Session 3: Files & Internet

A file is a single stored item: a document, a photo, a song, a program. A folder (also called a directory) is a container that holds files and other folders, which is what lets you organise rather than pile. Every file has a name and an extension — the part after the last dot — and the extension tells Windows what kind of file it is: .docx is a Word document, .xlsx a spreadsheet, .pdf a fixed-layout document, .jpg and .png images, .mp4 video, .mp3 audio, .zip a compressed archive. Windows often hides extensions by default, which is why two files can look identical and behave differently. Turn them on: File Explorer → View → Show → File name extensions.

A path is a file's full address, shown in the address bar at the top of File Explorer: `C:\Users\YourName\Documents\CEA\notes.docx`. Read it left to right as a set of nested folders ending in the file. The important drives are C: where Windows and your programs live, and whatever letter Windows assigns to an inserted USB drive — usually D: or E:. Understanding paths is what stops the panic of 'I saved it but I cannot find it', because you can always look at the address bar and know exactly where you are.

Create a folder with Ctrl+Shift+N inside File Explorer, or right-click → New → Folder. Name it immediately — 'New folder' is how work gets lost. Rename with F2 on a selected item, or right-click → Rename; never rename by deleting and retyping the whole name, because F2 lets you edit just the part you want. Move by cutting (Ctrl+X) and pasting (Ctrl+V) into the destination, or by dragging. Copy with Ctrl+C then Ctrl+V leaves the original in place and puts a duplicate at the destination — and be careful, because copying instead of moving is how you end up with two versions and edit the wrong one.

Delete sends an item to the Recycle Bin, where it stays until you empty the bin. This is your safety net: right-click the Recycle Bin → Open, find the item, right-click → Restore, and it returns to its original folder. Note the important exception — files deleted from a USB drive, or deleted with Shift+Delete, bypass the Recycle Bin entirely and are gone immediately. And understand what deleting really does: it removes the pointer to the file, not necessarily the data, which is why 'deleted' files can sometimes be recovered and why you should never assume a sensitive file is truly erased just because you deleted it.

Name files so a stranger could understand them in six months and so they sort correctly. The pattern that works: date, then subject, then version — `2026-09-13_CEA-Notes_Session-03.docx`. Dates first in YYYY-MM-DD format sort chronologically in every file manager; putting the day first sorts September after January incorrectly. Avoid spaces if you can, because some websites and systems mangle them in uploads. Never use the characters `\ / : * ? " < > |` — Windows forbids them and other systems handle them badly.

Then avoid the version-naming trap. `final.docx`, `final2.docx`, `final-FINAL.docx` and `final-real.docx` tell nobody anything. Either use dates, or use v1/v2/v3 consistently, and keep only one current version in the working folder with older ones moved to an `Archive` sub-folder. Build the structure once — a top folder for the year or course, with sub-folders by subject — and use it every single time. A file saved in the right place the first time is a file you never have to search for.

Plug a USB drive in and Windows assigns it a letter and usually announces it. Open File Explorer, find the drive, and copy files to or from it like any other folder. The critical step is ejecting before removal: click the USB icon in the taskbar notification area and choose Eject, wait for the confirmation, then pull it out. Windows caches writes in memory, so a copy that appears finished may not have reached the drive yet — pulling early is how files arrive corrupted or missing. If Windows says the drive is in use, close whatever program is touching it rather than forcing removal.

Downloading is copying a file from the internet to your machine; the browser puts it in your Downloads folder by default and shows progress at the top or bottom of the window. Download safely by checking three things before you click: is the site the one you intended (look at the address, not the page design), does the link say what you expect, and does the file extension match what you asked for. A file you wanted as .pdf arriving as .exe or .zip is a warning — executables run code on your machine, and that is how malware arrives. Never download from a pop-up you did not ask for, and treat any file that arrives as an attachment from someone you do not know as hostile until proven otherwise.

Uploading is the reverse: sending a file from your machine to a website. Every upload control works the same way — click Choose File or Browse, navigate to the file, select it, then confirm. Know your file sizes, because Nigerian mobile data is expensive and many services reject files above a limit. If a form rejects your upload, the cause is almost always size or format, and the fix is to compress the file or export it in an accepted format.

A browser is the program that displays websites — Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, Opera. Know its parts. The address bar at the top shows where you are and is where you type a web address; it is also the search box in modern browsers. Tabs let you hold several pages at once — Ctrl+T opens one, Ctrl+W closes it, Ctrl+Tab switches, and Ctrl+Shift+T reopens one you closed by accident. Back and Forward move through your history, Refresh (F5) reloads the current page, and the bookmark or star icon saves a page so you can return without searching again. Your history (Ctrl+H) lists everywhere you have been, which is how you find a page you read yesterday and did not save.

Then the skill most people never learn: searching. A search engine is a keyword matcher, not a person, so typing 'please how can I find out what time the CEA class starts on Saturday' works worse than `CEA Port Harcourt class timetable`. Use specific nouns, drop the polite filler, add a location or a year when it matters, and put an exact phrase in quotation marks. Add `-` before a word to exclude it. If the first page of results is unhelpful, change your words rather than scrolling — the tenth result for a bad query is worse than the first result for a better one. And when you need something from an official source, search for the organisation's name and go to its own site rather than trusting a third-party page that may be outdated.