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.Or, if you re already in an Explorer window, choose My Documents from Other Places in theExplorer bar at the left side of that window.Or, if you see a My Documents icon on your desktop, just open that icon.Figure 2-33: Various places from which you can open your My Documents folderTip To add a My Documents icon to your desktop, right-click the desktop and chooseProperties.Click the Desktop tab, and then click on the Customize Desktop button.Under Desktop Icons, choose My Documents.Then click each open dialog box sOK button.Windows Explorer opens and displays the contents of your My Documents folder.That folder mightcontain still more folders, such as My Music and My Pictures.And it might contain some documents,such as the Things to Do document in Figure 2-34.Figure 2-34: Contents of a sample My Documents folderKeep in mind that the My Documents folder is yours, and yours alone.Other people who use this samecomputer and who log on with their own user names will have their own My Documents folders.Anyfiles that users of this computer can share will be in the Shared Documents folder.page 53 Windows XP BibleIntroducing Shared DocumentsAs the name implies, the Shared Documents folder contains files and folders that all users of thiscomputer can access.You can open Shared Documents by choosing that option under Other Places inthe Explorer bar.You also can find its icon in My Computer.As always, you ll see the folders and filescontained within the Shared Documents folder.And you can open anything in that file or folder byclicking or double-clicking it.Tip To create a shortcut to Shared Documents on your desktop, open My Computer asdescribed earlier.Then drag the Shared Documents icon out to the desktop anddrop it there.More on creating shortcuts in Chapter 4.The main thing to keep in mind is that shared items don t appear within your My Documents folder even though other people are willing to share.You must specifically go to the Shared Documents folderto find those shared items.If you want to share items from your My Documents folder, or any of its subfolders, you must move orcopy those items from their current location to the Shared Documents folder (or one of itssubdocuments).Keep in mind that once you move an item to Shared Documents, it is no longeravailable via My Documents.If someone else deletes that shared item, it s gone for good.If someoneelse changes the item, you re stuck with those changes.On the other hand, if you copy items to Shared Documents, you retain your own copy in your MyDocuments folder.So there s no loss if someone else deletes it.Likewise, if someone changes theShared Documents item, those changes won t be reflected in the copy that s in your My Documentsfolder.If you prefer the changed copy, and want that one in your My Documents folder, you must copythe changed version from Shared Documents to My Documents.Chapter 12 discusses moving and copying files and folders in detail.If you re just looking to movesomething from My Documents to Shared Documents, however, the procedure is simple enough:1.Open My Documents.2.Drag the item you want to move from the right pane of the Explorer window to the SharedDocuments option under Other Places in the Explorer bar, and drop it there.The item disappears from My Documents.If you switch to Shared Documents by clicking that optionunder Other Places, you ll see that the item is now in that folder.Tip As you ll learn in Chapter 4, you can add to your My Documents folder shortcuts toanything you ve moved into Shared Documents.That way, those items will still bejust one click away whenever you re in your My Documents folder.The same basic technique works the other way around.Be aware, however, that once you movesomething from Shared Documents to My Documents, the item is no longer shared (which might irritateyour fellow computer users).If you re sure you want to do this, however, open Shared Documents anddrag the item you want to move to the My Documents option under Other Places.If you then click MyDocuments, you ll see that the item now exists in your My Documents folder.SummaryThe concepts and basic skills you have learned in this chapter are important, and most of them you lluse in your day-to-day interaction with your computer.Of course, they won t become second nature toyou until you ve had some hands-on practice.Still, it s important to know what can be done, and how todo it.Here s a quick recap of the topics discussed in this chapter:" An icon is a small picture that opens into a full window." To close an open window, reducing it once again to an icon, click the Close (X) button inthe upper-right corner of that window." Dialog boxes present controls that enable you to choose among various options a particularprogram or device offers." Windows Explorer is a good program to know, because it enables you to explore and accessthe various disk drives, folders, and files in your computer." The Search Companion offered by Explorer helps you find lost folders and files." The My Computer location within Explorer gives you access to all your computer s diskdrives.page 54 Windows XP Bible" The My Documents folder gives each user his own place on the hard disk in which to storehis own, unshared documents
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