suddenly and randomly can't click on certain parts of windows.

Syphongreed

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May 12, 2012
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I have an acer desktop with an i5. It was running windows 8 and then I upgraded to windows 10 awhile back. Everything has been working fine for months till about a week ago. Randomly I can't click items in the start menu or desktop, but can click things in chrome and programs.

The problem has been going on randomly for a week so last night I decided to do a clean install of windows 10 on a new SSD drive i got.. Everything worked fine for about a day, now suddenly it's doing the same thing again. But like before its still random, sometimes everything works fine and sometimes not. Anyone have any ideas?
 
Solution
Problems are most likely from Windows Updates, they are known to screw with things.

If you have a good idea as to when this happened, go to a Restore point just before.Then let WinUpdate run again. I've seen where it takes many, many of this to get it right.

If that doesn't fix it, reinstall graphics, mouse and keyboard drivers.

If all that doesn't fix it, you're in for a reinstall of Win 10.

Bill

Syphongreed

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May 12, 2012
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USB corded mouse. I guess I can try and swap it out.. though that wouldn't explain why i can't click on start menu but can on chrome/explorer. Doesn't seem the matter the area of the screen. for example I can click on chrome just fine, but if I ctrl-alt-del and bring up the task manager in the same area of the screen I can't click on anything.
 

Syphongreed

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May 12, 2012
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yeah i have both malwarebytes and bitdefender subscriptions.. not to mention the fresh install on a brand new ssd. Is it possible it could be the motherboard or some kind of driver issue? After it was just some cheap $300 acer desktop.. Got it as a secondary comp due to the i5 and 8gb ram.
 

Syphongreed

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No i have never heard the sound and have tried all the ports.. and the mouse is still working, just can't click on certain parts of the system, and it's always the same parts of the system.. Start menu, desktop and task manager.. the task bar I can still click on and any open app I can click on. But sometimes it also works perfectly fine and can click on everything.. Driving me nuts.
 

Syphongreed

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May 12, 2012
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LOL sounds like a good solution.. I don't know.. If I can't figure it out i guess ill just throw in another cheap $50 motherboard.. If that doesn't work then ill call an exorcist..
 

ssafron

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Dec 20, 2015
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I upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 and within a few days I started seeing the same behavior you are describing. Randomly it gets into a state in which I can click on some windows, but I cannot click on anything in the taskbar. Even the "Windows" key on the keyboard doesn't do anything. Logging out of the user and back in doesn't help. The only way I've found to get out of it is to use Ctrl-Alt-Delete and reboot.

I was wondering if anyone's found a solution to this problem since the last post in October?
Thanks,
Sean

 

W Fallon

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Dec 4, 2015
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Problems are most likely from Windows Updates, they are known to screw with things.

If you have a good idea as to when this happened, go to a Restore point just before.Then let WinUpdate run again. I've seen where it takes many, many of this to get it right.

If that doesn't fix it, reinstall graphics, mouse and keyboard drivers.

If all that doesn't fix it, you're in for a reinstall of Win 10.

Bill
 
Solution