Move or Copy Files at Will
| Intended For |
 Windows Vista
Windows XP
Windows 2003
Windows 2000
Windows Me
Windows 98
Windows 95 |
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Intuitively, when you drag a file from one place to another, it would seem reasonable that the file will be moved, not copied.
That is, when you see an object disappear from a location, it shouldn't still be there next time you look.
One of the worst inconsistencies in Windows is what actually happens to files when they're dragged.
Dragging from one place to another on the same disk ends up moving the files, while dragging from one disk to another copies them.
If you're just dragging EXE files, a shortcut is created, and the file is neither copied nor moved.
The only consistency here is that this same design flaw is duplicated on Macintosh and OS/2.
To cope with this, follow the following instructions:
- To copy a file under any situation, hold the Ctrl key while dragging.
- To move a file under any situation, hold the Shift key while dragging.
- To choose what happens to dragged files, drag them with the right mouse-button, and a menu will appear when the files are dropped.
- Note: Notice that the mouse cursor changes depending on the action being taken. A small plus (+) appears when copying, and a curved arrow appears when creating a shortcut.
- Note: There is no way to set the default action when dragging files - a glaring omission.
- Note: A handy and well-designed utility, WinZIP, utilizes the right-drag menu to ZIP and unZIP files (version 6.0 and later).
Written by: Annoyances.org
Last updated: Wednesday, February 7, 2007
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