Saving a Document

When you work in most programs, you save your work as some type of documenta word processing file (such as a memo), a worksheet file (such as a budget), a database file (such as a list of clients), and so on. One of the most important things you should remember about using a computer is that you need to save your work and save often.

caution

Don't wait until you finish a document before you save it. If something happens, such as if the power goes off or the computer gets stuck, you will lose all your work if you have not saved it. Instead, save periodically as you create and edit the document.

When you save your work, the program saves the file in an appropriate file format or type. For instance, if you save a document created in Word, that program saves the file as a DOC or Word file. Excel saves your spreadsheets (formally known as worksheets and workbooks) as XLS files.

The first time you save a file, you must assign that file a name and location. You can include up to 255 characters for the name, including spaces. Sometimes, the program suggests a name, but it's better to replace the suggested name with a more descriptive name that you can remember.

For the location, you can select any of the drives and folders on your computer. The dialog box for saving a document has tools for navigating to and selecting another drive or folder for the file.

Follow these steps to save a document:

Click File, and then click the Save As command. You'll see the Save As dialog box (see Figure 2.1).

Figure 2.1. The dialog box for saving in WordPad. The dialog box options may vary from program to program.

Type a namefor example, Christmas Shopping List, or something you can readily relate to as discussed previously.

Select the location for the file:

To save the document in another folder, double-click that folder if it is listed.

To select one of the common folders, click the icon in the Places Bar. For instance, click the My Computer icon to open that folder.

If the folder is not listed, you can move up through the folder structure by clicking the Up One Level button.

To select another drive or folder, display the Save in drop-down list and then select the drive or folder.

tip

The steps for saving a document are basically the same from program to program. Some programs offer additional options for saving. Be sure to check your program's manual for information about any additional ways to save your files.

Click Save.

The document is saved, and the title bar displays the name of the document.

note

The program adds a file extension to the file name that indicates the type of file. For instance, Word documents are saved as .DOC files. By default, these extensions don't appear, but you can display them by using the options in the Folder Options dialog box.

Switching Folders

The dialog box for saving a document provides tools for selecting another folder and for creating a new folder. To save a document in another folder, you open that folder. As mentioned, you have several options for navigating to that folder. Navigating through your folders is important for saving a document and also for opening a document (covered later in this chapter).

Most computers have one or more hard drives where documents and programs are permanently stored. The default drive is named drive C:, but you may also have additional hard drives (lettered D:, E:, and so on).

Windows XP sets up one main folder for documents called My Documents. To keep files organized, subfolders are then created (either by Windows, a program, or you) and like files are stored together. You can easily and quickly select this folder from the Start menu and from most Save dialog boxes; therefore, the My Documents folder makes a good choice as your main folder.

That said, note that you don't want to lump all your documents into one main folder. Therefore, you should create folders (sometimes called subfolders) within the My Documents folder and place your work in one of these folders. For example, within My Documents, you might have folders for reports, worksheets, memos, and so on, or you might create a folder for each project. (As an example, I create a new folder for each book that I write.)

note

Your computer may also have a floppy or diskette drive (usually drive A:) and another media drive. Your media drive may be a CD drive, a CD-R or CD-RW drive, or a DVD drive. You can insert a disk into one of these drives to open it. You can also save documents to a floppy drive and to a rewritable media drive. See Chapter 3, "Managing Files," for more information.

To keep track of where the file is stored, Windows XP uses a path. The path starts at the top (your hard drive) and then burrows down into folders and folders within folders. If you think of yourself as a groundhog tunneling through to a particular folder, you can see that if you have burrowed down one path and want to go to another branch, you have to backtrack up through the tunnels to a fork and then down to access other paths in the tunnel.

For instance, suppose that you have this folder structure:

If you open My Documents, you see these folders: Books and Worksheets. (You also will see any other subfolders, including some additional folders, such as My Pictures and My Music, that Windows XP has set up.) You can double-click either of these folders to open that folder (refer to Figure 2.1).

If you open Books, you have two additional folders that you can open: Absolute Beginner's Guide to Windows XP and Easy Windows XP. Again, you can double-click either of these folders to open that folder.

This process of tunneling down is straightforward because you can see listed what your options are. Where it can get confusing is when you want to move to another branch of the folder structure.

