Rearranging Files and Folders | Windows Vista: The Complete Reference (Complete Reference Series)

The quest for the perfect system of file organization is endless-you frequently need to move or copy files and folders to somewhere other than where they were originally created. You can rearrange your files and folders by using the following:

Options on the Organize menu
Commands from the menus
Drag-and-drop techniques

Moving and Copying with Two Explorer Windows

If both the source and target folders are already open in their own Explorer windows, you can move and copy files and folders easily. You can drag-and-drop objects from the source window to the target window, or you can do the following:

Select the objects to be moved (or copied ) from the source folder's window.
Select Edit Cut (or Edit Copy). Ghostly images of the objects remain in their original places until the objects are pasted elsewhere. (An alternative method is to right-click the selection and choose Cut or Copy from the shortcut menu.)
Click the spot in the target folder's window where you want to place the objects.
Select Edit Paste, or right-click an empty spot in the Explorer window and choose Paste from the shortcut menu.

Dragging and Dropping Files and Folders

Drag-and-drop is often the simplest way to move or copy objects from one drive or folder to another or between a folder and the desktop (see "What Is Drag-and-Drop?" in Chapter 5). You can also delete objects by dragging and dropping them onto the Recycle Bin icon. To drag-and-drop files or folders:

Set up window(s) so you can see both the source and the target folders (remember, the desktop itself is a kind of "window"). Our preference is to have the source folder open in the working area of an Explorer window, and the target folder visible in the Folders Explorer bar, but you can also have the source and target folders open in two separate Explorer windows.
Select the icons of the objects you want to move or copy.
While holding down the left mouse button, drag the icons to the target. (You can also drag with the right mouse button. This is discussed in the following Tip.) If the target is an open window, drag the icons to an open space in the window. If the target is a folder icon in an open window, drag until the cursor rests over the icon. The target icon changes color when you have the cursor in the right place.
Drop by releasing the mouse button.

Drag-and-drop has one unfortunate aspect. If you experiment, you soon notice it doesn't do the same thing in all circumstances-sometimes it moves an object, sometimes it copies it, and sometimes it makes a shortcut. The reason for this behavior is that the programmers at Microsoft have gone a bit overboard in trying to be helpful. Windows does what it guesses you intend to do, based on the file type of the objects being dragged, the locations of the source and target folders, and a few other things we haven't figured out.

Here's what happens when you drag-and-drop:

Objects to the same disk If you drag objects (other than programs) from one folder and drop them in another folder on the same disk, the objects are moved. They disappear from the source folder and appear in the target folder. The rationale is that you are probably just rearranging your files. (Remember, the desktop is a folder on the C: drive. Anything else on the C: drive is considered to be on the same disk as the desktop.)
Objects to a different disk If you drag objects (other than programs) from one folder and drop them in another folder on a different disk, the objects are copied. Separate copies exist in both the source and target folders. The rationale is that you are probably making a backup copy on another disk or making a copy to give to someone else.
Programs If you drag a program, it may behave like any other object, but for some programs, Windows makes a shortcut in the target folder and leaves the program file where it was in the source folder. We haven't come up with a firm rule describing this, although, in general, the more complex the program, the more likely it is that dragging-and-dropping it will create a shortcut. So, for example, you'll get a shortcut if you drag-and-drop Windows Media Player, but not Calculator (you can move Calculator only if you have sufficient User Access Control rights, such as administrator rights).

Windows Vista provides information on what it's going to do with the objects you drop. When the object icons are in a droppable position, a transparent icon appears with the message Move to Folder name :

Tip	If you want to use drag-and-drop, but you neither want to memorize how it works nor trust Windows to guess your intentions, drag with the right mouse button rather than the left mouse button. When you drop in the target folder, select the action you intended from the shortcut menu.

You can also control drag-and-drop behavior by using the keyboard: If you left-drag with SHIFT pressed, the objects are moved when you drop them. Left-dragging with CTRL pressed copies the objects when you drop them. You can easily remember the distinction between using SHIFT and using CTRL when left-dragging by noting that copy and CTRL both begin with C, and that when you move an object, you are "shifting" the object from one location to another.

Using the Send To Menu

Send To is a menu found on the File menu of Explorer windows and on the shortcut menu when you right-click a file or folder. The Send To menu enables you to copy files to preselected locations quickly and easily. To use Send To for this purpose:

Open a folder that contains files you want to copy.
Select the file(s) and folder(s) to copy (see "Selecting Files and Folders" earlier in the chapter).
Choose File Send To from the menu bar, or right-click the item(s) you selected and choose Send To from the shortcut menu. Either way, a menu of possible destinations appears. The Windows installation program creates a default Send To menu that varies according to the resources available to your computer. Here is a sample Send To menu:
Choose a destination from the Send To menu. The files are copied to the destination.

Deleting Files and Folders

To delete a file, folder, or collection of files and folders in a single Explorer window:

Select the objects to be deleted.
Do any of the following actions: choose File Delete from the menu bar, right-click the object and select Delete from the shortcut menu, or press DELETE. A dialog box appears that asks whether you really want to send the objects to the Recycle Bin (if they are deleted from your computer's hard drive) or delete the objects (if they are on a removable disk).
Click Yes in the dialog box.

Under the default settings, objects deleted from your computer's hard drives go to the Recycle Bin, from which they can be recovered. You can reset your preferences so that objects are deleted immediately and don't go to the Recycle Bin (see "Streamlining the Deletion Process" in Chapter 9). Objects deleted from floppy drives or other removable disks don't go to the Recycle Bin, although they may be recoverable by other means. For this reason, be especially cautious when deleting objects from floppies or other removable disks.

Tip	You can delete files or folders directly, without sending them to the Recycle Bin, if you are certain you won't change your mind. To delete a file or folder irrevocably, select it, press SHIFT-DELETE, and then click Yes when the confirmation box appears.