Mouse cursor keeps vanishing

[ingeborgdot]

My mouse cursor keeps disappearing and I can't see it. It is there and if I move it to the right spot I can see that it highlights the icon or what ever it is on. I hit the control button to get the circle to show me where it is but it is still invisible on no specific program at all. I have to restart the computer for it to come back on. It has been happening more frequently lately but it does not seem to follow any pattern. Does anyone have any idea what is causing this?

 

[C1]

This used to be characteristic of some older viruses.

My guess now is that you may have dueling mouse drivers (eg, windows' driver conflicting with like say, a Logitec driver). Uninstall your OEM (eg, Logitec) mouse driver and try operating with only the Windows generic. (Note: If this is a problem there are ways of getting around it, but it involves some trial by adjusting things in configsys; eg, disabling the schizzel.)

Also, presumably you are using a USB mouse. Sometimes there can be an interrupt sharing issue, but usually the symptom is erratic mouse versus disappearance. There are ways to adjust/reassign IRQs, but you need to research this.

Finally, also check the BIOS. Sometimes there are settings/adjustments related to USB (and even cursor) control there.

Things like sound, video and even cursor control can have multiple overlay in windows. For example Windows has controls for sound, overlayed on any installed sound application (eg, Creative Sound Card Studio) as well as sound control for the specific player that might be used (eg, VLC Player). These can all operate in series or interact in unexpected ways. Ive found that sometimes just the order in which things were installed can make a difference in how the total system responds/behaves.

 

[Tsaico]

Usually buggy video drivers or a virus. Assuming you are not infected, check out the current drivers for your video card.

I had a client who had this problem if she left her desk, had remote desktop running, and then it went to screen saver. She would also have to restart it to get it to come back. When I updated her video card drivers, the issue has not come back.