Easy Way to Select Files in Windows Vista and Windows 7 with Check Boxes

Suppose you want to select only certain files from a folder list in Windows Explorer. Maybe you want to delete certain files or copy a few files to another folder. You may know the old trick of holding down the Ctrl key and single-clicking each file to make a group selection but Windows Vista/7 has an easier way. It isn’t enabled by default, however, and you have to turn the feature on by going to Folder Options. There are several ways to open Folder Options but here is one way to do it:

1. Go to the Start-Search bar
2. Enter “folder options” (without quotes). Actually, just “fol” works on my systems.
3. Select "Folder Options" from the list
4. In the dialog box that opens, select the View tab
5. Scroll down the list of advanced options and place a check by “Use Check boxes to select items”.
6. Click “Apply” and “OK”

From now on, a check box will appear to the left of a file name whenever the mouse is hovered over it. Click the file to put a check in the box and select the file. The file will stay selected until you remove the check or close the Explorer window.