Access the Contents of Your Computer

Start Menu

To access the documents, pictures, and other contents of your computer:

• Click the Start button on the bottom left of the computer screen.

• The Start menu opens.

  

• On the left side are programs. The top left contains fixed items, like your Internet browser and e-mail program. Below the fixed items is a list of programs that you use most frequently. This list is different for different users and can change over time as you use various programs more or less frequently. When you click a program in the list, the program opens.

• On the right side are icons that let you open files, customize your system, get help and search for items on your computer, and more.

My Documents

My Documents is your personal folder where you can store your documents, pictures, and other files.

To open My Documents:

1. Click My Documents on the right side of the Start menu.

2. 

   The My Documents window contains two specialized personal folders, My Music and My Pictures, plus any folders that you created for your work.

   

3. Double-click My Pictures to see what it contains.

4. 

   The My Pictures window on your screen may look different. If you use KODAK EASYSHARE Software to transfer pictures from your digital camera to your computer, you will have a Kodak Pictures folder.

   You can keep opening folders to see what’s in them by double-clicking the folder icon or name. This is called “drilling down.”

5. Double-click Kodak Pictures to see what it contains.

6. 

   The Kodak Pictures window displays the contents of the Kodak Pictures folder. Your contents will look different.

Different Ways to Display Folders and Files

There are different ways to display your folders and files. The way your computer displays folders and files depends on the computer setup or the last way that you viewed your folders and files.

To change the display:

1. Click View in the menu bar.

2. A drop-down menu appears.

   

   Notice in the View menu above, there is a large dot in front of Thumbnails to indicate that the computer has displayed the contents of the window as thumbnails (small pictures).

3. Click each one of the following to see the different ways you can display folders and files.

4. • Filmstrip — Available only for pictures; pictures appear as a row of thumbnails with one image displayed in a larger size above the thumbnails. You can scroll through the thumbnails using the right and left arrow buttons on your keyboard.

   • Thumbnails — Available only for pictures; shows a small version of the picture for a picture file, or a few of the images that a folder contains on a folder icon so you can see a sample of the folder contents.

   • Tiles — Large icons of folders and files arranged in rows.

   • Icons — Small icons arranged in rows.

   • List — Small icons arranged in columns.

   • Details —Small icons in a single column with the time and date that you created the folder or saved the file.

5. Repeatedly click the Back button in the toolbar to move back up through the layers of folders to the My Documents window.

6. 

7. To close the My Documents window, click the X in the red box in the top right corner of the window.

My Computer

My Computer gives you access to computer files, disk drives, and hardware devices (such as a digital camera, scanner, or CD drive) connected to or built into the computer.

To open My Computer:

1. Click the Start button.

2. The Start menu opens.

3. Click My Computer on the right side of the Start menu.

4. 

   The My Computer window opens.

Disk Drive Letters

The My Computer window displays all the disk drives on the computer and attached to the computer, such as the camera drive (if the camera is attached and turned on). A disk drive is a device that reads data from a disk, such as a computer disk, Zip disk, or CD. A disk drive can also save, or write, information on the disk from the computer’s memory. Each drive has a letter assigned to it.

For example, the computer can save your document on a floppy disk. It can also open a document that is already on the disk.

The specific contents of each computer vary depending on:

• The computer itself

• The hardware attached to the computer

• The programs on the computer

• The personal files on the computer

But all computers contain a similar layout of the computer contents. For example, the letters below are associated with standard drives:

• (A:) is the floppy disk drive

• (C:) is the local disk (also called the hard drive)

Other letters represent a variety of other drives — a CD drive, a second hard drive, a Zip disk drive, or a digital camera. The computer names the drives D, E, and so on, next to the name of the drive or device. The D drive on your computer could be a CD drive while on another computer it could be the second hard drive.

After you load the camera software and connect your camera to the computer, the camera appears in the My Computer window as a drive icon with a letter assigned to it. This lets you access the contents of your digital camera as you would the contents of any other drive.

If your digital camera is attached and turned on:

1. Double-click the camera drive icon to see what the drive contains.

2. 

   In this case, the camera has both an internal memory and a Picture Card.

3. Double-click the Internal Memory.

4. The contents of the Internal Memory appear in the Internal Memory window:

   

   Just like in My Documents, you have the option of viewing as Filmstrip, Thumbnails, Tiles, Icons, List, or Details. In the example above, the pictures in the Internal Memory window are shown as tiles.

5. Repeatedly click the Back button in the toolbar to move back up through the layers of folders and drives to the My Computer window.

6. You may explore the contents of your computer by “drilling” down and up through the contents of other drives.

7. To close the window on the screen, click the X in the red box in the top right corner of the window.

Recycle Bin

After you delete files or folders, the computer transfers them to the Recycle Bin. They remain in the Recycle Bin until you empty it. This feature is convenient because you can recover items you accidentally delete.

You will know when there are items in the Recycle Bin by looking at the icon.

• When there are no deleted items, the Recycle Bin icon is empty.

• When there are deleted items, the Recycle Bin icon shows a piece of paper sticking out of it.

To recover a deleted item:

1. Double-click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop.

2. The Recycle Bin window opens and shows the deleted items.

3. Click the item you want to restore.

4. The selected item becomes highlighted.

5. Click File in the menu bar.

6. Click Restore. The item will go back to the place from which you deleted it.

7. 

8. To close the Recycle Bin window, click the X in the red box in the top right corner of the window.

To empty the Recycle Bin:

1. Double-click the Recycle Bin icon.

2. To delete all the contents, click File and Empty Recycle Bin.

3. 

To delete certain items in the Recycle Bin, but not all of them:

1. Double-click the Recycle Bin icon.

2. Hold down the Control key on the keyboard and click the items you want to delete.

3. Release the Control key. All the items you clicked are highlighted.

   

4. In the menu bar, click File, and then click Delete.

5. 

6. If you are sure you want to delete the items, click Yes in the Confirm Multiple File Delete window that opens.

7. The items not chosen for deletion remain in your Recycle Bin.