Simple XP tip: use “Undo Delete”
Windows XP has a pretty decent recycle bin. Well, it does make deleting files slow when it gets full, and Explorer still has that “Are you sure … ?” dialog — but still, it works. Here’s how to make it a little better:
Step one: turn off the “are you sure?” dialog. What’s the point in having a confirm dialog if you can easily get the files back from the Recycle Bin anyway?
To turn it off, go to Explorer (the file browser, not the web browser), then right-click on Recycle Bin and go to Properties. Simply uncheck the option “Display delete confirmation dialog”, and you’re away.
You can then press delete, and it’ll delete right away. If you stuff up and really do want that file, it’ll be there for you in the Bin.
Step two: use “Undo Delete”. Actually, it’s easier than the above. Explorer has a nice Undo Delete action. If you’ve just deleted a file but didn’t mean to, simply go to the Edit menu and click Undo Delete (even better, just press Ctrl-Z, the standard undo key).
21 July 2008 by Ben 2 comments
2 comments (oldest first)
you then want to avoid context click recycle, “empty..”, without checking “inside” for accidental deletes. but since you can del multiple files, and possibly only some intentionally, you still normally want to review contents of recycle before emptying.
nice tip, I’ve been doing it for almost 2 years and it’s very comfortable, and the amazing thing is, it working on GNOME out of the box.