Microsoft confirms XP right click memory hog problem

SOFTWARE FIRM Microsoft quietly published a report on its support pages last week confirming that a right click on files using Windows Explorer in XP does gnash away eating up at your CPU time.

See Windows XP right click gobbles up CPU time

But there's a relatively easy way to stop it doing that.

Microsoft says in the note that when you right click a folder using Windows Explorer, the CPU usage flies up to 100% when the shortcut menu is displayed.

That means any file copy operation "may appear to stop responding", "network connection speed may significantly decrease", and streaming operations, like listening to music, can become distorted.

You get round the probbo by turning off the "transition effects" for menus and tool tips, or you left click the folder you want before you right click it.

The problem occurs in all versions of Widnows XP including bug fixes SP1 and SP1a, and you can read more about it by proceeding in this general Volish direction.

We've gone back to using Windows 2000 after being totally unable to restore our TCP/IP breakdown in Windows XP. W2K works a positive treat, we must say. Touch wood. µ