File Properties and Information - Basic Classes

In this lesson you will learn:

Read to the bottom: Select 'Checkpoint' and turn it in to your lab instructor.

How to get Special Information on a File

When you right click a file (‘TemplateTest.doc’ in this example), the context menu for it pops up.

You can choose options on this menu to work with the file or manipulate it. Currently, we're interested in the Properties option.

Choose 'Properties' from the menu now to display the dialog box shown below.

Properties of a File

The 'Properties' dialog depends on what is selected first: file, folder, drive or shortcut.

This is where you can get information, including its size, creation date, and the last time it was modified or accessed the path or location and security levels. Depending on the File System and the type of file there will be different tabs across the top. Security, Details on the file, previous versions are the tab names when you click on document files. General, Compatibility, Digital Signatures, Previous Versions, Details and Security are listed if you select a program (executable) file.

You can also change the attributes of a file. Notice the other attribute option boxes on the bottom. Notice also that because the file system is FAT32 (File Allocation Table 32 bit) that few options are available. NTFS file systems have better security and other options discussed in 'File Systems'

Making changes to these settings can affect the operating system! Re-booting the machine will not change these settings back!

Attributes also will be covered in another lesson. Depending on the version of Windows, the File system and the type of file, there could be several other attributes, including more when pressing the 'Advanced' Button.

Notice what properties are shown on the General Tab. These are “must have” statistics when it comes to which version of a file you are working with. When you select ‘File >> Save’, these Attributes and Properties replace the original settings as well as all of the information for the actual file. Notice also that this file opens with Microsoft Word, and what type of file Microsoft Word opens. Also, note the location path.

'Size on disk' is different than 'Size', because the disk requires extra information on where it is located, called a FAT table. It is the disk size that is the most concern when disk space is tight and you need to squeeze this file in somewhere. FAT (File Allocation Tables), CDFS and NTFS concepts are different types of formatting and are beyond the scope of this lesson, but will be covered later.

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