#289451 - 08/11/2006 12:37
Weird Windows bug
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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There is a user in my office who is having a strange problem in Windows, and I'm not even sure how to search for it.
When he's in a new email in Outlook, he'll go to attach some files. The attachment window opens, and he'll go to a folder with a bunch of PDF documents in it. He'll select the first one, then he'll go down a bunch, hold shift, and click on another one. The problem: for some reason only the last file clicked is being selected. The initial file becomes deselected, and none of the files in-between are selected. The same basic thing happens if he tries to Ctrl+Click documents. Only one document can be selected at a time.
Does anyone know what might be causing this?
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Matt
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#289452 - 08/11/2006 13:04
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: Dignan]
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enthusiast
Registered: 14/07/2002
Posts: 344
Loc: South Carolina
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Have you tried a different mouse or keyboard? It may be something with the hardware and not necessarily the software.
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Russ
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"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will." Vince Lombardi
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#289453 - 08/11/2006 13:08
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: Dignan]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 06/04/2005
Posts: 2026
Loc: Seattle transplant
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Thankfully, in windows there's always more than one way to skin a cat.
I don't hassle with the attachment button.
1. open a new email
2. open an explorer window to the folder you want
3. drag and drop as many items at a time as you want.
4. profit!
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10101311 (20GB- backup empeg)
10101466 (2x60GB, Eutronix/GreenLights Blue) (Stolen!)
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#289454 - 08/11/2006 13:22
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: Dignan]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 15/01/2002
Posts: 1866
Loc: Austin
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That would be caused by the fact that that open files dialog was set to only allow one file to be selected. Test this theory by having him try to drag a box around the files. If the box lines (no better term known) don't appear then only one file is being allowed.
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#289455 - 08/11/2006 13:45
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: RobotCaleb]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Quote:
That would be caused by the fact that that open files dialog was set to only allow one file to be selected. Test this theory by having him try to drag a box around the files. If the box lines (no better term known) don't appear then only one file is being allowed.
Do you know what would cause that?
And I know it's not the keyboard, as I've replaced it twice now. I would tell him to use a different method, but unfortunately that's not my job. I have to fix it to work the way he wants it to.
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Matt
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#289456 - 08/11/2006 13:57
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: Dignan]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 15/01/2002
Posts: 1866
Loc: Austin
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It would be caused by the programmer building it that way. Which version of Outlook? Outlook 2003 allows me to select multiple files for attaching.
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#289457 - 08/11/2006 15:00
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: RobotCaleb]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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It's 2003. I also noticed that if I log him out and log in as myself, I don't have the same issue...
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Matt
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#289458 - 08/11/2006 15:00
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
I have to fix it to work the way he wants it to.
If it's Just The Way Outlook Was Made, then there's nothing you can do to fix it, other than possibly upgrading outlook to a newer version. (my PC at work has the 2007 version of Outlook, I'll check today and see if it behaves the way he wants it to behave.)
Understand that sometimes, a file-selection field MUST BE hard coded to take only one file, because the rest of the software doesn't support multiple files from that point in the code. If that's the case here, it means he's got to go throught the file attachment dialog box more than once for multiple files.
If it's a huge group of files, he should zip them into a single file archive before attaching them anyway.
But before we make the assumption that all of the above is really what's happening, let's take a step back and double check it.
Open Windows Explorer, and browse the folders on the drive, and see if this one-file-only behavior still applies. In Explorer you should be able to select multiple files. If not, then there is truly something weird going on where his shift and control keys aren't working.
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#289459 - 08/11/2006 15:01
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
if I log him out and log in as myself, I don't have the same issue...
AHA!
Go into his Windows Control panel and shut off all the handicapped features.
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#289460 - 08/11/2006 15:03
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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As well as shut off the features that will auto-activate the handicapped features, like holding down shift for 8 seconds to activate stickykeys.
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#289461 - 08/11/2006 15:24
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: tfabris]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 12/02/2002
Posts: 2298
Loc: Berkeley, California
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Quote:
shut off the features that will auto-activate the handicapped features, like holding down shift for 8 seconds to activate stickykeys
Would you mind filing a bug report on that one? I hate that feature. Sometimes I like about what word to start a sentence with.
