PASTE  A  FOLDER

To paste a folder you must first use either the COPY function or the CUT function to get the folder and its contents (sub-folders and files) into the computer's memory. Once you have done this you then need to choose a place to paste (transfer) the folder. Even though CUT does not allow you to paste into the same place, and COPY does, it is normally the case you will be pasting into a different place anyway. If you use COPY and then PASTE to copy into the same place your copied folder will be named with the suffix - Copy. So if the folder's name is John, your copied folder's name would be John - Copy. In this example though, with the Documents window already open and the New Friends folder already copied, I am going to open the Floppy Disk Drive (A:) so that I can paste New Friends onto the Floppy Disk that is inside the Floppy Disk Drive (A:).

Click on the START button and wait for the Start Menu to appear. When it does, click on the COMPUTER menu-item (icon). Alternatively. Double click on the desktop icon called COMPUTER, normally located in the top-left corner of the desktop.

 
Fig 1.1  Double click on the COMPUTER desktop icon
 
Fig 1.2  Click on the COMPUTER Start Menu menu-item (icon)

When you click, or double-click, on the Computer icon the Computer window opens and then displays the devices on your computer (Fig 1.3 below). What you need to look for is the heading Devices With Removable Storage - This just means the device and/or its media can be removed from your computer, such as a Floppy Disk. If you do not have headings in the window do not worry. Either way you are looking for the icon that says Floppy Disk Drive (A:). If your computer does not have a, working, Floppy Disk Drive (A:) just use a Removeable Disk (i.e Flash Pen/Memory Stick) or a Folder instead.


Fig 1.3  The Computer window, displaying the Removable Storage on this computer.




Fig 1.4  Double Click

Assuming you do have a Floppy Disk Drive (A:) icon, double click on it. A is the letter assigned to the Floppy Disk Drive. Just as the letter C is assigned to the Hard Drive. Floppy Disk means the A Drive (Floppy Disk Drive) uses a 3½ Floppy Disk as its media. Just the same as a CD Drive might be called Audio CD (G:), meaning the CD Drive has been assigned the letter G and uses an Audio CD as its media. Double clicking on the Floppy Disk Drive (A:) icon opens the Floppy Disk Drive and presents its window.


Fig 1.5  The floppy disk drive's window, with no files on the floppy disk.

If there is no floppy disk inside the floppy disk drive (Fig 1.6) or the floppy disk is write-protected (locked) (Fig 1.7) or the floppy disk is full of files (Fig 1.8) when pasting is performed an error requester will appear.


Fig 1.6  No 3½ Floppy Disk inside the Floppy Disk Drive (A:)



Fig 1.7  The 3½ Floppy Disk is Write-Protected (Locked)



Fig 1.8  Copying Error - The 3½ Floppy Disk is Full

With the Floppy Disk Drive (A:) window open, and active, and nothing on the 3½ Floppy Disk yet it is time to paste the already copied New Friends folder. First click on the Edit menu of the Floppy Disk Drive (A:) window.


Fig 1.9  Click on the Edit menu of the Floppy Disk Drive (A:) window

When the edit menu appears go up (or down) the menu-items with the mouse pointer until you reach the PASTE menu-item. As you do this each menu-item will become highlighted, temporarily, as you go past it. When you have reached PASTE and have it highlighted simply click the left mouse button to activate PASTE.


Fig 1.10  Starting from the top (Undo Rename) menu-item, Go down the menu-items until you reach PASTE and then click.

As you paste New Friends and it contents, from the Documents folder to the Floppy Disk inside the Floppy Disk Drive (A:), a copying... message requester appears informing you of what is currently being copied - In this example 2 Items, from Documents to the Floppy Disk Drive (A:). The New Friends folder now contains a file called Friends.docx that I have since copied there, hence 2 Items. Fig 1.11 shows that the New Friends folder has already been copied (pasted) onto the floppy disk and that the file Friends.docx, which contains the names & addresses of new friends I must add to my phonebook later, is the current item being copied (pasted) onto the floppy disk. I know Friends.docx is currently being copied because the copying process (green guage) will end very soon and the New Friends folder has already been copied.


Fig 1.11  The Copying... Message Requester, informing you of what is currently being copied.

As you can see Windows Vista calls eveything Copy, whereas it should sometimes be saying Paste. This is similar to what I was saying about Folders and Sub-Folders. For example. When you first copy a file it is being copied into memory for later use. So the word Copy is correct. However. When you later want to use that file you paste it, which means you want to copy it from memory to a Floppy Disk for example, therefore the word Paste should be used. It is because Windows Vista sees pasting as copy from one place to another that it uses the word Copying instead of Pasting. To understand Copy and Paste better just think of Copy as making a photocopy of something and Paste as pasting (glueing) that photocopy into something (i.e a scrapbook).

When the copying (pasting) has finished the Floppy Disk Drive (A:) shows that the Floppy Disk now contains a copy of the New Friends folder (and its contents) (Fig 1.11 above). If you double click on the New Friends folder, to go inside it, you will see the file Friends.docx (below).


Fig 1.12  Friends.docx - Inside the New Friends folder on the Floppy Disk

That is it! So to recap, because quite a lot had to be explained about the Floppy Disk and the Floppy Disk Drive, here is a quick reminder of how to Copy and Paste or Cut and Paste:

Remember. The destination does not have to be the Floppy Disk Drive (A:). It could be another Folder, a Flash Pen (Memory Stick), a ZIP Drive Cartridge or what ever can have data pasted onto it.

Going back to Pasting. Instead of using PASTE from the Edit menu on a destination folder's window you can use PASTE from the right-click menu. With the above example you would simply click, with the right mouse button, any where inside the white area of the Floppy Disk Drive (A:) window to show the Edit menu. From there you would select (left click on) the PASTE menu-item.


Fig 1.13  Right Click any where inside the display (white) area of a window to show the Edit menu

COPY and PASTE and CUT and PASTE are not just limited to folders. You can copy Files, Text and Pictures also. And you can also copy a mixture of folders and files, files only or folders only. This next example shows how to select multiple folders and files. COPYing, or CUTting, them and then PASTEing them would be the same as above.

To select multiple folders and/or files simply hold down the CTRL (Control) keyboard key and then, with CTRL still held down, click on (select) each folder and/or file you want to COPY, CUT or even DELETE. If you select a folder or file by mistake simply click on it again, with CTRL still held down, to de-select it. Once you have made your selection you can use the Edit menu as above.


Fig 1.14  Keep the CTRL keyboard key held down as you select or de-select a folder or file by left clicking on it

Sometimes you may need many folders and files selecting, perhaps because you are putting them onto a CD. In this case you can use an elastic band effect to select a group of folders and/or files.

Starting from the top right-hand-side of your selection, click the left mouse button. Keep it clicked (held down) and then drag (move) the mouse pointer towards the bottom left-hand-side of your selection. Then let go of the left mouse button.


Fig 1.15  Drag (move) the elastic band over your selection

I started by moving the mouse pointer to the top right-hand-side of the Notes.txt file. I then clicked the left mouse button and kept it clicked whilst I then dragged (moved) the mouse pointer towards the bottom left-hand-side of the Charts.xlsx file. When I knew that was what I wanted selecting I let go of the left mouse button. If I wanted to add more folders and/or files afterwards to the selection I could of used the CTRL keyboard key, as described in Fig 1.15 above. However. If I had of done this without using the CTRL keyboard key I would of cancelled the whole selection, because I would of only been selecting one folder or one file at a time - The elastic band would of been de-selected.



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