Most computers have a main storage drive called C: drive. This is where all the main folders or directories are stored. Yes they are the same thing. In the old days, when Windows was did’nt exist, they were called directories. If you wanted to move from one directoy to another you had to type a command in the DOS CMD window.
For example to change directories in Dos, you would have to type in cd C:windows to get to the Windows directory.
When the Windows Operating system came along the directories turned into yellow folders. In Windows 3.1 it really was just a bunch of yellow folders and was very primitive compared to the latest Windows 8 version. Now you only need to double click on a folder or touch it to open it.
What Are Folders And Directories?
If you can imagine a big filing cabinet with folders in it, all named into sections, with the contents stored in them. In the real world a filing cabinet holds folders which holds papers, filed into sections. The same applies on a computer. The yellow folders you see on the computer are in fact called folders and sometimes directories. Back in the old days it was just a directory.
Inside these folders are more folders (sub-folders/sub-directories) storing more information. There are no rules to limit how many folders you have on your computer.
Do Cd’s And DVD’s Have Folders or Directories?
CD’s and DVD’s can also have Folder systems as they also used for data storage and backup. If you copy a folder to a CD it will also copy all sub-folders that are contained within.
Main Folders or Directories And Their Contents
C:\ Drive: The root of your computer. Usually where all files are stored. This is not a folder or directory as it is the label for your main hard drive storage device.
Windows: This is the main folder for Windows that is stored directly on C:\ Drive.
Program Files: This is where programs are installed to. This folder is located on C:\ Drive.
Documents and Settings: (Windows XP and earlier) Contains my documents, favorites, Users, Desktop, Start menu, windows hidden files and more. This folder is located on C:\ Drive.
User Folder: On my computer my user folder is called Mitz. It is stored in another folder called users and the path to it looks like this C:\Users\Mitz. In windows XP my username folder (Mitz) is stored in the document and settings folder.
Documents: This folder is stored in C:\Users\Mitz\Documents. However in Windows Xp it is in C:\Document and Settings\Username\My Documents.
Pictures: In windows Vista, Seven etc, the pictures folder is within the username folder like this C:\Users\Mitz\Pictures. In Windows Xp and before, it was stored in the my documents folder.
So which is right, folders or directories? Well today we should call the directories of the past folders.