Organize your files with Win XP's folder views!

Windows XP gives you several new ways to organize your files when they're stored in the My Music, My Pictures, or My Videos folders. These new views afford you a greater degree of organizational control over your files so they're easier to find when you need them.

First, open Windows Explorer or My Computer, and then navigate to and open your My Documents folder. Within this folder, you'll see the three aforementioned folders. Open the My Pictures folder, and then choose View | Arrange Icons By | Show In Groups. Then, choose View | Arrange Icons By and indicate how you'd like the photos to be grouped by selecting the appropriate menu command: by name, size, file type, last modified date, by date the photo was taken, or by dimensions. The photos in this folder are automatically organized according to your specifications. Grouping files in this way can be a huge timesaver when you're searching for one among hundreds of media files on your system. You can also use the Show In Groups organizational view with the My Music and My Videos folder, although the grouping capabilities are different. For example, you can group downloaded music files by artist, album title, or track number, and videos by duration, dimension, and size.