Install or reinstall the mouse drivers and see how that will do.  Also, you might be "palming" the touchpad to your system (if your system even has one... what type of system do you have?).  You can set the responsivness for the mouse by using the driver's options under "Mouse" in Control Panel.

 

John

Hi'

 i have an inspiron 5100and i did reinstall the driver but it does do no good. Whatelse do u suggest?

I am experiencing a similar problem. While typing the curser suddenly jumps to a different place in the document and continues my keystrokes there. Sometimes it loads other windows which were in the background. I am definitely not pressing the touchpad or anything. Is it possible something is wrong internally? Any ideas? I am using an Inspiron 8600.

Thanks

I have an Inspiron 4000 that I have had for a few years.  It's been a wonderful machine till 17 months ago.  One day the cursor went nuts.  Flying all over the place, opening programs on its on, etc.  It would do this sporatically, but pretty regularly.  Then it settled down to just floating to the upper right corner and jumping to the lower left corner.  The machine is pretty useless during this time, and I have to just wait it out.  Rebooting makes no difference.  I've spent over $400 with different computer techs and written and called anyone with any computer knowledge including Dell many times.  I've upgraded from Windows ME to XP as one person felt it was the software breaking down.  The tech at my work feels it is the touch mouse post in the middle of the keyboard.  If you "wrench it" a couple of times, it often comes out of the psychotic behavior.  But, not always.  Often times the cursor begins its nonsense whle I'm typing.  I'll notice that I have words in different sentences...  And, I've learned to be very careful with my palms and the touch pad.  I use the laptop heavily at work, and now it's pretty unreliable.  One technician suggested replacing the keyboard, touchpad, etc.  The price was hefty, and he couldn't guarantee this would work at all.  I have now ordered a new one.  And, how do you sell an old one that is perfect but for the crazy cursor?  I've been very disappointed with Dell now that I've noticed the cursor problem isn't as elusive as they led me to believe. 

Christi

i have the same problem of my cursor jumping - it makes sending email almost impossible - did you have any luck with your problem? i have spent hours on the phone with dell support to no avail

No, the cursor problem still exists.  I purchased a new notebook over the summer for school.  So far it's been wonderful.  The kids in my class have the other one, and do they scream when the cursor does its own thing.  But, if we wait it out, then it eventually comes back for a while.  I decided the expense of a new keyboard and mouse for it was way too much when the laptop was so old.  Best wishes with yours.  Just wished someone could have figured it out since it seems to happen to so many people. 

topper3424

Neale,

Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.

Please attempt the following:

2. Remove the system from the docking station, if applicable.
4. Determine if there have been any recent hardware or software configuration changes.
6. Disconnect external peripherals.
8. Upgrade to or reinstall the latest touchpad drivers.
10. Flash / Upgrade the BIOS.
12. Change the sensitivity settings for the pointing device.
14. Apply pressure to the right of the touchpad.
16. Disable the touch-pad.
17. • Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
    • Double-click the Mouse icon.
    • The Mouse Properties window appears.
    • Click the Device Settings tab.
    • Click to highlight Pointing Stick and click Disable.
    • Click OK.

Further troubleshooting ideas can be found in this knowledgebase article.

One more idea, often third-party mouse drivers can cause performance issues with the system's touchpad. If you are using an external mouse and it requires additional drivers, I would suspect that these drivers are likely conflicting with those for the touch-pad. You should remove the drivers for both pointing devices and then reinstall those for the mouse that you wish to use.

My Latitude D800 is almost new and the cursor has started to take on a life of its own. It is so frustrating. Must I re-boot the whole system ot fix this?