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Stop Menus from Following the Mouse

Intended For
Windows XP
Windows 2000
Windows Me
Windows 98
Windows 95
In all recent versions of Windows, menus seem to be magnetically attracted to the mouse pointer. This is the mechanism that makes portions of the Start Menu disappear if you accidentally let the mouse stray and hit another menu. This is especially irritating to users with sensitive pointing devices, such as touchpads, trackballs, and digitizers. Here's how to disable this behavior:


Solution #1:


Solution #2:

  • Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
  • Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Control Panel\ desktop.
  • Click on the string named MenuShowDelay (or add it if it's not there by selecting New, String Value from the Edit menu)
  • Specify 65534 for its value, and close the Registry Editor when finished.
  • You'll probably have to restart Windows for this change to take effect.

  • Note: Solution #2 will prevent sub-menus from opening automatically, but the main menus still follow the mouse like a starving alley cat.

  • Note: The second solution can also be changed with TweakUI.


Written by: Annoyances.org
Last updated: Thursday, August 16, 2001

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