hmmm...not sure what you are wanting to do here. Why not just shift-click what you want to select or Control-A for "Select All". I have been using Corel since version 1 and I cannot rmember ever being able to do that; what you describe is how AI does it's marquee select. For me, anyways, I prefer the Corel method as it is easier to control what gets selected. Or, an alternative is to open the Object Manager and select the objects there. This comes in very handy when there are a lot of layers and groups.
....
Hey, thanks Trevor! I never knew you could select that way
When do you find this a handy way to select? That is one of my big "annoyances" with AI is that it selects the way you mention; I'm so used to the standard Corel method