Finding lost downloads

One our most-asked questions is 'Where will a file I downloaded be?' David Dorn shows you how to find it

Two tips in one this week! First, how not to lose downloaded files:

1. Create a directory/folder called 'Downloads' in the root of your C: drive
   1. Double click on 'My Computer', then 'C:'
   2. Right click and select 'New' -> 'Folder'
   3. Name it 'Downloads'
2. Next time you download anything from any program, make sure you point to your 'Downloads' directory.

Now you'll always know where downloaded files are, no matter which program you've used to download them. It's also an advantage when it comes to virus checking, since you can specify a folder to be checked.

Finding lost downloads.

Most often, from what PPC readers have told us, the file has been lost immediately it's downloaded. So here are the steps to finding it.

1. Double-click 'My Computer'
2. Press F3 to bring up the search box
3. Set the advanced options to look for files modified in the last 24 hours (the exact mechanism varies between versions of Windows)
4. Select 'My Computer' as the place to search (saves specifying individual drives)
5. Click on 'Search'

What you'll be presented with is a full listing of every file you've modified in that time - ie. the last 24 hours, which neatly encompasses your download. Since the file's date will change to the time it was written to disk, you can even order the list of files by time and date, so it should be fairly near to the top!

It's easy when you know how!

David Dorn