Windows XP Pocket Reference

Chapter 2. Shortcuts

There are a bunch of ways to improve your experience with Windows XP. Some solutions involve making modifications and additions to the operating system, while others describe how to work with the tools that come out of the box. The tips in this chapter illustrate the various keyboard and mouse shortcuts available in Windows XP.

Working with Files

The tips that follow show you how to predict — and even change — how Explorer responds to the dragging and dropping of files. Here's an overview of how drag-drop works in Windows Explorer:

• If you drag an object from one place to another on the same physical drive (c:\docs to c:\files), the object is moved.

• If you drag an object from one physical drive to another physical drive (c:\docs to d:\files), the object is copied, resulting in two identical files on your system. This means that if you drag an object from one physical drive to another physical drive and then back to the first physical drive, but in a different folder (c:\docs to d:\files to c:\stuff ), you'll end up with three copies of the object.

• If you drag any file named setup.exe or install.exe from one place to another, Windows will create a shortcut to the file, regardless of the source or destination folder. The exception is if you drag a file named setup.exe into a recordable CD drive, it will be copied. And if you drag a bunch of files of different types (including, say, setup.exe), the create-a-shortcut rules will be ignored, and they'll just be copied ...