C
Charles Blaquière
XP Pro, SP2 up to date. Norton antivirus, Microsoft antispyware, ZoneAlarm.
Yesterday, my PC started giving me fits. Most of it is related to the
Explorer interface. Examples:
- I will right-click on something (in Firefox or Windows Explorer, say); no
context menu. Title bar turns light blue. Context menu eventually appears
after a haf-minute delay.
- When this occurs, I cannot Alt-Tab to another program. The task-switch
window appears, but disappears as soon as I release the Tab key, even though
Alt remains pressed. (Alt-Tab functionality normally allows me to press it
repeatedly, obviously releasing the Tab key for a moment before pressing it
again.) During that time, I see the active icon switch to the next program,
but when I release Tab, Windows does not switch to that program.
- I can, however, keep both keys pressed, and autorepeat will kick in,
cycling rapidly between the icons until I release the Tab key (Alt still
depressed, mind you); this does land me into another program, although
essentially a random one, due to the autorepeat speed.
- I use the Alt Tab Replacement, but have also experienced these problems
after uninstalling ATR.
- Killing explorer.exe via Task Manager, then restarting it, will sometimes
fix the problem -- but not always.
- Logging off (I have Fast User Switching enabled, BTW) and on will
sometimes fix the problem -- but not always.
- Restarting my PC may fix the problem -- but it will reappear.
- When these problems hit, I also experience menu problems, e.g. being able
to click on menu titles, which opens them, but being unable to select any
menu item, whether by keyboard or mouse -- all are greyed out, in every
menu.
Debugging info:
- Nothing strange is revealed in Event Viewer, full antivirus scan, full
spyware scan.
- I have not installed anything specific in the past several days. I
upgraded to Firefox 1.5 on Nov. 30, but the problems only appeared on Dec.
11/12 and affect all software, not just Firefox, so I don't think this is
it.
When this occurs, I get this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I
have tried what I can to diagnose the problem, to no avail. Any help would
be appreciated.
Yesterday, my PC started giving me fits. Most of it is related to the
Explorer interface. Examples:
- I will right-click on something (in Firefox or Windows Explorer, say); no
context menu. Title bar turns light blue. Context menu eventually appears
after a haf-minute delay.
- When this occurs, I cannot Alt-Tab to another program. The task-switch
window appears, but disappears as soon as I release the Tab key, even though
Alt remains pressed. (Alt-Tab functionality normally allows me to press it
repeatedly, obviously releasing the Tab key for a moment before pressing it
again.) During that time, I see the active icon switch to the next program,
but when I release Tab, Windows does not switch to that program.
- I can, however, keep both keys pressed, and autorepeat will kick in,
cycling rapidly between the icons until I release the Tab key (Alt still
depressed, mind you); this does land me into another program, although
essentially a random one, due to the autorepeat speed.
- I use the Alt Tab Replacement, but have also experienced these problems
after uninstalling ATR.
- Killing explorer.exe via Task Manager, then restarting it, will sometimes
fix the problem -- but not always.
- Logging off (I have Fast User Switching enabled, BTW) and on will
sometimes fix the problem -- but not always.
- Restarting my PC may fix the problem -- but it will reappear.
- When these problems hit, I also experience menu problems, e.g. being able
to click on menu titles, which opens them, but being unable to select any
menu item, whether by keyboard or mouse -- all are greyed out, in every
menu.
Debugging info:
- Nothing strange is revealed in Event Viewer, full antivirus scan, full
spyware scan.
- I have not installed anything specific in the past several days. I
upgraded to Firefox 1.5 on Nov. 30, but the problems only appeared on Dec.
11/12 and affect all software, not just Firefox, so I don't think this is
it.
When this occurs, I get this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I
have tried what I can to diagnose the problem, to no avail. Any help would
be appreciated.