Objective 5. Copy, Move, Rename, and Delete Files

Recall that Windows manages your data files because your files are stored on the drives attached to your computer. Copying files from one folder to another is a frequent data management task. For example, you might want to make a backup copy of important information, copy a file from a CD to a local disk, or copy information from your local disk drive to a removable drive. Copying files and folders works the same regardless of the type of driveremovable drive, local disk drive, or shared network drive.

Performing other operations on files, such as deleting them or moving them, also works the same regardless of the type of drive. As you accumulate files, you will likely need to delete some to reduce clutter on your hard drive. You might also want to move documents into other folders on another drive to archive themplace them somewhere for long-term storage. Finally, you may want to change the names of files or folders to make the names more descriptive. All of these tasks are functions of your Windows operating system.

Activity 1.5. Copying Files and Folders

In the following activity, you will copy files onto your removable drive and into the folders you created in Activity 1.4.

1.	Be sure your My Computer window is displayed, and that the Folders button on the toolbar is selected and the Folders task pane is displayed on the left. Place the student CD that came with this book in the CD drive. In the Folders task pane, click the expand button (+) to the left of the CD drive to display the contents of the drive. If a go2003_2e dialog box opens, click Cancel. The folders and files in the CD drive display, and the expand button changes to a collapse button (-). Expanded items are in view and collapsed items are hidden from view. The expand button indicates that additional items are available but hidden from view.   NoteIf Your Student Files Are in a Different Location Some instructors will place the student files in a folder on a shared network drive, or in a file-sharing folder in a course Web site. If you are instructed to use files from another source, follow the instructions below, substituting your file location for the CD drive.
2.	In the Folders task pane, click the expand button (+) to the left of the Go! Office 2003 2e folder, click the expand button (+) to the left of Windows XP, and then click the Chapter01 folder. If necessary, on the Standard Buttons toolbar, click the Views button , and then click Details. Compare your screen with Figure 1.30.   Figure 1.30. The subfolders in the Chapter01 folder display in the Folders task pane on the left, and the subfolders and files in the Chapter01 folder display in the right pane. The files you see may display three letters following the file name, such as .doc. These are file extensions, and most files have these extensionsalthough they may or may not display on your system. Files created by Microsoft Office programs have a standard set of extensions that identify the type of program used to create the file. For example, Microsoft Word documents end in .doc, Excel spreadsheets end in .xls, PowerPoint presentations end with .ppt, and so on.
3.	On the menu bar, click Tools, and then from the displayed menu, click Folder Options. Near the top of the Folder Options dialog box, click the View tab. Under Advanced settings, locate the Hide extensions for known file types check box. If the check box is checked (selected) click to clear the check box, and then compare your screen with Figure 1.31.   Figure 1.31. In this chapter, from this point on, it is assumed that the file extensions are turned on and will display.
4.	Click OK to close the Folder Options dialog box. In the Folders task pane, click the removable drive you used to create the Pictures of Firstname Lastname and Word Documents of Firstname Lastname folders. Click the Chapter01 folder, which refreshes the window and re-displays the file names with their file extensions. In the right pane, click the Type column heading. Be sure you can see all of the WMF files. When you click the Type column heading, the files display by file type in a-to-z order. The displayed WMF files are images that come with Microsoft Office 2003.
5.	In the Name column, click to select the Flower.wmf file. In the Folders task pane, scroll as necessary until you can see your removable drive. Watch the shape of the pointer and begin to drag the Flower.wmf file over to the Pictures folder you created on your removable drive.   The Pictures folder on your removable drive is selected, and the file name is attached to the pointer, as shown in Figure 1.32. When you release the mouse button, the file will be copied. Files are copied when dragged to a different drive, and moved when dragged to a different location in the same drive.   Figure 1.32.
6.	Release the mouse button to copy the file to the Pictures of Firstname Lastname folder.
7.	In the Name column, click to select the Plant.wmf file. From the Edit menu, click Copy. The file is copied to a temporary storage area called the Clipboard. The clipboard stores the most recent item that was copied.
8.	In the Folders task pane, click to select the Pictures of Firstname Lastname folder. From the Edit menu, click Paste. Compare your screen to Figure 1.33.   Figure 1.33. The file is copied to the selected folder, and the folder contains two filesthe file you dragged to the folder and the file you pasted into the folder. You can see that there are various ways in which you can copy a file from one location to another.
9.	In the Folders task pane, under the CD containing your student files, click to select the Chapter01 folder. In the Name column, scroll as necessary, and then click to select the Roller Coaster.wmf file. Then, hold down and click the Golfer.wmf file and the Artist Picture.wmf file. Use this technique to select a group of files that are not adjacent to (next to) each other. This technique works in all Windows applications and file lists.
10.	From the File menu, point to Send To, and then click the name of your removable disk drive. The files are copied to your removable drive. This copy option enables you to send a file or files to the drive of your choice, but does not permit you to specify a folder on that drive.
11.	In the right pane, click the Name column heading, and then scroll to the top of the list of folders and files. In the Folders task pane, scroll down if necessary to see your removable drive. Drag the XML Files folder over the name of your removable drive until it is selected, and then release the mouse button. Compare your screen with Figure 1.34.   Figure 1.34. The folder and all of the files in the folder are copied to your removable drive.

