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Directory - Folder
The words directory and folder, in computing, refer to basically the same thing, a virtual container which allows you to organise your files on a storage device in a much more convenient way.
You can create as many directories (folders) as you like, providing you have enough storage space. You can also give them intuitive names, which is really useful when it comes to organising your files.
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Directories/folders can be created, renamed and deleted, much like files can, and it is good practice to take advantage of them to help keep your files organised.
Modern operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, allow you to manage these folders very easily. Also, some software applications, including operating systems, already have folders specifically there for you to use. An example of this is the "My Documents" folder that is created by the Windows operating system upon installation, which usually contains subfolders (see below) inside, such as, My Pictures, My Music, My Videos, and more.
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Subfolders / Subdirectories
Folders can have folders within them, referred to as subfolders (subdirectories). These subfolders can have other subfolders in them, those subfolders can have subfolders, and so on. This facilitates a tree-like folder structure in which to store your files.
Root Folder / Root Directory
As mentioned above, the folder system can create a tree-like file structure, with each subfolder creating a branch of the tree. The highest level of this file structure is referred to as the root, which, as its name suggests, can be likened to the root of the tree.
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On a standard PC installation the main root folder/directory will be the top level of the primary file storage area, which in most cases is a partition on a hard disk drive. Every storage device, such as floppy disks, USB memory sticks, and portable hard drives, also have a root directory.
DOS or Windows Environment
Under a DOS or Windows environment, the root of the main file system is given a name.
In most cases it is referred to as "C:\", where the C: refers to the data partition, and the trailing slash \ is the directory separator, which separates the folder/directory names in a file path.
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For example, the "My Documents" folder on a Microsoft Windows installation, is actually located at:
C:\Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents
Unix Environment
Under a Unix environment the root has no name, and is denoted simply by the directory separator "/". This is not to be confused with the folder belonging to the user root, which is denoted as "/root".
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