WindowsXP idiot disabled click and drag

R

Ravenrex

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Sep 5, 2001
Messages
1,163
Has anyone ever run across this? I had one overly clever user disable the ability to click and drag anything anywhere. How do you undo this?

They can double click on a desktop icon and launch a program or select something, but cannot click and drag anything using the left mouse button. No clicking on a desktop icon and dragging it to move it...no clicking on a message in Outlook and dragging it into another folder...no clicking on a file and dragging it into another folder in the windows explorer...nothing. It's not just the desktop that's locked down or the start menu, it's all uses of the "click something and drag it somewhere else" functionality. Searching google on this comes up with bunches of results about a browser vulnerability about the click and drop fuction in IE, but nothing that seems to relate to this. I've tried looking at machine policies to see if I can find one applicable, but I cannot find one that will make my machine behave in this manner so I know what to fix on this idiot's PC.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

the numbskull is using XP Pro, SP2
 
Phoenix86 said:
Didn't know that was there. :eek:
Click to expand...

I once spent an entire day trying to repair a system before someone pointed that out to me :p
 
Phoenix86 said:
Didn't know that was there. :eek:

Click to expand...

Yeah it's actually quite handy if you want to STOP dumb users from "losing" shortcuts.

Amusingly, I once had a "smart" user make so much noise about not being able to drag and drop stuff that I was ordered to turn it back on for him by my boss.

Less than half an hour later I was called back because the start menu item for an "extremely important" application had "disappeared", neither my boss nor the user saw any connection between the two events. :rolleyes:

Obviously the troubleshooting process required my taking away the users laptop for two hours for "virus checking"... :D
 
MartinX said:
Yeah it's actually quite handy if you want to STOP dumb users from "losing" shortcuts.

Amusingly, I once had a "smart" user make so much noise about not being able to drag and drop stuff that I was ordered to turn it back on for him by my boss.

Less than half an hour later I was called back because the start menu item for an "extremely important" application had "disappeared", neither my boss nor the user saw any connection between the two events. :rolleyes:

Obviously the troubleshooting process required my taking away the users laptop for two hours for "virus checking"... :D
Click to expand...
Actually I'm sitting here thinking about the number of calls I could have prevented if this was turned off...

"OMG I LOST ALL MY FILES!!!!11!1one"
"Well, we have backups and can restore any files that were on the network, but it's very likely you just moved..."
"--- THE FILES WERE CREATED TODAY!!!!11!1one"
"Lets try searching to see if the folder got moved..."
*searches*
"see, it's right there." :D

Of course if I do that. "OMG I can't copy files!!!11!1one"

Dammed if you do...

 
Its far too easy to drag-and-drop move files in windows explorer though. I sometimes do it by mistake, but I'm wise enough to know how to fix it.

Far too often I, too, am called because a user moved a folder, and has no idea where it went, how it got there, or that it was even their fault :).
 
Ravenrex said:
It's not just the desktop that's locked down or the start menu, it's all uses of the "click something and drag it somewhere else" functionality.
Click to expand...

Yes, I found the menu locking, and yes it is useful, but no that's not the issue here it seems. I tried system restore and no dice. It's really odd since you can still right click, cut, paste, move, copy etc. but the left-click-hold-drag-release functionality is borked.

I wish I knew how people like this manage this stuff sometimes. :rolleyes:
 
You sure that online desktop isn't activated? And that doesn't seem like something someone would do intentionally, it might be a glitch with his instalation. I would say back-up and reinstall. :rolleyes:
 
Check these registry keys:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\Interface\{0000010E-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}\NumMethods

SHOULD BE: unnamed Value of type REG_SZ which is set to 12.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\Interface\{0000010E-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}\ProxyStubClsid

SHOULD BE: unnamed Value of type REG_SZ which is set to {0000030C-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\Interface\{0000010E-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}\ProxyStubClsid32

SHOULD BE: unnamed Value of type REG_SZ which is set to {00000320-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
 
It turned out that his shift key was stuck somehow. Replacing the keyboard fixed the issue.
 
Hey if it's working then no complaints, right? But how could a stuck shift key do that? Isn't that a normal operation when you want to move a file, rather than copy it? I use shift/drag-drop all the time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top