context menuright clickwindows xp
This occurred after a Trojan incident. We managed to get the Trojan cleaned off the computer, but now we can't Right click the desktop. We have tried changing HKCU/software/microsoft/windows/current version/policies/explorer/noviewcontextmenu in the registry, and group policy user configuration/administrative templates/windows explorer/remove windows explorers default context menu, but neither worked.
How do we reenable the right-click menu for the desktop? (it works everywhere else)
Right-click the filename, not anything else.
The registry entries you should specifically look at are:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell (for specific file types)
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers (also for specific file types)
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFileSystemObjects\ShellEx (for all context menus)
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell (for folders)
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers (also for folders)
Remember to always backup your registry before editing it by going to File > Export... in the regedit.exe application.
Or if you prefer to do it using an application (which apparently you don't but I'll put it in here anyway):
You can use ShellExView and ShellMenuView to see a list of all current (and past, as long as the entries have not been removed) context menu items and disable or enable them from there.
Source: How-To Geek
Best Answer
Sounds like it's not opening due to a corrupted or faulty menu entry...
You can enable/disable and remove Shell menu entries using ShellMenuView from Nirsoft.
Perhaps it can lead you to a culprit.