Ctrl-V pastes picture not value

[mariak]

I recently received a new computer at work that has a quirky feature that the
IT staff cannot solve.

When I select some text (either with the keyboard or mouse), type 'ctrl-c',
use the arrow keys to reposition the cursor, then type 'ctrl-v', a screenshot
will be pasted into my document rather than the text that I had previously
selected. My selection becomes unselected as soon as I use the arrow keys,
but it remains if I reposition the cursor with the mouse. This problem
occurs in multiple software products (e.g., Excel, Word, etc.).

Any ideas why this is happening?

Thanks

 

[jimmuh]

Okay, that's pretty strange, isn't it?

Which operating system and which version of MS Office is on this machine?
You said it was new, and that it has behaved this way since you got it. "New"
in the sense that it is new to you, or new in the sense that it was
unpackaged by IT and set up for you? You said this behavior occurs in more
than one application, but you only mentioned MS Office applications. Are
there any NON-Office apps which behave this way? Is the source from which you
copy always an Office app, or does this happen if (for instance) you Ctrl-C
to copy something from Notepad? Are there any add-ons for Office on this
system?

Also, please try restarting the system in Safe Mode and testing the
clipboard function. Does it behave the same in Safe Mode?

 

[mariak]

Yes, it's strange; I've never encountered the problem anywhere else.

The computer is new to me, but I cannot guarantee it has not been used by
someone else in the company. I received it last week, but the paperwork says
it was purchased in April 2006. The operating system is Windows XP
Professional. MS Office version is 2003. The same problem also occurs
within Notepad and going to/from Notepad and an Office product.

I forgot to add in my last posting that the problem resolves itself if I
remove the number lock, but reappears when the number lock is turned back on.
Since I work regularly with numbers, I always have the number lock on.

I tried testing it in Safe Mode and the problem continues to exist.

 

[jimmuh]

Oh, that NumLock thing just REEKS of design -- meaning that I'd be willing to
bet that someone installed an application / utility which does this, or (less
likely, I think) someone did a hack on the system to cause it to behave this
way. The .NET Framework makes it especially easy to accomplish stuff like
this. I'm hoping that, if you look in Add/Remove Programs you'll find an
application that's designed to capture screenshots. If such an application is
installed it might be a good idea to examine its features and options to see
if there's a way to turn this behavior off. I'd do that BEFORE uninstalling
it, if I were you. The uninstall routine should undo any "unnatural" changes
it has wrought on the system before it removes the software, but I've seen
enough weirdness on the part of installers and uninstallers that I try to
leave as little as possible to chance.

The fact that the problem persists in Safe Mode is an indicator, I think,
that this is not merely some malfunction in OLE. If you look at the startup
processes on that system, and if the problem is caused by a third party
application, you should see a service or process which is NOT excluded by
starting in Safe Mode. (Safe Mode doesn't launch any "non-essential" drivers,
so whatever is cranking up here is more like a service or a user land type of
application which doesn't have to depend upon a driver or pseudo driver.)

And, BTW, your IT department most certainly should be able to fix this for
you. And they should KNOW who used the computer before you got it. They
should also know what's installed on it before they give it to you.