| | Everyone you know keeps mentioning it. Everywhere you go, sites keep saying it. "Just Copy/Paste it!"
Sadly, nobody wants to explain just what this mysterious wonder-toy is and just how you too can use it in your daily life for fun and profit.
1. Just what is copy/paste?
Copy and Paste are two very valuable functions your computer performs. They save you worlds of time retyping things and help you to avoid typos in addresses or quotes. Most MicroSoft programs use the same commands and allow you to copy/paste from one application to another (results may vary, depending on how much formatting comes along for the ride).
2. What do I need to know?
Surprisingly little! Once you have mastered the basic skills, they can be repeated fairly quickly and adapted for most situations.
For this tutorial, I will be focussing on using the Short-Cut keys - the reason for this is simple - on MSN (and in some applications) the normal tool menus may not be available to you. While you can do many of these options from the Edit area of programs like Internet Explorer, it pays to learn the quick keys.
Inserting URLs for websites/background images on MSN require that you will need to know these shortcuts.
3. The shortcut keys - Quick Reference: - Ctrl+C - Copies the selected area to the clipboard.
- Ctrl+V - Pastes information from the clipboard to the current cursor location.
- Ctrl+Z - Undoes the last action - including a messy paste operation.
- Ctrl+A - Selects all the text/images in the active window.
- Ctrl+N - Opens a new browser window identical to the current one.
- Ctrl+X - Removes the highlighted area to the clipboard in preparation of a paste operation. For beginners, use the Copy option instead, then delete the old data afterwards (so you will have a copy in case of mistake).
4. What do I push to make it work?
This same basic technique will work for a variety of tasks. You will be using the shortcut keys on your keyboard and your mouse in combination.
You will need to understand basic mouse operations like: left-click (and hold) and highlighting. To use the shortcut commands, you will need to locate the key marked "Ctrl" on your keyboard (bottom line, on the far left- or right-hand side). You will be holding down the control key, then pushing a second letter, then letting go of the keys. If you need help with these steps, best ask at The Newbie Central Message Board.
It is a good idea to open a second window so that you can switch back and forth just in case you need to repeat a step.
5. To open a second browser window:
- At the top of your browser in the menu area: click on "File", then select "New", then pick "Window" or
- Push the Ctrl button and the letter "N" at the same time.
This creates an exact duplicate of your current window. Use your favorites list or group navigation menu (to the left) to visit the page you would like to copy from and switch back and forth to your editor page to paste. 6. Copy and Paste - Step by Step: - Left-mouse button gets clicked and held down just before the text or image you wish to copy.
- Drag the mouse down and highlight the whole area you wish to copy/paste. If you go too far, just back the mouse up. The left mouse button stays held down the whole time you are selecting. Things usually outline in blue.
- Let go of the left-mouse button when you have finished outlining the area to your satisfaction - if you take a little too much, it can usually be deleted later.
- Push the Ctrl key and hold it down while you push the letter "C" on the keyboard - that copies the information to a temporary area called the clipboard.
- Find the spot where you want to add the information (it helps to have two windows open).
- Click the mouse, once, inside the new poster box, email, or page editor to position the cursor where you would like the information to appear.
- Push the Ctrl key, hold it down and push the letter "V" on the keyboard - that pastes the information.
- Move the information around, delete or edit as normal, save changes or post.
 7. Where did it go?
Barring catastrophe, your information is hiding in the "clipboard" on your computer.
"The clipboard!!! What is it???"
Have you ever seen Airplane - The Movie?
"The cockpit!!! What is it???"
"It's a small box at the front of the plane with all kinds of controls and stuff... but that's not important right now... we've got to get there fast!"
It's about the same thing with your clipboard: "It's a little box hidden on your computer that stores stuff temporarily... but that's not important right now..." *grins*
There is no easy to find folder like c:\windows\clipboard where you can go to peek at what is in there currently and it does not matter. If you would like to check, just open a blank post box and hit Ctrl+V to paste whatever is in there.
8. Can somebody steal what is in there?
Well, technically, yes. If someone went to all the effort to design a malicious program and set it up on a webpage, they might be able to force your clipboard to spit out its details when you visited. If you are really paranoid about the contents, just remember to copy something dumb after you use it to copy/paste a password or username or other sensitive detail. Since the clipboard can only hold one item at a time, the new piece of data is all they would see. | |
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