If you want to open Budgets, for instance, you need to backtrack. Specifically, you need to move back two levels to My Documents and tunnel down through Worksheets and then Budgets. In a dialog box, you use the Up One Level button to jump back a level. You can also go to the top level or to another drive using the Save in drop-down list (see Figure 2.2).

Figure 2.2. Use the Save in drop-down list as another way to move up through a folder and drive organization.

At first, navigating to folders may be confusing, but you will quickly get the hang of it. You use the same techniques for saving a document and for opening a document. It's also important to use good organization for your work (a topic covered in the next chapter) to make it easy to navigate among folders and find documents.

Creating a New Folder

You can set up a folder before you save your document and then navigate to it when you're ready to save. You also can create a new folder on-the-flythat is, when you are saving the document. To create a new folder on-the-fly, follow these steps:

Click the Create New Folder button. You'll see a new folder icon with the default name New Folder (see Figure 2.3).

Figure 2.3. You can create a new folder when you save a document.

tip

You can also create folders from a file window in Windows XP as covered in Chapter 3.

Type the new folder name and press Enter. The folder is added.

Open the new folder and follow the steps for saving (type a filename and click Save). The document is then saved to this new folder.

Tips for Saving a Document

Because saving is critical, most programs provide many shortcuts and safeguards for saving. Review the following list of tips for saving:

The first time you save a document, you see the Save As dialog box even if you do not select the Save As command. This dialog box is displayed automatically to remind you to type a filename and select a location for the file.
After you've saved and named a file, you can click File and select Save to resave that file to the same location with the same name. When you save again, the disk file is updated to include any changes or additions you made to the file.
Instead of the Save command, you can use a toolbar shortcut (look for a Save button) or a keyboard shortcut (most often Ctrl+S).
If you close a document or exit a program without saving, that program prompts you to save (see Figure 2.4). You can click Cancel to return to the document, No to close the document without saving, or Yes to save the document. If you have saved previously, the program saves the document with the same filename in the same location. If you have not yet saved, you see the Save As dialog box for entering a name and location.
Figure 2.4. Most programs remind you to save if you close the document or exit the program without saving.
Just because the program reminds you to save doesn't mean that you should rely on this reminder. Get in the habit of saving before you exit. It is easy to whiz past the reminder prompt and possibly lose your work.
Some programs save your work automatically. For instance, a database is saved each time you add a new record. You do not have to select a particular command to save the data. The same is also true of check-writing programs such as Quicken or Microsoft Money. Again, think "save" first and then check out any automatic save features to be careful.

Saving Backup Copies

You often want to have more than one copy of a document. For instance, you might save a backup copy to another drive or disk. You also might use one document to create a new, similar document. You learn more about backing up files in Chapter 17, "Securing Your PC."You can also use the File, Save As command to create a duplicate document.

For instance, you might have a cover letter that you want to reuse, changing the address or other information. Instead of retyping the letter, you can open the original letter, save it with a different name (thereby creating a new document), and then edit and resave this copy. To use the Save As command to create a new document, follow these steps:

1.	Click File and then the Save As command. You'll see the Save As dialog box (refer to Figure 2.1).
2.	Type a new name.
3.	Select a different location for the file if you want to store the new file in another location.
4.	Click Save.

A new document is then created and saved. This document remains open so that you can continue working. The original document remains on disk, intact and unchanged.

Saving in a Different File Format

Another common saving task is to save a document in a different format. Sometimes, you share your work with someone who doesn't have the same version of a particular program that you have or perhaps uses a different program entirely. Because sharing data is common, most programs enable you to select from several basic file formats. For instance, in most word processing programs, you can save a document in a plain vanilla format (as a text file), as a document with some formatting changes (rich text formatRTF), as another popular program file type, or as a previous version of the same program.

To save a document in a different file format, follow these steps:

1.	Click File and the Save As command. You'll see the Save As dialog box (refer to Figure 2.1).
2.	Type a new name, if necessary.
3.	Select a different location for the file, if needed.
4.	Display the Save as type drop-down list (see Figure 2.5). Figure 2.5. You can select different file formats in which to save a document.
5.	Select the appropriate file type and click Save.

A new document is then created and saved using the filename, location, and type you selected. This document remains open so that you can continue working. The original document remains on disk, unchanged.