No Right Click Properties

Whenever I right click on a folder anywhere on my computer and select properties nothing comes up. I'm running XP Pro SP2.

 

First, try another mouse. If that works, take yours apart and see if there is dust or lint messing up the right click connection. If still no joy,
go into Control Panel and check your mouse properties, if all looks fine there, go into Device Manager (Hardware Tab in System of CP) and see if you can update your mouse drivers.

Johanna

 

Mouse checks out fine. Same problem with another mouse. My problem isn't clicking, its that when I right click and select properties, nothing happens. It works fine with files on my desktop, but whenever I try on a file/folder in explorer/my computer nothing happens.

 

Unzip and run the attached. Look in the Company column and, whilst holding down the Alt key, click on each non-Microsoft item. Once you've worked your way through the list, click File - Disable Selected items.

Try right-clicking on an icon. Does the context menu appear? If so, re-enable a single item and then try right-clicking an icon. Continue doing this until you ID the problematic entry.

EDIT: BTW, DivX has been known to cause this issue - so, if installed, you might wanna start your search with the associated extensions.

 

slk230mb--You are describing a Context Menu Handling problem. There might be a fix by changing the Registry, but the simplest solution might be a System Restore.
If this happened only recently, have you installed new hard/software just before the problem? Chosing a System Restore date before that might be the key.
Dang!! I delayed posting and Brett beat me. But his solution sounds promising.

 

Brett and Welshjim thanks for the suggestions but neither worked. I haven't modified hardware/software for a while. Any thing else guys. Thanks

 

Right click C:\WINDOWS\INF\shell.inf and choose Install.

 

Thanks surferdude2, but that didn't work as well. This is kinda weird, it will display file properties but not folder properties.

 

Then I'd suggest a repair install as outlined here.

 

I better make an SP2 bootable cd first.

 

The big change software change is installing Windows XP SP2, which may have affected existing context menus which is why Brett's suggestion to troubleshoot the problem by turning some of them off use shellexview is a great idea.

Windows XP SP2 affects poorly written software by enabling Data Execution Prevent. You could turn off Data Execution Prevention (DEP) for explorer.exe to see if that changes your problem. However, if it does work, I would suggest enabling it and then finding which shell extension is poorly written.

The following is a cut and Paste from Help and Support.
Start \ Help \ Search and then type: DEP

To turn Data Execution Prevention on or off for a program
If you turn off Data Execution Prevention (DEP) for a specific program, it might become vulnerable to attack. A successful attack could then spread to other programs on your computer, to your contacts, and damage your personal files. If you suspect that a program does not run correctly when DEP is turned on, check for a DEP-compatible version or update from the software publisher before you change any DEP settings.

You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings might also prevent you from completing this procedure.
1. To open System Properties, click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System.
2. Click the Advanced tab and, under Performance, click Settings.
3. Click the Data Execution Prevention tab.
4. In the Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select list, do one of the following:
To turn off DEP for a program, select the check box next to the program name and click OK. (If the name of the program doesn't appear in the list, click Add, navigate to your Program Files folder, select the program's executable file which will have an .exe file extension, and click OK).
"“ or "“

To turn on DEP for a program, clear the check box next to the program name, and then click OK.

 

Well I attempted a repair install last night, but then realized that my product key was on a sticker on my old case 200 miles away at home. So I just decided to revert back to my pre-SP2 system by re-imaging the hard drive with the SP1 files. It's working fine now, and maybe in a few days I will try SP2 again.

 

Thanks for the update. If you pinpoint the exact issue on the next go-around, please post back your findings.

Lots to be said for a good backup image.

ps. A repair install may just have taken on enhanced value since it can rid one of the SP2 demons also.

 

Ugg, well I am back with SP2 and the same right click problems. Only thing different this time around is that my friend accidentally deleted my back up image

 

Well I started to turn off processes that didn't look familiar in hopes of finding a solution. Low and behold I turn off inetinfo.exe and everything I right clicked came up on the screen at once. Also the computer runs faster. Now if I can only find what is starting it...

