Windows XP forum: right click on desktop Icon cause compter to freeze

Just want to make sure, since it was a fresh installation on a new HD, that you are absolutely certain that all drivers are in place.

No, I am no certain that all drivers are in place nor am I sure how to go about doing that since I have installed 25 different software programs. Does this mean that I have to go out to all 25 vendors and try to find their driver download section?

loading up a system with programs. Check device manager for signs of drivers that did not load. Yellow exclamation points are evidence that hardware has not been fully configured. Fix those before adding applications. You may need to start from scratch if you find this to be true.

Hi Ancient One

I agree with Kees_B's solution, about reinstalling XP, but I am more inclined to believe that one of the 25 apps you installed are causing the problem.

That said, you should reinstall XP but when you come to installing your applications you should first create a restore point before each installation, and test each app after installation, that way you will find out which application is causing the problem, you will then be able to go back to a previous safe restore point.


UK Bob

PS. You may also want to try uninstalling some of your 25 apps first but this may or my not work depending on what has been added to your registry.

I decided to do that but when I got to a certain spot in the process the following message came up and I wasn't sure what to do. "You chose to install Windows XP on a partition that contains another operating system. Installing Windows XP on this partition might cause the other operating system to function Improperly. Caution: Installing multiple operating systems on a single partition is not recommended." Then it gave me several options, but I just used f3 and quit the setup. Also as far as the right click problem it has reached the point where almost anytime I right click on anything the computer freezes up. It is not the mouse because I tried a different mouse. But right at the moment, I need feedback from anyone about how to proceed the a fresh install. Should I just continue with the installation regardless of the warning??????

The easiest way is to delete any partitions on the drive. You should be presented with that option during the re-installation. The existing XP partition should be shown giving you an option to delete it. Try again and look for that.

Hi again Ancient One (are you a fan of Marvel's Dr Strange?)

I totally agree with Steven's reply, i.e. delete all partitions leaving only one, and make sure that you format your HD and do a completely fresh install of XP.

After that, insure that you download all the necessary (security) updates before installing any applications, not forgetting to create restore points before each installation.

To summarise, do a fresh install of XP then download and install all MS updates, create a restore point, check that everything is OK and then install your first application, check app and XP are working properly then create another restore point then install your second app, and so on. Carry on like this until all your apps are installed or until you come across the rogue app which caused your problem.

You should be OK from here on.


UK Bob

I hope It doesn't delete both partitions but if it does, I will live with that as long as I can re-partition the drive. I prefer to keep the OS on one partition and my data on the other. Also I will do as you suggest and set a restore point before each app that I install. Used to have a program that would popup everytime an executable was about to be installed and ask to make a restore point and give it a name. Don't know what I did with that program.

Okay, I will delete the partition which contains the OS, hopefully it won't delete the partition that has my data, but on the chance that it does, I have moved all of it to another hard drive.

I did the reinstallation of Windows XP and it went flawlessly, formatting and downloading windows on C drive but left the partition with data alone as I hoped it would. I have added only a few programs and have been diligent in setting a restore point before making any additions. so far the system seems to be working as it should. The right click business seems to be gone. There are two places that I thinks this problem might have begone: 1, after my first fresh install on the new hard drive, I used Easeus partitioning program to make the partition in C drive and that might have caused the glitch, 2. which I suspect was the real culprit was the website I went to for downloading Adobe Flash Player because I had one heck of a time with that site wanting to downloads other stuff, particularly Real Player which I did not want and I finally pulled the plug to get off that site.
So thanks to all for their help and advice
The Ancient One

I shy away from 3rd party partitioning prior to installations of Windows. I suppose you could have copied your data to an external drive. Getting the installation sequence right can be tricky and I've learned to take snapshots (create drive images) during the installation process just in case of an "Oops". Congrats.