dragging and dropping a link from the address bar doesn't work

dragging and dropping a link from the address bar doesn't work

it does work in IE

Drag and drop to where? You can drag it to the desktop to create a shortcut, or you can drag it to a toolbar (hold shift before releasing it). You can drag and drop links to your personal bar (without the need to hold shift).

dragging and dropping onto desktop, I get the 'command blocked' symbol on my mouse cursor when trying to drag it onto the desktop

I have the same problem. In windows 7 I am never able to drag and drop a URL from the link bar into any folder or desktop. This happens when using any theme other the default Win 7 theme. And even with the default Win 7 theme I am only able to drag and drop to the desktop and never to any folder. With other themes it does not even allow to drag and drop an URL to the desktop itself as it always shows the "blocked" icon. This may well be a huge bug.

Cannot drag and drop a URL or a text from the Opera Browser to anywhere else. I try to do a drag and drop to an email to send to a friend and it does nothing at all. Works well in Firefox and Chrome but not in Opera. I am using Linux and have tried it in 3 different distros. I tried to copy a paragraph from a website to plug into an email and I get nothing copied at all. I tried to copy the URL for a website to an email and got nothing. It works a treat within Opera but it does not work when I try to put them anywhere else at all. There is no error message; just nothing shows and nothing moves.

I am new to Opera. I have version 10.63

I am trying to drag a URL from either the address bar to the tab to my desktop to create a link shortcut. I have tried left mouse, right mouse all with and without either the shift, Ctrl and Alt key to no avail.

Either the page opens (moves) to a new window, or nothing happens at all.

I know the program must be able to do this basic action. What is the trick? Only mention I see is for Mac OX X.

Oh yes, I am using Win XP.

Thanks!

Originally posted by sahands:

dragging and dropping onto desktop, I get the 'command blocked' symbol on my mouse cursor when trying to drag it onto the desktop

I don't. Maybe you're trying to drop a link into a Windows Explorer folder? That is not supported, but D&D to the desktop does work. Dragging a tab to the Windows Taskbar, opens it a new Opera window, or "detaches" the tab from the current window.

You now have to drag the tab itself to the toolbar instead of the address.

Originally posted by RonnieK:

You now have to drag the tab itself to the toolbar instead of the address.

that just opens the tab in a new window, I still can't drag and drop from the address bar to the desktop (my annoying workaround is ctrl+s)

Originally posted by Pesala:

Drag and drop to where? You can drag it to the desktop to create a shortcut, or you can drag it to a toolbar (hold shift before releasing it). You can drag and drop links to your personal bar (without the need to hold shift).

exactly. i have been using opera as my main web browser for all kind of stuff for more than 3 years now. and for all the versions through this time, it only allowed a link from the address bar or a web page to be dragged and dropped only into the desktop, but not into any folder opened with windows explorer. i have been using windows xp all this time.

i mostly have my bookmarks as links in folders with related content, not in opera's bookmark manager, so this incapability really irritates me.

why on earth would they not fix this in so many years? it looks just so trivial.

Originally posted by sahands:

dragging and dropping onto desktop, I get the 'command blocked' symbol on my mouse cursor when trying to drag it onto the desktop

Confirmed (Opera 11.01 snapshot, W7 x64).

Originally posted by Pesala:

Maybe you're trying to drop a link into a Windows Explorer folder? That is not supported, but D&D to the desktop does work.

No, it really doesn't. I'm trying to drag an URL right onto my desktop, and I just get the "blocked" symbol.

Agreed - I've /never/ been able to do this in Opera, and it's annoying as crap. If anyone knows any kind of fix/workaround please post! Currently running Opera 11.00 on Win7 x64.

Grab hold of the beginning of the address bar (the non text area part) with the
mouse with the left button held down, And drag it to the desktop.

Does that work ?, It does for me.

EDIT, Not showing off at all, As i have just tried it in Opera 10.20 and 11.01 build 1169, And it just works.



Mint

Originally posted by LinuxMint7:

Grab hold of the beginning of the address bar (the non text area part) with the
mouse with the left button held down, And drag it to the desktop.

Does that work ?, It does for me.

nobody likes a show off...if that worked for the rest of us then this thread would not be open!

Originally posted by LinuxMint7:

Grab hold of the beginning of the address bar (the non text area part) with the
mouse with the left button held down, And drag it to the desktop.

Does that work ?, It does for me.

Yes, it works! Well found Mint
@sahands: you have to do it precisely like it is shown, that is to say from the left part of the address bar, with the earth and 'Web' ...and it works!

BTW, I have found another way: you can drag & drop from the address itself but you have to hold the Shift key at the same time.

...and yes, all this works only on the desktop, not in an explorer window (it is so harassing )

Originally posted by theCharlesF:

@sahands: you have to do it precisely like it is shown, that is to say from the left part of the address bar, with the earth and 'Web' ...and it works!

http://www.mediafire.com/?2gs2aw0nwr8eg71

You`ll have to forgive the rather crap recording performance of my Eeepc 701.

Screen recording

Mint

@sahands: it's amazing! How did you create this menu here? where it is suppose to be only security infos.

