How to use Windows Vista Explorer

Which of all the many programs on your computer gets the most use? You might think it’s Word, Excel or even Internet Explorer but we’ll bet it’s the one you use every time you switch on the PC but take for granted.

Whether you’re hunting down a file, moving documents from one folder to another or simply performing a bit of spring cleaning on your hard disk, Windows Explorer will be the driving force.

Previously we've given you a refresher course on Explorer in Windows XP. Here we’re concentrating on the new and improved version found in Windows Vista. Along with a more visually appealing design, Vista Explorer includes a range of new tools designed to help you work your way through the thousands of files stored on your PC’s hard disk.

As soon as you double-click on the Computer icon or start browsing a folder, you’re running Explorer. Known as a graphical user interface (GUI), its main purpose is to provide an easy-to-understand view of all the files stored on your computer, as well as devices such as external hard disks. Without it, sorting through your files would be an almost impossible task.

Explorer in Vista brings with it many improvements over the XP version, not least a far better-looking interface. It’s possible to customise Explorer’s appearance but the main file section in the middle is usually joined by three other panes: the Navigation pane (a list of folders and links down the left), the Preview pane on the right and the Details pane along the bottom. If you can’t see some or all of these panes, don’t panic – ­ our step-by-step guide (see the See also section at the bottom of this web page) shows you how to conjure them up.

Follow the breadcrumbs
Along the top of the window you’ll notice the complicated directory path listing (which in XP offered up such jargon-laden wisdom as ‘c:\windows\system\drivers’) has been replaced with what’s known as a breadcrumb trail.

Commonly used on websites, breadcrumbs are essentially a navigation aid, showing where you are and how you got there. You can move back along your trail simply by clicking on one of the breadcrumbs. Click on one of the arrows between two breadcrumbs and a dropdown menu appears that enables you to quickly navigate to nearby folders. Once you’re used to how they work, you can even go so far as to remove the standard Navigation pane on the left and free up more space for viewing your files ­ we’ll show you how to do this in a moment.

Should you want to temporarily see the old directory path structure, all you need do is click on the breadcrumbs trail.

A sneaky peek
Thanks to the new Live Icons in Explorer, it’s possible to tell what most files are without even opening them. Icons for photos, for example, will be displayed as thumbnails of the picture in question, while those for documents will show a miniature version of the first page. Even folder icons will display previews of the files contained within them.

Click on an individual file and Explorer will attempt to show a bigger version of it in the Preview pane on the right-hand side of the window. Not all files can be previewed but it works especially well with photos, PDFs and even audio and video files, meaning you don’t have to wait for a separate application to load to find out exactly what each file is.

If you want to adjust the size of the icons, simply click on the Views button to cycle through the different options. For even greater control, click on the small arrow just to the left of the Views button and adjust icon size using a slider. You’ll notice it’s possible to have far bigger icons than the Explorer program in XP can provide.