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What is causing programs started from Launchy to lose drag-and-drop functionality in Windows 10?

There weren't any problems like this before I installed Windows 10 (Windows 8, 7, Vista, etc.), so I think the root cause is related to Windows 10.

For example:

  • I used to be able to drag a file from the desktop/file explorer and drop it over Paint.NET to open it.
  • However, now dragging a file to Paint.NET results in a "not allowed" icon.
  • Drag-and-drop works as expected if Paint.NET is started via other means besides Launchy. Drag-and-drop usually works if the program is started directly from Windows.

I have tried, without success:

  • Starting Launchy with various compatibility settings.
  • Starting Launchy as an Administrator

Some related issues:

  • I also cannot get Launchy to automatically start with Windows on log-in like I used to. (Windows error dialogs, or it just doesn't start.)
  • VLC drag-and-drop did not function irregardless of how it was started. Adjusting the "compatibility settings" restored drag-and-drop (still doesn't work if started from Launchy)
  • I restored drag-and-drop to TransCopyManager in a similar fashion.
Peter Mortensen
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Leftium
  • 9,335

2 Answers2

1

If I run it manually then it works fine. To start Launchy from startup:

  1. press Win + R
  2. type shell::startup and press Enter. This will open the startup directory
  3. drag the Launchy executable with the right button to the startup directory and choose create shortcut
  4. alternatively, copy the executable, right-click in startup, and choose paste shortcut.

P.S.: The Wox URL is changed to http://www.wox.one/

The drag and drop doesn't depend on Launchy. It depends on whether or not the program you are dragging from has the same privileges as the program you are dropping to. For example, if you start Launchy with as an administrator (for example, in Task Scheduler, and you tick the box "Run with higher privileges") it will start all programs as an administrator. And the reason you want to start Launchy as administrator is that hotkey won't work if the focused window is a program run as an administrator.

I'm using AutoHotkey which is started as administrator to convert Win + Space to Alt + Ctrl + Space since Win + space doesn't work in Launchy, Wox or keypirinha. That fixes the hotkey not working in programs started with higher privileges. I start Launchy itself not as administrator.

Peter Mortensen
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NickSoft
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0

I found a replacement for Launchy that does not have this problem: Wox

The interface is very similar, and it is in active development.

Leftium
  • 9,335