Do you regularly want to copy a file to a specific folder? I’ve often noticed during 1:1 computer training sessions that people have their own way of filing that could benefit from a simple tweak to Windows Explorer.
Here are a couple of examples from my own working habits:
- I often want to make a file available to my other computers. Since I use Dropbox, all I need to do is place the file in my dropbox folder and it will be automatically synchronised to my other computers. So, I want a quick way of copying my file into my Dropbox folder. I’m still a big fan of Dropbox, by the way. Here are my first and second blogs on the subject.
- I create and download a lot of pdf files. I may well have them filed “by function” (eg a pdf file relating to a specific computer support client might be in the folder dedicated to that client). But if the file has more general application then I might also want it in a folder containing nothing other than pdf files (since I can often remember that a file I’m looking for is in a pdf format even if I can’t remember its name or where else I’ve put it). So, I might want a quick way of copying a pdf file from a specific client folder to my “pdf file store” (which, as it happens, is a specific folder inside my Dropbox folder).
So, what we need to do is to personalise a Windows “context menu” so that when we’ve selected a file in Windows Explorer we can easily send a copy of that file to a folder that we’ve previously defined as a destination for a “send to” action. A “context menu”, by the way, is a menu whose contents are dependent on the current context – ie the sort of item it includes depends on what you were doing when you invoked it. The context menu is invoked by right-clicking on the selected item.
Personalising the “send to” option is quite easy. Just follow the instructions for your own operating system:
Windows XP
- Click the Start button.
- Click Run.
- In the Open box, type “sendto” (without the quotes), and then click OK.
- Right-click on a blank part of the window that has opened.
- Left-click on the “new” option.
- Left-click on the “shortcut” option.
- Left-click on the “browse” button.
- Navigate to the folder you wish to add to the “send to” menu.
- Click “OK”, “Next” & “Finish”.
- Close the “SendTo” window.
Vista and Windows 7
- Click on the Start button.
- Type “shell:sendto” (without the quotes) into the search box.
- Click on the shell:sendto option that is now listed above the search box.
- Right-click on a blank part of the window that has opened.
- Left-click on the “new” option.
- Left-click on the “shortcut” option.
- Left-click on the “browse” button.
- Navigate to the folder you wish to add to the “send to” menu.
- Click “OK”, “Next” & “Finish”.
- Close the “SendTo” window.
Now, whenever you want to copy a file to that chosen destination, just right-click on the file, left-click the “send to” option, and then left-click on the sub-option you have just created (as below):
Some purists might say that this is all wrong: that instead of copying files all over the place we should be creating shortcuts that point to the one and only original file. I would agree with this when the file in question is one that’s often changed/updated after its creation. There’s nothing worse than having multiple versions of files all over the place and never knowing which is the latest version. If you need to get quick access to such files then the easiest way is just to place a shortcut on the desktop and access it from there. The “sendto” technique is better kept for files that are unlikely to change often – in which case, the “sendto” technique is much quicker than creating shortcuts and saves precious space on the desktop. As for not creating copies of files because that’s a waste of hard disc space, that’s only really an issue if you are definitely short of space.
Just to come back to Dropbox, for a moment. If you click here to create a Dropbox account you will receive 2.25gb free space instead of the normal 2gb.
It’s a year since I started writing this blog every week. Before that I’d just dipped my toe in the water, wondering if I’d got anything useful to say on a regular basis to my computer support clients and potential clients. So, this week I thought I’d have a look back on some of the earlier posts and see what’s changed.
On 16th October 2010 I wrote 
Shortly after blogging about Microsoft Security Essentials 
Compare this approach with that of 
Well, for programs that you use often, it’s worth knowing that there is is a quicker way of launching programs than any of these. You can assign a key combination that will immediately launch your program. Whatever you happen to be doing, the program assigned to your special key combination will immediately open if it wasn’t already open, or come to the fore if it was already lurking around somewhere.
The taskbar, by the way, is the row of easily-accessible icons presented at the edge of the screen. It is usually shown at the bottom of the screen but if you’re bored and looking for something to do you can click on a vacant part of it (ie a part where there are no icons) and drag it to a different edge of your screen. Something that’s marginally more useful to know about the taskbar is that you can make it bigger so as to accommodate more items. Very slowly move your mouse pointer over the inside edge of the taskbar (ie at the margin between the taskbar and the rest of the screen) and you will see the mouse pointer change to a double-headed arrow. When this happens you can then drag the edge of the taskbar inwards to give room for a second – or even third – row of icons. “Dragging”, by the way, means depressing the left mouse button and then moving the mouse (while the left button is still down).
Depress the key marked “Alt” (usually on the bottom row of the keyboard) and, while it is pressed, hit the “tab” key. The tab key is usually to the left of the “Q” key.
In Windows Vista and Windows 7, pressing the Windows key (usually on the bottom row of the keyboard and marked by some kind of representation of the Windows logo) and then the Tab key will pop up an angled view of the open Windows, stacked one in front of another. Repeated pressing of the Tab key moves different windows to the top of the stack. Letting go of the Windows button will then focus on whichever window is at the top of the pile.
If you want to get even sillier, hitting the Control key (usually marked “Ctrl”) at the same time as the Windows key, and then hitting the Tab key, will bring up the same 3-D view but it stays put if you let go of all the keys. You can then point the mouse and click on whichever Window you want. Apart from the fact that you have to hit 3 different keys at the same time, you also have to grab the mouse, work out which window you want, and then click on it. Thank you, Microsoft.
If you depress the “Alt” key, and keep it down, then repeated presses of the “Esc” key (usually in the top lefthand corner of the keyboard) will take you from one open window to the next. As soon as you see the window you want just let go of the Alt key.
