So, deep breath, how do you use windows effectively? Well, largely, this is done by adopting a consistent method of working on your computer. Like any job, you need to think a bit about what you are going to do and how you do it. You wouldn't, for example, dress in your finest clothes and go fix the car! The key is organising yourself AND your computer!
Ever noticed how EVERY piece of software wants to install itself on your C: drive? How often it wants to go into the C:\WINDOWS directory? Well this is the first part of the planning stage, deciding where to install software.
There are two primary considerations here. Firstly, is your hard disk split into separate drives already and secondly, where the software is already installed. You may well have a fully installed, working system and may not be able to do much about it but even then you can organise your files. If you have the luxury of setting up a new system, then you can really go to town and split your system up.
My own system contains two hard disks, which are split into seven drives. Here is how I have split them up.
Drive C: contains the operating system and hardware drivers. Only software and files that make the PC work go here.
Drive D: and E: contain applications only. This is where my PC programs live. Word processor, spreadsheet, database programs live here.
Drive F: This is the Internet. All the software needed for accessing the Internet lives here.
Drive G: — Application Development. Any beta release programs live here. Things like Internet Explorer 4.00 would be placed on this drive.
Drive H: — Games. Well, er...yes. Oh! I have children! (Phew — close call there!)
Drive I: — Web site. This drive contains my web sites and supporting software.
This is just the way that I have split my system up and it relates to the way I work. Your system should be split up into how you work. The point is, it makes the location of programs and files much easier and your whole system becomes much more manageable.
