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Cursor shuts off / Left click required to restart
My Inspiron 7010 laptop is two years old and has functioned well until one month ago. Now, regardless of the mode (web page, email, word processing), the cursor will shut off by itself. The screen colors go dim, and the only way to restore proper function is to left click the mouse or touch pad.
Every diagnostic test possible has been conducted on the laptop (Dell and Windows 7 diagnostic, malware scan, spybot scan, system performance, uninstalled and installed the mouse drivers three times). The report from the diagnostic tests are that the hardware and software are functioning properly.
I have looked for blogs reporting a similar problem and found none. The closest problem reported is for the cursor jumping around the screen on its own.
My cursor sometimes shuts off every five seconds, then sometimes at twenty-second intervals, then sometimes it works properly without shutting off at all.
Any ideas on the cause and cure?
Amrinder Singh
46 Posts
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June 2nd, 2012 09:00
Hi gholland73
Welcome to Dell Community
As I understand from the concern mentioned about the computer, the cursor just goes off completely and the only way to restore the functionality is to restart the computer.
Before you perform any of the following steps, we can update the drivers for the touchpad using the following link.
http://dell.to/HUj5eh
Please note, that I have assumed the Operating system on the computer to be Windows 7 64bit. Use the above link if that is true.
Also since you have already run all the possible diagnostics, we may try and run the Dell diagnostics as well so that we are very sure of the functionality. Kindly run the Dell hardware diagnostics using the following steps.
1. Ensure that the AC Adapter is plugged in and the battery is installed in the computer.
2. Restart the computer and tap F12 a few times on seeing the Dell Logo.
3. Select the option of Diagnostics from the One time boot device menu.
4. Ensure that we run the complete diagnostics to ascertain possible hardware failures.
We can also try and use the computer in the safe mode and check for functionality. For using the computer in the safe mode, you will have to tap F8 on the Dell logo upon restarting the computer. Select the option for Safe mode with networking and try and use the computer for some time to ensure that there are no concerns.
If the system works fine in the safe mode, we might have to go ahead and work on software concerns.
Regards
Amrinder D
Dell | Social Media Outreach | Global Social Media & Community
gholland73
2 Posts
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June 3rd, 2012 15:00
Amrinder D
The computer was run in safe mode, and the cursor shut off problem did not occur.
What might be done to ID the software that could be causing the problem?
Also, just to clarify, the cursor can be restarted by left clicking the mouse. The computer does not have to be restarted.
Thanks.
MicroTest
934 Posts
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June 3rd, 2012 15:00
Try windows "system restore" - you might have several restore points - choose one before the problem started
or run msconfig.exe and disable start up items - one at a time/restart - time consuming and might not fix the problem
Amrinder Singh
46 Posts
0
June 3rd, 2012 22:00
Hi gholland73,
Hope you tried the system restore as suggested by MicroTest.
Also if the cursor did not freeze in safe mode, that more or less means the concern is with one of the software / applications installed on the computer. To effectively isolate the same you will have to clear the start up as suggested in the picture above by MicroTest.
Amrinder D
Dell | Social Media Outreach | Global Social Media & Community