Problem linking items to chat

I am having a problem linking items to chat. I hover over the item, press and hold down ctrl + alt, and then click the item (and obviously the chat window is open and is typable for me). Sometimes the item links, but usually it does not. When it does not, if I move the cursor to another item while still holding down ctrl + alt, the item highlight will not change from the original item to the new one. So i let go of ctrl+alt, and the item highlight continues to be frozen on the original item (no matter where my cursor is) for another 3-4 seconds before unfreezing and correcting. In experimenting, I have noticed that this "item highlight freezing" happens when I hold only ctrl as well. This problem is preventing me from linking items to chat in succession, and sometimes I just cant link at all.

Anyone know why hold ctrl seems to make it impossible for my item highlights to shift to new items as i move my cursor over them?

Note: I am running a high end Alienware M17X laptop. I have a high end 2gb videocard and 16gig of ram with a 3rd gen intel i7 processor.

have you any software running which watches for certain keypresses? like progs for automatic text insertion/replacement/translation?

Nope. Actually it's a brand new computer and I really haven't installed any programs on it other than this game.