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What is the difference between Save and Save as?

On the menu for most programmes are two possibilities for saving the file you are working on. They are – 'Save' and 'Save as'.

The difference between them is in how the computer interprets what you want it to do. When you first save a file it does not matter which save option you select, it treats the first save as the creation of the original file.

Now, if you select 'Save as' the first time you save the file, it apparently gives you different options to the 'Save' menu. However, in the main, it is just choosing two different routes (and menus) to get to the same point. Usually the 'Save as' option is the more complicated route so it is worth using the 'Save' option the first time you save anything.

So you now have the original file saved. If you want to change the original file, but keep a copy of that original file, you can open it and make your changes, and this is where the 'Save as' option comes in. If you just 'Save' the file, you will overwrite the original file and lose that original file. But if you use the 'Save as' option, it will give you the chance to save the changed file as a separate file, with a different name, leaving the original file untouched. In this way you keep the original file and the changed file as separate files.

          The Grapevine Computer Guru