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.:mad: 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.

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.

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.

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

Saab is correct, always opt for the nipple. :ok:

"Suck it and see", that's the motto!! :)

SD

Must keep abreast of technology.










Well, you started it!

We'd better stop before it all goes t1ts-up! :}

SD

Please don't milk it gents.

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.