Left click works in browser but not in taskbar or desktop

dictum said:

I had reservations running that tool because it came from an non-authorized site. msi-forums have nothing to do with MSI, this guy being an admin notwithstanding. Is it a real tool or some kind of malware/trojan?

Why would you suggest the the MSI forums site is non-authorized and has nothing to do with MSI?


https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/msi-dragon-center-2-auto-removal-tool-log-generator-v1-0-0-6.328645/



Do you think they're spoofing the domain name msi.com and MSI is just looking the other way?

dictum said:

I have been on the MSI forums for the last 5 years, they make it pretty clear that:
the post above pointed to this link. Forum-en.msi.com is not an official MSI community, people are free to post whatever they want. The msi.com notwithstanding. The attachment they have, the diagnostic tool is not an official MSI tool, neither supported nor endorsed by them. Just "some guy" posted it, and you don't "really" know what it's in it. As a good security practice, do not run programs that you download "off the internet".

MSI Dragon Center 2 Auto Removal Tool / Log Generator, v1.0.0.6 | MSI Global English Forum - Index

Against my better judgement I ran it and it did not appear to do anything, apparently because I already deleted the things. So it's kind of buggy, should have produced a message. I had to click the bottom option 5 times to get it to do anything.

I still have the left clicky stuck. At this point I am beginning to think it's a mechanical program with the laptop.

Did you scan the Uninstaller file with Windows Defender or other third party antivirus before executing?


I might be mistaken, didn't you experience this left click issue while using the TouchPad & an external mouse?

dictum said:

The problem exists with the built-in clicky in the MSI GT80 SLI *and* any external mouse.

My best theory at the moment is, something is malfunctioning on the hardware level, with the left touch-pad clicky and you have to get it unstuck by right clicking several times. then it doesn't come back. Weird.

I have two identically configured machines, down to all 4 SSDs being identical models, GT80's and I swapped the "bad" SSD into the backup machine and it did not follow into the new machine, but an SSD from a working machine developed problems once transplanted into the "bad" machine.

If the inconsistent behavior of the left click were hardware related, why would it function correctly while using a browser and not for taskbar items, as you stated in the first post?

Also, if the deficiency is observed with the touchpad & an external mouse, are you thinking of the chipset as the hardware failure?

dictum said:

the touchpad and an external mouse - both have the same behavior
the left click does not work on anything in taskbar, or the Start option.

However the left click works just fine in Brave browser. (chrome based). For the most part, has some weirdness but basically works.
But I cannot select anything from the taskbar, any pinned items.
Nor can I start anything with the left click from the desktop.

Also, sometimes the left click does not work at all. I have to reboot multiple times for it to work in a limited capacity.(i.e. the browser).

That suggests there is a software problem.

From your post #3 where you indicate the mouse/touchpad behavior changed significantly.

dictum said:

Now it just switched, taskbar works but not the browser. It's like it gets stuck in a certain mode.

I would suggest that the likelihood of a hardware fault condition flipflopping the behavior is extremely low.



Do both GT80s have the identical TouchPad driver version?


Have you tested the TouchPad and mouse performance after booting to Safe Mode?


Boot into Safe Mode on Windows 10


As a test, why not swap the left & right click functions and see if the intermittent click stays same or crosses to the other button?


If you haven't already, I'd be inclined to use DISM, followed by SFC. (I'm aware you've already run SFC).

From an elevated Command Prompt, type or copy & paste the following;

Code:

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth