My Documents

Windows 2000 and XP are multi-user friendly operating systems and stores users’ data in their own user profile. When you open My Documents, you are really looking at a folder elsewhere on the computer. Each user has their own My Documents folder to store their personal documents in. Administrators on the computer can open everyone’s My Documents folder.

Changing the My Documents Folder Location

The My Documents location can be changed in Windows XP by right-clicking on the My Documents folder and selecting Properties. Click on the Target tab. Type in the path you want the My Documents folder to point to, e.g. C:\MyFiles. Click OK.

The Recycle Bin

On your desktop, there is a Recycle Bin for deleting your files. The Recycle Bin holds a link to the file you wish to delete but does not automatically delete the file until you empty the Recycle Bin. Right-click on it to delete all of the files in the Recycle Bin.

For the exam, you need to be aware that placing a file in the Recycle Bin does not automatically delete it, but instead, this is an additional step the users need to do.

If you move something from a removable media device (such as a USB memory stick) to the Recycle Bin it is automatically deleted – it is not temporarily stored. Be aware of this point for the exam, you may be quizzed on it.

Control Panel

The Control Panel is the interface to most of the settings on your computer. Windows 2000 and Windows XP have slightly different interfaces to the Control Panel as you can see by the screenshots. Each of the icons in the Control Panel is a Control Panel Applet – controlling the settings of one area of the operating system or PC.

Review the different Control Panel Applets and become familiar with their function for the exam.