Can no longer access contextual menus on the desktop but still can in Dock

What's going on??? I used to be able to right click my mighty mouse on an icon on the desktop and access contextual menus. Now when I right click, all the icons on my desktop disappear then there is a slight pause before they reappear. If I right click in MS Office the application now crashes. Amazingly the contexual menus still work on the Dock and in Safari. Does this sounds like a virus/malware or is it a bug in my system? Has anyone else encountered this problem and found a solution to it?

Hi, xstatical.
If Finder quits when you either:• Control-click an object.
• Right-click an object using a two-button mouse.This may be due to either:• Installed software that added a bad contextual menu item.
• Removed software that left a contextual menu item behind.What software did you last install or remove? Does its documentation refer to its use of Contextual Menu items?
Contextual menu items can be installed in two places:(1) Your Home > Library > Contextual Menu Items folder.
(2) Computer > Macintosh HD > Library > Contextual Menu Items folder.If the item is in the folder listed in (2), then:
- Under Tiger or Panther, you'll be prompted to authenticate this operation by providing your Admin password when trashing it.
- Under Jaguar, you may have to change the Owner to you (via Get Info > Ownership and Permissions) before you can trash it.
Note that some of the information above is from page 220 of the "Finder" chapter of my book, Troubleshooting Mac® OS X, Second Edition.
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

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