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MANY WAYS TO COPY FILES
In Windows generally, and especially in Windows
9x/ME, there are almost always several ways to do
something you want to do. For example, how many ways can
you think of to copy a file? First of all, in Windows
3.x, there is the option of using the Copy command in the
Files Menu on the Program Manager screen. There is also
the same command in the same location on the File Manager
screen. These two have been condensed in Windows 9x to
the Send To option in Windows Explorer. And how do you
access the Send To option? You have to right-click on the
file name that you want to copy. The "context
menu" that pops up with your right click will
include "Send To" as one of its options, and
the cascading menu that comes down lists your floppy
drives as possible destinations for the copy.
But another way to copy that is common between both
Windows 3.x and Windows 9x/ME is the "drag and
drop" method. Here you first choose File Manager
(under Windows 3.x) or Explorer (under Windows 9x/ME),
then you click on the file you want to copy, then you
hold the left mouse button down while you
"drag" the icon from the source directory to
the destination directory, and release the mouse button.
If the source and destination directories are on the same
disk drives under Windows 9x/ME, then a "move"
will be performed: that is, the file will be deleted from
its original directory and saved in the destination
directory. (If the source and destination directories are
on separate disk drives, then a "copy" rather
than "move" will be performed, so that it will
be present on both drives.)
Suppose you want to move a file to a different drive or
copy a file to the same drive? Well, there are ways to do
that. To move a file from one drive to another, hold down
the "Shift" key while dragging. To copy a file
from one directory on a drive to another directory on the
same drive, hold down the "Ctrl" key while
dragging. (Under Windows 3.x, you hold down the
"Alt" key instead of the "Shift" key
in order to perform a "move" of a file.)
Is all this just too confusing to remember? (When do you
hold down "Ctrl" and when "Shift"?)
Okay, then you might try right-dragging rather than
left-dragging with your mouse. When you release the right
mouse button, the context menu that pops up will list
among its options both "Move Here" and
"Copy Here", so you can choose either one...
Ah, but with Windows 9x/ME there is still ANOTHER way of
copying or moving a file: using the "Cut",
"Copy" and "Paste" options of the
"Edit" menu! You are probably aware of how to
use those options of the Edit menu in order to copy or
move graphics from one program to another. In Windows
9x/ME you can also use this menu to manipulate files and
directories. Click on a file or directory name in
Explorer, pull down the Edit menu, click on
"Copy", move the mouse pointer to the directory
where you want a copy of the file and click there, pull
down the Edit Menu again and click on "Paste",
and -- voila! -- you have just copied a file from one
directory to another... On the other hand, if you first
clicked on "Cut" before clicking on
"Paste", you have moved a file from one
directory to another.
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