Windows XP - no icons, no taskbar, cannot right click

Hello TechNet Support -
Wasn't able to view all forums, am hoping this question will appear in the correct one.
Helping a friend with his Dell desktop - Windows XP SP3. When we try to start up, the desktop background picture appears, but that's it. No desktop icons, no taskbar, cannot right click, nothing.
When I open Task Manager via Ctrl-Alt-Del, I can click the New Task button and run a few programs. IE, Outlook Express, and others. We cannot get to File Manager or any file window that would access his data. Control.exe does not open. [NOTE: sorry, I said
Control.exe but meant Explorer.exe]
I opened a command prompt window and ran chkdsk without /F, it listed a number of index errors. when I ran with /F and said yes to run at next boot Chkdsk did run, but no results, no changes were made, even with /F.
All help appreciated,
John
John Murray

Ugh. I had this exact problem many years ago three separate times. I fixed it by going into the control panel...have you just typed in "control" or "explorer" to see if that works? Unfortunately I cannot recall for
the life of me what I did after that...I can try to see if I can find something on it later on today but I was able to find my solution online so it should be out there somewhere. There shouldn't be any reason to wipe the system, but the third time it
happened to me was when I moved up to the next OS. Just sayin'
Please do not read this sentence. Please ignore the previous sentence.

Similar Messages

I was on facebook and deleted an icon by using the right-click menu but then all my pictures and all profile pictures, could no longer be seen. I was able to view them in Explorer so this is something I did in Firefox. How can I unblock a site?'

'''I was on facebook and deleted an icon by using the right-click menu but then all my pictures and all profile pictures, could no longer be seen. I was able to view them in Explorer so this is something I did in Firefox. How can I unblock a site?'''

If you select that right-click context menu entry then you block all images from that domain and not one specific image, so do not use that.
* Check the exceptions in Tools > Options > Content: Load Images > Exceptions (e.g. sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net)
You can use these steps to check if images are blocked:
* Open the web page that has the images missing in a browser tab.
* Click the website favicon ([[Site Identity Button]]) on the left end of the location bar.
* Click the "More Information" button to open the "Page Info" window with the Security tab selected (also accessible via "Tools > Page Info").
* Go to the Media tab of the "Tools > Page Info" window.
* Select the first image link and scroll down through the list with the Down arrow key.
* If an image in the list is grayed and there is a check-mark in the box "Block Images from..." then remove that mark to unblock the images from that domain.

Cannot right click in web browser

Cannot right click to save pictures or to open up another tab inside web browser.

There are other things that need attention:
You have or had an extension installed (NET_mmhpset) that has changed the user agent from Firefox/3.6.13 to Firefox/3.5.5. 
'''Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9.2.13) Gecko/20101203 YFF3 Firefox/3.5.5 NET_mmhpset ( .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET4.0C)'''
You can check the general.useragent prefs on the about:config page. 
You can open the about:config page via the location bar, just like you open a website. 
Filter: general.useragent 
If general.useragent prefs are bold (user set) then you can right-click that pref and choose Reset. 
See:
*[[Web sites or add-ons incorrectly report incompatible browser]]
* [[Finding your Firefox version]]
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Resetting_your_useragent_string_to_its_compiled-in_default

[SOLVED]Cannot right click in openbox

Quite simple actually, I cannot right click anywhere. Most everything else seems to work though.
(P.S.: Arch newbie here)
Some info: 64-bit Gateway M6720
I just used xev and found out that the key isn't even being picked up. I tried the same thing on an Ubuntu live CD. Looks like I've got a broken right-clicker...
Last edited by Toadsworth (2010-03-01 01:11:49)

I guess you are running openbox-standalone and your X closes when you do
$ killall openbox
or some loginmanager. My mistake for not notifying earlier.
but there is the way around.
The trick is not letting exec to land on openbox-session.
for that you can for the moment move your .xinitrc
$ mv .xinitrc .xinitrc.bak
then you can fireup you xinit which leaves you with xterm.
then run openbox-session or openbox, blender or alternative windows manager like fluxbox or something to just get work started.
My method are not really applicable you can see..

I cannot RIGHT-CLICK on images in Safari!!

really annoying...after i recently updated to version 4.0.4 of safari, i now cannot right-click on images in the window, nor does holding the option key and clicking work. what happened??

Try Control Click
Cheers

RTMT 8.91 I can highlight but cannot right click on alarms to expand, highlight disappears after 30 seconds.

RTMT 8.91 I can highlight but cannot right click on alarms to expand, highlight disappears after 30 seconds.

