When you install Microsoft Windows 98, ME, or XP you also install a brown briefcase icon on your desktop. In some cases, you are given the choice not to install it. It is possible that you dragged it to the recycle bin after finding it on your desktop. In either case, there is a fix because this is a valuable tool. Please read on.

Briefcase was advertised by Microsoft for the purposes of moving files from a desktop to a Laptop computer and to update and synchronize the files between the two. It will do this however it can also be used to move and update files between your desktop and most other media such as a floppy, a zip drive, or an external hard drive. The nice thing about Briefcase is that the files will update between either of the media in either direction, and do so rapidly.

When I originally installed Windows I had removed the shortcut for Briefcase from my desktop. Using the Windows Help file, I learned that to reinstall the Briefcase shortcut all I needed to do was right click on a vacant space on the desktop, click on New, and then click on the word Briefcase. That reinstalled the Briefcase shortcut icon on the desktop. If the word Briefcase does not appear in the list then you did not install it when you installed Windows. Here is how to install it for Windows ME. Check your manual if you use another version of Windows. I expect the procedure is similar.

Here are the simple instructions for using Briefcase, as well as describing what it will do for you. In this case, I am using an external hard drive as the second media. The same general instructions apply to such things as a floppy disk, a zip drive (either an internal or external one) or a Laptop:

1. Plug the external hard drive into a USB port to your computer. It will automatically configure if you have Windows ME, or XP. It my case it becomes Drive "G" automatically.

2. Double click on the My Computer icon on the desktop.

3. The interface showing the various drives will appear on the desktop.

4. Right click on the Briefcase icon on the desktop and drag the icon to the drive where you wish the briefcase to reside. In my case it is Drive G. Release the mouse button and select: "Create Shortcut here." If you now open that drive (in this case Drive G) you will discover that there is now a Briefcase icon shortcut there.

5. Open the drive(s) on your computer that contains the folder, or folders, which you wish to copy to the external hard drive. Right click on each folder in turn and drag them into the Briefcase you have previously created (in my case) in Drive G and select "Copy here."

This completes the various actions required in order to activate the Briefcase and to install your important files in it.

The next time you want to update the files in the Briefcase folder in the external hard drive, do this: Right click on the Briefcase icon in the external hard drive. Select Update All. An interface will appear that shows the various files in the Briefcase. Select Update. Briefcase will now be updated so that the files in the external hard drive will match those on your computer hard drive, or vice versa. It usually takes only two or three seconds to update the files in my case. It is important to recognize that the files will be updated regardless of whether the latest files are on the computer hard drive or on the external hard drive. In other words, it updates in both directions. To open the files, merely double click on the Briefcase icon.

Briefcase is a very important and often misunderstood part of Windows. Let me suggest you consider using it for moving files, and updating them, to such media as an external hard drive, a Zip drive installed on your computer or an external one, a floppy disk, or a Laptop computer. It is clearly an important tool.