Can't Drag & Drop or Copy & Paste

[DivineMsEm]

I suddenly lost the ability to drag and drop and copy and paste. I've looked up previous threads and have done what they suggested to no avail. I've restarted finder; rebooted the computer; repaired disk permissions; and tried to trash the cache file "com.apple.dock.iconcache" but when I ctrl + clicked it to send it to the trash, it was removed from the cache folder but doesn't show up in the trash bin. This is my work computer so I need this resolved ASAP.

G5 Powermac Dual 2 GHz PowerPC with OS 10.5.6

Thanks!

[djackmac]

There are at least 3 different ways to do those functions.
1. Edit menu
2. control + click
3. keyboard shortcuts
4. If using a two button mouse, right click

Which of these methods is not working or are all not working?

[DivineMsEm]

Actually, none of them were working. I cleared out all the cache and preferences that I could think of that wouldn't cause any harm to the comp or any programs, then rebooted, and somehow that solved the problem. I guess it was some weird preference somewhere that caused Finder to freak out. Thanks for your help, though!

[MisterMe]

I suddenly lost the ability to drag and drop and copy and paste. ...

Which applications are you not able to cut & paste in?

[minou]

I am having the same problem. Two days ago, I suddenly couldn't drag and drop anymore, from ANY application. I found a few threads that deal with this but no real solution. The OS and model don't seem to be the issue.

The macosxhints Forums - Can't Drag and Drop [Archive]
Macrumors - Can't Drag and Drop! Help
Daniweb - Can't Drag and Drop


Finder :
Can't copy, paste, drag, drop. Icons can be clicked on and selected but can't be moved.
Sherlock doesn't work - the magnifying glass icon has disappeared from the top right corner, command+space doesn't get it open either. Can still search for files by clicking in the search bar in the folder window.

Adobe :
In Design + Illustrator won't open anymore
Photoshop starts up but I get two dialog boxes before it gets stuck:
'Could not import the clipboard because of a program error' then
'An unexpected and unrecoverable problem has occurred. Photoshop will now exit.'
Acrobat seems OK, can import via import option.

Microsoft :
Importing (attachments for mails in Entourage, images into Word/Excel) seems to work but needs to be done from within the program. Maybe related, last week the Entourage database was damaged and had to be rebuilt after only 4 months of use.
BUT when copying/pasting in Excel I get the message : 'Cannot empty the Clipboard'.
In Word I get 'There is not enough memory or disk space to complete the operation'.
In Entourage - no message but it doesn't work.

Apple :
FCP - can import via import option AND drag and drop within the application.
Motion - movies can be imported via import but CAN'T drag and drop within the app. Can't copy/paste either


Have tried :

° Deleting the prefs files
com.apple.desktop.plist
com.apple.dock.plist
com.apple.finder.plist
com.apple.LaunchServices.plist

° Logging in as a new user

° Safe rebooting + launching Disk Utility
verified the disk - 'The volume seems to be OK.'
around 30 permissions were repaired, mostly
System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/...
System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iPhotoAccess.framework/Versions/...
System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework/Versions/...
Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/...

° Clearing the pasteboard
by typing 'echo "" | pbcopy' into the terminal
(judging from the errors something big is stuck in the pasteboard)


But the problem persists. I'm hesitant to do a clean install, it may fix the problem but it only seems to work for a short while. I'd like to run a disk utility from a MBP running 10.4.11. The affected machine is a MBP - OS 10.5.6. Can I do this? Or is there something else I shoud try?

thanks

[Rafael V]

Im having the exactly same problem here, the problems began shortly after updating some minor Apple softwares (itunes, isomething, ietc) and now i'm stuck. I'm afraid to reinstall everything cause i'm not familiar with Macs (started using 1 week ago, since i got this Mac) and i can't lose all the documents and data here.

And i cant back them up cause i cant copy nor drag anything!

[Rafael V]

minou, i tryied upgrading the 10.5.6 to 10.5.8 and it didn't fixed my problem. Only made it worst, i couldn't reinstall the OS X that came with the computer cause now i had a newer version!

So i partitioned my HD in 2, and installed the Mac OSX it on the second partition. Imported all settings, applications and files. Now everything seems to be working just fine, i can drag and drop and all Adobe CS4 products are OK.

[minou]

thanks rafael, was hoping for a less drastic solution for the same reason - i couldn't back anything up. got an external hd now so looks like i'm going to have to bite the bullet... if anyone ever finds another solution to this mysterious problem please post!