Problem with the 'C' drive on my desktop. Help! (Page 3/3)
otakudude MAY 01, 04:42 AM

quote
Originally posted by Cliff Pennock:

I'm 100% sure that hitting the ESC key three times did nothing and it was mere coincidence it started working after that.

I can only think of one scenario where hitting the ESC key a few times would actually help and that is when you have a pop-up window open off screen which is stealing focus. That happens to me quite often since I have four monitors connected to my PC and most of the time only one is switched on. But that would also prevent copying/moving/deleting files from other drives, not only the C drive.



I figured the reason that hitting the Esc key three times solved the issue is that it was closing 'something' but I had no idea what that might have been as I'm only running a single monitor here and the problem persisted through multiple restarts. I had the thought earlier that maybe another program running the background was taking up a significant amount of my system resources but saw nothing when I looked up my active applications under the task manager.

Quick side question. You mentioned that you've dealt with pop-up windows off screen before. Being that I only have the single screen here, could that happen to me and if so, how could I view it in order to close it properly?


quote
Anyway, glad it's solved. Next thing to do is immediately make a backup of your C drive. Don't assume this is a one time glitch. It might return and you might not be able to solve it the next time.



Thanks for the suggestion. That's a good idea and a task for tomorrow. It's almost 4am here and I need to get some rest first.

[This message has been edited by otakudude (edited 05-01-2024).]

82-T/A [At Work] MAY 02, 12:27 PM

quote
Originally posted by otakudude:
I figured the reason that hitting the Esc key three times solved the issue is that it was closing 'something' but I had no idea what that might have been as I'm only running a single monitor here and the problem persisted through multiple restarts.




Windows 7 was pretty awesome back in the day, solved a lot of issues with Vista, and a pretty solid OS. One of the problems is that poorly developed apps allowed pop-ups (which as Cliff sated) would steal "focus" and not allow you to literally do anything else except click start and a few other things. What would sometimes happen is that these pop-ups would occur off screen... which is insane. So you'd never see them, even if you tabbed over to them... sigh... it's crazy. That's likely what happened to you here.
IMSA GT MAY 02, 06:12 PM
I would say the only thing hitting the ESC key would do is exit from a macro if you had any hotkeys activated. I don't know if Windows remembers hotkey activation after a reboot or it resets the hotkeys back to "off".
otakudude MAY 02, 06:59 PM
Just a quick update. While the problem seemed to be solved the other evening, the issue came back the next day upon restart and I again could no longer drag-drop icons or add/delete photos. Hoping magic could strike twice, I tried the pressing the 'esc'' key as before but the the issue still persists.

Cut-paste does work and I can move items on my desktop around but this is only a work-around and does not address the underlying issue.

Thankfully all my important data was moved to the 'D' drive previously and while I'm no longer at risk of losing everything, this problem remains somewhat annoying.

On the possibility that this could be in regards to a off-screen pop up as Cliff and 82-T/A have suggested, how can I confirm this so it can be closed down and removed?

Edit. There are two other problem with my computer I failed to mention earlier, either because I didn't think they were related to the issue with the 'C' drive or that I didn't think mentioning them could add anything to the problem as I had already laid it out.

1. I can no longer play Minesweeper. I generally like playing it as it's a quick way to unwind after a long day but a few weeks ago I couldn't get beyond a move or two before the game would lock up. Other simple desktop games such as Solitaire or Mahjong work fine.

2. I can't move windows around on my desktop and they are instead locked in place wherever they pop up upon launch. This problem started at the same time as the previously mentioned problems on the 'C" drive.

[This message has been edited by otakudude (edited 05-02-2024).]

Patrick MAY 02, 11:37 PM
Have you run chkdsk on this drive? And have you run a thorough virus/malware scan?

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 05-02-2024).]

Cliff Pennock MAY 03, 06:08 AM
Your description of what you can and can't do is a bit vague.

You say you can't drag/drop icons. What do you mean by that? You can't drag an icon from where? From explorer to the desktop? And what exactly happens? Are you able to drag them but when you drop them, you get an error? Or something else happens?

You can't add/delete photos. Where are these photos stored? In a folder on your desktop? And how do you add or delete them?

You can't move windows around on your desktop, you say. What do you mean with that? Can you move them around, but when you release the mouse button, they snap back into place? Or you can't pick them up at all? And what happens? Do you get some sort of feedback? An error? A sound?
otakudude MAY 03, 10:22 AM

quote
Originally posted by Cliff Pennock:

Your description of what you can and can't do is a bit vague.



Sorry about that. Perhaps I can clarify things better for you.


quote
You say you can't drag/drop icons. What do you mean by that? You can't drag an icon from where? From explorer to the desktop? And what exactly happens? Are you able to drag them but when you drop them, you get an error? Or something else happens?



When I attempt to move an icon to another location on my desktop or to another drive entirely using left-click drag and drop, I can pick up the icon and move it about as long as I hold down the left button. As soon as I let go of the left button and attempt to place the icon in a new location, it will not stick to that spot and instead revert to its initial location. The only way to move anything is to cut and paste the icon to a new location.


quote
You can't add/delete photos. Where are these photos stored? In a folder on your desktop? And how do you add or delete them?



They are both on the desktop itself and in a folder on the desktop. I have added them to my desktop as I would any file using (for lack of the correct term) 'save as...' and have attempted to delete them using both the delete key and the delete option within the mouse functions.


quote
You can't move windows around on your desktop, you say. What do you mean with that? Can you move them around, but when you release the mouse button, they snap back into place? Or you can't pick them up at all? And what happens? Do you get some sort of feedback? An error? A sound?



They are locked in place and I can't pick them up at all. There are no error notifications or sounds when this happens.

williegoat MAY 03, 01:20 PM
In KDE (now called Plasma), there is an option to "lock" the desktop icons. It is in a menu that pops up when you right-click on the desktop. Does Windoze have anything like that?

edit: Just a hunch, but do you have another mouse you can try?

[This message has been edited by williegoat (edited 05-03-2024).]

maryjane MAY 03, 11:02 PM

quote
Originally posted by williegoat:

In KDE (now called Plasma), there is an option to "lock" the desktop icons. It is in a menu that pops up when you right-click on the desktop. Does Windoze have anything like that?

edit: Just a hunch, but do you have another mouse you can try?



in Win10.....

All I am aware of is 'right click on desktop...click 'personalize' and there is an option to 'lock screen' but I always thought that was to prevent accidently changing your display's wallpaper.