File Management
Having good file management means that I consistently maintain my files by properly naming, storing, and organising them. This means that when I save files, I name them appropriately, and store them under a folder or subfolder, in order to be organised and to have easy navigation when attempting to locate and access a file. It also means keeping a tidy desktop by storing files in the correct places, while deleting unneeded files and emptying the trash. File management is an essential skill for anyone using a computer because it means that their files are in an organised system, therefore they are easy to locate which prevents time wastage when attempting to locate a file. It is especially important as it makes it less likely someone will lose files containing important information.
Naming Files
An important part of having good file management is naming files correctly, which is helpful because it means files are easily recognisable even if they are not correctly organised. I always make sure to name files and other documents appropriately so I can find them quickly when I am trying to locate a specific file. This is helpful when in class during an assessment or just working on a task and I need to find a file that has notes on it, instead of spending ages going through multiple unnamed files I am able to quickly locate the one I need.
The screenshots above are an example of poorly named files, having a computer full of files named such as the examples would make it incredibly difficult to locate a file, and it would take up a lot of time. When naming my files, I make sure to give my files unique and descriptive names, not to leave them as ‘untitled’, or what they are automatically saved as, because it would make my files unidentifiable. Also, when I am naming files, conventions I stick to include using underscores instead of spaces, and using camel case. When naming files, any special characters such as !@#$% can’t be used. I also must make sure there are no spelling errors, and consider that if someone were to see my files, whether they would be able to recognise certain files or not. To do this, I simply name files after their content.
Structuring Files
Another important part of file management is structuring files correctly. The screenshot below shows how I manage my files by using folders and subfolders, this is helpful as it too allows me to quickly locate my files as long as I know what folder I kept them under, which is another reason naming is also important. By keeping well structured files, I don’t need to go through multiple files kept in one place, this way is far more efficient.
The photo above illustrates my use of folders and subfolders in my document folder where I keep all my schoolwork. Subfolders allow me to further organise my files, as I can keep everything relating to one topic in a folder that also belongs to a bigger topic e.g. I have all my assessment work kept in a folder for that specific assessment, and that folder is kept in another folder for all of my assessments.
When it comes to structuring folders and sub folders, they are listed alphabetically, so if I never need a file that I use often at the top, I put a number before the file. In this case, it was a template I used during our web design topic, so I needed it often.
The files in this example have been left unnamed and poorly structured, their only distinguishable feature being the different file types. Although this is only a small example, it shows how difficult it can make it if I needed to find an important file quickly.
File Compression
When using file compression, files are ‘packaged’ together inside another file, where the files inside have been compressed down to smaller size to use up less disk space. The compression technique I use is called Zip (.zip), which is a ‘zipped’, or compressed file which contains multiple other files that have been compressed. I could use compression to archive old files together, to have storage for files I may not need right then, or to hold files that are a backup for something else, doing this uses up less disk space. I most commonly use this type of file compressionas it is what I am most familiar with. I Zip a file when I need to transfer or email multiple files such as work for assessments, so they need to be a smaller size. Having the file be a smaller size also means it will take less time to transfer.
A new zipped folder should appear, containing all the files from the original folder, by looking at the file info, we can see a notable size difference between the two.
Graphics Compression
I would compress an image or graphic for the same reason I would compress a file, to reduce its size. This year I have used graphics compression for my web assessment, where I was required to create my own graphics and use them for my website. Before I was able to use them, I first had to make then ‘web ready’, making them an appropriate size and the giving them the right type of file format. For example, when making my animation on GIMP, it was automatically saved as .xcf file. In order to make it web ready, I changed it to a GIF because it reduces the size by quite a large amount, and still holds all the image frames so it would be shown as an animation on my website. To do this, I go to File, select Export as, open the ‘Select File Type’ at the bottom of the menu, choose the file type I want to save my graphic as (GIF), and then click export. The images below illustrate the difference in size I get from the two different file formats of my animation.
Data Threats
One threat to my data this year was hardware/computer malfunctions. This would potentially result in me losing the work I was doing at the time. In order to protect my work, I consistently save my work every few minutes so if something does happen, I have a saved copy with most of my recent additions. Another way I prevent data loss through computer malfunctions is by doing a lot of my write-ups and important notes on Google Docs, as it saves my work automatically.
A second threat to my data this year was a virus that could result in losing the data I had on my computer. To protect my data against this, I kept backups of my important work such as internals/notes by emailing them to myself or putting the files on my Google drive instead of just relying on our school local disk, as a virus could affect that too. A second way I protected my work against a virus was by not going onto dodgy websites, and not opening attachments or links in emails from an unknown sender.
A third threat to my data this year was unauthorised access, which could result in the user deleting my work. I firstly prevent this by using a unique password and not revealing it to someone I don’t trust with my work. I also save my important work in more than one place such as on my Google Drive or emailing it to myself, so if the original copy is deleted, I have a backup. By protecting my data these ways, I am always able to have access to my work if something happens to the original copy, or if my computer/account isn’t working.
Storage Devices
An example of a storage device I am familiar with is a USB drive. A USB is a portable device that allows me to store work or transfer work onto it so I can open its contents on another computer. I use a USB drive if I am working on an internal and I have to work on it some other time other than during school. It is also useful to keep backups of important work on a USB drive. Another storage device I am familiar with is a local drive; it is a type of hard drive installed on computers to store and retrieve data. I commonly use the one on our school computers to store all the work I need for school, as I can access it on all computers that have the drive installed. A third storage device I am familiar with is cloud storage, of which I use iCloud on my iPad. Using a cloud for storage means my data is stored on a network that I can access through my device. By using cloud, I can save any important data on my iPad so I have a backup and can transfer it onto a new device if it breaks.