Here’s a Windows 7 feature you haven’t found yet. It gives me a little tingle every time I see it.
Choosing multiple items from a list has always required holding the CTRL button while clicking each one. You probably know that there’s lots of opportunity for error when a finger slips.
Windows 7 can display checkboxes. You can select files by checking boxes, then copy or move or delete them, or whatever else you might want to do with a group of files.
Open Windows Explorer on your new Windows 7 computer. You probably don’t have a menu across the top. Tap the ALT key to show the menu.
Then click on Tools / Folder Options. On the View tab, check the box for Use check boxes to select items and click OK.
Incidentally, while you’re there, uncheck the box for Hide extensions for known file types. You’ll find it’s already unchecked if I set up your computer. By default, Microsoft has always hidden file extensions – the letters after the period in the file name, .DOC and .XLS and .PDF and the rest. Concealing them has always been a terrible decision and it’s the first thing I change on a new computer.
[This tip courtesy of the indefatigable Philip Elder, who writes an invaluable, exhaustive blog about his trials and travails with Small Business Server, hardware, and much else.]
