You could check "Mouse Properties" , "Buttons" & enable "Click Lock"
I have Laptop with Touchpad so don't think the following applies to you
If "Mouse Properties" has "Device Settings" tab ,click on "Settings" & check these.
I see that nearly a month has gone by and no one from Dell has addressed this issue. The problem remains unresolved, despite numerous repair-reinstalls of Windows XP. I have posted messages in various other online forums (microsoft, tek-tips, etc.), but none of the solutions offered in those places has helped, either.
I am at my wits end... do we need to return this computer to Dell? That seems to me the only answer since we are not getting any help with customer support.
First, you might notice that this is not Dell Support! This is a user to user forum and apparently other users have not experienced your problem and therefore do not have an answer. You say "I have surfed through the various forums here, and I see a lot of users with the same problem - but 99% of these similar messages have gone unanswered by Dell Support (and some of these messages go back to 2000)" Could you pleas point us to these messages. I'm surprised because, unlike most forums on the internet, most problems do eventually get resolved here, at least if the people having problems are repsectful enough to post back telling us that the problems have or have not been solved.
You say have tried repair reinstalls of XP. Have you tried a complete reinstallation of Windows XP? It's usually a last resort, but you appear to be at the end of the line and may need to procede to this last resort. Have you contacted Dell Tech Support?
Funny, it *says* "Dell Support" at the top of the page *I'm* looking at... even the URL itself identifies this as a Dell Support page (http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums.... etc.) I also can't help but notice that many of the messages in these forums have responses from Dell Support personnel.
As for the similar messages I mentioned, I'm not going to hunt them all down again for you... but if you simply type "drag and drop" into the search box you can sort through them yourself. And I agree that much of the time people are not polite enough to post a response when they have a problem fixed. However, the messages I'm referring to, most of them have gone *totally* unanswered - by Dell or anyone else.
Yes, I have contacted Dell Support via email - and their response was near gibberish. No, I have not tried a standard reinstall of XP, though I guess that is the next step short of reformatting the drive and starting from scratch. Naturally, we only want to do this as a last resort.
As for the examples you gave... the first two are the same message, and yes we have tried this fix already and it did not work. If you think it would do any good to try it again - uncheck box, reboot, check box again - we'll give it a go. As for the third example you gave - that user is actually receiving an error message. We get no error message - it's simply that nothing happens when you try to drag and drop. In Windows Explorer the file stays right where it started - on the desktop, you can drag an icon but the moment you "drop" it the icon snaps right back to where it was when you started.
And regarding Dell support via email - believe me when I say that the latest message I received from them regarding this problem was a jumble of sentence fragments that appeared to have been cut-and-pasted from other sources and made almost no sense whatsoever. Reading it was like trying to decipher code. Sentences ending abruptly, skipping three blank lines in the middle of a sentence, refering me to conflicting resource/advice pages, and grammer that would make a grade school teacher cringe.
I am not an idiot nor a beginner at working on computers, and I know how to follow directions that make sense. In fact, this is the first computer problem I've encountered in years that I wasn't able to work out eventually.
Again, I very much appreciate you trying to help, Steve, so let's stop the pettiness and see if we can work this out.
Let me ask you this (another question emailed to support but not yet answered)... Should we simply try to reinstall XP (without using the repair console or the repair-reinstall) clean... or should we reformat the hard drive and then install XP. Try the first, and if that doesn't work, *then* go on to the "last resort"???
--Roxanne
p.s.: you helped me once before when i couldn't get the bios upgrade program off the same computer as the one with the drag and drop issue... problem was successfully resolved and i posted such. thanks again!
I realize that everyone thinks their problem is common and important. But, I have been monitoring these forums on a daily basis for over three years and your problem is not a common problem. Despite the fact that it says Dell Support at the top or the forum - the largest letters say "Community Forum", because that is what it is. What percentage of the messages on these forums are answered by Dell employees? I would say that it is less than 1%. Please read about Dell's role in the forum:
I see you tried that suggestion. But, did you try unchecking the box, then rebooting, then checking the box again. Sometimes Windows thinks things are turned on but doesn't realize that they are turned off until one tells it to turn it off and turn it on again.
