Mouse malfunction could lead to unwanted drop-down menu
Q: Recently, a frustrating and irritating drop-down menu has started to appear when I click on articles and applications. The menu offers choices of Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste and others. It will eventually go away after several clicks, but it comes back and is a real pain. How can I get rid of this nuisance?
A: What you are seeing is what is known as a contextual or shortcut menu.
Typically, this menu is triggered when you right-click on something and is designed to give you quick access to several useful commands that would
otherwise have to be accessed by left-clicking on the File menu or accessed by various key combinations using your keyboard. The fact that this is popping up tends to indicate that there is an issue with your mouse or your mouse settings.
To check the settings, go into the Control Panel and search for mouse. Then select “Change mouse settings” to bring up your mouse properties.
Here you can check to see if your primary and your secondary mouse buttons have been switched. If they have been switched, uncheck that box.
If this is not the problem, you might have a defective or malfunctioning mouse.
In all likelihood, there is a short on the contacts for the right mouse button. This could be a mechanical failure or it could just be that the button is getting stuck.
Sometimes, vigorously clicking the mouse buttons will fix the issue.
If not, a new mouse is not terribly expensive.
In fact, many households have spares in that box in the closet that no one ever seems to throw away.
Q: I am trying to send a file to a colleague, but the file is too big and his mail server keeps rejecting the message. How can I get the file to him?
A: I have never been a fan of sending overly large attachments via email. This is a bad practice that tends to jam up mail systems and mail clients.
Over the years, mail systems have allowed for larger and larger attachments, but there are always limits.
My rule is that if the file is over a few megabytes in size, I prefer to use a file sharing system like Drop Box or Google Drive to transfer the files.
With these services, you can upload the file to the service and then send an email with a link to the file so that the recipient can just download it from the web. They don’t even need to have an account on the service to do this. They just click the link you send them and download the file.
Most of the services offer free accounts with limited storage and paid accounts if you need additional space.
These types of account can also be very useful if you need to access your own files from multiple computers.