Cannot select text in IE6 - HELP!

[Guest]

VERY frequently my IE6 seems to get into a state where it it igmores the left
mouse button. IE and the mouse still know there is text there (the pointer
changes from an arrow to an i-beam as I move onto text), but double-clicking
a word does not select it, and holding the button down and dragging across
text also does not work. It is not possible to select text in a text entry
window, either. So far, only closing IE and launching another one works, but
just now I have a web page that never doesn't have this problem. Copy/paste
is very important, and now it is broken.

Help!!

 

[Guest]

I have a similar problem - when I left click, I get the international 'not'
sign, a 'circle slash', and I can't select the text. But if I left click way
away from the area and drag in, it ends up selecting the whole table, and I
can't get just the little piece I want. Sort of frustrating, because you are
correct, it is important to be able to copy and paste.

 

[Robert Aldwinckle]

I have a similar problem - when I left click, I get the international 'not'
sign, a 'circle slash', and I can't select the text. But if I left click way
away from the area and drag in, it ends up selecting the whole table, and I
can't get just the little piece I want. Sort of frustrating, because you are
correct, it is important to be able to copy and paste.

Try using View Source instead.

Cite an example link if you need more help.


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[Guest]

I also have this problem, but I don't get the "Not Sign", I have a normal
I-beam cursor when over text. Left-click does nothing. To select text I need
to click somewhere (with no indication that anything happens), then
Shift-click somewhere else to select text between the click locations.
Viewing the html source and selecting from there is normally useless because
of the html tags in notepad. Some pages, like www.msn.com, work normally
and I can select text. Other pages don't work. It seems that all pages on
Microsoft's web sites (MSDN, Technet, etc.) do not work. Two examples are:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/default.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/

Also, I can not click in a text box, such as the search box. To get the
cursor in it, I right-click, a menu pops up, I click on the title bar to make
the menu go away, then the cursor is in the text box and I can enter a search
string.
It seems that I first noticed this after installing SP-2 for Windows XP, but
it may have been before. It's been occuring for about a month.

 

[Robert Aldwinckle]

I also have this problem, but I don't get the "Not Sign", I have a normal
I-beam cursor when over text. Left-click does nothing. To select text I need
to click somewhere (with no indication that anything happens), then
Shift-click somewhere else to select text between the click locations.

That's normal. Doubleclick if you want to select a word.
Dragging your mouse over the same area that you are bracketing
by click and Shift-click should result in the same text being highlighted
(selected.)

Another way to select text is to find it with Ctrl-f.
Obviously that wouldn't be terribly useful but it might provide a starting
point from which you could press Shift and click at your desired end
point.

Viewing the html source and selecting from there is normally useless because
of the html tags in notepad.

If you don't like seeing HTML tags but still want to select the text
more easily try pressing Ctrl-a,Ctrl-c and paste that into
a Notepad window.

Some pages, like www.msn.com, work normally and I can select
text. Other pages don't work. It seems that all pages on Microsoft's
web sites (MSDN, Technet, etc.) do not work. Two examples are:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/default.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/

The only thing in the above examples that might be significant is the
use of Cascading Style Sheets. If you want you could try disabling
that using the Accessibility dialog (Alt-T,O,Alt-e,Alt-d). You would
have to find you own alternate style sheet to use as an override.
While you are testing it might be simpler to use that same dialog
just to use default font specifications e.g. according to the Fonts dialog
(Alt-T,O,Alt-n) and View, Text Size... (Alt-V,x,...)

Also, I can not click in a text box, such as the search box. To get the
cursor in it, I right-click, a menu pops up, I click on the title bar to make
the menu go away, then the cursor is in the text box and I can enter a search
string.

Again using a Ctrl-f might be a simpler workaround. (Or if doubleclick
works as a word selection mechanism use that.) Then just tab into the
input box.

It seems that I first noticed this after installing SP-2 for Windows XP, but
it may have been before. It's been occuring for about a month.

My guess would be that you have some now incompatible third-party
program interfering somehow. A simple starting point for trying
to diagnose it would be to uncheck:
Enable third-party browser extensions (requires restart)
(Options, Advanced tab)

If that changes your symptom use the new Manage Add-ons
command (e.g. Alt-T,A) to be more selective in the extensions you
disable. You will have to re-enable the global option first.


Good luck

Robert
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