But never replied back with with further information that may have helped Dell Michael C. (or anyone else for that matter) to help with the problem.
What I am saying here is that your problem is not a common problem. Uncommon problems are the most difficult to solve. Sometimes the only solution is to reformat and reinstall.
Sorry to be so defensive, but as a forum regular, I think we do a pretty good job helping people fix problems. The regulars in combination, provide some excellent advice and try to follow up on every question until it is solved. But it is not fair to blame Dell, as there is very little little participation from Dell in these forums.
If turning off drag and drop and turning it back on doesn't fix the problem, as suggested above, then let us know. The attitude of the forum regulars is to only use reformat and reinstall as a last resort, but we may be ale to come up with some other suggestions before we resort to that.
As for your other question - "Should we simply try to reinstall XP (without using the repair console or the repair-reinstall) clean... or should we reformat the hard drive and then install XP. Try the first, and if that doesn't work, *then* go on to the "last resort"???"
If you have already used the Repair-reinstall and it didn't fix the problem, then thre really is no other option, since you can't just reinstall XP without formatting the drive and installing. There is a good reinstall guide for your system at:
gryjhnhpe
2 Intern
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December 8th, 2003 01:00
rocmills
9 Posts
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December 10th, 2003 00:00
Thanks, Gary... at least *someone* tried to help.
We already tried what you suggested, and it made no difference as the box was already checked.
We have tried the following ways to fix this problem:
Removed Hotfix Q824145
We verified the DCOMCNFG
A "fix" specifically for XP drag and drop issues.
None of these things did anything to remedy the problem.
We still cannot drag and drop in Windows Explorer and we also cannot move desktop icons.
Is Dell going to respond to this issue/question, or just ignore it like so many of the other messages from Dell customers having the same problem?
--Roxanne
gryjhnhpe
2 Intern
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2K Posts
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December 10th, 2003 04:00
I have Laptop with Touchpad so don't think the following applies to you
If "Mouse Properties" has "Device Settings" tab ,click on "Settings" & check these.
rocmills
9 Posts
0
December 27th, 2003 16:00
Hello Dell Support!
I see that nearly a month has gone by and no one from Dell has addressed this issue. The problem remains unresolved, despite numerous repair-reinstalls of Windows XP. I have posted messages in various other online forums (microsoft, tek-tips, etc.), but none of the solutions offered in those places has helped, either.
I am at my wits end... do we need to return this computer to Dell? That seems to me the only answer since we are not getting any help with customer support.
--Roxanne Mills
volcano11
2 Intern
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28K Posts
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December 27th, 2003 21:00
First, you might notice that this is not Dell Support! This is a user to user forum and apparently other users have not experienced your problem and therefore do not have an answer. You say "I have surfed through the various forums here, and I see a lot of users with the same problem - but 99% of these similar messages have gone unanswered by Dell Support (and some of these messages go back to 2000)" Could you pleas point us to these messages. I'm surprised because, unlike most forums on the internet, most problems do eventually get resolved here, at least if the people having problems are repsectful enough to post back telling us that the problems have or have not been solved.
You say have tried repair reinstalls of XP. Have you tried a complete reinstallation of Windows XP? It's usually a last resort, but you appear to be at the end of the line and may need to procede to this last resort. Have you contacted Dell Tech Support?
Steve
rocmills
9 Posts
0
December 27th, 2003 22:00
Funny, it *says* "Dell Support" at the top of the page *I'm* looking at... even the URL itself identifies this as a Dell Support page (http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums.... etc.) I also can't help but notice that many of the messages in these forums have responses from Dell Support personnel.
As for the similar messages I mentioned, I'm not going to hunt them all down again for you... but if you simply type "drag and drop" into the search box you can sort through them yourself. And I agree that much of the time people are not polite enough to post a response when they have a problem fixed. However, the messages I'm referring to, most of them have gone *totally* unanswered - by Dell or anyone else.
Yes, I have contacted Dell Support via email - and their response was near gibberish. No, I have not tried a standard reinstall of XP, though I guess that is the next step short of reformatting the drive and starting from scratch. Naturally, we only want to do this as a last resort.
rocmills
9 Posts
0
December 28th, 2003 02:00
Thanks for the detailed reply, Steve.
