| Back | Next |
Contents
Copying a File
Copying Multiple Files
Drag and Drop
Copying Folder(s)
Deleting Files and Folders
The Recycle Bin (Trash)
Moving Files and Folders
Copying Files
The following methods apply to copying from anywhere to anywhere.
So, you have now created a file, and you know where it is. Explorer is the program you need to copy, delete, and move files and folders.
Open Explorer and navigate to the place where your file is; that is, so the file appears in the right window. The example below shows the contents of the "TEMP" folder on the C: drive. It contains only one file, "MYFILE.TXT". Your Explorer may be set to view large icons, rather than the small ones. You can change that easily: click the View menu, and chose your preference: large icons, small icons, details, etc. Feel free to experiment: you can change the way your files and folders appear any time.
Note: The full path to this file is C:\TEMP\MYFILE.TXT. You know where you are in Explorer by two means: look at the title bar of the Explorer window; it says "Exploring - C:\Temp"; also, in the left window, the little folder icon beside "Temp" is open. If the path is not in the title bar, click on View, Options, then select the View tab, and check the box beside "Display the full MS-DOS path in the title bar".
Back to TopCopying to a Floppy disk
Copying a single file
Suppose you want to copy a file to a floppy disk (in drive A:). Position the mouse pointer over the name of the file, and click the right mouse button once; a menu pops up. Choose "Send To", and then "3 1/2 Floppy (A)".
You will see the light on the floppy drive come on as the file is being copied; it will go out when the file has been copied. When copying files to a floppy disk, never remove the disk from the drive before the light goes off. The copying process is not finished if the light is still on, no matter what messages you may see on the screen.
Note: When you right click on a file, the menu that pops up will not be identical to what you see above, nor will the "Send To" menu. In fact, it is unlikely either will be exactly the same on any two computers - it depends on how each system is configured. You should not be surprised if you see fewer options; however, "Send To" and "3 1/2 Floppy (A)" will definitely be there (if you have a floppy drive).
Back to TopCopying multiple files at once
There is no need to copy files one at a time; you can select a number of files, then copy them all in one operation. In the Explorer window below, there are four files in the C:\TEMP folder:
To select more than one file, press and hold the Control key (there are probably two of them on your keyboard - one approximately in the lower left, the other in the lower right - and they have "Ctrl" on them); while holding the Ctrl key, click once on each of the files you wish to copy. Each one will be highlighted. Now position the mouse pointer over any one of the highlighted file names, then click the right mouse button. The shortcut menu pops up, and you do the same as you would to copy a single file: choose "Send To", and then "3 1/2 Floppy (A)".
If the files you want to copy happen to be sequential (one after another), click once on the first file, then press and hold the Shift key, and click on the last one. They will all be highlighted.
If you want to copy all the files, click on any one of them, then press Ctrl+A (that is, press and hold Ctrl, then tap the letter A key). Every file should be highlighted.
Copying from a Floppy disk
This is the same thing in reverse. Make sure the floppy disk with the file(s) you want to copy is in the A: drive. In Explorer, click once on the Floppy drive icon:
There happens to be only one file on the floppy disk in drive A: in the example above, MYFILE.TXT, as you see in the right window. Suppose you want to copy it to the folder "My Documents" on your C: drive (in the left window): position the mouse pointer over the name of the file, then click and hold the left mouse button; now move the mouse pointer and position it right on top of the "My Documents" folder, and release the button. While doing this, the mouse pointer will be accompanied by a ghostly image of the file name and folder icon:
Note that just below and to the right of the mouse pointer there is a small box with a "+" in it. This tells you that you are copying the file from one place to another, as opposed to moving it (more later).
Back to TopDrag and Drop
The operation described above is called drag and drop: press and hold the left mouse button on something (anything) and "drag" it to some other location on the screen, then let go of the button. When you want to drag and drop anything, both the item you want to drag and the place where you want to drop it must be visible.
Note: You can also drag and drop files to the floppy drive: select the file(s) you want to copy, then scroll up in the left window until you can see the icon "3 1/2 Floppy (A:)".
You can copy multiple files from the floppy drive to anywhere else in the same way as you would copy multiple files to the floppy drive. Press and hold the Ctrl key and click on each file you want to copy; then click on any one of the highlight files and drag the mouse pointer to where you want to drop them. Again, the pointer will be accompanied by a ghostly image, but it looks a bit different:
Using Right-click and Drag
If you use drag-and-drop, the best practice is to do it with the RIGHT mouse button. When you drop the item(s) a menu appears from which you chose Copy, Move, Create Shortcut, or Cancel:
Now choose your action, or cancel.
Copying Folders
Copying an entire folder, all the files in it, and all its sub-folders is done in exactly the same way. Click on the folder(s), and then right click and select Send To..., or drag and drop them. The file and folder structure will be copied exactly as it exists in the original.
Back to TopDeleting Files and Folders
This is easy - perhaps a little too easy. In Explorer, click once on the name of the file(s) or folder(s) you wish to delete. Press the Delete key; you will find it to the right of the normal letter and punctuation keys, left of the numeric keys (which are on the extreme right), and above the arrow keys. It may be labelled "Delete" or just "Del". If you delete a folder, all files and sub-folders in it are deleted.
Deleting multiple files or folders is just as easy: press and hold the Ctrl and click once on each file or folder (or a combination) you wish to delete, then press the Delete key. If they are sequential, click on the first file or folder, press and hold Shift, then click on the last one, and press Delete.
I deleted a file by mistake! Can I get it back? - the Recycle Bin
Yes, under certain conditions. When you delete a file or folder, you are asked to confirm the delete operation; you can proceed or cancel it. Even if you go ahead and delete it (them), there is a thing called the Recycle Bin. You will see it in Explorer, and there is probably also an icon on your desktop called "Recycle Bin".
When you delete files from the hard drive, they are not wiped out, but sent to the Recycle Bin, which is a temporary holding area on your hard drive. It has a maximum size, which varies depending on your system configuration. When it gets full, the oldest files are "bumped" out and lost forever. The file(s) you just deleted take up the freed space. So the rule is: the more recently you deleted a file, the better your chance of getting it back.
You can see how big your Recycle Bin is by right clicking on its icon, either in Explorer or on your desktop, and choosing "Properties". You can also change its size, which is calculated as a percentage of total disk space. Below you see the "Global" tab of the Recycle Bin Properties:
Each drive has its own Recycle Bin. You can set their properties to be the same for all ("Use one setting for all drives", as above), or independently. The maximum size of the Recycle Bin on both C: and D: is 10% of the total drive space. Tabs for individual drives look like this (C:):
You can change the percentage of space reserved for the Recycle Bin by sliding the pointer left or right. You can also choose to have files not go to the Recycle Bin by checking "Do not move files to the Recycle Bin..."
WARNING: Files deleted from floppy disks and other removable media DO NOT always go to the Recycle Bin unless you drag and drop them there. Check first.
Moving Files and Folders
If you drag and drop files or folders from one location to another on different drives, by default they are copied, not moved. Recall above where you see a small box with a "+" below and right of the mouse pointer in a drag and drop operation: this tells you that the files or folders are being copied, not moved. If you want to move files or folders from one drive to another, use drag and drop, but press and hold the Shift key while doing it. The little box with the "+" in it does not appear.
If you drag and drop files or folders from one location to another on the same drive, by default they are moved, not copied. If you want to copy files or folders from one place to another on the same drive, use drag and drop, and press and hold the Ctrl key while doing it; you will see the little box with the "+" to indicate a copy operation.
Back to Top| Back | Next |