Tip #13 - Use Shortcuts to Easily Navigate From One Folder to Another

This isn't a MusEdit specific thing, but a very useful feature of Windows which I take full advantage of when working with MusEdit files.

I tend to put my MusEdit files in at least three different places in my system: in the original "MusEdit" folder (where the program is located), in a "MyMusic" folder, and in a "MusicLib" folder (for files which are destined for the MusEdit music library). When I start MusEdit and do File|Open I often have to navigate over to one of the other folders, and when I want to save a file it's often necessary to navigate back to a different folder.

This kind of navigation is greatly simplified by putting shortcuts to various folders inside each of my commonly accessed folders. By double clicking on the shortcut to a folder Windows will immediately jump you over to that folder -much quicker than navigating by any other means.

Here's how I would put a shortcut to "MusicLib" into my "MusEdit" folder:

1) First, double click on My Computer, then the C: drive, then the Program Files folder, then on the MusEdit folder so that the MusEdit folder is open.

2) Repeat the steps above until the "MusicLib" folder is visible, but DON'T open the MusicLib folder. Stop when the MusicLib folder is still visible as a small folder.

There should now be two windows visible: one with the MusEdit folder open, and one with the MusicLib folder visible.

3) RIGHT click on the "MusicLib" folder, drag it over to the MusEdit folder, then let go of the mouse. You will then see a small menu with four choices: Move Here, Copy Here, Create Shortcut Here, Cancel. Select "Create Shortcut Here".

4) You'll now see an image of a folder with the name "Shortcut to MusicLib". If you like to remove "Shortcut to" (as I do) select the folder by clicking on it ONCE (it may already be selected), hit the F2 key, then edit the name to read simply "MusicLib".

Now when you launch MusEdit and do File|Open you will see a shortcut to the MusicLib folder, and double clicking on it will jump you over to that folder. The same is true when you do a Save As... (one bummer -bug!- in Win 95: when you double click on a shortcut during a Save As... the filename for the MusEdit file will be replaced by MusicLib.lnk, and you'll have to re-enter the file name.)

You'll probably want to put shortcuts to each of your favorite folders inside each of the other folders so that you can easily navigate from one to the other and back again.

Extra Tip:
You may want to start the name of the folder shortcuts with an underscore character, such as: "_MusicLib" so that the link to the folder is shown before all the other filenames in the File|Open dialog -they are easier to find that way!

One last point:
If you want to put a shortcut to the Desktop in your folders you'll need to know that the Desktop is actually a folder (called Desktop) inside your Windows folder. Use the same techniques described above with this folder and then you'll be able to access the desktop as easily as any other folder.

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