There are many ways to copy and move files from one location to another. I tend to first open two windows, one being the source, the other the destination, and then drag the file from one to the other. Cut/Copy and Paste is another common means of getting your files were you want them to go. Another option is available in Vista, as I found at the Error Forum, but it doesn’t show up by default. Here’s how you can add Copy to Folder… and Move to Folder… options to your right-click menu.

Here’s what your right-click menu looks like by default when selecting a text file:

There are different options for different file types, and you may see other options as well if you’ve installed software that modifies the menu.

To add the Copy to Folder… and Move to Folder… options to the menu, we need to modify your registry. You could use Regedit to go in and directly modify the registry, but an easier, and arguably safer way is to create a reg file. It’s a script that tells Regedit what to do. It’s very easy using just two registry settings. Copy the following text, and paste it into NotePad:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\{C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\{C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}]

Save the file as copymove.reg wherever you wish (switch the file type from ‘Text Document’ to ‘All Files’ so it doesn’t try to add a ‘.txt’ to the end of the name), and then double-click it. If you have UAC active (which you should), give permission to continue, and then approve the registry modification (which you’ll be asked regardless of your UAC setting). That’s it, the change takes effect immediately, so right-clicking on any file or folder will give you the option to Copy or Move the selected item to a different location.

Note that if you only want one of the two to show up, the first registry setting adds Copy to Folder…, and the second adds Move to Folder…, so just delete the one you don’t want from the reg file.