Keeping Your Computer
Organized
Part 2 of 2
A Quick Refresher
In the last issue we discussed how Windows
handles three common commands: Copy, Cut, and Paste.
There was also a brief explanation of the Windows
Clipboard. Here they are again.
- Clipboard - A section of memory that Windows
uses to temporarily store information for the
user.
- Cut - Removes the file or object from the
original location and places it in the
Clipboard.
- Copy - Copies the file or object to the
Clipboard, but leaves the original in the
current location.
- Paste - Copies the file or object from the
clipboard and places it where you choose.
These four items are important because three of
the four items are used in combination every single
time you move a file or folder. It doesn't matter
how you perform the move, as it is always true.
Windows Default File Actions
By default, Windows takes into account the
location you are moving the file from and to. If the
file resides on your hard drive and you are moving
it to another location on the hard drive Windows
will perform a Cut - the file will not remain in the
original location, but will be in the destination
location.
If either the original location or destination
location are on a removable drive Windows will
perform a Copy - the file will remain in the
original location and will also be in the
destination location.
- Both original and destination are an
internal hard drive - the file will not remain
in the original location, but will be in the
destination location.
- Either original or destination on a
removable storage device - the file will remain
in the original location and will also be in the
destination location.
To move a file using Window's default methods
navigate to the original location of the file. Open
My Computer or My Documents so you have two folders
open and navigate to the location or folder where
you would like the file to end up. If one of the
locations is the desktop you will only need one
folder.
Place your cursor over the file you would like to
move. Press down on the left mouse button and hold
it down. While holding the button down move your
mouse to the location where you would like the file
to be. Release the mouse button. This is called
"dragging and dropping". That sure is a lot easier
than typing a text command and the path. Isn't
Windows wonderful?
Note: An external hard drive (one that connects
with a USB or Firewire cable) is considered
removable storage by Windows and will, by default,
perform the copy function.
Here is an example of a file being moved from one
location on the internal hard drive (desktop) to
another (Documents).
Hey! That's just great! Now you know that Windows
will perform a copy if one of the locations is
removable storage, so your original file will still
be in the same place. You also know that if both
locations are on an internal hard drive that Windows
will perform a cut and the original location won't
have the file anymore
But what if you want to perform a cut when
copying to/from a removable drive? What if you want
to perform a copy when moving files around on your
internal hard drive? Microsoft thought of that too!
Windows has a hidden menu for each file. If you
hover your cursor over a file and click the right
mouse button you will find a menu of options will
appear.
Do you see Cut and Copy? These do exactly what is
described above. Clicking Copy will place a copy of
the file in the clipboard. Clicking Cut will place
the original file in the clipboard. I bet you want
to know how to get your file back from the
clipboard?
Navigate to the location where you would like the
file placed. Right click on the folder to see the
hidden menu. Notice anything different?
Clicking Paste will move the file from the
clipboard and place it in the location you right
clicked!
Note about the clipboard: The clipboard can only
hold one item. If you place something on the
clipboard and then cut or copy another item, the
first one is gone. You could lose a file. Be
careful.
There you have it! That is a basic overview of
how files are moved are in the Windows operating
system. In the next issue I'll go a little more in
depth and talk about creating folders, working with
groups of files, and renaming a file.
