Invisible overlay not allowing to click

pepanee · 25 Jun 2017

That's good news, so far, then!

Hopefully it was just some minor bug that Microsoft spotted and released some hidden update that fixed it. Let's just hope it doesn't happen anymore.

Yet if it ever happens again (hopefully doesn't), then we'll hear back from you.

Hydrate · 29 Jun 2017

Tjeros said:

Thanks for all the replies! I will definitely try out the methods you've all mentioned and then post the results here.

Now, I felt the need to post this, because the issue has not yet re-occurred and when it will again -- remains to be seen. That might take a while, so I would like to apologise in advance if I don't post anything here for what could be several days or more.

P.S.

- I posted this thread right after this issue happened, however, about a day earlier, it had occurred as well. Now though it hasn't occurred since I posted.

Definitely let us know what occurs and if it occurs again, meanwhile, please run this command

Code:

sfc /scannow

in an elevated command prompt or PowerShell and post back results please.

pepanee said:

That's good news, so far, then!

Hopefully it was just some minor bug that Microsoft spotted and released some hidden update that fixed it. Let's just hope it doesn't happen anymore.

Yet if it ever happens again (hopefully doesn't), then we'll hear back from you.

We cannot have such wishful thinking, it creates more issues. Trust me buddy, I learned the hard way.

pokeefe0001 · 29 Jun 2017

This is probably completely unrelated, but I had a similar problems while running Unlocker (Cedrick Collomb's Unlocker, not the IObit Unlocker) to delete several thousands of .con files. This makes no sense to me, but it seemed like it was repeatedly invoking something that didn't display anything long enough for me to notice but was stealing focus each time. Even though I could move the cursor around I was effectively locked out of my PC for over an hour. I had to do this on 2 PCs with the same effect on both.

pepanee · 29 Jun 2017

Unlocker is outdated and no longer updated according to their website.

I used to use Unlocker before, and it was great, but then had a few bugs that I started experiencing with it as Windows got updated more and more (I don't remember what the bugs were). So I switched over to LockHunter. It is up to date and does exactly the same thing as Unlocker.

Invisible overlay not allowing to click-lockhunter-context-menu-item.png

Hydrate · 29 Jun 2017

pepanee said:

Unlocker is outdated and no longer updated according to their website.

I used to use Unlocker before, and it was great, but then had a few bugs that I started experiencing with it as Windows got updated more and more (I don't remember what the bugs were). So I switched over to LockHunter. It is up to date and does exactly the same thing as Unlocker.

My personal preference is UnlockIT by EMCO. Windows files have extremely sensitive file attributes, ACLs, permissions, and ownership properties that UnlockIT handles well without any issues in my experience. I still await Tjeros!

UnLock IT Free - Unlock a File or Folder Locked by the System

pokeefe0001 · 29 Jun 2017

This Unlocker topic is interesting, but not really relevant to the OP's question. I started a new thread in the software sub-forum:
Unlocker programs - Windows 10 Forums
Is is OK if we continue the Unlocker discussion there?

Tjeros · 29 Jun 2017

Hydrate said:

Definitely let us know what occurs and if it occurs again, meanwhile, please run this command

Code:

sfc /scannow

in an elevated command prompt or PowerShell and post back results please.

I had set up a .bat file some time ago with both SFC and DISM, and here's the results:

Bat file code:

Code:

sfc /scannow & Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth & Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth & Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

As for the issue: The PC has been running for over 8 days now and the issue has not re-occurred. I will definitely let you know if and when it does.

Hydrate · 29 Jun 2017

Tjeros said:

I had set up a .bat file some time ago with both SFC and DISM, and here's the results:

Bat file code:

Code:

sfc /scannow & Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth & Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth & Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

As for the issue: The PC has been running for over 8 days now and the issue has not re-occurred. I will definitely let you know if and when it does.

Okay, this is excellent! I am very happy to hear that it has not occurred since. I will watch the thread closely.

Tjeros · 29 Jun 2017

Also, with regards to malware:

Just checked the Malwarebytes Reports and it turns out a scan had occurred on the date of posting. No malware was found. Here's the report:
report 22-06.txt

Just to make sure, I re-did the scan today -- same results.

Tjeros · 09 Jul 2017

It's back!

Restarted my PC today, and noticed I couldn't click in an area the size of Start menu (SM) again. The issue is back (yay...)

This time, I decided to experiment a little bit. I resized SM to see what would happen, and it seems SM is directly involved.

Some facts about the issue:
- I cannot interact with programs/buttons/icons in the area the size of SM
- I cannot scroll in it
- If I do click, any active program becomes inactive (as evidenced by the icon in taskbar)
- Restarting explorer.exe resolves the issue for a max of ~2 weeks (after posting this thread, now is the first time it re-occurred). However, I am not going to restart explorer.exe, in case anything can be done with it to investigate the issue.
- SFC and DISM failed to find any corruptions
- PC is malware-free (according to MalwareBytes)
- I opened Task Manager right away, but did not notice any program popping in and out quickly.
- I have yet to try and reproduce the issue on another user account, and since the issue occurs sporadically - it might prove difficult to do so.