My Computer Window

My computer is the first window one encounters when working on a system with the Windows operating system. It is the platform which leads the user to the various files and the other components that are loaded on the system. It has a very simple interface. As soon as you open the window, you are greeted with icons linked to the various drives linked to the system. These drives can be described as the permanent memory slots that are available in your personal computer.

Let's make it simpler. Picture in your head a wardrobe. The 'My computer' window is exactly like that. Like a wardrobe with shelves for storage with different storage capacities. These storage shelves are the different drives and the capacities are often chosen by the user if they have been not predefined by the manufacturing company.

The hard disk is separated into different memory slots called drives. The C: DRIVE is referred to as the primary drive as it holds all the information and the program files of all the applications that are loaded onto the system. The primary drive is the most often used drive for system functioning and hence it is advised to not overload the primary drive with information and data that is not essential for the functioning of the computer. To curb overloading, the hard disk should be divided into other drives besides the main drive. The other drives are most often named as the D: DRIVE, E: DRIVE so on and so forth. There can be as many drives as one wants. There is an interesting fact that, during the times when floppy drives and logical drives were still very much in use, their driver names were the A:DRIVE and the B: DRIVE respectively and hence the primary drive name followed course and is known as the C: DRIVE.

Now, besides the actual and the permanent shelves there are also other storage spaces that one adds to the wardrobe to satisfy the immediate storage concerns. These storage devices are known as the peripheral devices or external storage devices. They range from CD Drives to pen drives to external hard drives.

In short, all the drives that are available to your system are shown in the My Computer dialogue box.

Besides the storage drives, there are also other links that the my computer window can lead you to. There are links to the add/remove window which helps one administer the different programs that are already installed on the system. There is a link to the control panel which allows you to make changes to the settings of the PC. If you are on a network, you can also find your network drives in the My Computer Window. You can also map a new network drive by going to Tools -> Map Network Drive. If you can't find a file, you can run a file search from this windows. Last, you can 'View System Information' from 'My Computer'. There have been minor tweaks to this window and the 'My Computer' window has always gotten better from one version of windows to another.

There are many other customisation tools available to get the best interface, the one that suits you perfectly. You can change the way the icons look to you. You can make them bigger or smaller. There are also different options of the way the icons are displayed. One option is a detailed view of each of the drives that mentions the last time there was a modification to the drive, the kind of drive that it is, and the total memory space that is available. Then there is another option that shows the whole thing in a list format minus all the additional frills. The best option there is, in our opinion, is the icon option. To change the icon view, you simply go to 'View' and then pick the the option (Thumbnails, Tiles, Icons, etc) you want.

My Computer is a window that can be made to work for you with proper customisation by the user. It is one of the best ways to access the storage drives, settings, and network drives.

If you enjoyed this post, please Tweet or

-By Dominic

Web site and all contents © Copyright ComputerTooSlow.com 2012, All rights reserved.