Your Windows NT or 95/98 desktop is covered with open folders but you want to get to a desktop shortcut without minimizing the folders. How? Simply click on the Start button and on Run, then type a period in the space and click on OK. A small window will open, containing just your desktop folders and shortcuts. (If the window covers your whole screen, click on the second icon in from the top right corner of the window to tile it, and next time it’ll open smaller.)

This is especially handy in Win 95 or NT 4.0 when you don't yet have the IE4 or higher browser installed, since this older interface does not have a desktop icon on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen as Win 98 does. However, this trick can be useful in an updated NT or Win 95/98 too, because clicking on that desktop icon minimizes all your open folders and returns you to the full desktop — and sometimes you don’t want the hassle of later having to re-open all your folders in the same order they were in before you went to the desktop.

Free *Cheap Trick* of the Week: November 8, 1999

The whole line of discussion above assumes you have, for reasons that defy logic, adopted Microsoft's desktop as your primary interface.

The above discussion does not apply to people who actually understand how to use a Windows-based computer, and do so efficiently.

The whole desktop approach ignores the fact that a computer's hard drive(s) are the electronic version of a paper filing cabinet. It also ignores the fact that people store a huge amount of files in that system. And it ignores a few dozen other facts relevant to using a computer. It's just a bad approach.

The desktop assumes you don't care what files you actually work on. It opens apps, not files, and this is the pathway to problems. You can inadvertently be revising the wrong thing, if you can even find it in the first place.

What you should do instead is use Windows Explorer. Microsoft tends to hide this, but it should be your standard interface with your computer, unless you don't mind working blind.

You can always right mouse click the Start button to invoke it, but you should add Windows Explorer to your Quick Launch bar and several other menus in Windows.

The default settings for Windows Explorer defy logic. Change these so you can actually see what files you are looking at. Enable it to show you the file extensions (unclick the insane "Hide extensions" box that is, stupidly enough, checked by default though actually there is never any reason to ever check this box). Select the option to show details. Now, you will be able to see your file size, file date, and other useful information. If you right click around a bit, you can find quite a bit of functionality in Windows Explorer.

If you haven't been using this interface previously, make a point of using it now. If you always open files from within Windows Explorer, you will always be able to see all available files and select the right one.

Use Windows Explorer to set up your filing system as if it's a paper filing cabinet. Save all files either on the data drive (dual hard drive machine) or in a folder on a single hard drive machine. Do NOT save files to the default locations. These never make any sense. They are typically within your applications, which is a dumb place to save them. That's how you end up with corrupted data files and it also makes file backups difficult.

For single-drive users, an easy solution is to create a folder called 0files as your top-level data folder. The zero means it will show up at the top of your file list, making things easy for you. Below this folder, create you filing structure. Never store anything at the root of this folder. Think of it as the shell of a five-drawer filing cabinet and don't toss stuff in the bottom. Always put files in folders that are in drawers.

With a good filing structure in place, you will always be able to find your files by simply clicking right to them. So think this out as you go and follow a good taxonomy. It's a much more effective way to work than how the zombies at Microsoft envision people working.