Find your files in Vista

To tag a file using Windows Explorer, first locate and select the file that you want to tag: use a JPEG digital photo or MP3 music file. Next, click on Organize menu on the Command Bar ­ that’s the blue-green bar near the top of the window. Click Layout, and ensure that the Details Pane is enabled.

This is a pane that runs across the bottom of the window showing information about the selected file. Right-click it, click on Size and ensure Large is selected. Now look for the Tag field that should appear in the Details Pane. Click it, and you can type in a tag. To enter several tags, separate them with semicolons. Click save to add the tags.

Some programs make it even easier to tag files when you create them. When you click Save As in a program, look to see if there’s a Tags box just underneath the File Name entry. If there is you can enter tags in the same way, separated by semicolons.

Group therapy
When a folder contains only a handful of files, they should be easy to find at a glance. With 10 or 20 files, it’s often easiest to view the folder contents as a list. To do this, click the Views button in the Command Bar, then choose List or Details. If you end up with over 50 files in a folder, though, individual documents can become hard to find even from a list. To help with this, Vista can sort all the files according to various criteria.

Windows XP has some basic file grouping tools, but Vista builds on the concept by providing customised grouping options for different file types. It can also group files using any extra information contained within them. Vista can, for example, group files by tag, or according to any information automatically stored in digital photo files when they were taken.

To use this feature, open a folder containing many files of several types. Move the mouse over the Name column heading and leave it there for a second, and a downward pointing arrow will appear. Click that, then click the Group button at the top of the menu that appears. You can now click the various column headers once with the left mouse button to sort the contents into different groups: grouped alphabetically by name, for example, or by the date they were made.

Vista’s file stacking performs a similar function to grouping, but instead of rearranging files in the same window, they appear as if they’ve been sorted into folders. It’s important to note that Vista doesn’t really create any new folders when you enable stacking: they’re just used as a clearer way to display the files, and will disappear later. These virtual folders are shown in blue, rather than yellow.

Stack it
To start using stacks, open a folder containing many files. Just like groups, it’s possible to stack files in many ways: by name, date created, tag, and more. In fact, you can stack files by any of the criteria listed as column headings. Just like when grouping files, hold the mouse over the column heading you want, then click the downward pointing arrow when it appears. Look for an option like ‘Stack by Name’ or ‘Stack by Tags’ and click it.

tacking is a great way to organise files, but the problem is that the virtual folders don’t stay: if you come back to the folder later you’ll see only the collection of files. There’s nothing to stop you re-stacking them, of course, but doing so each time would be tedious. So, for a more permanent solution, try creating a saved search.