I've figured out what triggers the behaviour, it happens whenever we use the touchscreen.
Best short term solution is to disable the touchscreen. To do this on Ubuntu 12.04 do the following: 1. To determine the device name look at instructions here http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=9999160 2. Create a file in your home directory called .xsessionrc 3. Add the following line to the file: xinput set-prop 'Quanta OpticalTouchScreen' 'Device Enabled' 0 Be aware that 'Quanta OpticalTouchScreen' is specific to my machine. You will need to enter your device name, acquired by 4. save, close and restart -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1002788 Title: Unable to access file or folder when clicking To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nautilus/+bug/1002788/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs