Windows 7 / Getting Started

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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.

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.

Now let's consider this tweak from the opposite point of view. The reason Windows displays the delete confirmation dialog box by default is to prevent you from accidentally deleting a file. You and I are savvy, knowledgeable users, so we know when we want to delete something, but not everyone falls into this boat. If you have young kids or elderly folks who use Windows, you know that the delete confirmation dialog box is an excellent safeguard for these and other inexperienced users.

In that case, you might be wondering if there's a way to ensure that a novice user can't turn off the delete confirmation dialog box. Yes, in fact, there is, although it's a bit harder to implement because it involves changing a policy setting on the user's computer. A policy setting is a kind of rule that an administrator applies to a Windows system, and that rule can't be overridden except by another administrator. To apply a policy setting, you use the Local Group Policy Editor.

NOTE The Local Group Policy Editor is available only with Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate versions of Windows 7.

You can use two ways to prevent a user from turning off delete confirmations:

• Disable the Display Delete Confirmation Dialog check box that appears in the Recycle Bin's property sheet.
• Disable the Recycle Bin's Properties command so that the user can't display the Recycle Bin's property sheet.

Follow these steps to implement one of these policies:

1. On the other user's computer, click Start, type gpedit.msc, and then press Enter to select the gpedit program that appears in the search results.
2. Open the User Configuration branch.
3. Open the Administrative Templates branch.
4. Display the property sheet of the policy you want to use, as follows:
   • If you want to disable the Display Delete Confirmation Dialog check box, open the Windows Components branch and then click Windows Explorer. Double-click the policy named Display Confirmation Dialog When Deleting Files. If you don't have access to the Group Policy Editor, open the Registry Editor and create a DWORD setting named ConfirmFileDelete with the value 1 in the following key:
     HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
   • If you want to disable the Recycle Bin's Properties command, click Desktop and then double-click the Remove Properties from the Recycle Bin Context Menu policy. If you don't have access to the Group Policy Editor, open the Registry Editor and create a DWORD setting named NoPropertiesRecycleBin with the value 1 in the following key:
     HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
     NOTE The Remove Properties from the Recycle Bin Context Menu policy has a misleading name because, when enabled, the policy disables some but, strangely, not all instances of the Recycle Bin's Properties command. For example, if the user displays the desktop in a folder window and clicks Recycle Bin, the Properties command is disabled in both the Organize menu and the File menu. However, the Properties command is still enabled when you right-click the Recycle Bin icon the desktop, but choosing the command only displays an error message.
5. Click the Enabled option.
6. Click OK to put the policy into effect.

With the Display Confirmation Dialog When Deleting Files policy in effect, the Display Delete Confirmation Dialog check box is activated and disabled.