From a program
Yet another way to open a document is to use the File menu inside the program you want to use to edit
the document. Although the exact steps may vary a little from program to program, this procedure does
work in most programs:
1. If you haven’t already done so, start the program you want to use to edit the document you
want to open.
2. From this program’s menu bar, choose File.
3. Often the File menu will display a list of recently saved documents, as in the example shown
in Figure 3-7. If you see the document you want to open, click its name and skip the rest of
the steps.
Figure 3-7: Many programs list recently edited documents right on the File menu. Here they’re
numbered 1–4.
4. Choose Open to get to the Open dialog box. In most programs, the Open dialog box will
automatically display the contents of the My Documents folder, as in Figure 3-8.
Windows XP Bible
page 63
Figure 3-8: The Open dialog box enables you to locate and open a document from within a
program.
5. If your document isn’t in the current folder, navigate to the appropriate folder using the
Look in drop-down list, or by opening the appropriate folder from the list of folder and file
names, or by clicking on an option in the left pane.
6. When you do get to the appropriate folder, click (or double-click) the icon for the file you
want to open.
If the program you’re using enables you to open multiple documents, and you want to open several from
the current folder, you can hold down the Ctrl key as you point to or click the names of the files you want
to open. Then click the Open button to open them all.
If, for whatever reason, you’re unable to locate the icon for the document you want to open, remember
you can always use the Search Companion to track it down, as discussed under “Searching for Lost