Use Windows 7 Libraries for easy file access

Windows 7 comes with Libraries built in: Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos. At first glance, these seem the same as the default storage folders built into Windows XP and Vista. However, there is an important difference: each Library is acts as a ‘container’ linked to one or more physical folders that can be located anywhere. Open Computer from the Start menu and the existing Libraries are listed in the left-hand navigation pane. If this panel is not visible, click the Organize button and select Layout followed by Navigation pane.

Right-click one of the four preset Libraries and select Properties. A dialogue box appears listing the folders that are included in this Library. Additional folders can be added to an existing Library by clicking the Include a folder button, navigating through the contents of the hard drive and clicking the Include folder button when a relevant folder is selected. Each Library can contain a maximum of 50 folders.

Removing folders from Libraries is a very similar process. Again, right-click an existing Library and select Properties before selecting a folder from the Library locations panel at the centre of the dialogue box. Click the Remove button and the folder will be deleted from the Library. Be aware that no confirmation message will be displayed, so take care to select the correct folder. When folders are removed from a Library, the folder itself remains intact.

Libraries can serve as locations to save new files, but Windows needs to know which folder within a Library it should actually use. From the Properties dialogue box of an existing Library, choose a folder from the Library locations panel and click the Set save location button. The folder that has been selected as the default save location is marked with a tick.

It is possible to tell Windows 7 what kind of files a particular Library is likely to contain. From a Library’s Properties dialogue box, open the dropdown menu labelled ‘Optimize this library for’ to choose the type of file that will be stored in the Library. From now on, sorting and display options relevant to the content type will be made available when viewing the Library.

The built-in Libraries are useful, but it is possible to create more as they are required. Click the Start button followed by your username in the right-hand column to open your personal folder. In the left-hand navigation pane, right-click the Libraries heading and select New followed by Library. Alternatively, left-click the Libraries heading and then click the New Library button in the toolbar. Type in a suitable name then customise the Library as described in previous steps.

On the whole, Libraries can be treated like folders. Whether navigating hard disk contents in Windows Explorer, or browsing for a save location from an application, the left-hand navigation pane can be used to expand a Library (just click the small white arrow and the included folders will be displayed). In this way, it is possible to select individual folders within a Library. However, the default save folder (set in Step 4) will be used if the Library itself is used as a save location.

Folders can also be added or removed from Libraries in a another way. To remove a particular folder from a Library, expand the Library in question in the navigation pane and select the ‘Remove location from Library’ option. This will not affect the folder itself, but will merely remove it from the Library. Any folder can be added to a Library by right-clicking, pointing to Include in Library and then selecting the relevant Library. Alternatively, create a new Library by selecting Create new Library.

To dispense with a Library simply right-click its entry in the navigation pane and select the Delete option from the pop-up menu. Remember, a Library is merely a catalogue so, when one is removed, no files or folders are deleted, but the Library itself disappears.

Deleted Libraries are moved to the Recycle Bin so, for a while at least, they can be restored if required. However, the four default Libraries are treated slightly differently: if any one of these is deleted it will need to be restored using a different technique. If Documents, Music, Pictures or Videos has been deleted, simply right-click the Libraries entry in the left-hand navigation pane and select the ‘Restore default Libraries’ option from the menu.