Desktop Context Menu Problem

I've got a weird annoyance.
My W7 install has started acting up (during the past few days).

When I attempt to bring up the Desktop Context menu (on the desktop, or in the folder) it takes between 30s - 60s to respond.
All other folders (that I've checked) seem to react instantly (as expected).

I ran sfc /scannow.
It reported no problems.

Windows Explorer has been a bit twitchy as well (USB HDD disconnection problems).

Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions regarding this problem(s)?

I don't normally recommend this, but you may want to pull up a registry scanner and make sure there are no dead links or bad shortcuts involved.
That would explain the delay in opening as the system tries to verify a bad link.
You could also try looking at the folder with hidden files on to see if anything strange is there.

Thanks for your reply. :)

I have "Show hidden files, folders and drives" set.
It's one of the first changes I make.



I ran AVG yesterday.
I'll let ASC4, CCleaner and Glary have a look at my Registry and I'll see what they say.

I used to get this problem in vista all the time, it was almost always dead shortcuts or registry issues.
I have no experienced it yet in win 7, but since the setup is basically the same...

I ran ASC4, CCleaner and Glary, but I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

I installed Java earlier this week, so that I could use Packet Tracer (for my course).
I re-imaged my PC (pre-Java install) but that didn't fix the problem (I guess that Java is in the clear).

Thanks for those links Imperfect1. :)
I'll check them out this weekend.

This behaviour is only an annoyance (the "Control Panel" opens "Personalization" normally).

Imperfect1 said:

My problem occurred because of my Norton antivirus. It apparently configured itself to scan every few moments. I've now changed to Avast and am no longer having the problem.

What antivirus app are you using?

I'm using AVG (free).

I've installed a few programs since the last MS Updates.
I'll roll my install back to before the MS updates for July and then I'll see if it is still happening.

If that fixes the problem, I'll re-install the programs, one by one and see if any of those caused the problem.

Weird I can't type AVG as the comment title.
It gets converted to Avg.

It looks like it may have been some sort of installation glitch.

I've reinstalled the July MS Updates and most of the programs.
The problem has disappeared.

I HAVEN'T reinstalled Java, Packet Tracer or VLC.

I'll make a VM and install Java and Packet Tracer in it (instead of my real PC).
I don't really need VLC.

I don't think vlc is related it's almost completely self contained, it doesn't even use system codecs.
The other two I don't know about though.