HP Pavilion Elite HPE-337c: Right-Clicking on Taskbar Programs doesn't work any more.

[HectoRocker4]

Erico, 

I thought that updating the mouse driver would help, but it didn't.  

I will get a USB wired mouse to see if that helps.

Thank you,

Hank

[HectoRocker4]

Erico,

I hope you're still around to continue this.  I just yesterday remembered on one of my shopping safaris that I needed a USB mouse.  I purchased a Logitech T-BC21 TrackMan Marble.  

Before installing it, I unistalled the Logitech M310 wireless mouse and attendant software, then deleted the device driver(s).  Then I installed the T-BC21 with the enclosed CD, then updated the drivers.

Bad news...the focus still follows the mouse pointer and, on the TaskBar (vertically on right on the HP 2710m monitor), whenver I right-click on an icon and move to pointer to select a pinned, recent, or other item, the list disappears and returns from whence it came.  

Hank

[erico · Accepted solution]

There does exist the possibility that there is a third party shell extension that is causing the problem. You can investigate that yourself with a free utility called ShellExView. This will take some trial and error disabling and enabling on your part. 

Only disable a single extension at a time for troubleshooting and then enable it. If you  disable too many extensions at once, specifically Microsoft shell extensions,then you could end up with an unbootable operating system. 

[HectoRocker4]

Thanks, Erico....

I tried ShellExView and was overwhelmed by the number of extensions (until I realized that only 3rd party shell extensions need be toggled), so I set it aside until I had more time to work with it.  I assume by "3rd party" you mean someone other than HP (1st) and Microsoft (2nd).  

Well, wouldn't you know it...today is the 1st day in quite a while I've had many hours of free time, and one of the 1st things I did was update PDF Creator.  I uninstalled it, then upgraded to the current version, and shortly thereafter, I noticed this pesky mouse-oriented problem had vanished.  Interesting, ehh?  

Thanks again for all your help.  Even though you indirectly solved this problem, you've blazed a trail for me to follow when troubleshooting any desktop model.

Many Kudos to You, Buddy, and Thank You, 

Hank