Drag and Drop not working after Windows Update

Question

Since last Week i can no longer drag and drop anything on my Windows XP system, not even desktop symbols or tabs in firefox.

It can be related to a windows update as i made one shortly before the problems began. After rebooting for the update i got "System has to be checked with chkdsk" while booting and after finally reaching windows it told me that some system files had been restored.

It's my workplace PC and the responsible IT guy is still on vacation until next week and noone else has access to the Windows CDs for reinstall or repair (and that in a multimillion-euro company...).

A few days later i noted that also all .NET versions except for 4.0 seem to have disappeared and i seem to be unable to reinstall them, the setup always exits with an unexpected error, so there might be some deeper problem i can't find.

The PC is protected with truecrypt (which i don't think has anything to do with the problem, but, well...) and has kaspersky anti-virus with current signatures. The System is Windows XP with the current SP (3, i think).

Answer 1

Could be due to several things.

1. The Blast virus does this a lot. Slim chance you've been infected, but just to explore all the possibilities. Check here for removal instructions: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/826955

2. Your mouse is defective, try unplugging it and use a different one to check.

3. Your mouse drivers are corrupt, check your hardware management screen (Right click "My computer" -> "Manage" -> "Hardware") if updates are available.

4. If nothing works, check here: http://aumha.org/regfiles.php and use the third from the list. (Drag & Drop Fix. Win 2000, Win XP) I'd recommend on backing up registry and making a restore point first before attempting this... Reboot after having used the patch and if for some reason your computer is unable to boot after you do this, restart and hit the F8 key and choose "Restore to last known good configuration".

How to backup registry:

1. Go to "Start" -> "Run -> type "regedit.exe" -> "Run"
2. Go to "File" -> "Export" -> set range to "All" and then save the file somewhere you will definitely remember.