Drag and Drop confirmation prompt? Accidentally moving files.

Anonymous
2011-03-25T15:44:05+00:00

Ever since upgrading to Windows 7, we have had a problem with people inadvertently moving folders by dragging and dropping when meaning to double click.  Is there a way to turn on a confirmation prompt ("are you sure you want to...") when dragging and dropping files/folders?  It seems that previous versions of Windows had this prompt, but it has since been removed.  This is happening in our office on at least a weekly basis, sometimes daily, and we have to spend time searching for the moved folder.  If MS is unable to help, is there software that we can purchase to accomplish this?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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@CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2011-03-25T16:29:55+00:00

Windows 7 made no changes: there has never been a confirmation prompt like you describe.

One workaround is to increase the distance you must move the pointer before it triggers a drag.  Under the following registry key, you'll see DragHeight and DragWidth, which define the number of pixels the mouse must move before the drag is initiated:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT\USER\Control Panel\Desktop

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-08-09T07:16:20+00:00

    Wow, such a bad answer... very disapointing

    So maybee People in the office and also me, were dreaming abount the prompt confirmation :)

    In my humble opinion this is not a good solution...  any other alternative ?

    Regards

    Kathleen

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-08-09T11:43:58+00:00

    If this is happening with double left clicking to open,

    You might try changing how your mouse opens folders and or files,

    Click on organize on the top left in windows explorer, on the general tab section,

    Check the box to use single click to open and point to select,

    Only right click dragging will offer a option for actions, including cancel.

    You might also check your double click speed, and slow it down in your mouse settings.

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-05-26T18:45:42+00:00

    There has in fact been a change made compared with WinXP.

    In WinXP explorer's folder explorer one had to drag the actual name-area of the folder in order to catch it and be able to drop it else where.

    In Win7, it's sufficient to start the drag on the same horizontal (imaginary) bar where the folder is listed. This means that in Win7 you can drag'n'drop a folder, without even ever having the mouse pointer directly pointing on its name. The drag'n'drop may easily go unnoticed.

    This issue was a problem in WinXP. In Win7 it got worse.

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