Why can't I move drag or maximize the window with the mouse?
I've had this issue before and I believe I solved it by restarting my computer last time. That will likely fix it again, but that should be necessary.
Anyway, so as I stated I can no longer use the mouse to drag the Firefox window around the screen, nor can I double click the top of the window to maximize or unmaximize it. The buttons in the right corner still work.
Firefox briefly lets me move the window around when it first starts, but after a few seconds it will go back to not letting me move it around.
I have already tried all solution I could find, such as safe mode, no addons, enabling the menu bar, etc.
All Replies (6)
Update: Had to restart my computer for other reasons, and as I suspected has fixed the issue for the time being.
However I still feel it is important to know why this happens since I am sure this will happen again.
Hey Eva, just thinking outside the box here but are you using any theme programs like WindowsBlinds or similar? I really feel like a 3rd party program may be interfering with your window controls here.
Also this might seem silly but have you scanned for malware? It's a weird possibility but that could be the cause.
I don't run any sort of 3rd party theme or theme/skin program. The only thing I do different is run in Windows classic style with some custom colors. (see attached image)
As for malware I will start a scan and inform of the results when it is finished.
Apologies for the late response, I had an 11 hour day while the scans were still running.
Regardless, I did 2 full system scans (AVG and MalwareBytes). Both found a couple false-positives, however AVG did find some tracking cookies (though I doubt those did anything to cause my issue).
No worries. Thanks for doing the scans! I'm looking in the bug database to see if any similar bugs were filed about not being able to drag or maximize/unmaximize windows using double click. There's was a bug like this that got fixed in Jan. 2015 but I think it only affected macs: Bug 1122942 - Can't drag or move Firefox window when a third-party theme is installed
I found the above in this thread: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1042172
I wonder if this is a repeat of that. Or maybe your OS messes up a process related to window controls and Firefox gets affected by it as a result. The only one I can think of right now is dwm.exe aka Desktop Window Manager. But I'm probably overthinking it.
The next time this happens (which I hope it doesn't) can you see if other non-Firefox windows suffer the same side effects? Also how often do you get this bug?
You can also try disabling your themes for a bit in the Add-ons > Appearance area. Just to see if this is related to that earlier bug I posted.
Yea I'll try to do some of that next time this happens. However the last time I had this issue before then was a few months ago.
As for things regarding dwm.exe, my computer actually has issues with that. If I run non-Windows Classic mode (Win 7 Basic or Aero) the computer will BSOD on me. I've never been able to solve it and don't plan on reinstalling Windows 7 for the 8th time on my dying boot drive.