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20590
October 12th, 2003 17:00
Right-mouse button causes system to freeze
Whenever I right-click on a file or shortcut (to change the properties, for instance), the pointer turns into an hour glass and the hard drive start spinning and the hard drive light flashes, but nothing ever happens. I have to either use Ctrl-Alt-Del to shut down Windows Explorer (if that's where I was when I right-clicked on the file), or sometimes I have to just restart the whole system. I can sometimes right-click within a program (such as Word or Excel) and use the functionality of the right mouse button there, but at the Windows level I can't right-click on anything at all without my system seizing up. Is this a known problem, and if so what can I do about it?
Thanks!
DELL-Chris M
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October 13th, 2003 12:00
Welcome to the Dell Community Forum (DCF).
List all the software and/or hardware changes made to the system BEFORE this issue arose. List all the troubleshooting steps you have taken.
webapalooza
8 Posts
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October 13th, 2003 21:00
No new software installed -- maybe just some Norton antivirus updates and Windows updates that happen automatically in the background. I went to the Microsoft web site to try and find a solution, but couldn't find anything listed for this problem. I uninstalled the mouse driver and reinstalled it, then I upgraded to the latest driver but that didn't fix it. The troubleshooting option in my hardware preferences says the mouse is working fine, which it is for most programs. But I can't right-click on anything within Windows Explorer or on my desktop without it hanging up my system. Any thoughts?
Thanks for your help!!!
DELL-Chris M
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October 14th, 2003 13:00
* Click Start- Run
* Type MSCONFIG [press the Enter key]
* Insert the dot to Normal Startup
* Click Apply- OK (Don't restart the system)
* Right-click the [Start] button
* Left-click Open
* Double-click Programs
* Double-click Startup (Everything you see in the start up group is actually running all the time, which just takes away from your resources)
* Move ALL the icons in the Startup box to the desktop. Here is how too move the icons:
* Right-click the icon [hold the button down]
* Drag the icon out of the Start Up box
* Let go on the desktop
* Left-click "Move Here")
* After you have moved all the icons onto the desktop, close all the boxes
* Click Start- Shutdown- Restart- OK or Click Start- Turn Off Computer- Restart
webapalooza
8 Posts
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October 14th, 2003 21:00
Chris,
It would be swell if I could try your suggestion, but I can't right-click on the Start button as it doesn't bring up any context-sensitive menu. It just hangs up my system. Any other ideas I could try?
DELL-Chris M
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October 15th, 2003 11:00
Boot into safemode. Can you then right click sucessfully?
webapalooza
8 Posts
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October 16th, 2003 00:00
I rebooted in Safe Mode, and here's what happened:
I WAS able to right-click on a desktop icon.
I WAS able to right-click on the taskbar.
I WAS NOT able to right-click on the Start button.
I WAS NOT able to open Windows Explorer using Windows-E (to see if I could right-click on a file).
In each case where I was NOT able to right-click, the hard drive light came on and flickered continuously, and I had to shut down the system.
Now what...???
Navin kurian
526 Posts
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October 16th, 2003 03:00
try using the right click key on the keyboard its usually near the ctrl key and the windows key
cheers
webapalooza
8 Posts
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October 16th, 2003 11:00
Hi Chris,
Nope -- if I select a desktop icon and then use the right-click keyboard button, the system does the same thing as if I'd right-clicked on the icon with the mouse (freezes up). It's very frustrating!
webapalooza
8 Posts
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October 17th, 2003 19:00
webapalooza
8 Posts
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October 19th, 2003 12:00
Navin kurian
526 Posts
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October 19th, 2003 17:00
Norton AntiVirus may cause the computer to hang at a blinking cursor when shutting down Windows. To resolve this issue follow the below instructions.
Double click the Norton Antivirus icon in the systray.
Click the Options button.
Click the Auto-Protect Tab.
Remove the check from 'Load Auto-Protect at startup'.
webapalooza
8 Posts
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October 19th, 2003 23:00
Hi Navin! Thanks for your efforts to help me out here. I'm not really having the problem you describe (the computer hanging at a blinking cursor when shutting down Windows). I'll try your suggestion anyway to see if it helps with the right-click problem that I am having.
In the meantime, I downloaded another file viewing utility (2xExplorer) to see if it caused the same problems. It did! I couldn't right-click on any files or folders without the program freezing up on me. Maybe it's integrated with Windows Explorer somehow, so perhaps it's just the same problem with Windows being experienced through a different program?
mesmolin
2 Posts
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December 18th, 2003 19:00
I am having the same trouble. I know that it is caused by a Microsoft Windows Update. However, I don't know exactly which one. Norton is not the cause.
If I use task manager to stop Explorer.exe, then restart it using the File; New Task in Task Manager and retart Explorer.exe I get control of the computer back. But I still cannot right click or use the File menu without hanging the system again.
Microsoft Support says I must deal with Dell Support on this since Windows XP came installed on the computer. Dell support last time had me do a system restore to restore before the Windows Update. This worked but they could not give me an explanation as to what was causing the problem. And now I can no longer update Windows without the problem re-appearing.
There has to be a solution for this somewhere since it seems to be happening to others. But noone I've seen has a fix.