---

There has been a nice little utility called Briefcase that has been part of the standard Windows operating systems since way back when. I seem to remember it being part of Windows 3.1, or at least Windows for Workgroups, but I guess that doesn't really matter. Windows briefcase was originally designed for keeping files synchronized between computers - desktop to server, desktop to desktop, laptop to server, you get the idea. You would create a briefcase, pull the files that you wanted to keep synched into it, then periodically synchronize the files so that any files that had been modified (in either location) would be updated.

These days I'm finding a new use for the briefcase - keeping data synchronized between my USB drive and my laptop.

So my daughter mentions the other day that her computer "isn't working". Over the years I've learned that this very general, benign description is in reality a secret code for a wide variety of computer ailments, ranging anywhere from the minor:

- some program refuses to do something that she wants it to do, which by the way has absolutely nothing to do with the actual capabilities of that program

to the major:

- there is currently smoke, sparks, and/or flames coming out of said computer

On this particular occasion it meant that the computer, along with half of the other electrical appliances in the room, were completely dead. With some minor investigation I found that a GFCI outlet had tripped, as her desk is in the basement and is protected by these oh-so-sensitive electrical devices. With some slight nervousness I reset the device (as the aforementioned flaming computer could have been the reason it had tripped in the first place), and waited to see what would happen. To my great relief and surprise the computer booted right up, and even managed to recover a Word document that must have been open when the thing had unexpectedly been shut down by the tripping circuit breaker. Feeling lucky, I thought it might be good time to perform a little routine maintenance on the machine, part of which is defragmenting the hard drive.

There is a great article posted today over at Lifehacker on how to reformat your hard drive and install Windows XP. As someone that has had to do this on more than one occasion, it is not a trivial undertaking. However, Gina does a great job walking you through the process, you might want to bookmark their page for future reference just in case Step one is about backing up your data, there's more information about that here.

Let me first say that there are many different ways to have an effective PC backup strategy. The important thing is to just have one. There are two reasons why you really need to have your computer backed up. One is to retrieve a file that you've lost, deleted, corrupted or changed (when you didn't want to). The other is to have a backup in case something happens to your hard drive or computer. The thing about any backup strategy is that you need to think about them carefully before you need them, and you really need to stick with them. In addition, you need to test them once in awhile, to make sure that you're actually saving the information you need, and that you can get it back if (when) you need it. I've tried and used many different strategies over the years, back to the days when you could back up on a floppy drive (we'll never see those days again!). It's really a moving target, as technology grinds inextricably forward so must your strategy. One thing I can guarantee is that when you do need your backup it will be completely unexpected and will come at the worst possible time. The sudden realization that your computer has gone 'belly up' and that all of your information is gone is truly gut-wrenching for someone that uses it regularly.

So here's the problem - there are times you need to know what kind of file you're working with, but you can't tell by looking at it. The reason - Microsoft turns off file extensions by default. The assumption here must be that you're either so smart that you already know the file type of every file on your computer, or that you're too, er, inexperienced, to have that information be of any value to you.

It doesn't matter how long you've been working with computers, at some point during any given 'session' you're going to say to yourself 'Now where the heck did that file go? I was just working on it, and now I can't find it....'. It always surprises me when I'm working with people how often they really have no idea where their computer is storing the files that they are working on. It's also one of the things that people are least likely to ask about, because the feeling is that it should somehow be 'common knowledge', an instinctive thing that should have been hardwired into the brain at birth, like geese flying south or salmon returning to the stream they were hatched in. Well, guess what? It's not, you're not stupid (well, that I know of), and we'll try to shed a little light on it right now.

Ah, if there are two words that I thank my lucky stars for almost every day of my life, they would be the words 'copy and paste'. OK, maybe not. Still, I could not begin to estimate the number of times during any given day that I use this oh-so-important feature. What I want to do here is to give you a couple of ideas on how to use it more effectively. But first I'll give you an example of one of the many ways that I find myself needing it.

There's two things that simply amaze me about using drag and drop in Windows:

1. How few people use it
2. How much stuff it works with

The term 'drag and drop' refers to the action of clicking once on something with your left mouse button, and then, while holding down the button, 'dragging' the item into another window and 'dropping' it. These actions can range from the very simple to the very complex. Let's try one of each.