1. Input Devices
2. The Display
3. Software Applications
4. The Operating System
5. The File System
6. Memory
7. The Network Environment
8. The Internet
9. Search Skills
10. Computer Specifications (Hardware Overview)

The file system is where the information that makes the computer work are stored when the computer is off. Currently, this "data" is encoded as a series of ones and zeros in an unimaginably recursive and complex encoding system that has evolved over the last hundred years.

Currently these ones and zeros are written on a magnetic media known as a hard drive which is like a little teeny record player and record (in one device). Consider how the same recording of music can be played on many different media (cassette tape, reel to reel, CD, etc.), but still sounds the same. Similarly, the file system contains units of information (like songs on a record) which can be renderred on different media but are still effectively the same.

The file system of the computer stores a set of files which effectively and amazingly are the entire working set of information required to run any number of software programs, and do all the things the operating system may be required to do.

The file system isn't just "like" a giant hierarchy of nested containers each one containing units of information which are either individual files or folders which may contain files -- It IS a giant hierarchy of nested containers each one containing units of information which are either individual files or folders which may contain files.

By convention, files are described by various properties which the operating system grants access to. The most basic is the file's name. By rule, no two files with exactly the same name may be in the same folder. File names have historically been structured by a string of characters (with or without spaces) followed by a period (.), followed by a shorter group of characters which classify the file into a "type" which helps software and the operating system know what to do with the file and how to display it.

This set of characters at the end of the file is known as the extention. As you can imagine, it is very important. Unfortunately, the display of file extentions is turned off by default, and instead the operating system shows a picture (known as an "icon") which shows the type of file it is.

The Windows operating system also defaults to suppresses the diplay of certain other commonly used file attributes (modification date, size, and "type" which the OS calculates by evaluating the file's extention). It is a good idea to configure these settings to give yourself more access to information about the file system, because understanding the file system is a critical skill which will greatly enhance your ability to operate the computer successfully.