Copy of files gone wild

G

Guest

Sometimes when copying, moving, or deleting files, the system will suddenly
start copying all files in the directory. This will continue (up to "copy
(9) of copy (9)" of filename.....and beyond probably) until I close the
window, and will resume when the window is opened again. The only way I've
found to stop it is to reboot. Why does this happen, and how can I stop it
happening. It is very frustrating! Thanks for any help.
 
W

Wesley Vogel

Holy moly! My files are multiplying like rabbits.

When trying to delete files I end up with more files than what I started
with.

Dragging is not the problem per se, it's dragging without meaning to while
holding down the CTRL or SHIFT keys.

This is caused by not having a steady hand.

What happens is that you have multiple items selected and you're using the
SHIFT and the CTRL keys to select and/or unselect items and you accidentally
move the mouse. You move the mouse enough that Windows thinks that you're
intentionally dragging these multiple selected files. If you're pressing
the CTRL or SHIFT keys when this happens, you create copies of all the
selected files. If you're pressing both the CTRL and SHIFT keys when this
happens, you create shortcuts to all of the selected files. The same thing
can happen with only one item selected only you do not get as many copies or
shortcuts. With multiple files selected you end up with a boatload of Copy
of XYZ, Copy (2) of XYZ, Copy of Copy of XYZ or Copy of Copy of Copy of XYZ
files at the bottom of your folder.

Done this plenty of times myself. ;-)

You either have to practice or set the drag sensitivity differently.

Drag sensitivity specifies how far (in pixels) the mouse must
move with the button held down before the system decides
that you are dragging the object. Increase this value if you
find that you are dragging objects accidentally when you click
on them.

The only way to adjust the drag sensitivity that I know of is with TweakUI.

Download TweakUI here >>>

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

These are all the Mouse settings that can be set with TweakUI.

TweakUI
[+] Mouse

Menu Speed
The Menu Speed slider control sets the speed at which
cascading menus automatically open when you move the
mouse over them. The fastest setting causes them to open
immediately and the slowest setting is extraordinary slow.

To test the mouse setting, right-click the test icon.
-----

Double-click sensitivity
Double-click sensitivity specifies how close together two
mouse clicks need to be (in pixels) to be considered a
double click.

To test the double-click sensitivity, click twice on the test icon
with the left mouse button. If the two clicks registered as a
double-click, then the icon will change.
-----

Drag sensitivity
Drag sensitivity specifies how far (in pixels) the mouse must
move with the button held down before the system decides
that you are dragging the object. Increase this value if you
find that you are dragging objects accidentally when you click
on them.

To test drag sensitivity, try to drag the test icon with the
left mouse button. The icon will begin dragging when you
have moved the mouse the necessary distance.
-----

Hover
This is used to detect when the mouse hovers over the icon to get selected.
The size of the region is determined by the hover sensitivity in pixels.
-----

Wheel
This is used to control the number of lines when the mouse wheel is
scrolled. This can be either one page at a time or a particular number of
lines at a time.
-----

X-Mouse
The "Activation follows mouse" checkbox enables X-Mouse style window
activation. When X-mouse style window activation is enabled, you need only
move the mouse into a window in order to give it focus. Normally you must
click on a window in order to give it focus.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
G

Guest

Gee, THANKS a bunch!
Mel

Wesley Vogel said:
Holy moly! My files are multiplying like rabbits.

When trying to delete files I end up with more files than what I started
with.

Dragging is not the problem per se, it's dragging without meaning to while
holding down the CTRL or SHIFT keys.

This is caused by not having a steady hand.

What happens is that you have multiple items selected and you're using the
SHIFT and the CTRL keys to select and/or unselect items and you accidentally
move the mouse. You move the mouse enough that Windows thinks that you're
intentionally dragging these multiple selected files. If you're pressing
the CTRL or SHIFT keys when this happens, you create copies of all the
selected files. If you're pressing both the CTRL and SHIFT keys when this
happens, you create shortcuts to all of the selected files. The same thing
can happen with only one item selected only you do not get as many copies or
shortcuts. With multiple files selected you end up with a boatload of Copy
of XYZ, Copy (2) of XYZ, Copy of Copy of XYZ or Copy of Copy of Copy of XYZ
files at the bottom of your folder.

Done this plenty of times myself. ;-)

You either have to practice or set the drag sensitivity differently.

Drag sensitivity specifies how far (in pixels) the mouse must
move with the button held down before the system decides
that you are dragging the object. Increase this value if you
find that you are dragging objects accidentally when you click
on them.

The only way to adjust the drag sensitivity that I know of is with TweakUI.

Download TweakUI here >>>

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

These are all the Mouse settings that can be set with TweakUI.

TweakUI
[+] Mouse

Menu Speed
The Menu Speed slider control sets the speed at which
cascading menus automatically open when you move the
mouse over them. The fastest setting causes them to open
immediately and the slowest setting is extraordinary slow.

To test the mouse setting, right-click the test icon.
-----

Double-click sensitivity
Double-click sensitivity specifies how close together two
mouse clicks need to be (in pixels) to be considered a
double click.

To test the double-click sensitivity, click twice on the test icon
with the left mouse button. If the two clicks registered as a
double-click, then the icon will change.
-----

Drag sensitivity
Drag sensitivity specifies how far (in pixels) the mouse must
move with the button held down before the system decides
that you are dragging the object. Increase this value if you
find that you are dragging objects accidentally when you click
on them.

