How to simulate "No to all" when copying in Windows XP

Posted on April 11, 2008 at 5:02 am

Ever had to copy a bunch of files from one location on your local hard drive to another place with a lot of files with the same name? Well there are really only two options that you have when there are files with the same name: either replace the destination files or leave the destination files as they are and only copy the new files.

By default, when you are copying files and there is a name conflict, Windows gives you the option to replace all of the destination files with the “Yes to All” button in the Confirm File Replace dialog box.

That’s a nice feature because clicking Yes to All will not bring up the Confirm File Replace dialog box again for any other name conflicts. However, you may have noticed that there is no “No to All” button listed! Maybe I want to only copy the new files and not overwrite the current files in the destination location.

As of right now, I would have to sit there and press No each time there was a file name conflict. This would be a royal pain if I had hundreds or thousands of files to replace. So can anything be done?

Luckily, there is still a stealthy way to tell Windows not to overwrite all the files with name conflicts and thereby skip them over. You can create this “No to All” functionality by simply pressing and holding the SHIFT key when you click the No button in the Confirm File Replace dialog box.

That’s it! Now you will only be asked once to not overwrite the destination files instead of each time. I believe that this issue is not a problem in Windows Vista since it gives you more advanced options when copying files, but it’s a great trick to know in Windows XP!

Anyone want to comment on whether Microsoft should have put in another button for “No to All”? Enjoy! Source: TXpress

[tags]no to all, yes to all, copying files, windows file copy, windows no to all, copy no to all, no to all windows xp, no to all button[/tags]

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Comments

21 Responses to “How to simulate "No to all" when copying in Windows XP”

Siddharth said on : April 11th, 2008 at 10:15 pm

Oh
the no to all button can be started even in XP.
it just needs a little resource hacking

Steve Nix said on : April 28th, 2008 at 7:27 pm

Just used a tip for NO to ALL when copying in Windows XP… very helpful…. had mutiple files from a camera (talking 1000s of pictures) and of course it kept using the same naming convention when uploading… example picture001, picture002, etc… nevertheless this tip help me get them consolidated into mutiple batches so my wife can get printed. Thanks!!! Steve

Marta said on : November 20th, 2008 at 4:55 am

Nice; but what if “Yes to all” is missing!?

(problem: Copy one file in hundreds of (sub)folders and overwrite without asking)

Thanks

Stephen said on : February 2nd, 2009 at 8:19 am

Thanks a million. Have been frustrated by this shortcoming for years! Never thought to query it till now. Very glad I did. Can’t believe it’s so easy.

Möö said on : March 15th, 2009 at 12:37 pm

Uhh, that’s just sick it’s hidden under shift… good job, Microsoft!

Thanks, mate

Devon V said on : April 19th, 2009 at 10:40 pm

Wow, I wish I knew this one years ago, it would have saved me a lot of pain (aka “wasted time”). Well, it’ll certainly save me from future pain related to this.

Richard Potter said on : June 8th, 2009 at 8:38 pm

This works for files, but not for folders. I would like to globally copy My Documents folder onto an external hard drive where I have already copied it, but just lay out the new files into the subdirectories of the same name. When I hit Shift No at the Confirm Folder Replace, it skips that folder entirely, instead of adding the files that exist in the source but not in the target.

Dallas said on : October 7th, 2009 at 11:48 am

It does not work. I pressed and held Shift and clicked No but it still prompted me on the next file and all the files after that.

Devon said on : October 16th, 2009 at 2:41 pm

Unfortunately, it will also say “no” to any folders you are copying, which would be great except I’d like to transfer new and/or non-duplicate files into those sub-folders at the same time.

Does Windows have any procedure for this type of transfer?

Devon said on : October 16th, 2009 at 2:44 pm

@Dallas – I’m not sure if you are doing it wrong, have a bad version of Windows, or have software that over-rides hotkeys (or somehow otherwise shut off hotkeys), but it works fine for me in Windows XP SP2.

Don said on : December 14th, 2009 at 11:07 am

No way!!! I can’t believe I never knew this. This is great. Instead of having to click No a hundred times, just hold down Shift! What a miracle!