Matthew
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#289462 - 08/11/2006 16:59
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Quote:
Understand that sometimes, a file-selection field MUST BE hard coded to take only one file
Oh believe me, I understand that. I run into that fairly often, and I wouldn't be posting here if the behavior wasn't unusual. I do apologize, because looking at the thread I should have posted all the symptoms in one place (and more clearly - I can be pretty convoluted, I know).
- user can only select one file at a time when in the Outlook 2003 email attachment window
- the user can select multiple items anywhere else in Windows - whether that be emails in Outlook or files in explorer
- when I remote control his computer, I can select multiple files (<- I forgot to mention this one, which is strange)
- when I log him out and log in as myself, I do not have the problem
- if I replace the keyboard and mouse, the problem persists
I think that's about all I have at the moment.
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Matt
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#289463 - 08/11/2006 17:14
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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I'm almost certain that you've got the handicapped features activated on his user account. This would mean that instead of holding down shift to multi-select, you have to tap Shift to toggle it on and then tap it again to toggle it off.
Start, Settings, Control panel, Accessibility options. Make sure to turn off all features, and go into the settings of each feature to deactivate the "hold down shift to activate" and such.
If all those features are already turned off, report back.
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#289464 - 08/11/2006 17:36
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Nope, not a single one was turned on. I turned off the shortcuts for stickykeys just to make sure. I hate those - turning them off is one of the first things I do when I set up one of my own computers - I don't know why, but when I'm idle at a keyboard, sometimes I'm just playing around with the shift keys...
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Matt
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#289465 - 08/11/2006 18:26
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: Dignan]
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old hand
Registered: 16/02/2002
Posts: 867
Loc: Oxford, UK
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http://support.microsoft.com/kb/196749/en-usQuote:
SYMPTOMS
When you attempt to insert attachments in a Microsoft Outlook e-mail message, you cannot select multiple files from the Insert File dialog box.
CAUSE
This is by design when you are using Microsoft Word as your default e-mail editor.
RESOLUTION
Select the attachment files one at a time from Insert File dialog box.
-or-
Select multiple files from Windows Explorer and drag them onto the message.
-or-
Change your default e-mail editor to Microsoft Outlook Rich Text (RTF).
Edit: Scrub that. I'm using Outlook 2003 here and it works ok for me.
Edited by AndrewT (08/11/2006 18:29)
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#289466 - 08/11/2006 18:42
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: AndrewT]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Yeah, that seems odd. I'm using Word as my default client, and it's fine for me. Also, I imagine that if that were the problem, it wouldn't work when I logged on.
But the symptom they describe is the same thing...
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Matt
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#289467 - 08/11/2006 18:51
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Shooting in the dark here, but have you tried the other shift key? Or tried doing it with Ctrl instead? And the other Ctrl?
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Bitt Faulk
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#289468 - 08/11/2006 20:22
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Quote:
Shooting in the dark here, but have you tried the other shift key? Or tried doing it with Ctrl instead? And the other Ctrl?
I don't believe I tried the alternate keys, but Ctrl does essentially the same thing. You can select a file, but if you Ctrl+click another file, only the second one will be selected.
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Matt
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#289469 - 08/11/2006 20:49
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: Dignan]
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old hand
Registered: 15/02/2002
Posts: 1049
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When the user is holding down shift, is (s)he accidentally also depressing the control key right below it, making the second click an accidental control-shift-click?
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#289470 - 08/11/2006 22:02
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: TigerJimmy]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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I think he's trying it himself on that machine, thus ruling out user error like slipping on the control key.
I think Andrew's suggestion from the Microsoft KB was probably the best one. See if configuring outlook rich-text gets rid of the problem.
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#289471 - 10/11/2006 08:43
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: tfabris]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 12/01/2002
Posts: 2009
Loc: Brisbane, Australia
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Do multiple file selections work in a regular explorer window?
_________________________
Christian
#40104192 120Gb (no longer in my E36 M3, won't fit the E46 M3)
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#289472 - 10/11/2006 22:12
Re: Weird Windows bug
[Re: Shonky]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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