Computer Problems

[Blackbeard]

Just got a new state of the art computer...well, almost. I got Windows 7 to avoid the learning curve inherent with Windows 8.

Anyway, I'm having lots of trouble posting and editing posts...more so with editing...it takes forever since the cursor dissappears for minutes on end (you can figure out where you are with a stone and chisel technique but it is extremely time consuming) and then if and when it reappears it doesn't move when commanded to do so.

Anybody have any insights or suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Cali]

Just got a new state of the art computer...well, almost. I got Windows 7 to avoid the learning curve inherent with Windows 8.

Anyway, I'm having lots of trouble posting and editing posts...more so with editing...it takes forever since the cursor dissappears for minutes on end (you can figure out where you are with a stone and chisel technique but it is extremely time consuming) and then if and when it reappears it doesn't move when commanded to do so.

Anybody have any insights or suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Is it a wireless mouse? If so, I would make sure that it has new batteries in it. Sorry, best I can do. Good luck.

 

[ARM]

Re: Computer Problems

Just got a new state of the art computer...well, almost. I got Windows 7 ...

Anybody have any insights or suggestions?

Personally, I don't believe that "state of the art" and "Windows" anything belong in the same sentence, so my only suggestion would be to consider something not designed by MS next time. Obviously, that won't help you now that you've purchased the box unless you're adventurous enough to consider something like Linux.

Cali's idea seems possible. Do you still have an old mouse with a cord that you can try to see whether that works around the problem? It wouldn't necessarily be a permanent fix, but it would help you isolate the problem.

 

[Blackbeard]

Re: Computer Problems

Personally, I don't believe that "state of the art" and "Windows" anything belong in the same sentence, so my only suggestion would be to consider something not designed by MS next time. Obviously, that won't help you now that you've purchased the box unless you're adventurous enough to consider something like Linux.

Cali's idea seems possible. Do you still have an old mouse with a cord that you can try to see whether that works around the problem? It wouldn't necessarily be a permanent fix, but it would help you isolate the problem.

Thanks to both of you.

Possibly 'state of the art" was used by me rather loosely...maybe, most recent, most capable non-Windows 8 PC would have been more accurate.

The mouse is wired but seemed to be causing problems a few days ago for the first time with this new machine however this used to happen intermittently with the old machine and I never knew if it was the mouse or the computer (the "old" computer is still quite capable and still in service). I assumed, maybe incorrectly, that it was the computer/program(s).

I'll hook up another mouse and see if that solves the problem.

 

[DC78-82]

Re: Computer Problems

Thanks to both of you.

Possibly 'state of the art" was used by me rather loosely...maybe, most recent, most capable non-Windows 8 PC would have been more accurate.

The mouse is wired but seemed to be causing problems a few days ago for the first time with this new machine however this used to happen intermittently with the old machine and I never knew if it was the mouse or the computer (the "old" computer is still quite capable and still in service). I assumed, maybe incorrectly, that it was the computer/program(s).

I'll hook up another mouse and see if that solves the problem.

Clean the mouse ball and socket. Or switch to a wireless.

 

[D2D]

Re: Computer Problems

Clean the mouse ball and socket. Or switch to a wireless.

Shouldn't have to clean it if it's an optical mouse (with light on the bottom).

But I was experiencing a similar problem with the "disappearing cursor" when using a wired, optical mouse. I then tried an older wireless mouse that I had laying around and it is now behaving much better (more stable and precise placement).

 

[D2D]

Re: Computer Problems

DC, you might also experiment with your mouse settings.

Go to Start, click on Devices and Printers and then right click on your mouse. Click on Mouse Settings and choose Pointer Options. Slide the pointer speed toward "Slow" and see if that helps.

 

[OneTimer]

Re: Computer Problems

Personally, I don't believe that "state of the art" and "Windows" anything belong in the same sentence,

Absolutely true and also very funny in a witty, sarcastic way.

 

[Blackbeard]

Re: Computer Problems

Shouldn't have to clean it if it's an optical mouse (with light on the bottom).

But I was experiencing a similar problem with the "disappearing cursor" when using a wired, optical mouse. I then tried an older wireless mouse that I had laying around and it is now behaving much better (more stable and precise placement).

I have an optical mouse...and was about to install a new one after editing a post a few minutes ago but the editing worked perfectly just like it should have...no problems...go figure.

Thanks again to everyone who offered advice so far.

If the problem occurs again I'll install the new mouse and see if that solves it.

