Windows 7 / Getting Started

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Windows 7 Explorer

Windows Explorer (not to be confused with Internet Explorer, its Internet equivalent) provides you the means for navigating your computer system by giving you access to all aspects of your computer system from your user files (simply called documents) to the Control Panel.

You can access one of the Windows Explorer windows by clicking any of the following links that appear in the right column of the Start menu:

• Documents: Opens the Documents library, which typically contains the text and data type files (also known as document files) you create - this is the default location for saving document files for programs such as Microsoft Word and Excel and is the Windows 7 equivalent of My Documents in Windows XP.
• Pictures: Opens the Pictures library, which typically contains the digital photographs and other types of graphic files you store on your computer - this is the Windows 7 equivalent of My Pictures in Windows XP.
• Music: Opens the Music library, which typically contains the music audio files (in all different audio formats, including MP3, WMA, and WAV) you store on your computer - this is the Windows 7 equivalent of My Music in Windows XP.
• Games: Opens the Games window, which contains all the games that come installed with Windows Vista.
• Computer: Opens the Computer window, which displays all the local and mapped network drives on your computer as well as all peripheral devices currently connected to it. (See "Disk Management" earlier in this part.)
• Control Panel: Opens the Control Panel, which displays all the settings you can change on your computer system. (See "Control Panel" in Part 5.)
• Devices and Printers: Opens the Devices and Printers window, which shows all the various devices (such as cameras and mice) currently connected to your computer along with all the installed printers.

Tip By default, the Windows 7 Start menu doesn't contain an option for opening an Explorer window for your network. If you want to add such an option, you can do so. Right-click the Windows taskbar and then choose Properties from the shortcut menu that appears to open the Taskbar and Menu Properties dialog box. Click the Start Menu tab in this dialog box and then click the Customize button to open the Customize Start Menu dialog box. Once you're there, select the Homegroup check box (if you've set up a peer-to-peer home network) or the Network check box (if your computer is part of a local area network) before clicking OK.