A bit of computer advice please. I have a problem on my PC which means that when I am typing a document (in any programme) the cursor randomly moves itself to a different part of the document. So unless I am looking at the screen, I type over something I have already written. It's happened on and on every since I bought the damned computer, but today it' s happening every thirty seconds or so.
Any idea why this is happening and what I can do about it?
42 comments:
laptop or desktop?
Fluff in your optical mouse?
I've had the same problem with my PC cured by a free/shareware download called Touchfreeze. The only problem is remembering to "open" Touchfreeze every day!
Good luck
For God's sake Iain, don't waste your time on chasing this. Throw the damn thing away and get an Apple iMac
John
Buy a Mac.
Try the Computer Surgery at Pembury. Tel. 0845 1303343.
Iain - have a look here: http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=101&threadID=222926&messageID=2236208
(this problem has also happened on my Mac)
Just a thought: assuming you have a laptop, and this problem is only occurring as you type, could you be inadvertently tapping the mousepad with your wrist as you type, which would cause the mouse to click wherever the cursor happened to be. If so, why not suppress taps so only the buttons click?
I used to get this because I have one of those mini joysticks in the middle of the keyboard (between the G,H and B keys). It is very sensitive and easy to nudge slightly. Go to the control panel and turn it off.
Iain,
Download a free programme called "clean up"
http://www.stevengould.org/index.php
This will delete all temp files etc
it also could be dust in your mouse - take ball out and clean mouse
Good luck
Michael
Yeah, you could buy a Mac, if you care more about form over function and jumping on bandwagons in order to appear fashionable.
For those of us in the real world -
if it's a laptop, make sure you're not hitting the touchpad with your wrist when you type! A very common problem...
I am not a religious zealot so would not use a n Apple mac.
I think the disable touchpad, 'taps' only or completely, is likely to be good advice.
Fluff on your optical mouse, I guess, like Liz said.
Just lightly rub it against your person and try again.
If you are using a laptop, then brushing your thumbs over the mousepad, may well be the problem. If so, goto Control pane, select mousepad and find settings to reduce sensitivity of pressure pads under mousepad.
I endorse Michael J's recommendation of Steven Gould's Clean Up. Also download a registry cleaner such as Eusing and/or a full utilities checker like Glary. All free, all excellent.
Otherwise, a mouse problem as others have suggested?
This will be the nipple on your touchpad (ooh er, Missus!).
Google 'disable touchpad' and you'll get the solution.
On a laptop maybe a dodgy power supply... or flexing of the wrist-rest next to the trackpad?
It certainly sounds like a hardware issue rather than a software glitch.
As other people have suggested, you may be brushing the touchpad with your hands. Reduce the sensitivity of the pad. Most Windows laptops have a touchpad icon on the system tray at the bottom right of the screen where you can make the changes. Alternatively, open the Control Panel, then the Mouse option; the touchpad will be listed there somewhere with controls for its sensitivity options.
If that doesn't work; if you have an external mouse attached to your computer, unplug it and see if the problem goes away. If the problem stops, then your mouse is misbehaving and the under surface needs a good clean with a damp cloth.
Still no luck, then it's possible one of your cursor keys has become stuck (have you been eating or drinking near your computer?). Give the keys a few prods and turn the machine upside-down, shake gently to loosen any crumbs or nasties that have got underneath the keys.
If that still doesn't help, let us know what sort of machine it is, what operating system you're running and the applications you've been using.
What would Dale want with a politically correct medic?
Oh.
Have you tried turning it off and then turning it on again?
That's what Dizzy always tells me to do... ;)
I agree with the thumb brushing the touchpad scenario. Happens on mine too. Unfortunately the drivers on my laptop don't offer the option of disabling or reducing the sensitivity of this "feature".
My cursor started to jump around about 2 weeks ago whenever I type anything (no logical path)in word or notepad. I followed the suggestions that everyone had on this site, suggesting to get the latest drivers for ALPS and reinstall it (I have HP Pavilion ZV5000 with Windows XP patch 2). However, nothing fixed the problem. Norton antiVirus, Panda and Lavasoft did not found any viruses.
However, than I downloaded 'Kaspersky Anti-Virus' from the Web (they had 30 days trial) and it found 75 'Virus.MSWord.Marker.fq2'
I deleted those files and so far it seems it fixed the problem, but I dont know if I do not purchase Kaspersky software, what will happen.
Mike
As many have already said, try de-activating the track pad. I thought my laptop had broken until I realised that the trackpad is so sensitive that it detects my thumbs hovering over it!
