Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The Windows
Clipboard
is a temporary storage area in memory. When
you use the Cut operation on an object (or group of objects), it is
removed from its current location and placed on the Clipboard. Or,
when you use the Copy operation on an object, the object remains in the
current location but a copy of it is placed on the Clipboard. Then when
you use the Paste operation, it is copied from the Clipboard to a new
location. The object remains on the Clipboard until something else is
placed there with either another Cut or another Copy operation. In this
chapter, you use the Clipboard to copy and move files, but it can also be
used to move or copy snippets of data from applications into other appli-
cations. For example, you can use it to copy certain cells from an Excel
spreadsheet into a Microsoft Word document or into an email message
you are composing.
Clipboard
A reserved area in memory for tempo-
rarily holding content that has been cut or copied
from an application or from Windows Explorer.
Table 5.2 lists the various ways of activating the Cut, Copy, and Paste
commands in Windows 7.
Table.5 2 Using the Clipboard in Windows 7
Operation
Keyboard Method
Right-Click Method
Menu Method
Command Bar Method
Cut
Ctrl+X
Right-click and choose
Cut.
Open the Edit menu
and click Cut.
Click Organize and click
Cut.
Copy
Ctrl+C
Right-click and choose
Copy.
Open the Edit menu
and click Copy.
Click Organize and click
Copy.
Paste
Ctrl+V
Right-click and choose
Paste.
Open the Edit menu
and click Paste.
Click Organize and click
Paste.
Drag-and-drop is a technique for moving items from place to place.
You can open the source and the destination locations in separate File
Explorer windows onscreen, and then drag items between them. When
you drag between two locations on the same volume, the drag operation
moves by default; if you want it to copy, hold down the Ctrl key as you
drag. When you drag between two locations on different volumes, the
drag operation copies by default; if you want it to move, hold down Shift
as you drag.
If you are not sure whether the two locations are on the same volume, you can be sure you get the operation
you want (move or copy) by always holding down Shift as you drag for a move and always holding down Ctrl as
you drag for a copy. Alternatively, you can right-drag instead of dragging with the left mouse button. When you
do so, a menu appears when you release the mouse button, enabling you to select a move or copy operation.
TIP
The Move to Folder and Copy to Folder commands (both on the Edit
menu) are unique to Windows Explorer, and provide an alternative to
the other two methods just described. They enable you to move or copy
using a dialog box interface.
If you want to move items to a removable drive such as a USB flash
drive, there is yet another method available. Right-click the selected
item(s) and select Send To from the context menu that is displayed, and
then click the removable drive from the menu that appears.
