105
Learning the Basics
Saving your work
5.375 x 8.375 ver 2.3
Many programs offer a feature that saves documents at
regular intervals, such as every 15 minutes. Check your
programs’ documentation to see whether they have an
automatic save feature.
To save:
❖ A file you are updating, open the program’s File menu
and click Save.
❖ A new file, choose Save As from the File menu, type a
name for the file, and click OK.
HINT: To make another copy of the file you are currently
working with, choose Save As from the File menu and give
the new file a different name.
File names
The Windows XP operating system supports long file names
which can contain up to 255 characters and can include
spaces. Some applications do not support long file names and
require file names limited to no more than eight characters.
You may use all the letters and numbers on the keyboard plus
these characters: _ ^ $ ~ ! # % & { } ( ) @ and '. File names
are not case-sensitive.
Using a file extension
Most programs assign an extension to the file name that
identifies the file as being created in the program with a
particular format. For example, Microsoft
®
Word saves files
with a .doc extension. Any file name with an extension of
“.doc” is assumed to be a Microsoft Word file. Creating your
own extension is usually unwise, since the program is