To test drag sensitivity, try to drag the test icon with the
left mouse button. The icon will begin dragging when you
have moved the mouse the necessary distance.
-----

Hover
This is used to detect when the mouse hovers over the icon to get selected.
The size of the region is determined by the hover sensitivity in pixels.
-----

Wheel
This is used to control the number of lines when the mouse wheel is
scrolled. This can be either one page at a time or a particular number of
lines at a time.
-----

X-Mouse
The "Activation follows mouse" checkbox enables X-Mouse style window
activation. When X-mouse style window activation is enabled, you need only
move the mouse into a window in order to give it focus. Normally you must
click on a window in order to give it focus.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
Mel said:
Sometimes when copying, moving, or deleting files, the system will
suddenly start copying all files in the directory. This will continue
(up to "copy (9) of copy (9)" of filename.....and beyond probably) until
I close the window, and will resume when the window is opened again. The
only way I've found to stop it is to reboot. Why does this happen, and
how can I stop it happening. It is very frustrating! Thanks for any
help.
 
W

Wesley Vogel

You bet.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
Mel said:
Gee, THANKS a bunch!
Mel

Wesley Vogel said:
Holy moly! My files are multiplying like rabbits.

When trying to delete files I end up with more files than what I started
with.

Dragging is not the problem per se, it's dragging without meaning to
while holding down the CTRL or SHIFT keys.

This is caused by not having a steady hand.

What happens is that you have multiple items selected and you're using
the SHIFT and the CTRL keys to select and/or unselect items and you
accidentally move the mouse. You move the mouse enough that Windows
thinks that you're intentionally dragging these multiple selected files.
If you're pressing the CTRL or SHIFT keys when this happens, you create
copies of all the selected files. If you're pressing both the CTRL and
SHIFT keys when this happens, you create shortcuts to all of the
selected files. The same thing can happen with only one item selected
only you do not get as many copies or shortcuts. With multiple files
selected you end up with a boatload of Copy of XYZ, Copy (2) of XYZ,
Copy of Copy of XYZ or Copy of Copy of Copy of XYZ files at the bottom
of your folder.

Done this plenty of times myself. ;-)

You either have to practice or set the drag sensitivity differently.

Drag sensitivity specifies how far (in pixels) the mouse must
move with the button held down before the system decides
that you are dragging the object. Increase this value if you
find that you are dragging objects accidentally when you click
on them.

The only way to adjust the drag sensitivity that I know of is with
TweakUI.

Download TweakUI here >>>

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

These are all the Mouse settings that can be set with TweakUI.

TweakUI
[+] Mouse

Menu Speed
The Menu Speed slider control sets the speed at which
cascading menus automatically open when you move the
mouse over them. The fastest setting causes them to open
immediately and the slowest setting is extraordinary slow.

To test the mouse setting, right-click the test icon.
-----

Double-click sensitivity
Double-click sensitivity specifies how close together two
mouse clicks need to be (in pixels) to be considered a
double click.

To test the double-click sensitivity, click twice on the test icon
with the left mouse button. If the two clicks registered as a
double-click, then the icon will change.
-----

Drag sensitivity
Drag sensitivity specifies how far (in pixels) the mouse must
move with the button held down before the system decides
that you are dragging the object. Increase this value if you
find that you are dragging objects accidentally when you click
on them.

To test drag sensitivity, try to drag the test icon with the
left mouse button. The icon will begin dragging when you
have moved the mouse the necessary distance.
-----

Hover
This is used to detect when the mouse hovers over the icon to get
selected. The size of the region is determined by the hover sensitivity
in pixels. -----

Wheel
This is used to control the number of lines when the mouse wheel is
scrolled. This can be either one page at a time or a particular number
of lines at a time.
-----

X-Mouse
The "Activation follows mouse" checkbox enables X-Mouse style window
activation. When X-mouse style window activation is enabled, you need
only move the mouse into a window in order to give it focus. Normally
you must click on a window in order to give it focus.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
Mel said:
Sometimes when copying, moving, or deleting files, the system will
suddenly start copying all files in the directory. This will continue
(up to "copy (9) of copy (9)" of filename.....and beyond probably) until
I close the window, and will resume when the window is opened again.
The only way I've found to stop it is to reboot. Why does this happen,
and how can I stop it happening. It is very frustrating! Thanks for
any help.
 
G

Guest

Thanks Wes for introducing me to Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP
and the included Tweak UI. I have made the change you suggested, it appear
the have solved my problem. I also used Tweak to make some other changes. I
wish I had known about this years ago. How do you find such things?

Mel
 
W

Wesley Vogel

Here's some more info, Mel. ;-)

TweakUI for Windows XP - Tips
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/twktips.htm

Tweak UI for Windows XP Guide
http://www.winxpsolution.com/Tweakuixppro.aspx

TweakUI PowerTips
http://weblogs.asp.net/jkey/archive/2003/08/01/22303.aspx

All of those tips at the link above are part of TweakUI.

TweakUI
[+] About
Tips

You can cycle through the tips with the Next Tip and Previous Tip buttons.
But, if you click the Save Tips button, you get Tweak UI Tips.txt which you
can save wherever, with all of the tips in a Notepad file.

TweakUI Registry Settings

Microsoft® Windows® XP Registry Guide
Chapter 5: Mapping Tweak UI
http://www.microsoft.com/mspress/books/sampchap/6232.asp

All of Ch 5 is included!!

I actually have the book Microsoft® Windows® XP Registry Guide, but I copied
and pasted the info from the link above into a Word doc so I do not have to
look at the physical book. I also copied and pasted the info from Tweak UI
for Windows XP Guide into a Word doc.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 

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