1. Tech Tuesdays Tuesday, September 25, 2001 Finding Lost Things On Your Computer

2. First rule: Don’t Panic! Usually, files and folders can be found with a little effort and ingenuity. Take a deep breath, then start sleuthing!

3. Start searching the easy way: Go to Start>Programs>Search>Files or Folders. Type in any word or phrase that might be in the title of your file or folder. Found it? Double-click on the file and it will open.

4. Didn’t find it? Wildcard: Can’t remember the file name but know you typed in Word? Then type *.doc in the search box. This tells the computer to list all Word documents. Other extensions you might use:.xls (Excel),.ppt (Powerpoint),.jpeg or.jpg or.gif (pictures).

5. Another option: Go to Start>Documents. You will see a list of the latest documents you worked on. Click once to open the document if you find it.

6. Within Microsoft Office: Are you in Word (or another Office program) and want to find another document you just worked on? Go to Window in the menu bar and at the bottom of the scroll menu and it will list any documents currently open. Highlight the one you are looking for.

7. Still lost? Maybe you deleted it Go to the Recycled Bin on the Desktop and double-click to open it. If you find the file, drag it out onto your desktop, then to the right folder.

8. What about First Class? Lost all your folders? Look above your first listed email at the gray bar that has name, size, subject, and last modified on it. Put your cursor directly on the gray bar until you see an up and down arrow with a line bisecting it appear. Click and hold and drag down until you see your folders pop up again at the top!

9. More on First Class: Try opening all of your folders. Sometimes even other folders are accidentally hidden within other folders. Try going to View>Show Deleted Items to see if you did delete it accidentally. If you did, right-click on the email and select undelete.

10. To avoid losing stuff: As a rule, save only on the desktop or in My Documents. When you find something that was lost, open it then go to File>Save As and look in the Save In blank to found out where it’s being saved to. You may need to change where it goes so you don’t lose it again!

11. By Jove, I think she’s got it! Way to go! Next week: Changing Printers!