Windows 95 File Management and Backup

Using Windows Explorer

Windows Explorer is used to view and work with files stored on your computer. It can be loaded from the Start menu by clicking on Start, moving the mouse up to Programs, moving the mouse over and down to Windows Explorer and clicking once.

The Exploring window consists of two panes, one entitled All Foldersand the other entitled Contents. The All Folders pane displays your computer's drives and folders. The Contents side displays the contents of your drives and folders. Clicking on a folder in the All Folders side displays its contents in the form of folders and/or files on the Contents panel.

Check out these URLs for a visual image of the Exploring window and for further clarification of Windows Explorer:

http://www.acer.com/aac/win95/quikstrt/explorer.htm

http://www.dsdm.com/techsec/win95/explorer/

Backing Up Data Files on a Disk Using Windows Explorer

Backing up your data is extremely important. You may not realize this unless you have lost important data when your computer crashed. Don't trust your hard drive--it could fail tomorrow! There are many different ways to backup your data, one of which is with the Windows 95 Backup feature.

You can also use the Backup feature to backup your entire hard drive, which is an excellent idea if you have the resources to do so. Backing up an entire hard drive takes several floppy disks; so I would advise backing up to some type of external drive, such as a Zip, Jazz, or tape drive. From the URL listed above, review the section labeled To move or copy files from one folder to another:. You can use this procedure to copy (backup) files from one location to another using the "drag and drop" method. Today we will practice backing up onto a floppy disk. If you have an external drive in your home or office, you may choose to backup your data files onto one of these drives instead using floppy disks.



Looking in the Contents pane (right side) of the Exploring window in the example above, notice there is a file entitled "To Do List." This file is saved in a folder called Bob' Bikes; and Bob's Bikes is in a folder called 185a. To backup just this file (not its folders) onto the 3-1/2 Floppy (A:), you would click on the filename; then click and hold down the right mouse button and drag the mouse over the 3-1/2 Floppy (A:) on the All Folders pane.
When you release the mouse button, you will be asked whether you would like to Move or Copy the file. Since you are backing up this file, you would click on Copy Here. Please note that if you use the left mouse button instead of the right mouse button, you will not get this prompt, and you may accidentally move the file from its original location (instead of copying the file).

Creating an Emergency Boot Disk

It is a good idea to have a Windows 95 emergency disk in case your system "crashes." One way to create an emergency disk is to open the Control Panel and use Add/Remove Programs. Click on the Startup Disk tab. Place a formatted, high density disk in drive A, then click on the Create Disk button. You can also use Windows 95 Help to create the disk by searching for "boot disk."

Windows 95 copies these files onto your floppy disk:

There could be other files you may wish to copy onto your emergency boot disk, such as device drivers; e.g., SCSI controller, CD-ROM drive, or removable hard disk drivers. Any additional files you choose to copy to the emergency boot disk depends on what is installed on your personal computer.

If you are a beginner, you may wish to have a more experienced Windows 95 user diagnose whatever problem(s) you are having with your computer. The emergency boot disk allows you to at least start the computer and try to figure out what the problem is yourself.

Using Windows 95's Backup Utility

Most people learn the hard way and start backing up AFTER they have lost important data. I cannot express how important it is to backup your data. (I'm one of those who has learned the hard way!) Check out this URL to learn about the importance of backing up your data:

http://www.cowan.edu.au/ITDivision/pubs/ComputerNews/Dec94/backup.html

Windows 95 comes with a backup tool or accessory that you can use to backup your data files. In fact, you can backup your whole hard drive for that matter. To use the Backup feature, click on Start, select Programs, select Accessories, select System Tools, click on Backup. (If your computer does not have Backup, you can install it by choosing Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel. Click on the Windows Setup tab; click on the box next to Disk Tools to place a checkmark in the box; then click OK.

Microsoft Technical Support provides a web page explaining how to use their backup feature. The URL for this support is http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q152/5/63.asp

Basically there are five steps to backing up your data using the Windows 95 backup feature:

  1. Selecting the files you want to back up: The Backup window may look familiar to you because it looks similar to the Explorer window. The Backup window does include check boxes next to drives, folders, and files to enable you to select them for backup. Simply click in the box next to the drives, folders, and/or files for which you would like to backup.

  2. Selecting the type of backup (full or incremental): Full backs up all the files you select while incremental backs up the selected files only if they have changed since your last backup.

  3. Selecting the drive you want to backup onto: We will backup to Drive A today. Remember at home you may prefer to backup to an external drive.

  4. Saving your "backup set": Use File, Save to file your "backup set."

  5. Starting the backup: Your "backup set" is saved into a single file with a QIC extension.

If you ever need to use the "backup set" you just created, you would use the Restore portion of the Backup utility. Restore works similar to backup, but in reverse order. Refer to Help in the Microsoft Backup window to find out how to restore your files if necessary.

Using ScanDisk

ScanDisk is used to check your disks for problems and repair those problems. Just like everything in life, ScanDisk is not perfect--it cannot repair all problems all the time with 100 percent accuracy. What ScanDisk does is look for invalid filenames and dates, bad sectors, lost clusters, invalid clusters, and cross-linked clusters. If requested to do so, ScanDisk will make an attempt to repair these problems.

ScanDisk can be found under Accessories (with Backup). To use ScanDisk, click on ScanDisk. The ScanDisk Windows appears on the screen. Choose the disk you would like to check and determine which type of test to perform. A Standard test checks files and folders for errors. A Thorough test performs the Standard test and scans the disk surface for errors. If you would like ScanDisk to automatically fix your errors, you would click in the box next to Automatically fix errors. If you do not check this box, ScanDisk will inform you of each of the errors it found. (Please note that checking your hard drive may take several minutes.) To begin the scanning process, click the Start button.