B.2 Edit Menu

When you work in, say, your word processor, you use the Edit menu quite a bit ”its Cut, Copy, and Paste commands are very useful for moving bits of text. At the desktop, these commands operate on icons, providing an easy way for you to move files and folders from one window or disk to another.

B.2.1 Undo

Reverses the last action you performed. The name of the command changes to reflect what you've just done: Undo Delete, Undo Rename, and so on. (Alas, there's no Undo Print feature.) Keyboard equivalent: Ctrl+Z.

B.2.2 Cut, Copy, Paste, Paste Shortcut

Let you move or copy files or folders from one window to another, as described in Section 4.3.3. (The Paste Shortcut command offers yet another method of creating a shortcut icon.) Keyboard equivalents: Ctrl+C (for Copy), Ctrl+X (for Cut), Ctrl+V (for Paste), Alt+E, S (for Paste Shortcut).

B.2.3 Copy To Folder, Move To Folder

If the Cut/Paste and Copy/Paste routines for moving or copying a file or folder to a different window aren't your cup of tea, you can use these commands instead. When you choose either command, a dialog box opens so you can select a destination folder (see Figure B-1). Keyboard equivalents: Alt+E, F (for Copy to Folder), Alt+E, V (for Move to Folder).

Figure B-1. Click the + button to "expand" your drive's contents, so that you can choose a destination folder for the icon you're moving or copying. You can create a new folder inside the selected folder by clicking the Make New Folder button.

B.2.4 Select All

Highlights all of the icons in the open window ”or, if no window is open , on the desktop. Windows applies any subsequent command (Copy, Delete, Print, Rename, or whatever) to all of them at once.

If you're editing an icon's name, and your cursor is blinking in the renaming rectangle, this command highlights the entire filename instead. Keyboard equivalent: Ctrl+A.

B.2.5 Invert Selection

If there are 50 icons in a folder, and you want to highlight 49 of them, don't bother trying to click and Shift-click all 49. Instead, use this trick: Click the one icon (or Shift-click the handful of icons) you don't want. Then choose Edit Invert Selection. Windows highlights the icons that weren't selected, and vice versa. Keyboard equivalent: Alt+E, I.