RTMT 8.91 I can highlight but cannot right click on alarms to expand, highlight disappears after 30 seconds.

Why I cannot right click in preview when I read PDF?

I update to MaxOS 10.9 a weeks ago, not I find I cannot right click in Preview, it's not convience when I view PDF. Anybody has the same problem?

What do you expect to happen, and what does happen?

Cannot right click on wireless mouse after mavericks upgrade

cannot right click on wireless mouse after mavericks upgrade. please help!

Hey eedge520,
Thanks for the question. I understand that you are unable to right-click with your mouse after updating. Let’s check your mouse preferences, as you can enable this behavior in System Preferences > Mouse > Point & Click > Secondary Click
OS X Mavericks: Change keyboard, mouse, and trackpad settings
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14317
OS X Mavericks: Right-click
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14308
Thanks,
Matt M.

Finder is not working properly mac osx 10.7.4 it no longer launches a new window when I click the finder icon - I have to right click and open a new window

Hi
Just recently Finder has stopped behaving as it normally would. Clicking the icon doesn't seem to launch the finder window. I have to right click the finder icon and then click New Finder Window. Sometimes there is no response for sometime and then finally it does open a window. If I click finder when a wondow is open it does not shift focus to finder anymore. I am sure this did not use to be the case?
PS. not sure if this is how to put things on the forum as haven't used them before!
Julian

Click on the spotlight icon in the top right of your screen (looks like a magnifying glass), type
Terminal
and press 'return'.
In the window that opens up, paste or type this exactly into the window
killall Finder; killall Dock
(that's case sensitive) and press 'return'.
You'll notice the Dock disappear for a second or two then return, as do any open Finder windows.
Test using Finder as normal. Same problem?

Windows 8.1 BUG - Cannot right click wi-fi networks

There are various threads on this with so many really bad answers. You guys really need to recognize that you broke the function and have to put it back.
In windows 8.1 you cannot go to wi-fi, right click
Answers I have seen is go to PC settings, Network, delete from there - But that just shows you the network you are connected to, not the one(s) you wish to delete
Another answer is use the NETSH command to delete the profiles. You delete the profiles and they come back.
Guys an gals, own it as the bug it is. The user should be able to do two things:
1) Delete a wi-fi name by right-clicking
2) Permanent ignore (don't show again) that network name
for number 2, it should have a feature in networks of ignored network names in case someone want to re-activate.
Why no action on this often reported issue ? Thanks

1) Delete a wi-fi name by right-clicking
Hi,
For Windows 8.1,the WiFi Alliance has removed some options. Clients are no longer allowed to have UI to configure these modes.
We need to manually delete the useless wifi profile.
Regarding your second question,since SSID uses broadcast,we cannot ignore the SSID.
Meanwhile,we will submit your feedback to our product team.
Thanks for your understanding.
Regards,
Kelvin Xu
TechNet Community Support

With Windows 8.1 i can't select right click on my wi-fi networks

I installed windows 8.1 couple days ago and just realized that i can't right click every time i go to my wifi networks. Any advice on how i should solve that issue?

Hi,
If you attempt to right click it, what's the symptom?
We could try the following methods:
Method 1: Disconnect all the unnecessary external devices connected to the computer (except the mouse and the keyboard)
Please disconnect all the unnecessary external devices connected to the computer (except the mouse and the keyboard) and then check if you still face this issue.
Method 2: Update the Device Drivers on the Computer.
Step 1: Check the Windows updates for any latest driver updates.
Check in Windows updates if any driver updates are available. If so, install the same and check if it helps.
a) Press “Windows Logo” + “W” keys from the keyboard.
b) Type “Updates” in the search bar and click on “Install optional updates” from the left pane.
c) From the “Windows Update” window, click on “Check for Updates” on the top left corner, to receive a fresh list of updates and then install all the updates listed there.
If no driver updates are available via Windows Update, then you may install them for all the devices on the computer from the Computer Manufacturer’s website.
Step 2: Update Driver Software from the Manufacturer’s website:
Go to the computer manufacturer’s website and search for the latest Windows 8 drivers available for all the devices on the computer and then install them by following the instructions given in the website
We
are trying to better understand customer views on social support experience, so your participation in this
interview project would be greatly appreciated if you have time.
Thanks for helping make community forums a great place.

