I’ve no idea what to do here. The cursor, randomly but often, decides that the spot I tell it to go to is Coventry and thus runs to the top of the screen and stays there. I’m on a Dell laptop running Windows 10 and using a touchscreen and touchpad because I can’t stand to use a computer mouse.
Any ideas on why this is happening and how to get the cursor back under my control?
Thanks in advance!
Try disabling your touchscreen for a while and see if the problem persists. If so, the issue is with the touchpad (I’d also try the reverse experiment to be certain). Unless it’s something obvious like crud stuck under the edge, it’s probably going bad (sending false signals along the vertical axis).
If it is just your touchpad going bad, and it’s not under warranty, you can get an external touchpad. They can be nicer in some cases (bigger, more sensitive, etc.). If it’s the screen… you might just have to live without it.
Yes, either a bad touchpad OR you are accidentally brushing it with your hand.
Another possibility is you have a joystick or game controller attached, but that’s unlikely on a laptop.
The computer isn’t actually mine, but belongs to the school where I work. It also has one of those “pencil eraser” joysticks between the G, H, and B keys. I just took off the little rubber pad at the top of it, and so far no more cursor issue. The rubber pad was kind of grungy. I never considered it.
Thanks! I really do despise using a computer mouse and that would have made me quite cranky.
I think that sometimes people underestimate how much disgusting crud is emitted by the human body. Every input device I’ve ever owned has been done in by human grease and the revolting organic particles that get stuck in it.
Could be worse, though; I remember well the bad old days with mechanical mice, and having to clean the solidified goo off the interior wheels.
And the “ghost” is back with a vengeance! Now the display randomly, but often, zooms in and zooms out, along with the cursor shooting to the top, shooting to the bottom, and shooting to the sides. The school IT folks don’t know what’s happening either.
I had that problem as well, but upon close inspection it turned out I had a cat sleeping on the keyboard.
I’d still try the experiment of disabling the touchpad and the touchscreen separately, to help narrow down the issue.
Hah! No cat (which is too bad since I really like cats). I tried disabling both (both the touchpad and touch screen, not the cat) together, separately, and even tried disabling the pinch to zoom option. The real bother is that I do need this thing for classes, but luckily, I only have two classes today. Also, the IT section does not have another Dell touch screen computer available at the moment. I really do not want to revert to the Lenovo thinkpad.