Win Copy/move files/folders - technical definition

The Explorer file manager is used to copy and move files and folders, and there are several ways to do it. The following methods are presented in order of difficulty. To launch Explorer, right click the Start menu and select Explore. If you are not at all familiar with highlighting icons, see Win Highlighting icons. See also Win Explorer.

Cut, Copy and Paste

Method 1 - Left Button Highlight

This method works just like cutting, copying and

pasting text and graphics. You highlight the

icons of the source files or folders and select

Cut or Copy from the Edit menu (or press Ctrl-X

for cut and Ctrl-C for copy from the keyboard).

Then highlight the destination icon and select

Paste from the Edit menu (or press Ctrl-V).

Cut, Copy and Paste

Method 2 - Right Button Highlight

This method is a little faster than Method 1.

Instead of using the left mouse button to select

an icon, you use the right mouse button. When

you let go of the mouse, a menu appears letting

you scroll down and select Cut or Copy. Then,

just as in the previous method, you highlight

the destination icon and select Paste from the

Edit menu (or press Ctrl-V).

Drag and Drop

Method 1 - Right button drag

In this method, you drag and drop an icon or

group of icons onto a destination folder.

After highlighting the items, use the right

mouse button to drag them. When you drop the

icon, a menu option lets you Copy or Move.

Drag and Drop

Method 2 - Left button drag

This method is faster than Method 1 above,

because it does not prompt you for a choice.

You use the left button to drag as is customary,

but when you drop the files, different actions

take place depending on the type of file you

dragged. If you drag and drop a data file, it

is always moved. If you drag and drop a program

file, a Shortcut (pointer) is created and placed

there.

                                   File at
    File                           Original
    Type       Action taken        Location

    Data       Move                Not there
    Program    Shortcut created    Still there

Drag and Drop

Method 3 - Copy only - Left button drag

If you hold the Ctrl key down while dragging

(using the left mouse button), the files and

folders will be copied to the destination.