As long as I'm bashing Microsoft--and really, can you think of a better way to spend a summer's evening?--I might as well bring up other programs that do all the things Windows Explorer can't do worth a darn. The most efficient approach is simply to chuck Explorer and run Xplorer2.
At first glance it may look as if you're running Windows Explorer--until you notice the multiple file lists, the preview window, and the plethora of goodies strewn along its toolbar and menus. It's filled with dozens of tweaks that should be standard in Windows.
Xplorer2 lets you search for duplicate files, display a history of programs you've run, and copy to multiple folders. And that's just the beginning. Use its automatic script-generation wizard to create scripts to apply multiple commands to multiple files. Create your own commands and put them on the toolbar. Transform drives so they look like folders. Use "sticky clicking" and never again have to hold down the Ctrl key as you select files.
The utility's best trick is that it lets you change the text and background colors based on file extensions so that you can identify files as a glance. I've given all my graphics files red backgrounds, but I use the text colors to distinguish among JPEGs, GIFs, TIFFs, and so on. It's a computing rainbow. Makes me think Microsoft needs to hire not more programmers, but the art director for Hairspray.
To download(Free Demo, $25 Program), go to: http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,62865-order,1-page,1/description.html
Xplorer2 is, of course, a whole corral full of one-trick ponies. Ycopy has only one trick, one very small, modest trick. But at the right time, you'd rather see Ycopy's little pony caper than a herd of horses performing Tristan und Isolde.
Why? Because the following has happened, or will happen, to you: One day, you discover that you have to copy a few hundred gigs' worth of files from one place to another. Because this task will take a few hours, you decide to go on a long lunch while the files migrate. Three hours and four banana margaritas later, you return to find that the copy operation choked on the tenth file because the file was open on another screen, or had an error, or was read-only. All your computer has been doing while you were gone is display a message asking what to do about the problem.
This is when you remember that computers are not like people: Even the dumbest human would put aside copying that one file until you returned. So will Ycopy. When Ycopy finds a file it can't handle, it makes a note about it and moves on to the next file. When you get back from lunch, you still have to do something about the recalcitrant files, but at least all of the other ones are taken care of.
To download(Free Program), go to: http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,67079-order,1-page,1/description.html