Disable drag and drop? 2

[irish411]

We have certain users on our network that have been inadvertanly draging folders and dropping them into other folders. Is there anyway I can prevent drag and drop in windows explorer? I dont mind the cut and paste but to accidently move a folder is just not something IT workers should have to deal with on a daily basis.

If anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,
Chad

 

[linney]

Disable dragging and dropping in the Start Menu, Properties to specify whether you can drag items to the Start Menu.

In IE/ Tools/ Internet Options/ Security/ Various Zones/ Custom, there is the option to disable Drag and Drop or Copy and Paste.

Can you control the actions with the Security Access Permissions to files and folders?

 

[LloydSev]

Make your users undergo computer training before setting them up with a username on your LAN when they are hired in.. lol.

That's what we do, we make our users get trained in email & daily computer use.

Computer/Network Technician
CCNA

 

[GvanLaar]

I've read the same question 2 weeks ago on a dutch forum and since I was busy programming shell extensions I looked into programming a so called shell copy hook.
A shell copy hook can prevent the accidental move of folders by presenting a pop-up window where the user has to confirm that he/she wants to move the folder(s) and if not cancel the action.
After I made the utility I did a search on Google for similar programs/problems/solutions which turned up this topic.

As I'm new here first a question (don't want to become known as a spammer):
Is it ok to post a link to this utility here (it's freeware for personal and private use and for non-profit organizations)?


Here's also some information I've used before when dealing with drag&drop problems:
(this was on Netware but the same can probably be done with ntfs folder rights)

---

Say you have these 3 folders underneath each other in explorer:
test1
test2
test3
and you want to prevent or make it harder for the user to move any files with drag & drop from test2 to test1 or test3 (and the test2 folder has to have rwcemf rights for all users)

Solutions:

1) Prevents any moving of files by drag & drop with the folder:
(note: this uses the file system rule that you cannot copy, move or create a folder in a folder where there is already a file with the same name of the folder to be copied/moved/created)
Create in test1 and test3 a read only file with the name test2 (no extension) (maybe protect the file further with delete inhibit and rename inhibit rights so only supervisors can do anything with these files).

2) Warns the user they are going to move a folder
Flag the test2 folder read only. This then produces a dialog to the effect: "Are you sure you want to move the read-only folder ..." to which your users should say "No". Regrettably they can still choose Yes and the harm will be done.

3) A bit of a hassle and it creates unnecessary folders:
Make folders test1 and test3 read only folders where only supervisors have create rights (those folders are most of the time no longer useful for normal use) (note: I have not tested this)

4) Make the sensitivity of drag & drop a bit greater so the inadvertent small move doesn't happen so easily:
Use Tweakui to set in mouse sensitivity the drag item to a greater number (this might have a negative effect on other programs where you want to have a high sensitivity for dragging).

I would go with option 1,2 & 4 but this means more administrative overhead and when users change the sorting of the explorer display from name to f.e. date you have another problem (more folders to store a test2 file in) to deal with.

Hope this helps a little, but an enhancement request to MS for a folder property of don't drag & drop would be more appropriate (or a mandatory confirm box for drag & drop)

---

(A mandatory confirm box is what I created with my utility)

 

[bcastner]

I am stunned by how clever are Forum member GvanLaar's suggestions.

But my sympathies lie with Forum member LloydSev: this is fundamentally a user training issue. The problem usually goes away over time with the experience of the users.

Otherwise, use Mandatory Profiles, and/or be aggressive about having a standard Image you can overwrite and deploy the one the user messed up.

 

[irish411]

I hope you get allowed to post the link because I would love to try that utility.

Thanks,
Chad

 

[linney]

GvanLaar,

Welcome to the site.

You do not need any special permissions to post a link to your program on this site. How could there be any objections, especially as it is relevant to the problem being discussed.

 

[GvanLaar]

Thx linney (wasn't sure about the policies here).

D&D Interceptor is the utility I developed.
The following pop-up window will appear when users perform drag&drop actions (and optionally copy & paste, delete, create or rename folders). A logfile with info about who & when performed these actions can also be created.

Free for private and individual use, educational and non-profit organizations.
More info on this website: D&D Interceptor

 

[bcastner]

Star frome me.
Very cool.

 

[jimp56]

very nice GvanLaar - this is the very sort of thing us support folks have been waiting for for years! kudos to you...

do you take suggestions for other "enhancements?" lol

 

[GvanLaar]

Thx for the stars. Suggestions for other "enhancements" are always welcome.

 

[irish411]

GvanLaar thanks alot for your help. I will be sending some money your way for this nice tool very soon. Keep em coming.

Love this website, thanks everyone for being so helpful. It sure is nice to have people to turn to that don't charge by the hour and then give you useless info.

Thanks,
Chad

 

[r0k]

Very nice utility. I have run across instances where my machine was real busy wasting my time and I found later it misunderstood a mouse movement as a drag and drop request. This problem is usually a computer novice problem, but not always! Training is almost never the answer. Well designed software is the answer.

I have also experienced the opposite problem...

Now I just need somebody to go off and write an "are you sure?" killer I can start up just before moving several gigs of files which contain "turds" such as thumbs.db and read-only or system files which cause the windows copy process to stop and wait for me to click "ok" five seconds after I start it up!