 

[brookyone]

Re: Computer Problems

Worth a shot maybe:

http://www.computerhope.com/help/mouse.htm

 

[Watson Rink]

Re: Computer Problems

Just got a new state of the art computer...well, almost. I got Windows 7 to avoid the learning curve inherent with Windows 8.

Anyway, I'm having lots of trouble posting and editing posts...more so with editing...it takes forever since the cursor dissappears for minutes on end (you can figure out where you are with a stone and chisel technique but it is extremely time consuming) and then if and when it reappears it doesn't move when commanded to do so.

Anybody have any insights or suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Have been having the same problems on this forum described above intermittently in past 2 years with Windows 7. Biggest annoyance is that I log in, write a post, look up to where it says "Welcome, Watson Rink" then get a prompt saying "you're not logged in." Belt and suspenders fix is to copy the entire post myself because autosave doesn't always have autosaved the post after I relog in. Today autosave saved some but not all of my post, so I pasted in what I had copied and then chiselled out the duplicative text.

There has to be a better way, gang!

I notice that the yellow autosaved prompt tells me it's going to autosave THIS post, but I'm copying it anyway. Now I'm going to hit "post." Here goes....!

 

[Blackbeard]

Re: Computer Problems

Have been having the same problems on this forum described above intermittently in past 2 years with Windows 7. Biggest annoyance is that I log in, write a post, look up to where it says "Welcome, Watson Rink" then get a prompt saying "you're not logged in." Belt and suspenders fix is to copy the entire post myself because autosave doesn't always have autosaved the post after I relog in. Today autosave saved some but not all of my post, so I pasted in what I had copied and then chiselled out the duplicative text.

There has to be a better way, gang!

I notice that the yellow autosaved prompt tells me it's going to autosave THIS post, but I'm copying it anyway. Now I'm going to hit "post." Here goes....!

Your timing is interesting.

Back in December I ended up replacing my mouse with an identical one and the problems vanished. However, this weekend they have returned...ie: cursor disappears when you are editing a post and sometimes even when you are creating a post. Left clicking where you want the cursor to be does work but without actually showing you the cursor (a more appropriate/accurate word would be "cursee" , I thought). Hitting the space bar will move some text so you can verify where the invisible cursor actually is but having to do all this is nonsense.

A couple of years ago I was having trouble for a while with the "save" function so I just created posts in a word processing program and then copied and pasted into the appropriate forum thread or alternatively I would highlight the text in my post and right click to save it before submitting the post because too often I found out that my post vaporized after I "submitted" it and it never showed up in the intended thread. But again, one shouldn't have to go to all this trouble. After a while the "save" function began working again and I have had no problems with it since.

I find that if you take more than a minute or so to create a post it will make you log back in...the window of opportunity seems to be a lot shorter than it used to be.

As an aside, I've tried to understand some of the other functions on this site such as private messaging (or more accurately the "rep" thing with messages attached to it since there seems to be no actual private messaging available) but with strange results. From what I understand it prevents you from sending two messages (reps) in succession to the same person regardless of the time period separating the two. It wants you to send messages (reps) to others before it will allow you to send one to the first person again...but it doesn't indicate how many other messages (reps) you have to send to other people before it will allow you to send one to the first person again.

Seems brainless to me...maybe more than brainless...preventing your sending a message (rep) to someone that you wish to and requiring you to first send messages (reps) to others whom you may not have any reason to send messages (reps) to.

Maybe it's just me...what am I missing?...anyone?

 

[Watson Rink]

Re: Computer Problems

Blackbeard, you're doing a number of more advanced functions than I've had the courage to try, given the system's performance on submitting posts.

Yes, right clicking to save a post in case autosave fails to autosave has been a good fix -- when I remember to do it!

What gets my goat the most is when I see the words "welcome, Watson Rink" still up near the top, only to be told next "thought you were still logged in just because we still said 'welcome, watson rink"....ha ha, you're not still logged in!"

Any help from the technical people would be gratefully appreciated.

 

[Hux]

Blackbeard, you're doing a number of more advanced functions than I've had the courage to try, given the system's performance on submitting posts.

Yes, right clicking to save a post in case autosave fails to autosave has been a good fix -- when I remember to do it!

What gets my goat the most is when I see the words "welcome, Watson Rink" still up near the top, only to be told next "thought you were still logged in just because we still said 'welcome, watson rink"....ha ha, you're not still logged in!"

Any help from the technical people would be gratefully appreciated.

Have had the same problem, though only on PCs that don't have my login and password saved. On those computers I make it a habit to write in Word and then cut and paste. That process slso works well when internet is slow and tends to time out.