Mouse right button problem -- again

[Gustavus]

My main machine has a frustrating problem associated with the right mouse button. It is not the mouse -- but the OS. System is running Windows XP with SP2 installed. The right button is recognized and works properly for some things -- like clicking on the desktop and then opening properties to set dispaly etc.

If I right click on a folder -- which you have to do to rename, delete etc. -- the cursor changes to an hourglass and I have to reboot to regain control.

If I right click on an item in a directory, the same thing happens, but in this case I can click Cntrl/Alt/Del to open task manager. The directory will show as not responding and I can close the task. Can't get out of the freeze that way when I have right clicked on a folder though.

I can delete a folder by dragging it to the recycle bin and then clearing the recycle bin, but clearly not being able to rename or to delete files in directories or to rename or delete folders is an unacceptable state of affairs.

I have searched extensively on net and tried several suggested fixes -- none of which worked.

 

[mpilchfamily]

Have said its not the mouse i assume you ahve tried a differnt mouse.

Have you tried to unistall the mouse drivers and have windows reinstall them. If that doesn't help then try a CMOS reset. If that doesn't work then you may want to try reinstalling windows.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

What mpilchfamily said. In the mean time, you know you can rename folders and files by slowly left double clicking them yes?

 

[Gustavus]

Thanks for the replies. Uninstalling the drivers and letting Windows reinstall them had no effect.

I had never heard of a slow left double click allowing a rename and even though I have tried all sorts of speeds in left clicking, Ican't get that trick to work.

I am trying to avoid a reformat and reinstall -- but guess I will have to bite the bullet and do it.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Originally posted by: Gustavus
Thanks for the replies. Uninstalling the drivers and letting Windows reinstall them had no effect.

I had never heard of a slow left double click allowing a rename and even though I have tried all sorts of speeds in left clicking, Ican't get that trick to work.

I am trying to avoid a reformat and reinstall -- but guess I will have to bite the bullet and do it.

You double left click on the name as opposed to the folder or file icon.

 

[Gustavus]

Thanks Magnus, but can't get that to work for me. I am building a replacement machine at the moment and will format and reinstall OS when this machine replaces the other one.

 

[Ausm]

I would try creating a new user and see if the OS still exhibits this behavior. When you do this it should create a new "template" and just might fix your problem.

 

[Gustavus]

Thanks to all who made suggestions. I have done what I was hoping to avoid, and formatted and reinstalled clean. Always hate to do that -- not because it is a pain, which it is, but because it is an admission I don't know how to fix a problem.

 

[L00PY]

You can rule out the mouse by selecting a folder and using Shift-F10 instead of a right click. I suspect what's happening is that right click trying to bring up something in that menu and failing miserably. Two places to check are your SendTo items and the folder context menu registry items.

You can find the SendTo items in C:\Documents and Settings\username\SendTo or use Run>SendTo to open it up.

The folder context menu items are in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell.