[Solution] “Play All” Option Opens “Copy Items” and “Move Items” Dialog Box in Windows XP

I have received many mails from several AskVG readers regarding this common problem. If you use Windows XP then you might also have faced this problem.

Problem Description:

The problem occurs when you select a media file (it might be an audio or video file) and click on "Play All" link given in common tasks section (the sidebar present on the left in Windows Explorer):

It opens 2 annoying dialog boxes. First a "Copy Items" dialog box appears.

When you close it another "Move Items" dialog box appears.

After closing this second dialog box, your media file starts playing in Media player.

Solution:

Actually this problem occurs when "Copy To" and "Move To" options are added in file/folder context menu. It might be done by a tweaking software or you added it intentionally.

You just need to remove these 2 options from context menu to solve this problem.

Follow these simple steps:

1. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\

3. Remove Copy To and Move To keys under it.

4. That's it. Now you'll not see those 2 annoying dialog boxes any more.

NOTE: If you want a ready-made registry script which can do the task automatically, then download following ZIP file, extract it and then run the extracted REG file. It'll ask for confirmation, accept it:

Download Registry Script

This article was posted in Troubleshooting, Windows XP.

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8 Comments

Nikolaj

hey VG u need to update ur media player u hav wmp 9!
VG

^^ lol. Yeah.
KooNKHaR

wether its 9 or 11, doesn't matter to windows guru..
he's not a media man, he's a registry man
Riza

I did'nt know about this issue. Just i tried to see. But never I use Play all and I need Copy Here and Move Here menu items.
And I agree WMP 9 has no big difference from WMP 11 but anyway I use 11 because of very sexy interface.
Jeet Chowdhury

11 Is Really Useful Man. Specially Its Library Features. Also 24 Bit Sound Quality For Audio CD. And Directx Acceleration For WMV's.
Mamy

I had this issue with WMP9 and Win XP Pro.
It's been quite hard to find out the right solution.
This registry tweak fixed the problem.
Great thanks !!!!!
Klapperkopp

Issue fixed =)
thx a lot !
satesh

hey thanks man !!!