[anonymous_user]

Sometimes, objects on my desktop will look transparent as if I cut it. If I rearrange my icons though, then a different object will become transparent.

First example:



After rearrange:



This isnt a big issue but it does bother me.

[anonymous_user]

Anyone have an idea? I forgot about this issue until now that I reinstalled Vista.

[anonymous_user]

Anyone maybe have an idea of what causes this?

[Mr Snrub]

The greying-out of an icon occurs when a Cut & Paste operation is half-way complete (i.e. you have marked a file and selected Cut, and now you need to specify where it should be pasted).

If you press ESC does it restore all the icons?
(This would be the equivalent of cancelling a Cut operation, so if this restores the icons then it looks like this is what is happening.)

Is this just on your deskotp, or do you get the same effect in Explorer windows too?

Do you have any Explorer extensions installed?
Maybe something monitoring the clipboard, context menu extensions, etc...

[anonymous_user]

The thing is I didnt cut those icons. Ill try the ESC thing next time I see it.

I think Ive seen it happen in Explorer too, just not as often.

Explorer extensions? Is TeraCopy an extension?

[Mr Snrub]

Not heard of TeraCopy before, but from the wording on their site I would say yes:
http://www.codesector.com/teracopy.php

Quote

Shell integration. TeraCopy can completely replace Explorer copy and move functions, allowing you work with files as usual

Mind you, I wouldn't ever use a tool that the author knows is not DEP-friendly, and their recommendation is to disable it!
http://help.codesector.com/TeraCopyFAQ

Quote

TeraCopy crashes when you try to open it after install on Vista.
"You have to turn off DEP (data execution prevention):
Right Click My Computer > Properties > Advanced System Settings > Advanced Tab > Settings > DEP tab
Then
Option 1: Select bullet 1 and restart if necessary or
Option 2: Select bullet 2 and add the teracopy.exe from its installed folder and restart if necessary
Now apply

[anonymous_user]

Well the ESC thing worked but I still dont remember cutting those folders/files.

Maybe Ill try without TeraCopy.

[Mr Snrub]

Okay, so that proves it's not a display bug - if ESC hadn't "un-greyed" the icon but F5 (refresh) did, then I would have said it was some quirk in Explorer.

Some Explorer extension is, under some unknown circumstances, sending a pseudo key sequence for CTRL-X or similar for random selected objects - very tricky to track down through debugging (without a simple repro) so that would be best approached through removing software (or clean install) and trial & error.
Teracopy, by its description and purpose, does seem like the most likely candidate.

[anonymous_user]

Ok I spoke to jeff (a developer of TeraCopy) and I found something interesting: for some reason Vista only remembers the position (index?) of a file I cut.

So if I cut the second file on a desktop ("file A") and then rearrange the desktop (name/size/type/date), the new second file (not "file A") will appear cut.

Maybe you could test on your desktop? Just cut a file and then rearrange the icons (name/size/type/date). If it doesnt happen, then try rearrange again.

This post has been edited by anonymous_user: 30 June 2008 - 08:35 PM

[Mr Snrub]

Aha, took a couple of goes but I see what you mean now - it didn't seem to repro reliably with files named test1, test2, test3 at first, but after changing them to "a document", "because i can", "care to test and "donuts" (a,b,c,d) I can get the same effect.

It happens in any folder view, not specifically the desktop . the cut selection is correct, however, it is just a display bug.

[anonymous_user]

So how do I contact Microsoft about this bug?

[Mr Snrub]

If the author of TeraCopy has a Premier support contract with Microsoft, they could always open a case and request a bug be filed on their behalf - the business case is not very good though (it may seem like a trivial fix to you, but could involve major code changes in the shell, which could have knock-on effects and incur way too much testing).

When the beta programs for Win7 start, someone could file their own bug report if the problem is still present - there is a link on the desktop/start menu for reporting user experience issues on pre-RTM builds of Windows.