I got used to it and avoided right clicking and just hit Ctrl V instead.
I doubt that my computer caught on to me "outsmarting" it, but it almost seems like it did. Now whenever I right click the desktop or in explorer (even if there is nothing on the clipboard) it basically freezes and I have to minimize my explorer (if there is none open I have to open one and minimize it) then after a while (a long while) it minimizes and when I restore it, the right click menu pops up.
Also, anything to do with copying and pasting in explorer or on the desktop seems to take forever and is pretty much the same as guaranteeing explorer to not respond.
Any troubleshooting tips or suggestions would be appreciated... as far as XP goes, I've had it on auto updates for many years... and I've done the malaware removal etc... but I don't think it's a virus, not that I would know I guess.