As for the examples you gave... the first two are the same message, and yes we have tried this fix already and it did not work. If you think it would do any good to try it again - uncheck box, reboot, check box again - we'll give it a go. As for the third example you gave - that user is actually receiving an error message. We get no error message - it's simply that nothing happens when you try to drag and drop. In Windows Explorer the file stays right where it started - on the desktop, you can drag an icon but the moment you "drop" it the icon snaps right back to where it was when you started.
And regarding Dell support via email - believe me when I say that the latest message I received from them regarding this problem was a jumble of sentence fragments that appeared to have been cut-and-pasted from other sources and made almost no sense whatsoever. Reading it was like trying to decipher code. Sentences ending abruptly, skipping three blank lines in the middle of a sentence, refering me to conflicting resource/advice pages, and grammer that would make a grade school teacher cringe.
I am not an idiot nor a beginner at working on computers, and I know how to follow directions that make sense. In fact, this is the first computer problem I've encountered in years that I wasn't able to work out eventually.
Again, I very much appreciate you trying to help, Steve, so let's stop the pettiness and see if we can work this out.
Let me ask you this (another question emailed to support but not yet answered)... Should we simply try to reinstall XP (without using the repair console or the repair-reinstall) clean... or should we reformat the hard drive and then install XP. Try the first, and if that doesn't work, *then* go on to the "last resort"???
--Roxanne
p.s.: you helped me once before when i couldn't get the bios upgrade program off the same computer as the one with the drag and drop issue... problem was successfully resolved and i posted such. thanks again!
Message Edited by rocmills on 12-27-2003 10:48 PM
volcano11
2 Intern
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28K Posts
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December 28th, 2003 02:00
I realize that everyone thinks their problem is common and important. But, I have been monitoring these forums on a daily basis for over three years and your problem is not a common problem. Despite the fact that it says Dell Support at the top or the forum - the largest letters say "Community Forum", because that is what it is. What percentage of the messages on these forums are answered by Dell employees? I would say that it is less than 1%. Please read about Dell's role in the forum:
http://delltalk.us.dell.com/supportforums/help_faq#dellsrole
Although there 1829 hits on "Drag and Drop" doing an Advanced forum search, The following seem relevant to your problem:
http://delltalk.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=sw_winxp&message.id=956&highlight=drag+and+drop#M956
A similar suggestion was made as in the following, but the user did not report back. Most of us would have assumed that it worked.
http://delltalk.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=sw_winxp&message.id=956
I see you tried that suggestion. But, did you try unchecking the box, then rebooting, then checking the box again. Sometimes Windows thinks things are turned on but doesn't realize that they are turned off until one tells it to turn it off and turn it on again.
The following asked the same question:
http://delltalk.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=sw_winxp&message.id=81897
But never replied back with with further information that may have helped Dell Michael C. (or anyone else for that matter) to help with the problem.
What I am saying here is that your problem is not a common problem. Uncommon problems are the most difficult to solve. Sometimes the only solution is to reformat and reinstall.
Sorry to be so defensive, but as a forum regular, I think we do a pretty good job helping people fix problems. The regulars in combination, provide some excellent advice and try to follow up on every question until it is solved. But it is not fair to blame Dell, as there is very little little participation from Dell in these forums.
If turning off drag and drop and turning it back on doesn't fix the problem, as suggested above, then let us know. The attitude of the forum regulars is to only use reformat and reinstall as a last resort, but we may be ale to come up with some other suggestions before we resort to that.
Steve
volcano11
2 Intern
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28K Posts
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December 28th, 2003 03:00
Roxanne,
Yes, definitely try unchecking the box, rebooting, and rechecking the box.
Have you tried the Drag & Drop fix WinXP at the following site?
http://www.aumha.org/regfiles.htm
As for your other question - "Should we simply try to reinstall XP (without using the repair console or the repair-reinstall) clean... or should we reformat the hard drive and then install XP. Try the first, and if that doesn't work, *then* go on to the "last resort"???"
If you have already used the Repair-reinstall and it didn't fix the problem, then thre really is no other option, since you can't just reinstall XP without formatting the drive and installing. There is a good reinstall guide for your system at:
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=1081757
But again, I would only recommend this as a last resort.
Steve