives you convenient access to the Control Panel, where you can make changes to a vast array of system settings.
Think of the My Computer feature as a door that opens on the contents of your PC. Once you go in, you can look around, rearrange the furniture, clean the closets, and take out the trash.
Oh, and if you happen to be one of those people who prefers not to see anything on the desktop that you didn’t put there yourself, you might want to check out this article from Annoyances.org. I think the title, “Get Rid of the My Computer Icon,” says it all.