What do you do to capture the fully qualified name of a file from Windows Explorer? If you are using a newer version of Windows than XP, you can easily get the fully qualified file name without installing or reconfiguring anything. All you need to do as add the Shift key to the mix after selecting the file of interest.
Figure 1. Normal right-click menu option.
Figure 2. Shift plus right-click menu option. Notice the addition of Pin to Start Menu and Copy as path.
Here is what Copy as path put in my paste buffer:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\DATA\AdventureWorks2012_Data.mdf"
Considering that this particular path has embedded spaces, the double quotes surrounding the fully qualified file name are good to have. When there aren’t any spaces in the path or file name, the double quotes may be annoying. But the annoyance of double quotes is nothing compared to not having this functionality at all. Even on my own machine at home, I prefer Copy as path over other methods because I don’t want to install a send to clipboard program on my machine. The fewer programs that are installed, the better things are.