Bonni from Florida writes:
When I was having trouble with my mouse; it was messing up and double-clicking,(Dell Std. Equipment) Dell had me to reset something so it would only require one click to open a program. Now that I have a new mouse, (which solved the double clicking problem) I don’t remember how to reset my programs to open with double- click. I’ve tried various places but to no avail. Can you instruct me?
Answer:
The setting you’re looking for is Specify single- or double-click to open. This setting can be found by clicking Start, then clicking Control Panel. Click Appearance and Personalization then click Specify single- or double-click to open. Click the radial button next to Double-click to open an item (single-click to select) and click Apply, then click OK.


Single and double-click should now be back to working as they originally did before Dell had you make the change.
-Tim
using xp no such icon in control panel/appearance and personalization
Good tip, but I thought it would have been wise to note that the fix was for Windows 7. For those folks still using Windows XP the solution is a bit different, as there is no APPEARANCE folder in Control Panel.
Using HP Windows 7 and it goes directly from “Control Panel” to “Personalization” … there is no “Appearance.”
excellent topic and solution. well instructed
This is Bonni – from Florida – true there wasn’t any Appearance folder – but I did locate the Folder options – folder and did as instructed.. it worked.
This has been bugging me for months..
Thank you Tim,
It worked.
Thank you Tim
Bonni from Florida
This is excellent clear description, I had the same issue and I didn’t know how to solve it, I like the sample illustration, so much easier.
Works great on WIN8. Thanks