In ye olden days I would have talked of IRQ1 conflicts; nowadays my remedy would be to pray to the computer god.
Maybe you are brushing a touchpad by mistake, I dunno. It can't hurt to build a shrine to the computer god though, and one to the plumbing god.
If you do stray into pagan idolatry don't forget to write curses of Labour ministers (in mirror writing) and flush them down the loo, although this may anger the plumbing god.
Maybe a rogue process is causing a CPU overrun, check task manager and/or process explorer.
'Computer god we trust in you to protect our general purpose and application specific digital computers, you are wise and kind, we honour you.
We have paid our Bill and we come to the Gates of digital freedom, throw them open and let us enter.'
It seems unlikely that its actually a fault in the hardware of the keyboard itself. Maybe Dizzy could round up the gremlins and sacrifice them to the said computer god.
Its global warming that causes random cursor movement.
Re Cliff and Shadows. (twitter comment)
My wife and sister got tickets on Monday for O2 - on-line via ticket master.
Where ever venue she tried to book via 'best available' it threw out none left. But when she tried (in a sad desperation) for a specific seat type she got one.
I am being groomed to take them. God knows what I will do while the concert is on in the god forsaken hole that is the area around the millenium dome.
(word verification blazin
Lol this happens to me too...on a laptop..irritating isnt it...
Are Cliff and the Shads really doing a gig? I would give John Prescott a blow job for two tickets. In fact, I would give hime one for each ticket.
Never mind, I met them all and had a long chat with them at a private party.(Yeah, I can name drop too, big boy) My head melted because the first single I ever bought was "Nine Times Out of Ten, when I was a kid and I used to practice the Shadows' walk in front of a mirror.
Ok, I'll get me coat.
Iain
Your laptop needs cleaning. Place it in the bath and fill with luke warm water and two cups of bleach
n.b. for those not born before 1960, the "Shadows Walk" was a little dance they did in the middle eight. They moved. In Unison. You had to be there.
Optical mouse + shiny surface = moving cursor.
Lazer light bounces back and gives false reading.
Try placing either a mousemat or paper under the mouse, or make sure that the surface it is working on is non reflective.
If it's a laptop it's probably your hands moving over the trackpad, which sounds likes it's too sensitive. Either adjust your hand position or deactivate your trackpad in the settings. There's normally a shortcut key you can use to turn it off then just turn it back on again when you're done typing. You may also be able to adjust the sensitivity in the control panel.
If it's a desktop-based PC (which I would be surprised to hear you taking ownership of!) then it's something with the mouse or mouse drivers. Mobile phone interference can also cause mice to jump around sometimes, although this is increasingly rare.
Pointing out that one tends to spend less time sorting out personal computing technical issues on an Apple Mac rather than a PC/Windows machine is hardly religious bigotry. I use both, run a software company, and have been in the computing industry for 25 years. It is a fact that Macs require less maintenance than PCs.
One measure is customer satisfaction:
http://tinyurl.com/6kefb5
Iain,
are you using a wireless keyboard and mouse? If so, if there is another in range, their signal may be interfering with yours.
My missus had the exact same problem, made more maddening by our inability to reproduce it deliberately.
It vanished completely and immediately when we disabled the touchpad.
BUT..if you're unlucky enough to have an Advent laptop, the software to do this is not on it, and will need to be downloaded from somewhere. Lemme me know if you want detailed instructions.
I enjoy reading your blog on a daily basis, please keep clear of Macs or we may never hear from you again.
I like how the first response of Mac fanatics is to blame Windows.
Why do Macs have only one mouse button?
I'm sorry to join the religious crusade ... but you really should get a Mac. They just work. The reason I guess Mac users seem religious about it is that most of us make the switch from PC to Mac, and for the same batch of ugly, annoying, low-level-irritant, constant-crashing PC reasons.
Alternatively, you could take part in that irritating Windows advert ... "I'm a PC, and I wear glasses" ... "I'm a PC, and I want to *save* *them*" [glances meaningully at passing polar bear] ... "I'm a PC, and my cursor darts to random places in my documents ... gee it's kinda whacky".
Assuming that it's an external mouse, it could be a bad contact on the connection to the PC. Next time it's switched off, pull it out and push it back in three or four times. (Less likely with USB connections than with the older connectors)
Thanks for all your comments. To those who urge me to get a Mac I only one thing to say. I got a Mac and it is the worst thing I ever did. I hate it. It is now only used for iTunes purposes.
Touché Iain! Add it to your list of personal achievements: the only gay man ever not to have a strange alignment with Mac OS :-)
Buy a Mac
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