[Atomic Robot]

I first noticed this problem when trying to empty the Recycle Bin and then realized that it was happening with all my desktop icons. When I right-click, the cursor hangs up on the hourglass; the only remedy is to kill the process in the task manager and restore the active desktop.

Programs seem to run fine- even right-clicking within an application is OK, this seems to be an Explorer issue.

Seems more irritating than critical, but thanks in advance to anyone that can offer any advice.

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Which version of Windows

[Retired Tech]

Which version of Windows

[Atomic Robot]

Win98SE

[Retired Tech]

This will rebuild rather than restore the registry and also replace missing or corrupt system files

Boot the PC and keep tapping F8 right after the beep until you get options, select command prompt only, type scanreg.exe /fix then press enter, it will run through a few screens then say registry repaired. Press enter then press ctrl + alt + delete keys together to reboot.

When it has loaded, click start, all programmes, accessories, system tools, system information, tools then run system file checker and replace any files it asks for from the 98SE CD then reboot.

When it has loaded to the desktop, click start, programmes accessories, system tools to run disc clean up, then run disc defragmenter from system tools

[Atomic Robot]

Finally got around to doing this...

I ran scanreg, rebooted and then ran system file checker which didn't find any files to be missing so I'm still searching for the cause... btw, I just discovered that drag & drop no longer functions properly either.

This is not my main computer, so I'm not sure when this actually started but now I'm starting to wonder if it has anything to do with newly installed software. I recently switched from dialup to DSL so I had to add an ethernet card and update some applications. I switched from IE5 to IE6 and am running an antispyware program called Spyware Blaster. I'm also running antivirus and popup blocker software from Yahoo that was included with the DSL service.

Any chance that one of these might be to blame?

[Retired Tech]

Apart from IE6, you can remove the others to check, more likely to be Yahoo

[Atomic Robot]

Thanks for the help with this.

Over the long weekend I finally ended up doing a full system restore and then re-installing software that had been loaded since the last backup. It took me the better part of a day, but now everything's working fine and I have a freshly backed-up and working system.

[Retired Tech]

Thank You for letting me know