Windows 7 Bug

[screenxpress]

I don't see a Computer section here, so I'll drop this one here.

This warning involves a bug in 7 when deleting folders but more for just single or several files. 

First off, many of you probably won't even have to worry about this bug, but be forewarned. 

Because most of you do the familiar right click and then select delete which puts files/folders in the recycle bin and then someday (if ever) you get around to deleting them from the recycle bin.  (They do take up real disk space even in the recycle bin)

Anyway, for years now, there's always been a quick delete option that bypasses the recycle bin.  That's done by holding down the Shift Key and pressing the Delete Key.  This is followed by a pop-up window just asking if you're sure you want to delete what you selected.  We got into the habit of just pressing Enter.  I mean, what's to worry?  We did want to delete the file, right?

Well, be extremely careful in Windows 7 IF you use the Shift/Delete key option.  READ THAT POP-UP WINDOW CAREFULLY!  There's a bug in 7 that even though you clicked just one file (or several) and did the Shift/Delete, the pop-up window just might be asking if you're sure you want to delete the entire folder.   

It's a roll of the dice.  It does not happen all the time, BUT, if you click that following that pop-up window OR press Enter out of habit....poof....your entire folder is GONE! 

Let's hope we all have backups...... 

[Evo]

Let's hope we all have backups...... 

Thanks for the post, I actually did not know about this bug.



My rule(s) of thumb:

Backup to external hard drive. This external drive should be at least 1.5x the size of the main drive you want backed up.

Put data files on a separate partition, or better yet a separate drive from your OS drive.

In a perfect world, you have 2 external drives. One backs up every day, the other you bring in once a month (or more often) and do a full back up, then store off-site, or you supplement the external drive backups with cloud storage.


If you value your time and business, religiously backing everything up is as essential as properly cured shirts.

[squeezee]

You do need a short term back-up, which happens daily, I use SyncToy, a Microsoft freebie, to synchronise between a couple of laptops.
You need a monthly backup for which I use an ubuntu OS in an old dell PC as a 'server'.
Touchwood - it has worked til now.
Off-site storage is clearly sensible so take a copy of your critical files home on an encrypted flash drive.

[inkman996]

Wayne I simply set my recycle bin to remove files completely instead of piling up in the bin wasting space. Ofcourse you have to make sure you never delete something by accident 

[squeezee]

as a btw:
A friend of mine changed his password and promptly forgot it.  He asked me whether it was possible to get in without the password.  I consulted the MS website and it said 'No Way, it's really secure. MS are always right??
I popped an Ubuntu CD in the drive and it let me access all the files on the hard drive, so I could get his files back.
I then googled the problem and found loads of utilities that try to break the password and if you can't do that you can simply remove the password.
It took about 15 minutes.
If your hard drive isn't encrypted, it's basically unprotected, though it needs to be physically available, I don't think you can hack in from the internet.
I was quite shocked as I meander around the country with my laptop containing sensitive files.
They are now encrypted.

[screenxpress]

Squeezee - Good info.

Inkman - I know.  I've never been a big fan of the Recycle Bin since it does take up space and I rarely go back and empty it, but have been using it more now with the Windows 7 bugaboo.