Edit...after terminating the process once, its opens again and the right click functionality is still there. I don't understand what is opening in the second instance that is difference than the first any ideas

 

Hi slk230mb

Take a look at WinTasks Process Library for an understanding of the running process inetinfo.exe. I can not find that process running in my task list or in svchost.exe processes checked via ....
Start --> Run --> cmd--> Tasklist /svc >C:\ianaginfo.txt
See output text file in Document and settings / YourUserName / at root view see "ianaginfo.txt "
Your system may require the process (inetinfo.exe), but can't find it on my local network plus shared (router) broadband connection.
Wait for additional comments.

UPDATE
The above cmd entry only runs on XP Pro ... but the routine can be added to XP Home. If you need it, let me know.

 

Hi slk230mb

You may also want to view Answers That Work for additional info concerning Inetinfo.exe....

"primarily on Windows NT4/2000 Server where it provides Internet Proxy and Web Server services. If you use either of the above facilities, leave running, otherwise you can set the service to manual.... "

 

Dennis, here is my output from that command:

Image Name PID Services
========================= ====== =============================================
System Idle Process 0 N/A
System 4 N/A
smss.exe 716 N/A
csrss.exe 772 N/A
winlogon.exe 796 N/A
services.exe 840 Eventlog, PlugPlay
lsass.exe 852 ProtectedStorage, SamSs
ati2evxx.exe 1032 Ati HotKey Poller
svchost.exe 1048 DcomLaunch, TermService
svchost.exe 1104 RpcSs
svchost.exe 1200 AudioSrv, BITS, CryptSvc, Dhcp, dmserver,
ERSvc, EventSystem,
FastUserSwitchingCompatibility, helpsvc,
lanmanserver, lanmanworkstation, Netman,
Nla, RasMan, Schedule, SENS, SharedAccess,
ShellHWDetection, srservice, TapiSrv,
Themes, TrkWks, W32Time, winmgmt, wscsvc,
wuauserv
svchost.exe 1284 Dnscache
svchost.exe 1360 LmHosts, RemoteRegistry, SSDPSRV, WebClient
spoolsv.exe 1416 Spooler
ccEvtMgr.exe 192 ccEvtMgr
CTSVCCDA.EXE 296 Creative Service for CDROM Access
mdm.exe 604 MDM
NAVAPSVC.EXE 676 navapsvc
NISUM.EXE 904 NISUM
ScsiAccess.EXE 1640 ScsiAccess
svchost.exe 1676 stisvc
ati2evxx.exe 1700 N/A
wanmpsvc.exe 1848 WANMiniportService
explorer.exe 1936 N/A
CCPXYSVC.EXE 1944 ccPxySvc
imonNT.exe 1960 imonNT
type32.exe 2256 N/A
ccApp.exe 2280 N/A
point32.exe 2288 N/A
ctfmon.exe 2316 N/A
imontray.exe 2332 N/A
alg.exe 3872 ALG
inetinfo.exe 1536 IISADMIN
iPodService.exe 3100 iPodService
aim.exe 1972 N/A
Ares.exe 3760 N/A
firefox.exe 344 N/A
cmd.exe 488 N/A
tasklist.exe 3492 N/A
wmiprvse.exe 2156 N/A

Upon reading the links that you provided, I don't really think that I need the service running. My only problem now is how do I disable it because my IIS is set to automatic, but the service isn't running.

 

I discovered that when I kill the service from task manager, it also shows that it is stopped from services.msc. I set the service to disable, rebooted, and no signs of inetinfo.exe. All my right click functionality is there. So it seems as though I figured this thing out . Now if I only knew how it got there...

 

Hi slk230mb

Glad you have everything worked out. Services can be a little intimidating. Matching services with running processes can be tricky. Differentiating between the currrent "status" (running or stopped) along with when is the service started (automatic or manual) or never started (disabled). The last one to watch for is "dependencies ". Some services are dependent on other services... so when you stopped or disable one service, it can stop or prevent other services from running .