Windows 10: Right Click for Photos has quit working.

Ok, as previously, please try
Does the same thing happen
- after a clean boot
- in safe mode?

 

Okay, it took a long time because this problem is apparently causing it to take 15 minutes to boot. That and honeydos and lunch and finally I have the answers.

Assuming by a clean boot you mean msconfig's "Diagnostic startup," it did not help.

However the problem does not happen in Safe Mode.

I do get this error message in Safe Mode:

 

Try reinstalling Irfanview, it should rebuild registry entries.

Or, in case you have any recent restore points, try system restore to time before you made that changes (I would try this first).

Another option, if you didn't try before is to restore Microsoft defaults for file types.

 

About the first thing I did when I encountered this problem was uninstall and reinstall Irfanview.

In trying to solve this problem, for the first time I tried to use System Restore, just to discover that Microsoft disabled it in Win10 (Thanks Bill).

When I changed to different picture file viewer (see above) I changed all the Associations for Irfanview, then changed them back when I returned to Irfanview.

 

Hi,
1. The message you saw in Safe Mode is typical of having UAC off.
2. MS hasn't disabled System Restore in '10 - that is as a feature- but for whatever strange reason, it is disabled by default on installing '10 and on each new major build upgrade. (Of course all restore points are lost when upgrading as you'd expect - but not SR being turned off for you if you had it on).
3. Clean boot: e.g. the first section of this:
Clean Boot - Perform in Windows 10 to Troubleshoot Software Conflicts - Windows 10 Forums
- do have a look at the Tutorials- many very clear and practical guides.
Is that what you did?

4.

Could you clarify.. do you mean any time you boot, booting takes that long?

If so, could you
a. complete your system specs
System Specs - Fill in at Ten Forums - Windows 10 Forums
b. Run chkdsk
From an admin command prompt
[Windows key + X, click command prompt (admin)]
chkdsk C: /F
Your PC will need to restart.
Make sure the result is clear or fixed- else do not proceed.
Post back the result, which you can get after a restart as follows:
How do I see the results of a CHKDSK that ran on boot? - Ask Leo!

c. If clear, then from an elevated (admin) command prompt, run
sfc /scannow
Wait and report the result.
(Some say if it's not clear, running it a couple more times can sometimes help).
If not clear, other approaches are needed.

 

I thought I'd report on your #3-4 before doing the chkdsk since as I recall that takes a while.

#3 - I did most of the things on the clean boot instructions but did not go to the Task Manager and disable everything. I have a fairly long list of startup items and 2/3rds or more are disabled. It was too time consuming to make a list of everything that's enabled and re-enable them one at a time after the test was over. I thought unchecking the "load startup items" box in msconfig meant startup items weren't loaded anyway. If not, what does that box do?

#4 Since the onset of this problem we're trying to solve it takes that long from the beginning of Startup until the Desktop appears. This has only been the last couple or three days. Did I answer your question?

 

checkdsk went MUCH quicker than I remembered and showed no problems

I wish we'd started with SFC. That found the problem and fixed it. I now get the context menu and it boots normally

Many, many thanks

 

Great - the first assumption with context problems is it's a shell extension.
Then eliminate 3rd party effects.
Then look for repairs.

I don't like throwing a whole long list of things at people to try. That's pretty standard stuff anyway. And too often SFC /Scannow fails and just shows up other problems requiring more drastic measures.

 

Opening a task manager window. In the task manager, right click file explorer and choose end task. Then run it again.