Navigating Around your Computer

When new computers seek help about various topics, they often receive answers that begin with the phrase, "Navigate to" such-and-such a folder or file. And then they become confuzled, because being told to navigate to someplace on their computers makes about as much sense to a new computer user as being told to navigate to the moon.

Don't worry. It's really not that hard.

Starting Your Journey

Navigating your computer begins by clicking the icon named "My Computer." The "My Computer" icon is found either on the Desktop or on the Start Bar, which can be accessed by clicking the "Start" button on the taskbar (usually located in the lower left corner of the screen, unless someone moved it to customize their desktop).

Sometimes, the "My Computer" icon can be in both places on the same computer because the Windows user interface can be customized by the computer's manufacturer or users. Wherever it may be, "My Computer" is where you start navigating your computer. If it's in the start bar, then you only have to single-click it to start. If it's on the desktop, then you double click it. Either way, you will open a program called Windows Explorer, which is how you navigate your computer.

Okay, Now Where do I Go?

When you first click on "My Computer," you'll see a graphical representation of the drives, documents, and sometimes certain devices and programs that are installed on your computer. Windows assigns a letter to each drive and partition, as well as to some other types of storage devices (such as card readers). When navigating, your destination will usually begin with a drive letter, such as "C:\..."
Clicking on that drive's letter in "My Computer" will open the drive and show you the files and folders on it. To see the files that are inside a folder, you double-click on that folder. The Address box shows you where you are. In the picture on the left (click it to enlarge it), the location is simply the main directory of C:\ drive (sometimes called "C - root").
So if you were told to "navigate to C:\Program Files," you would first begin at "My Computer," then double click C:\ . Then while in C:\ , you would double-click the "Program Files" folder. You would see something like the picture on the left: A display of the subfolders inside the Program Files folder, and the text "C:\Program Files" in the Address box.

Be Careful!

Generally speaking, new users shouldn't go wandering around in their hard drives unless told to by someone who knows what he or she is doing. At the very least, don't go deleting or changing anything unless you are told to by an expert. Until you know what you are doing a little better, we suggest you limit your explorations to your documents folder.