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General discussion

Difference between save and save as

Jan 6, 2005 11:33AM PST

Dell Dimension 2400 desktop
Intel Pentium 2.19 GHz
512 RAM Windows XP Home SP1
80G drive Ad-Aware SE presonal
Spy Bot Search and Destroy 1.3
Zone Alarm(free version)
AVG 7.0 Anti Virus

I would like to know the difference between save and save as(found in the file drop down). Sometimes it seems if I "save" it just happens and I don't know where it goes, but if i use save as a window always comes up and asks me where I want to save it to.
I know this is not a very big question but I would really like to know if I can.

Thank you
Bev

Discussion is locked

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Bev, It's Save or Save As...
Jan 6, 2005 12:23PM PST

I can make this complicated or not... but basically "Save" simply saves the changes you have made while "Save As" creates a new file.

Complicated:
The first time you open a document, then create some text, and choose to save it, clicking on either option will give you the same "Save As" dialogue. You are required to give it a name and direct it to a specific location for saving. The second time you open a previously created document for editing, the "Save" option will simply save your current changes in the same named file...(You won't get a dialogue box and it appears like nothing happens. But indeed something does happen. The changes you have made to the document are saved permanantly.) If you select the "Save As" option, it will allow you to save the current changes and rename the document. After that's done, you will in fact have two similar documents. One which was the original before changes and a second which now contains the original and the changes.

It's easy to test this with a Word document. Open a word document, then type the letter "C" as text, then click on "File", choose "Save". You'll see the "Save As" dialogue box. Close that dialogue box, then click on "Save As". You'll see the same "Save As" box. Give the file the default name which should be "c.doc", look where it's being saved which is probably the "My Documents" folder (so you can delete it later), then click on the "Save" button. The file will stay where it is, but in the upper left corner of your screen you will see the "C.doc" name.

While the document is still open, add "hart" to the C, so it now spells "Chart". Now Click on "File", "Save" and it will appear like nothing happened. (That's because it did nothing but save the changes to the "C.Doc" file.) Looking up in the upper left corner, you'll see that the file name is still "c.doc". Now click on "Save As" and you'll be given another "Save As" dialogue box. Change the name of the file in the "Save As" line to "Chart.doc", then click on the "Save" button. Now close the Word document. Open the location where the files were saved to and you should see two new files by the name of "C.doc" and "Chart.doc".

Hope this helps.

Grif

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re save or save as
Jan 6, 2005 12:33PM PST

Wow Wow terrific just exactly the kind of answer that I needed. It is such a pleasure to have a place I can come to with what I am sure are simplistic questions to most but are of great interest to me. I always seem to get some kind of answer and most of the time (like this time) I can even understand the answer.
Thank you ever much,
Bev

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Grif, I Already Knew But
Jan 6, 2005 11:45PM PST

I had figured this out the "save/save as" difference some time ago but it was only after a lot of grief and before I knew about this forum.
Having confessed to that, I bet there are others out there like Bev and me. Wouldn't it be a good idea to post your explanation on the Tips thread?

DC

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(NT) (NT) Good Idea DC, I'll Do It !
Jan 7, 2005 1:47AM PST