Windows 7 / Getting Started

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Copying (and moving) files and folders

Windows 7 provides two basic methods for copying files and folders from one disk to another or from one folder to another on the same disk:

• Drag and drop: You select items in one open Explorer window and then drag them to another open Explorer window (on the same or different disk), where you drop them into place.
• Cut and paste: You copy or cut selected items to the Windows Clipboard and then paste them into another folder (on the same or different disk).

Using the drag-and-drop method

The technique of moving files and folders with the drag-and-drop method is really straightforward:

1. Open two separate Explorer windows and arrange them on the Windows 7 desktop with as little overlap as possible: the first is the source Explorer window that contains the item(s) you want to move, and the second is the destination Explorer window where these items are to be moved.
   Tip To eliminate all overlap between the source and destination Explorer window and thereby make it easy to drag from one to the other, right-click the taskbar and then choose either the Show Windows Side by Side option or the Show Windows Stacked option from the shortcut menu that appears.
2. Select the item(s) you want to move in the first source Explorer window.
3. While continuing to hold down the mouse button, drag the folder/document icon representing the selected items (and showing the number of items selected) to the destination Explorer window.
4. Windows 7 displays a ScreenTip that says Move to such and such folder (where such and such a folder is the actual name of the destination folder). When you've positioned the icon somewhere within the destination Explorer window, release the mouse button to drop the items there. They then appear in the destination window in the order (usually alphabetical by filename) that that Explorer window currently uses.

To copy files with the drag-and-drop method rather than move them, you only have to vary these foregoing steps by remembering to hold down the Ctrl key as you drag the selected items from the source Explorer window to the destination window. Windows 7 lets you know that you're copying rather than moving the selected items by displaying a + (plus) sign under the folder/document icon and displaying a Copy to such and such folder ScreenTip when you reach a place in the destination folder where the items being copied can be dropped.

Tip When moving or copying files using the drag-and-drop method, you don't even have to bother opening the destination folder in its own window: Just drag the folder/document icon representing the selected items from the source Explorer window to the destination folder's icon and then drop it on this icon. Note that this drop-directly-on-the-destination-icon method works on shortcuts of other drives (both local and on your network) as well as shortcuts for folders and printers (to print the selected documents) on the Windows 7 desktop.

Remember Keep in mind that when you drag files or folders from one drive to another, Windows 7 automatically copies the files and folders, instead of moving them. This copying means that you don't have to hold down the Ctrl key when you intend to copy them from one disk to another. It also means that you must still delete them from their original disk after making the copies if you need to free up the disk space.

Warning Dragging and dropping items from folder to folder is great because it's really fast. This method does have a major drawback, however: It's pretty easy to drop your file icons into the wrong folder. If you forget to undo your last action (Ctrl+Z), instead of panicking when you open what you thought was the destination folder and find that your files aren't there, locate them by using the Search feature; see "Searching for files" later in this part.

Using the cut-and-paste method

Instead of turning to the drag-and-drop trick, you can use the cut-and-paste method, the oldest way of moving and copying items in Windows. The the first, you cut or copy the selected files or folders to a special area of the computer memory known as the Windows Clipboard. In the second, you paste the item(s) saved on the Clipboard into the new folder.

You can perform the cut, copy, and paste commands by selecting the Cut, Copy, and Paste commands on the Organize button on the Explorer window's toolbar, or by using standard Ctrl+X (cut), Ctrl+C (copy), and Ctrl+V (paste) keyboard shortcuts.

To move or copy files by cutting and pasting (using either method), follow these steps:

1. Open the folder with Windows Explorer (Documents, Computer, or Network) that holds the subfolders or files that you're moving or copying.
2. Select all the items to be copied and then either press Ctrl+C (or choose Copy from the Organize button's drop-down menu) or press Ctrl+X (or choose Cut from the Organize button's drop-down menu).
3. Use the Navigation pane in the Explorer window to open the destination folder (that is, the one into which you're moving or copying the selected folder or file items).
   Don't forget to click the Folders button in the Navigation pane to display the hierarchy of components and folders on your computer.
4. Press Ctrl+V (or choose Paste from the Organize button's drop-down menu) to paste the items into the destination folder.

When using the cut-and-paste method to move or copy files or folders, keep in mind that you don't have to keep the folder with the files or folders you're moving or copying open during the paste part of the procedure. You can close this folder, open the folder to which you're moving or copying them, and then do the paste command. Just be sure that you don't use the Copy or Cut commands again in Windows 7 until after you've pasted these files and folders in their new location.

If the Classic menus are displayed in the Explorer window, you can also access the Cut, Copy, and Paste commands by choosing Edit → Cut, Edit → Copy, and Edit → Paste respectively from the source and destination Explorer window's drop-down menus. If not, you can press Ctrl+X to cut, Ctrl+C to copy, and Ctrl+V to paste.

Tip In addition, when the Classic menus are displayed, you have access to the special Edit → Copy to Folder and Edit → Move to Folder commands (or if they're not displayed, you can press Alt+EF for Copy to Folder and Alt+EV for Move to Folder). When you choose either of these menu commands (after selecting the items to be moved or copied), Windows 7 displays a Copy Items or a Move Items dialog box (depending upon which you command you choose). You then select the icon of the destination folder in the outline map of your system before clicking the Move or Copy button to perform the move or copy operation.

Remember Keep in mind that if all you want to do is back up some files from your hard drive to a CD or DVD in your computer's CD-ROM/DVD drive (D:, E: or some other letter), you can do so with the Send To shortcut menu command. After selecting the files to copy, just right-click to open the shortcut menu attached to one of the file icons and then choose the correct drive on the Send To menu, such as DVD-RW Drive (D:). Oh, and one more thing: Don't forget to insert a blank CD-ROM or DVD or one to which you can append new files before you start this little operation.