Windows Files

The TAHS Cyberteam is going to cover the following areas for the Windows Operating System

• Learn about files and file types.

• Learn to access files safely and identify ownership.

• Find hidden files.

• Encrypt files.

• Learn to search files effectively.

FILE BASICS

Let's start with the basis, being the common forms of files. A folder is a special types of file that has the ability to store other files, mostly for organizational purposes. A Process is an application file that is currently executing, also referred to as "running" on the interface, in the Operating System. A Database is a further extension of a Folder, as a Database refers to a collection of Files. Finally a Web Page is also named A HTML file. As such, if you want to be technical, the internet is a collection of databases, which are Folders, which are files.

FILE EXTENSIONS

File extensions are essentially what a file is. There can be multiple extensions on one file so there could be one that executes a program while taking you to a doc. some common ones are: .EXE, .DOC, .HTML, and .TXT

HIDDEN & ENCRYPTED FILES

File encryption protects individual files or file systems by encrypting them, making them only accessible to the keyholder. The goal of this is to prevent unauthorized parties from accessing files that are stored on the disk. To access these files yourself, click on start, once you've accessed the start menu go to the control panel and click on appearance and personalization. Finally, click on "show hidden files and folders" and the folder options will appear. from there you can change the hidden files settings.

FILE BEHAVIOR

File behavior is dependent upon the type of extension it posses. Files that have PNG, JPEG, GIF are all different types of image files.

Files that end in .txt behave as readable files. If you have a suspicious file change the ending to . Txt so you can see the programming inside of the file.

When a file ends in .exe this means it is an executable. You should never open an executable file blindly. Executable files execute a program on your computer. They can install games and other services but are also the primary ways viruses can be installed.

FILE OWNERSHIP

File Ownership is an important part of data security. if the owner of the file is suspicious or invalid it might be hiding malware and that's bad. by default file explorer does not show you file ownership but you can make it so it does show it.

SEARCH

The searching function allows you to easily find items based on type, name, date modified, and more. The best way to access this is in explorer or in the start menu.

Using the NOT function in the search bar in explorer will make it so you get everything but what you did not search for.

Using an asterisk (*) will make it so you get all the files for the date modified or the file extension you want.