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Frozen mouse and haunted curser

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Frozen mouse and haunted curser

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Old 12th Apr 2009, 16:50
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Angry Frozen mouse and haunted curser

Before I chuck my relatively new laptop out the window...... When I use the built-in mouse, it regularly freezes (arrow on screen won't move) and I have to reboot. As well, when I'm typing,especially in in hotmail, the cursor insertion point suddenly changes and the type appears in a different location than I'd intended. Any ideas about what's causing these problems and how to solve them would be appreciated.
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Old 13th Apr 2009, 16:57
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An overheat problem maybe. Put your laptop on a couple of matchboxes (or similar) to allow better air circulation and see if it helps.
You might laugh but it's not uncommon.
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Old 13th Apr 2009, 17:08
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when I'm typing,especially in in hotmail, the cursor insertion point suddenly changes and the type appears in a different location than I'd intended
Very common problem, it's due to interaction between your hands and the pad while typing. (it took a demonstration to prove it to my wife who insisted she didn't touch the pad when typing.)
There should be a hot key to lock the mouse pad and/or a box to tick to lock it when typing.
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Old 13th Apr 2009, 18:46
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On my venerable Compaq EVO laptop, there's both a trackpad / touchpad and a "nipple" mouse pointer in the middle of the keyboard.

I can't get on with the trackpad, partly for the reasons you mention - inadvertently moving the cursor being the major one - so I disabled the touchpad in the BIOS, just keeping the "nipple" active. Perhaps there's a similar setting in your laptop BIOS.

As to why the system locks up - umpteen reasons, from overheating to driver problems via application software!

See if there's any errors in the event log and ensure that you have the correct up-to-date drivers loaded from the hardware vendor's website - including firmware updates.

SD
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Old 13th Apr 2009, 19:05
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Saab is correct, always opt for the nipple.
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Old 13th Apr 2009, 19:18
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"Suck it and see", that's the motto!!

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Old 13th Apr 2009, 19:53
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Must keep abreast of technology.










Well, you started it!
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Old 13th Apr 2009, 20:16
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We'd better stop before it all goes t1ts-up!

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Old 13th Apr 2009, 20:54
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Please don't milk it gents.
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Old 8th Jun 2009, 04:32
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A very belated "thank you" to those who replied.

Right at the time I posted, my computer did something strange and I assumed that I'd lost the post, since it didn't appear immediately. Didn't have the time or energy to redo it.

Just got back to Computers/Internet a couple of days ago and was surprised to find my post while looking for something else. So, I dug out a laptop cooler I had used in Asia and I have tried to stay away from the touchpad when typing. (My touchpad doesn't have a nipple--leave it to the troups on PPRuNE to work breast jokes into a computer discussion.) One or both of those measures seem to have helped. Will try to figure out the bios thing another day. Thanks again.
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