Drag&Drop to move File/Folder, but leave a Shortcut

[AndyM]

In Windows (XP) when you drag and drop using the Right mouse button, you are offered a choice to either Copy, Move, or Create a Shortcut.

What I'd like to see is a fourth choice:  Move, but leave a Shortcut in the original location (exact location if the original location is the Desktop).

This is probably difficult since this menu is part of Windows and I've never seen it modified.

[Ath]

That 'task' is accomplished using a left-mouse drag, holding down the control key on your keyboard... (My Windows calls it 'copy', adding a small + to the icon during the drag action).

[AndyM]

No, that makes a copy in the new location, and holding Shift will force a move and holding Alt will make a shorcut in the new location.  Same as the menu choices you get when you right-click drag the file or folder.

What I want is to move the file/folder, but replace it in the original location with a shortcut to it's new location.  I'd prefer to do it with the Right-Click-drag menu, but practically speaking it will probably be easier to implement by having a key (not Shift,Control,or Alt) held down while dragging the file/folder.

Can Autohotkey recognize a "key-modified" drag and drop?

[tomos]

so you want to move the files; then create a shortcut in their original location, shortcut pointing to their new location

[edit] I see you answered that already [/edit]

This possibly no help to you, but have you seen what 4wd is doing here Windows Shortcut transformation
(replacing shortcuts with destination files - which is the opposite of what you're looking for I guess)

[AndyM]

Yes, that's the opposite.  Plus I'm looking to avoid another interface/dialog box, which would defeat the purpose - to quickly drag and drop between folders, mostly between the desktop and another folder.

[jgpaiva]

Would it be acceptable if this worked as a "send to" item?

[AndyM]

Probably not since I'd have to select the destination through another dialog, an extra step making the exercise pointless.

This is a trivial operation, not worth writing a utility for, when I have both the source and destination windows both opened.  Then you just drag and drop the file, and then drag and drop it back to make the shortcut. Or make the shortcut before you move the file/folder.

But I'm mostly doing this (moving a file but leaving a bookmark in it's place) from my desktop (there's a reason).  And I want the shortcut placed by the desktop, in the automatic "next place" that a desktop icon would go, so I can't finish the operation by dragging the moved file back (either holding down Alt or using the RightButtonDrag dialog) since I can't easily manually place the shortcut icon.  So when I do this I open up an explorer window to the desktop so that an icon created in the explorer window is automatically placed on the desktop.

Doh!  I just realized I could resurrect the old right click menu choice, Create Shortcut, a choice I always found absolutely useless so I hid it using MMM+.  I just unhid it and now if I Create Shortcut from the desktop, the shortcut is placed automatically in the next expected location on the desktop.

I'd still really like to have a 4th choice added to the RightButtonDrag dialog (Copy File; Move File; Create Shortcut; Move File but leave Shortcut in it's place).  Or be able to hold down a modifier key while dragging and dropping the file to achieve the same result. 

But resurrecting the Create Shortcut choice is a decent workaround.

--------------------------------------

Once again I come up with an answer (not necessarily the best one, but an answer nevertheless) right after posting my question.  This happens to me exactly 92.89% of the time (yes I've kept track  ), even if I've waited a long time to ask my question.  So it turns out the best way for me to figure something out is to ask here and then feel a bit foolish when an answer only comes to me afterward.

Does this happen to anyone else?  Is there a name for this phenomenon?

[tomos]

Once again I come up with an answer (not necessarily the best one, but an answer nevertheless) right after posting my question.  This happens to me exactly 92.89% of the time (yes I've kept track  ), even if I've waited a long time to ask my question.  So it turns out the best way for me to figure something out is to ask here and then feel a bit foolish when an answer only comes to me afterward.

Does this happen to anyone else?  Is there a name for this phenomenon?

-AndyM (March 08, 2011, 11:55 AM)

That's about par for me too - maybe it's called thinking outside the head

PS you probably know this one too -
you can alt+drag to create a shortcut as well