Right clicking on broken shortcuts hands Windows

Oct 20, 2018
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Normally when I right click files/folders the context menu pops up right away without issue.

But, if I am right clicking on a broken shortcut, Windows hangs for ~5 seconds every time before the menu pops up.

Is there a reason for this? Thanks.

I've already tried the usual fixes, going through the context menu options with shell but I can't find any obvious problems and it only hangs on broken shortcuts.
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
This:

" Windows hangs for ~5 seconds every time before the menu pops up."

If the shortcut is broken (as you seem to know) why do you expect results?

And what menu is popping up?

Please provide some details and additional explanation about what is happening.

 
Oct 20, 2018
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Example; I have a shortcut to a program I uninstalled or moved on my desktop, or in any other location. I right click on it, say to delete it for example, and the context menu that pops up when you right click things (to delete, rename, send to, ect) hangs Windows for like ~5 seconds with the loading mouse cursor, instead of popping up immediately after I click it.

I've checked to see if it is possibly one of the context menu handlers causing problems, but I didn't see any, and besides it only happens when it's a broken shortcut.

So I'm wondering why right clicking on any broken shortcut is hanging the system and if it is possibly otherwise indicative of other performance issues.

Thanks.
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
What happens if you drag/move the broken shortcut directly to the Recycle Bin?

Not sure why windows would be delaying as you describe other than some bug or fault in the software.

Take at look at the properties of a known broken shortcut and compare to another working shortcut (i.e., no lag in the pop-up window).





 
Oct 20, 2018
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Yes it's odd.

Working shortcuts don't lag when opening the context menu. No other context menus present this issue, it very specifically hangs (the mouse cursor changes to an hourglass) for about ~5 or more seconds before the context menu pop ups on any/every broken shortcut.

If I drag it to the recycling bin or otherwise delete it without bringing up the context menu it doesn't lag.

But I'm wondering why it's doing this, and if it's a symptom of some larger issue that I'm unaware of as yet.

Thanks.
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
Not sure about that one way or the other.

What you can try is to use Task Manager or Resource Monitor to observe what your system is "doing" during that 5 seconds or so.

Open Task Manager or Resource Monitor and just observe for a few minutes. Explore the tool and get a sense of the information being displayed and how you can view and sort the data.

Slide the window to one side but leave open. Then right click a broken shortcut. You may be able to spot some application, process, or service that launches at the click. Or some resource that suddenly gets consumed and thus slows performance.

The culprit could be within Windows, or some configuration issue within Windows, or possibly some third party application trying to do something. The latter being, in my mind, the least likely of the three.