Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows XP in 24 Hours

By Greg Perry

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Author
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Introduction
  • Part I: Wake Up with Windows XP
  • Hour 1. Taking a Bird's-Eye Look at Windows XP
  • Hour 2. Getting Started with Windows XP
  • Hour 3. Managing the Windows XP Interface
  • Part II: Morning Windows Desktop Exploration
  • Hour 4. Working with the My Computer Window
  • Hour 5. Navigating Files with Windows Explorer
  • Hour 6. Calling for Help
  • Hour 7. Improving Your Windows Desktop Experience
  • Part III: Early Afternoon Windows Exploration
  • Hour 8. Installing Programs with Windows XP
  • Hour 9. Finding Files, Folders, and Friends
  • Hour 10. Using the Desktop Accessories
  • Part IV: Late Afternoon Internet Integration
  • Hour 11. Surfing the Web with Internet Explorer
  • Hour 12. Tying Windows into the Web
  • Hour 13. Networking with Windows XP
  • Hour 14. Managing E-mail and Newsgroups with Outlook Express
  • Part V: An Evening with Advanced Windows
  • Hour 15. Exploring Your Hardware Interface
  • Hour 16. Understanding Printing and Fonts
  • Hour 17. Using Windows on the Road
    • Docking Your Laptop
    • Using PC Cards
    • The Windows Briefcase
    • Going Wireless with Infrared
    • A Word About Power
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • Hour 18. Giving Windows XP a Tune-Up
  • Hour 19. Managing Your Hard Drives
  • Hour 20. Tinkering with the Advanced System Tools
  • Part VI: Having Fun at Nighttime
  • Hour 21. Using Media Player
  • Hour 22. Picturing Windows XP Graphics
  • Hour 23. Making Movies with Windows XP
  • Hour 24. Advanced Windows XP Tips
  • Part VII: Appendixes
  • Appendix A. Differences Between the Windows Home and Professional Edition
  • Appendix B. Glossary
  • Appendix C. Answers to Quizzes

The Windows Briefcase

When on the road, you want to work with the most up-to-date data files possible. Therefore, users often copy the latest files from their desktops to portable PCs before leaving on a trip. The direct cable connection, described in Hour 15, "Exploring Your Hardware Interface," is a great way to copy those files, as is a networked system. Users can also use floppy disks and high-capacity disks, such as Zip disks, to transfer data between two computers.

When they return, those users often have to reverse the process and copy their latest laptop data files over the ones on the desktops to refresh the desktop's files so that both computers stay in synchronization with each other. Until Windows, the only way to ensure that you were working with the latest data files was to look at the file date and time values and work with only the latest. At best, trying to maintain the latest files was a hassle and often caused confusion and errors as well.

The Briefcase application, sometimes called My Briefcase because previous versions of Windows used that title beneath the application's icon, does all the nitty-gritty for you and synchronizes two computers that you have connected via a network or by cable. The Briefcase application is available from any window in which you view folders, such as the My Computer window or from Windows Explorer. You will create Briefcase files inside folders that you select for the purpose.

Briefcase acts just like a briefcase that you take between your office and home. Before leaving in the morning, you put important papers in your briefcase. In the Windows XP environment, before going on the road with your laptop, you should drag all data files that you want to work with to the Briefcase.

After creating a Briefcase icon in a folder, you can click that icon to start the Briefcase application. Windows XP displays an introductory window, shown in Figure 17.3, when you first start the Briefcase program. The window provides an overview of the Briefcase operation.

Figure 17.3 You'll see this introductory window when you first start Briefcase.

Suppose that you copy two files to the Briefcase icon by dragging the files from Windows Explorer to the Briefcase icon you've created in a folder. Figure 17.4 shows two files in the Briefcase window ready to be transferred to a laptop computer. Notice that the Update All toolbar button is available.

Figure 17.4 Two files are in the Briefcase at the moment.

If you are using a floppy disk for the Briefcase intermediary storage media, move the Briefcase icon to the floppy disk. Just click the Briefcase icon to highlight it. The Folder Tasks in the right windowpane opens to display Copy This Folder. When you click the link, Windows XP opens a Copy Items window where you can select your desktop's disk drive to which to copy the folder. Alternatively, you could drag the Briefcase folder to the disk drive from within any Windows Explorer window. You must have a formatted disk in the drive before you copy the desktop's My Briefcase icon there.

When you get back to the desktop, right-click the desktop's Briefcase folder and select Update All from the left window pane. (Alternatively, you can first select only those files you want to update, and then select Update Selection). Briefcase synchronizes the desktop's files by doing one of three things:

• If your desktop does not have one or more Briefcase files, the Briefcase application copies those files to the desktop computer.
• If your desktop already has those files on its disk, Briefcase transfers files from the Briefcase only if the Briefcase's files are newer than the desktop's.
• If your desktop already has one or more Briefcase files and the files are older than the Briefcase versions, the Briefcase application copies the newer versions over the old ones on the desktop.

As you can see from these options, the Windows XP Briefcase feature is smart enough to know when a file is already the same in both the Briefcase folder and your desktop and when the file needs to be updated.

Share This