Long-time reader Chet Norris wrote to ask aout a couple problems he was having:
Hi Terry
2 questions for the price of one if I may. 1.When I try to copy ‘my pictures’ to a CD they come out as addresses or locations instead of pics. I don’t know if that’s normal but if possible how can I save them as the actual Thumbnails as they are on my computer?
2.How do I save my bookmarks and email messages to a CD. I have tried everything I could think of to no avail.
Thanks in advance
Chet Norris
Thunderbird email, Firefox v3.10, hp pavilion 520n
I wrote back to Chet to tell him what was happening with his pictures.
It all depends on how he’s trying to copy the pictures.
If you drag-and-drop files into a different directory on the same drive, all you do is create shortcuts to the original location. Now, how does Microsoft suggest drives be set up? That’s right, as one big partition. On the computer’s main (or only) drive, that’s one big C: drive.
If you drag-and-drop files to a different drive, including a different partition on the same drive (which Windows recognizes treats as a different drive), you make copies of the files.
It sounds like he getting the shortcuts because he’s copying to the same drive.
The easiest — and safest — way to copy is to use the right-click and drag method. When you release the button at the destination, you will get a popup context menu. This menu will give you the options to copy the files, move the files, create shortcuts, or cancel.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell him how to handle his Thunderbird emails.
Copying his Firefox bookmarks is easy, though.
Start Firefox, then, from the menu bar, pick Bookmarks > Organize Bookmarks.
That opens the Library dialog box, which contains the bookmarks. On its menu bar, click Import and Backup and then Export HTML. You’ll get a standard Windows save file dialog box, so you can pick the location and file name you want to use.
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