Windows Server 2008 Explorer error when i right click on folder

Hi everybody.
I have installed a new Windows Server 2008 64-bit, update it to latest.
I have a problem that happens when i right click on a folder. The error only happens if i right click on a folder that has only 1 character long folder name. Doesn't matter if the name is for example: "1" or "a" or "f", the explorer.exe crashes and gives me
error:
This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way. Please contact the application's support team for more information.
image:
full error info:
Problem signature:
Problem Event Name:    APPCRASH
Application Name:    Explorer.EXE
Application Version:    6.1.7601.17567
Application Timestamp:    4d672ee4
Fault Module Name:    msvcrt.dll
Fault Module Version:    7.0.7600.16385
Fault Module Timestamp:    4a5bdfbe
Exception Code:    40000015
Exception Offset:    000000000002aa8e
OS Version:    6.1.7601.2.1.0.274.10
Locale ID:    1033
Additional Information 1:    f530
Additional Information 2:    f5308e7edca7281fd3c8f9f1fa48021a
Additional Information 3:    4a44
Additional Information 4:    4a44581c8f470fcc2cbc842e91755c88
The error happened to me on different pc before so it is not related to hardware. The problem happens also if i create folder on desktop, problem stays if i create a new account, the problem goes away if i rename the folder to at least 2 character long name
(for example: "1a", "de"), by slowly double click it. If i go to Start --> Computer --> Local Disk (C:) --> create New Folder with 1 character long name and than go to Organize, i can cut, but not do the same to paste the folder inside another location,
because the error happens.
I didn't install Visual Studio.
How to solve the problem ?

This is not the usual behavior of the windows Server.
Please perform the following things
1) Perform a clean boot
http://technetfaqs.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/how-to-clean-boot-in-windows-2008-server/
2) Go to the safe mode and try to perform a virus check using the malicious virus removal tool
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/890830/en-us
3) If none of the above helps then you should generate the dump file and analyze it to find the root cause of the problem which is not easy for the new users. How ever if you generate it and put it to the sky drive I will try to analyze and let you know
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/254649/en-us
http://www.arabitpro.com

Cannot Right-Click and Copy in Win 8.1 Event Viewer

A minor thing, but a slight reduction in functionality that might just be a bug...
In all prior operating systems I've been able to drag across text in the Event Viewer then right-click and choose Copy from the context menu.
In Windows 8.1, right-clicking does nothing except flash the cursor several times quickly - as though something's failing in the event loop. Control-C still works to copy text.
It's not something I have installed that's causing this. I've reproduced the problem on a freshly installed system that's done nothing but display the Start Screen for the first time.
-Noel
Detailed how-to in my eBooks:
Configure The Windows 7 "To Work" Options
Configure The Windows 8 "To Work" Options

Using Windows 7 I just encountered this problem. It lasted for say 20 minutes and then reverted to normal. Did it revert to normal for you?
Thanks for your response, Gerry, and for bringing this back up.
Frankly, I'd gotten out of the habit of trying to copy data from the Event Viewer (plus, the error count has gone down a good bit after all the Windows Updates), but after having brought the Event Viewer back up now, near as I can tell the
problem is fixed in Windows 8.1.
Well, maybe not completely fixed. There's no right-click context menu for things in the pane in the General tab, but it doesn't flash and I can copy text from everywhere with Control-C.
-Noel
Detailed how-to in my eBooks:
Configure The Windows 7 "To Work" Options
Configure The Windows 8 "To Work" Options

Firefox will not open using my icon. i have to right click than click open. how can i fix this?

my desk top icon for firefox will not start firefox when i click on it. i now have to right click and than click open.

Try to create a new desktop shortcut for the Firefox program by going to the Firefox program folder (C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\) and use the right-click context menu (Send to > Desktop) on the Firefox.exe file.

Cannot right-click Vista 32 on New Macbook (unibody)

Hi,
I have a fully updated bootcamp 2.1 vista install with all SP for Vista installed. I've read on these forums that for a right click I need to two finger click (physical depression). Well that doesn't work at all. I have not figured any method to right click...
Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks,
Bobby

Brian1502 wrote:
huh, I have a unibody macbook the new one. What specific update are you talking about? I see the one supplied by apple, so your saying that I need another one to get that in my bootcamp control panel?
Your original comment was asking for the trackpad tab in the boot camp control panel correct? Download and install this additional update in windows :
http://support.apple.com/downloads/MultiTouch_Trackpad_Update_for_Windows__Vista
Reboot, when you go back into boot camp in the control panel, there will be a track pad option. turn on tap to click and 2 finger tap for right click check boxes.
Bobby

Windows XP - no icons, no taskbar, cannot right click

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for