Specifications

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Stopping Delete Confirmations
FIGURE 1.4 With file extensions turned on, it’s much easier to tell the files apart.
Stopping Delete Confirmations
My biggest Windows pet peeves center around tasks that require you to jump through
extra hoops that are totally unnecessary. In Windows XP, for example, clicking the Shut
Down command on the Start menu doesn’t shut down your computer, at least not right
away. Instead, a dialog box shows up and you need to click Shut Down yet again. Dumb!
Another unnecessary dialog box that shows up in all versions of Windows is the “Are you
sure you want to move this file to the Recycle Bin?” prompt that pops up when you press
Delete. Now you either need to move your hand to the mouse to click Yes, or you can
keep your hands on the keyboard by pressing Alt+Y. Either way, it’s an extra step that just
slows you down.
One way to avoid this confirmation dialog box is to click and drag the file you want to
delete and then drop it on the desktop’s Recycle Bin icon. That’s nice to know, but most of
us rarely see our desktops these days, so this method is not very practical.
A much better solution is to configure Recycle Bin to not display the confirmation dialog
box at all. Here’s how it’s done:
1. Right-click the desktop’s Recycle Bin icon and then click Properties. Windows 7
displays the Recycle Bin’s property sheet.
2. Click to deactivate the Display Delete Confirmation Dialog check box.
3. Click OK to put the new setting into effect.
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