Help! Windows 7 Mouse Seems to "Drag and Drop" Without Clicking

Hello everybody... I am new to the forum and new to Windows 7. I was hoping someone could help me out with this problem I've been having. I've searched all over the internet for an answer and tried various things but nothing seems to work...

Anyway, the issue that I'm having is that when I am either browsing through files in explorer or browsing on the internet and moving the mouse across the screen, the mouse will latch on to either a link, or a picture and drag it, sometimes moving files where I don't want them to go or opening links in new windows, without even clicking a button!

Is there something I a doing wrong, or is this some new feature that I turn off so the mouse will behave like it did in windows 98/2000 and XP?

Thanks in advance to any suggestions you may have, I'm at my wits end here.

Hi.

Replace the mouse with another one.

It's the built in mouse or touch pad or whatever it's called on the laptop... Is this abnormal behavior that should be fixed? My Mom's Mac does behaves in a similar manner so I'm thinking it has to be some feature that can be shut off.

Check the control panel-mouse, under the Buttons tab look for a ClickLock option.

If that isn't it, perhaps there is another driver for the touchpad. On my Dell, there is a Dell Touchpad tab so if you have something like that you might check there.

Best bet is to purchase a usb mouse and use that instead. If not, your looking at an expensive shop repair unless you are very handy and crafty, yourself.