Activity 1.6. Moving, Renaming, and Deleting Files

In the following activity, you will move files from one location on your removable drive to another location on the same drive. You will also rename and delete files.

1.	In the Folders task pane, scroll down if necessary and then click the removable drive you are using to store your files. In the right pane, click the Name column as necessary to display the files in alphabetical order. Click the Views button arrow and then click Thumbnails. Compare your screen with Figure 1.35.     Figure 1.35. The two folders you created and three of the files you copied display in the right pane. Small thumbnail images of the filesminiature images of the pictures in the filesdisplay in the right pane. These thumbnails make it easy to select the correct file when you have a folder that contains a large number of images. Folders that contain pictures display thumbnails of up to four of the images in a large file folder icon.
2.	In the right pane, click the Artist Picture.wmf file. Hold down the mouse button, drag the file to the Pictures of Firstname Lastname folder that you created, and then release the mouse button. When you drag a file from one folder to another in the same drive, the file is moved, rather than copied.
3.	Drag the Golfer.wmf file to the Pictures folder, and then drag the Roller Coaster.wmf file to the Pictures folder.
4.	In the Folders task pane, click the Pictures of Firstname Lastname folder in your removable drive. On the Standard Buttons toolbar click the Views button , and then click Thumbnails. Compare your screen with Figure 1.36.     Figure 1.36.
5.	In the right pane, right-click the Flower.wmf file. Then, from the displayed shortcut menu, click the Rename command. Click to position the insertion point at the beginning of the file name, type Water and then press . Press to change the file name to Water Flower.wmf. Compare your screen with Figure 1.37.   Figure 1.37. (This item is displayed on page 42 in the print version) When the file extensions are displayed, you need to include the extension when you rename the file. There are several restrictions for naming files or folders. A file name can contain up to 255 characters, including spaces, although the file name cannot begin with a space. It also cannot contain the following characters: / : * ? " < > |
6.	In the right pane, click to select the Plant.wmf file, and then press . In the Confirm File Delete message box, click Yes. The file is permanently removed because it was stored on a removable drive. Files that are deleted from the hard drive are moved to the Recycle Bin, which is a storage area for files that have been deleted.   NoteIf You Cannot Delete a File Sometimes you will try to delete a file and a dialog box displays indicating that the file cannot be deleted. This usually means that the file is open. You must close a file before you can delete it.
7.	In the Folders task pane, click to select your removable disk. In the right pane, select the XML Files folder, and then press .
8.	In the Confirm Folder Delete dialog box, click Yes to delete the folder. The folder and all of the files and folders it contains are deleted.

More Knowledge: Recovering Deleted Files

If you accidentally delete a file that you want to keep from a hard disk drive, there is a good chance you can recover it. Windows temporarily stores files deleted from your hard drive in a Recycle Bin, which you can find on the desktop or in the My Computer Folders pane. You can open the Recycle Bin in the same way as you open a file folder. If the discarded files have not been permanently removed, right-click the file name in the Contents pane and click Restore in the shortcut menu.

 

Activity 1.7. Capturing an Image of a Screen

Windows includes a screen capture utility so that you can capture an image of your screen and then print it or save it as a file.

1.	On your keyboard, locate and press . The Print Screen key on your keyboard is commonly located near the right side of the top row of keys. This key captures an image of the entire screen and places it in a temporary storage area called the Clipboard. Items in the Clipboard can be placed in a document using the Paste command.
2.	Click the Start button , point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click WordPad. If necessary, Maximize the WordPad window. WordPad is a simple word-processing program that comes with Windows XP.
3.	In the WordPad window, type Firstname Lastname using your own name. Press two times.
4.	From the WordPad menu bar, click Edit, and then click Paste. Compare your screen with Figure 1.38.   Figure 1.38. The captured screen is pasted at the insertion point. The image is larger than the WordPad page.
5.	In the lower right corner of the image, move the pointer over the sizing handlethe little box in the cornerto display the diagonal resize pointer . When an image is selected, sizing handles display in all four corners and in the middle of the side and top borders. Use handles to resize the image in a manner similar to the way you resized a window.
6.	With the diagonal resize pointer , drag up and to the left to the left of the six-inch mark. Compare your screen with Figure 1.39.   Figure 1.39. Recall that to drag an object, you need to point, click, and move the mouse to the desired location. Use the ruler as a guide.
7.	From the File menu, click Print Preview to display the Print Preview window. Compare your screen to Figure 1.40.     Figure 1.40.   Alert!: What To Do If the Image Does Not Display in Print Preview On some computers, if the image is larger than the page, the image will not display. If you cannot see your pasted image, close the Print Preview window and use the sizing handle to reduce the size of the image again. Repeat this procedure until you can see the image in Print Preview.
8.	In the Print Preview title bar, click the red Close button . Alternatively, click the Close button on the Print Preview toolbar.
9.	Check your Course Syllabus or Chapter Assignment Sheet, or ask your instructor, to determine if you are to submit a printed or electronic copy of this file. To print, from the WordPad toolbar, click the Print button . To submit electronically using your college's course management system, consult your instructor's directions for saving and submitting the file.
10.	From the File menu, click Exit. When prompted to save your work, click No.

Objective 6 Find Files and Folders