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technofile Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983 The hidden power of 'Send To' in Windows, Part 1Feb. 25, 2001 By Al Fasoldt Copyright © 2001, The Syracuse Newspapers One of the most powerful features of Windows is hidden away. Unless you're a power user like me, you probably don't know it's there. Even if you're a pro, you probably don't know one of the biggest little secrets of this important function. It's called "Send To." You click your right mouse button on a file or folder and up pops a menu that says "Send To." Slide your mouse pointer over to Send To and you see a list of "targets" -- things such as folders or program icons that you can "send" the item to. I've been teaching people how to use Windows for years, and I'm convinced the only operation in that Send To list that most people pay attention to -- if they even know Send To is there at all -- is the one that lets you send something to a floppy disk. It is shown as "Send to 3 1/2 Floppy (A)" and is the first entry on the list. "Send To," in this case, means, of course, "copy." While copying to a floppy disk by right-clicking might impress your grandmother, it's nothing compared to the real power of Send To. That real power is deceptively simple. Send To is a kind of mini-operating system all on its own. It's always ready to help you copy and move files or folders, as you can probably tell from the name. But it's also ready at all times to override the default settings in Windows that make certain programs open certain files. In other words, it gives you a chance to have WordPad open documents instead of Microsoft Word. It allows you to specify Irfan View (a popular and free image viewer) when you want to see an image instead of, say, a big program such as Photo Deluxe. It even lets you open a file without any association at all in any program you want. That's cool, right? But the fun has just begun. Send To can take over all your copying and moving. You can copy a file or folder to another location in a few quick steps or you can decide to move the file or folder instead. You can do this easily with Send To. Let's start at the beginning. Send To is actually a folder in your Windows directory. (In other words, it's a folder inside the Windows folder.) A couple of cautions: The name might be "SendTo" instead of "Send To" (without the space, in other words), and it might be located inside a subfolder in the Windows folder. (Windows 2000 puts it in a subfolder, for example.) You need to know where it is before you can take advantage of my first important tip. Send To might be hidden, so before you look for it, tell Windows to stop hiding files. (You never want Windows to do that, because viruses get into your system that way. Viruses hide their files and they slip in unseen.) Double click on My Computer and, in the window that opens, click the View menu, then click Options. Click View in THAT menu, then click "Show all files." make sure there is no checkmark alongside the "Hide files" setting. (Some versions of Windows do this differently, so if you don't see these options, call the company that made your computer and ask someone to step you through this. Tell them you want to make sure Windows is not hiding files. Be patient; support people can be very dim-witted sometimes.) When you are sure Windows isn't hiding any files, click Start, then Run. Type "sendto" -- make it all one word and don't use quotation marks -- and then press the Enter key. Windows will open the SendTo folder. Hit the Backspace key to back up one level, then click your right mouse button on the SendTo folder icon. Hold the button down and drag the folder out to your desktop. Let go and click "Create Shortcut(s) Here." You now have a shortcut to the Send To folder on your desktop. It won't do any good there, so follow the next two steps. First, rename the shortcut so it makes sense. Right cllick on it and click "Rename." Type "Send To folder" (without the quote marks) and press Enter. Right click on the icon and drag it back to the SendTo folder icon and drop it there. Click "Move Here." You now have an item in your Send To folder that automates a very important step. It gives you a way to add all sorts of shortcuts to the Send To folder! You do that by right clicking on any shortcut and clicking "Send To," then clicking "Send To folder." The next time you right click and click "Send To," you'll see the shortcut you added. Next: Using Send To for programs, and a secret tip for making sure Send To does exactly what you want. |