So, the problem must come for you from this tweaked menu, that may mask or disable the original features.

Did you try my workaround (drag&drop with the shift key) from the address itself?

the bizzar thing is that it works on my laptop, but not on my pc (they both have the same opera configurations)

Same versions of windows too ?.

Mint

win7 both

Well, Just tried it on Win7 Ultimate 32bit, With Opera 10.20 and 11.01 Build 1169, And both allowed me
to drag link shortcuts from the address bar to the desktop without any problems whatsoever.

It`s seems like it may have something to do with your particular setup.

Mint

Originally posted by LinuxMint7:

Grab hold of the beginning of the address bar (the non text area part) with the
mouse with the left button held down, And drag it to the desktop.

I know how you're supposed to do it (been using Opera for many years), but it simply does not work for me.

Originally posted by theCharlesF:

So, the problem must come for you from this tweaked menu, that may mask or disable the original features.

Nope, 100% default menus here.

Originally posted by LinuxMint7:

It`s seems like it may have something to do with your particular setup.

Yeah, but the question is what. I haven't changed anything significant about my Opera setup since my last clean install (which was 11.00).

Originally posted by RoadHazard:

Originally posted by LinuxMint7:

Grab hold of the beginning of the address bar (the non text area part) with the
mouse with the left button held down, And drag it to the desktop.

I know how you're supposed to do it (been using Opera for many years), but it simply does not work for me.

Well then that was obviously not pointed towards you, I am not in the habit of questioning or insulting peoples abilities or intelligence. I have also been using Opera exclusively for a very long time (around ten years). Even though i have only recently signed up to My Opera. I think i may even still have the free Opera mouse mat somewhere that i received for my subscription when Opera was ad supported.

Originally posted by RoadHazard:

Yeah, but the question is what. I haven't changed anything significant about my Opera setup since my last clean install (which was 11.00).

Search me, All i am saying is, That it works for me on various machines, Various operating systems and and various versions of Opera.

Have you tried performing it on a fresh install of Opera, Before importing or changing any of your settings ?.

Mint

Originally posted by LinuxMint7:

Have you tried performing it on a fresh install of Opera, Before importing or changing any of your settings ?.

I perform clean installs (where I wipe everything) frequently, and I never import settings from an older version (because I know doing that has a tendency to mess stuff up). So there are no old settings which could cause something like this.

Windows ?, Linux ?, MacOS ?, And Opera version ?.

EDIT: If you are using the latest version of Opera (11.01 Build 1169), Have you tried this on an earlier version ?,
Or has dragging links to the desktop from Opera ever worked for you ?, If so, Which version ?.

Mint

Originally posted by LinuxMint7:

Or has dragging links to the desktop from Opera ever worked for you ?

Yes, but not in 11.xx. Not sure when it last worked (since I never actually do it - why would I need web shortcuts on my desktop?). Probably in 10.63?

Running Windows 7 x64.

There's another thread going here in this forum about this very same problem (Can't drag and drop links) plus yet another one over in DSLR's Software forum. To this point, most users don't see the problem, but some of those who do are using Win XP-32 bit and some are using Win 7-64 bit, are running in both limited or admin accounts, and have tried all manner of settings and "fixes" to deal with it - in most cases, without success. One user (XP) had the problem, sustained an (apparently) unrelated system crash, and after reboot, the problem has disappeared.

On my Win XP-32 bit system (limited account) running Opera 10.63, the address bar and various URLs drag-drop to the desktop flawlessly. On my Win 7-64 bit system (limited account) running Opera 10.63, neither drag-drop operation will work from Opera to the desktop. Also, on the Win7 system, Opera will not drag-drop to desktop in the admin account there. Both systems have Opera set up for multi-user, with identical Opera custom settings.

In the other Opera-forum thread on this problem, I noted that I've submitted a bug report on this: DSK-326137.

Also having this issue on my new Win7 x64.
Migrated from Vista 32bits, using the same portable installation where drag-drop to desktop was working.

Now, I'm having to use IE8 to save .url files... twice work.
(Arghh... just remembering IE9 will also make it harder, because it'll save urls as .website stupid-new-extension...)

Btw, it'll be very nice when they implement decent drag-drop to any folder.
(Maybe devs went into trouble integrating it into the Windows shell?)

Sounds like it could be a 64bit or Win7 x64 issue, Judging from what people are posting.

Mint

Originally posted by LinuxMint7:

Sounds like it could be a 64bit or Win7 x64 issue, Judging from what people are posting.

No problem here....Win7 x64

Originally posted by LinuxMint7:

Sounds like it could be a 64bit or Win7 x64 issue, Judging from what people are posting.

Mint

Except that I've come across 2 user reports of the exact same thing thus far, involving WinXP-32 bit...

