The Send To command is one of Windows' semi-buried treasures. It's a shorthand method of copying a file or group of files to another location on your computer system, and you'll find the command lurking on the context menu which appears when you right-click a file or folder on the Desktop or in Windows Explorer.
On the surface, Send To sounds like a fairly limited function. But when you start fiddling with its capabilities, you'll find it's one of the handiest shortcuts built into Windows.
When you select the Send To command it provides a list of destinations to which you can copy the selected file or folder. The default list is sparse (and differs with the version of Windows you use), with options to send a file to a floppy disk, create a shortcut to the file on your Desktop, e-mail it to someone, or send it to your Briefcase. Even those limited options provide some inkling of how useful Send To can be.
The real revelation comes when you realise that the Send To list is completely customisable. You can add any number of destinations to the Send To list: commonly used folders on your hard disk, other computers on a network, printers, applications. In the latter case, when you send a file to an application, the program launches and the file is opened within that program.
Customising Send To
Customising Send To is easy to do because each of the Send To destinations is nothing more than a shortcut placed in the C:\Windows\SendTo folder. To extend Send To's capabilities, all you have to do is add a shortcut to a new destination to that folder.
Note that while the command is called Send To, the folder name omits the space in the name: SendTo. Note also, if you're using Windows 2000 or XP you'll find the SendTo folder in \Documents and Settings\[username]\SendTo. If you're using Windows NT it's located in Winnt\Profiles\\SendTo.
If you can't see the folder, you'll need to enable the Show Hidden Files option by opening any folder, selecting Folder Options from the Tools Menu, clicking the View tab and selecting Show Hidden Files.
The simplest way to add a shortcut to the SendTo folder is to right-click a destination (folder, file, drive or printer) and drag it into the SendTo folder. You can open the SendTo folder either via Windows Explorer or by clicking Start, Run, typing sendto and clicking OK.
An alternative method
Another way to add a shortcut to the SendTo folder is to open the folder and then use the Create Shortcut Wizard:
- Right-click in an empty spot in the SendTo folder and select New, Shortcut from the pop-up menu.
- In the first screen in the wizard, type the full path name of the
destination, or click the Browse button and locate the destination in that
manner. For example, if you want to add Microsoft Word as a destination, so
you can right-click any text document and open it with Word, you'd type:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\winword.exe
as the destination or, more simply, use the Browse button to search for the Word program. If you want to add a folder destination, type the full name of the folder. - Click Next and in the Select A Name For The Shortcut box type a short descriptive name, such as Microsoft Word and click Next.
- Select an icon for your shortcut and click Finish.
You can also remove a destination from the shortcut command by deleting the destination shortcut in the SendTo folder.
Useful destinations
Use the Send To command to help keep your Desktop clear of clutter. Instead of placing multiple folders on your Desktop, you can keep them tucked away inside My Documents or some other folder and use Send To to copy files to those locations.
What are some useful destinations to add to the SendTo folder? For a start, you should add any folders you commonly use for storage, such as My Documents and any backup folders you use.
If you do a lot of file downloading, it's a good idea to create a Downloads folder within My Documents and then add a Send To shortcut to Downloads. Then, when you download a file you can download it directly to your Desktop to unpack and install it. Once you've installed it, if you want to keep a copy of the Download file, use Send To… Downloads to copy it to your Downloads folder. When it comes time to reformat and reinstall Windows, you can easily reinstall all your favourite downloads by grabbing the stored copies from the Downloads folder (this, of course, assumes that you've remembered to backup My Documents and its sub-folders before reformatting!).
More ways to use Send To
Other handy destinations include:
- Your printer. To print a document, simply right-click the document and select Send To, <my printer>. To create a shortcut to a printer, open the Printers folder (Start, Settings, Control Panel, Printers) and then use the method described above to create a new shortcut.
- A CD burner. Just as you can use Send To to copy a file to a floppy disk, you can also use it to copy a file to a writeable CD. To create the shortcut, open My Computer and right-click and drag your CD burner's icon into the SendTo folder. There's one proviso here: Make sure you insert a CD/RW that's been enabled for Explorer-style read/write access (using Direct CD, for example) before you use this Send To destination.
- A network drive. You can create Send To shortcuts to any drive on your home or office network, and also to network printers, provided you have the necessary access privileges. These shortcuts are especially handy, given the way you normally must dig down deep in Network Neighborhood or My Network Places to gain access to these destinations.
- Your Desktop. Windows includes a Send To…Desktop as Shortcut option. This merely creates a shortcut to a file. If you'd like to copy the file itself to the Desktop, add a shortcut to the Desktop folder to the destinations (C:\Windows\Desktop is the default location under Windows 98 and Windows Me).
- The SendTo folder itself. It circular shortcut lets you quickly add new items to the Send To destination list: Just right-click a shortcut and choose Send To...SendTo to add a new destination to your Send To list. It sounds more confusing than it is – give it a try.
| geekgirl.tip: Missing Send To…Desktop as Shortcut |
If you can't find the Send
To...Desktop as Shortcut option on your Send To menu or if you
accidentally delete its shortcut from the SendTo folder, here's how to get
it back:
|
Supercharging Send To
If you'd really like to pump up the Send To command, grab a copy of Microsoft's Send To X PowerToy. While Microsoft says the program is not intended for Windows 98, most Win 98 and Me users find Send To X works just fine. To be safe, before you install the program visit James Eshelman's site, where you'll find a fix for any problems created.
Send To X's installation routine is a little out of the ordinary:
- When you download it, place the downloaded file in a temporary folder on your Desktop.
- Open the temporary folder and double-click W95sendtox.exe to unzip the file's contents into the folder.
- Right-click the Sendtox.inf file and select Install from the pop-up menu.
You can now delete the temporary folder and all its contents.
Once installed, Send To X populates your Send To list with a fistful of special destinations and capabilities. The most useful is Send To...Any Folder. This option pops up a dialog box letting you pick a destination on the fly. Even better, it lets you select whether you wish to Copy or Move the file to the destination.
The Send To command blooms sprouts multiple options once Send To X has been installed.
Send To Clipboard As Name copies the filename to the clipboard. Send To Clipboard As Contents places the entire file onto the clipboard (a neat way to copy and paste text or a graphic). Send To Command Line inserts the line into the Run dialog's Open box.
If you don't need the entire gamut of Send To X options, pick and choose from them at will. To do so:
- Open the Control Panel and run the Add/Remove Programs applet.
- Locate SendTo Extensions PowerToy in the list and click Add/Remove.
- Remove the checkmarks from any options you don't need and click OK twice to exit.
© 2002, Rose Vines
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