Copy & Paste in Vista / Explorer broken (not MS-VPC)

On vista copy & paste has recently stopped working in "explorer" or whatever the hell they call their file manager, it is limited to only files / directories, copying text/graphics/random junk between apps works just fine. I do use MS Virtual PC, but the issue persists between clean boots.

I am using total commander as a stop-gap atm, but its not ideal.

nothing odd was installed recently, I have run a full scan on AVG & windows defender, uninstalled a load of junk that had been kicking around for a while, killing the explorer.exe processes & restarting them makes no difference also.

When "cutting" a file, the icon goes semi transparent, then when pasting the cursor changes to the busy circle thing for a couple of frames, then reverts to the normal pointer...

Any clue where to start looking for the problem? I would really rather not re-install, but it is looking inevitable atm, so go ahead & save my weekend!

Solution 1:

Try using this tool (found in this thread). It will display if any application has a "lock" on the clipboard.

Solution 2:

have you tried using the keyboard shortcuts of crtl-v, ctrl-c, and ctrl-x?

does right click hold and drag move?

instead of using total commander, try free commander...you will like it more, and ditch explorer and total comander.