Did a simple test here...
This problem seems to have some relation with Aero theme.
When using Basic Theme or stopping Theme Service I could drag'n'drop URL to Desktop. (Restart Opera after changing any of that)

Originally posted by RicardoB:

Did a simple test here...
This problem seems to have some relation with Aero theme.
When using Basic Theme or stopping Theme Service I could drag'n'drop URL to Desktop. (Restart Opera after changing any of that)

yep it worked for me after disabling the aero

Originally posted by RicardoB:

Did a simple test here...
This problem seems to have some relation with Aero theme.
When using Basic Theme or stopping Theme Service I could drag'n'drop URL to Desktop. (Restart Opera after changing any of that)

Nice discovery! I confirm on this Win7-64bit system. What it implies, I'm not sure - and I don't see the connection to the Win XP sufferers... but it may be a solid clue to what is causing it.
<i>edited to add: I just sent an addendum to the DSK-326137 bug report, describing this. Hopefully it may be of some value to a developer, since I really don't think disabling or reverting one's desktop theme to fix a browser issue is a practical solution for most users.</i>

I can confirm for my system that the problem depends on the selected theme.

Win 7 64bit (Opera seems to think it is Win32) / Opera 11.01

If you switch to the Windows 7 standard theme, drag and drop is working. With customized themes it isn't.

The more of you to confirm that the more likely it is that the people at Opera will take this old problem seriously.

well the theme that I was using was the windows theme, but I set my own color, that was it. (on my desktop pc)
same thing now on my laptop, but it works fine.

Part of the problem, I believe, is that we've yet to come across exactly what factors/settings stimulate the drag-drop issue - at least in terms of something that can take a system that initially doesn't exhibit it and repeatably cause it to fail. Without either that or a lot more unique detail about systems that do fail, it's hard for a developer to zero in on what's going wrong, since his own test system(s) may not ever exhibit the behavior in the first place. Indications thus far are that two different users with Aero operating do not necessarily see the same drag-drop behavior - so something else still has to also be involved.

Owly has shown that the desktop theme can have an involvement, but Sahands is showing that just changing themes alone does not necessarily translate into a solid correlation with a problem occurrence. Perhaps it has something to do with a theme itself and how it invokes something particular when Aero is being employed... or the reverse, where perhaps certain themes may <i>not</i> invoke something under Aero that interferes with Opera's drag-drop to the desktop. But there seems definitely a clue somewhere in all this that links to desktop theme implementations and whatever that implies for Windows-Opera communications during drag-drop operations to the desktop.

In my case, the Windows 7 theme I use is a customized one wherein various downloaded pictures (mainly landscapes) are slide-show'd for the desktop. However, even when I select any of the "standard" Aero theme choices, drag-drop fails to the desktop.

<i>edited to add:</i> Hmm. Now THAT's curious! I just discovered that I can no longer drag-drop to the desktop even when using the non-Aero Windows desktop theme, in contrast to my then-repeatable experiences of a number of days ago on this same system. Baffling...! And I now wonder if there's something within certain of my Opera settings that play into this. I continually tweak the security settings (Javascript, I-frames, cookies, redirects, etc) as I browse the net... though I cannot fathom why any of that would impact Opera's drag-to-desktop behavior...

It would be helpful if the Opera team could explain how exactly the drag and drop feature works.

There has to be some kind of hand over to the Windows file system. Opera has to invoke some kind of "Save as... XYZ.url to desktop" command to the OS.

Hello.

Win2k SP4
Acer P4 1.7ghz 512m
Broadband Lan at work.

First post, hope it is in the right place.

I have been using Opera Since Version 6x (Paid License)

I too have this problem (address bar to desktop link) with the latest update, and
had to roll back to my previous Opera version 11.10

Possibly this is an upgrade or config page related issue rather than OS?

There is an another problem (possibly related?) I have had since trying versions 10.5 and up,
clicking on desktop links while opera is already open, will not launch a new link.
This does not happen in 10.1 or below, everything worked as it should.

However, I am currently using the 11.1 version at work because of website handling.
Desktop links work the first time, subsequent links will not launch after opera is running.


Thanks.

Opera 12 RC has this regression again

Originally posted by RicardoB:

Opera 12 RC has this regression again

Confirmed on Windows 8 x64 and Windows 7 x86

Originally posted by intl2duo:

Originally posted by RicardoB:

Opera 12 RC has this regression again

Confirmed on Windows 8 x64 and Windows 7 x86

Yes, shortcut drag and drop is broken in Opera 12.

According to @mitchman2, the bug has been fixed. We just have to wait for the fixed build to be released.

From http://my.opera.com/community/forums/topic.dml?id=1436412:

Originally posted by mitchman2:

It's a bug and fixed internally, fix will be in a future version.

There are workaround scripts that will create shortcuts on the desktop without dragging and dropping.

I posted my script in this thread:
http://my.opera.com/community/forums/findpost.pl?id=12555632

I have also proposed a feature that allows you to save a shortcut file from the Save As dialog. See here if you are interested:

Save as shortcut (URL) file:
http://my.opera.com/community/forums/topic.dml?id=1443892

Fixed in 12.01 build 1486!
(and urls can be dropped to any folder )

Same here!
Fixed in 12.01 build 1486 under Win2k SP3.

There is a Non fatal dll error at installation and every time opera next is run.
"The procedure entry point HeapSetInformation could not be located in the dynamic link library KERNEL32.dll"

I may need to install SP4 for win2k or a C++ redistributable as others have mentioned,
may be due to compiler upgrades for newer OS's.