Windows Tip: Don’t replace any files while copying

Posted by Martin in Knowledge, Operating Systems, Windows  Tags: , , , ,

15

Jan


If you ever copied hundreds or even thousands of files from one folder to the other with both folders containing files of the same name you might have realized that there is a button missing when transferring those files. Windows asks the user what he would like to do when a duplicate file is found in the folder where he is copying the files into.

The user has the option to say Yes, Yes to all, No or Cancel. There is one option missing and that is No to all. If you do not want to replace files in the destination folder you have to click on No for every duplicate file. If you copy thousands of files this could be a lot. Is there another option ? Yes there is.

I really like Windows because it has so many hidden features. That’s sarcasm by the way. It would have been much easier if the button No to all would be available. To select the option you have to press the SHIFT key and then click on No. This has the effect that future duplicate files will not be copied to the destination folder and will not replace the files that are already in that folder.

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Netrinti nė vieno : nežinau.lt says, January 15th, 2008   

[...] Dar vienas trumpas priminimas. Jei kopijuojate failus Windows Explorer, ir sistema randa failų su tokiais pačiais vardais, tai paklausia, ar rašyti „ant viršaus“ ištrinant senuosius. Lentelėje yra trys pasirinkimai „Yes“, „Yes to All“ ir „No“. O ką, jei nenorite perrašyti visų jau turimų? Nesamo „No to All“ atitikmuo yra paspaustas Shift klavišas ir bakstelėjimas pele į „No“. [...]

Tech says, January 15th, 2008   

Teracopy does this and it also has a “rename” and “rename all” button.
It supports queuing, pausing and resuming. It’s a great little program and can replace the normal windows copy-interface completely.

check it out here
http://www.chip.de/downloads/c1_downloads_28266187.html

Martin says, January 15th, 2008   

Tech yes I’m using Teracopy already but some don’t use it or can’t use it in their environment.

Tech says, January 16th, 2008   

Really? What restricts its usability in some environments?

Also I didn’t write this as a pointer to you exclusively but also to get other users to try it out. I have read some great additions to the tips you post in the comments so I figured if I can add something that might help other readers out I might as well do it.

Anyway I really like teracopy :)

Rico says, January 16th, 2008   

Gotta love the sarcasm. Thanks for the great tip. Didn’t know that was possible.

Martin says, January 16th, 2008   

Tech if you are working in a company network for example. When I was working for another company (working for my own now, hehe) I was not allowed to make any changes to the system.

Tobey says, January 16th, 2008   

Nice tip, didn’t know about this “hidden feature”. Unlike many others, this particular one is really desired :)

myo says, January 17th, 2008   

Thanks a lot, i had to hold my pointer on “no” and kept clicking it before. and i felt we need “no to all” more. now u solved my problem. thanks :)

What is Ubuntu? says, May 6th, 2008   

Uh. This is just another one of those little Windows annoyances that one quickly forgets about. Go install Ubuntu. Even if you do find some idiocrocy like a lack No To All button, you can file a bug in Launchpad (Ubuntu’s bug tracker).

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