Vanished directory

[Char Jackson]

Another way for people (I might be one) who are a bit weak on the
buttons and unclick by mistake, is to copy or cut and paste.

By that I mean highlight the file you want to move/copy, choose cut or
copy (from a menu or by Ctrl-x/c), go the destination folder, and click
inside it and paste.

That's handy when you're copying a file to several destinations.

It's been mentioned recently in this NG, I'm just repeating it...

I've been one of the people who promotes that method of working with
files and folders, especially for people who find themselves dropping
items where they hadn't intended to drop them. The two step cut/copy
followed by paste isn't as sexy and glamorous as drag and drop, but
it's more reliable. That's obviously important to a lot of people.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I've been one of the people who promotes that method of working with
files and folders, especially for people who find themselves dropping
items where they hadn't intended to drop them. The two step cut/copy
followed by paste isn't as sexy and glamorous as drag and drop, but
it's more reliable. That's obviously important to a lot of people.

I generally use all three methods (including, occasionally, the right
click and drag method that R. C. White mentioned in this thread), but if
I'm feeling tired or flaky, I'll stay away from the left click and
drag...

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Hi, John.

Did you ever try using the RIGHT button for drag'n'drop?

No, I didn't know about it. Maybe it's only in 7? (Though reading and
posting here, I'm still on XP; I joined this 'group when I had a 7
machine for a while which I was setting up for someone, and stayed
because it seems to have nice people in it, and I may have to use 7 one
day.)

The default action for the right button is to Move a file. But it
offers a MENU after you release the button, while the left button does
not.

All sounds very useful!

That is, right-click on the file/folder you want to move. Hold the
button down while you drag to the destination, and then hover over the
destination until it says "Move to..." (If it is a folder, it should
expand, as usual, when you hover.) The "Copy to..." text should pop
up, telling you exactly which destination is selected; even though it
says "copy", that doesn't happen immediately and you'll still get a
chance to change your mind. And THEN release the button. The Move or
Copy action won't happen immediately. Instead, there will be a short
context menu from which you can choose to Copy here, Move here, Create
shortcut here, or Cancel.

This won't insure that you'll never lose another file, but it should
prevent a lot of the accidents. ;<) Try it and let us know how it
works for you.

Will do (if it works at all in XP - and, more dubious, if I remember!)

RC
JPG
--

If you amend your signature such that that line has a space on the end -
i. e. so that it is dash dash space - then a lot of software will
recognise that as a signature separator, and won't quote your signature.
(Though if you top-post, the original message below will also be
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R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2011 (Build 15.4.3538.0513) in Win7 Ultimate x64 SP1


"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in message


You are clearly a very together person; I can't always do the "fluid
motion" fast enough to prevent the expansion, and if I try, it happens
as I describe - i. e. just at the moment I let go, such that I have no
idea where it went.

At least Zaidy036 is confusing you (and, I admit, me)!

--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

If you like making stuff there's always somebody ready to say that its
ridiculous. But, actually, I don't think it is. In fact, enthusiasms are good.
Hobbies are healthy. They don't harm anybody. - James May in RT, 6-12
November 2010.

 

[Wolf K]

No, I didn't know about it. Maybe it's only in 7? (Though reading and
posting here, I'm still on XP; I joined this 'group when I had a 7
machine for a while which I was setting up for someone, and stayed
because it seems to have nice people in it, and I may have to use 7 one
day.)

General rule for all user interfaces: right click selects, left click
performs. Thus:

left click > select item/perform action/drag'n'drop with default action
right click > open menu/highlight item/drag'n'drop with menu (if
applicable)

This works on any item on which the program or the operating system may
perform some action, even items you select ad hoc. Eg, in a word
processor you may highlight a selection with right click + drag pointer,
the use left click to drag the selection to another location within the
document. This action can be tricky: for example I've occasionally
invoked drag'n'drop unintentionally when holding the mouse button too
long while in a spreadsheet cell just before selecting a block of cells.

There are occasional exceptions to this rule, mostly in ancient
applications.

HTH
Wolf K.

 

[Char Jackson]

In message <[email protected]>, R. C.


No, I didn't know about it. Maybe it's only in 7?

I believe it goes back to Windows 95.

 

[Joe Morris]

No, I didn't know about it. Maybe it's only in 7? (Though reading and
posting here, I'm still on XP; I joined this 'group when I had a 7 machine
for a while which I was setting up for someone, and stayed because it
seems to have nice people in it, and I may have to use 7 one day.)

Nope, it's been around for a long time.

Um...the default action is **USUALLY** to move. One of the dirty little
secrets of Explorer is that dragging an object between two containers
(left-click, or right-click default) is MOVE if the two containers are in
the same partition, but it's COPY if the containers are on different
partitions. You can demonstrate this by flipping files between a USB key
and the C-disk, and between folders on the C-disk.

That's bad enough for local disks, but it's a waiting catastrophe if both of
the containers are on network drives, because the default behavior doesn't
pay attention to whether the two containers are exposed in the same share or
two different shares: the only question is whether the source and
destination are on the same partition on the remote server.

Additionally, the handling of permissions depends on whether the action is a
move or copy: a moved file retains its access control list, while a copied
file inherits the ACL of its destination container.

Translation: if you've got more than one partition in your environment,
y'all be careful.

Joe

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Nope, it's been around for a long time.


Um...the default action is **USUALLY** to move. One of the dirty little

Thanks, and thanks Wolf K.

secrets of Explorer is that dragging an object between two containers
(left-click, or right-click default) is MOVE if the two containers are in
the same partition, but it's COPY if the containers are on different
partitions. You can demonstrate this by flipping files between a USB key
and the C-disk, and between folders on the C-disk.

I knew this one.
[]