Help - mouse/keyboard "select" locks on

[George Neuner]

Hi all,

Ever since I started using XPpro, every so often the "select" function
seems to get locked on (as if SHIFT is being held down), resulting in
selection of every object the mouse or text cursor passes over. I
have checked that sticky keys and all the other disability options are
disabled.

It doesn't seem to be tied to any particular application and once it
happens all applications (including Explorer) are affected. I now
have 3 different computers which exhibit the same symptoms.

AFAICT the only common link is my using a left handed mouse. The
problem does not occur on any of the computers if the mouse is set
right-handed. It occurs with disturbing frequency when doing lots of
selecting and/or editing with the mouse set left-handed. Getting to
the control panel and reseting the mouse to right handed cures the
problem immediately (if I can make it to the mouse applet without
accidentally starting 50 erroneous applications). Reboot also cures
it and sometimes it is so bad I can't even save work.

All the computers are Dells, but they are different models purchased
at different times. They have different mice (a PS/2 ball, a PS/2
wheel/ball, and a USB wheel/optical) and different keyboards - one
QuietKey and two standard. One computer is brand new (2 weeks) - the
others are 2 and 5 years old. All run XPpro SP2 and are networked but
one is used only for software development and the others are for
home/office use - there is little software apart from the OS which is
common to all of them.

Dell tech support suggested I check the keyboard and mouse connectors
(they all look fine to me) and check for anything stuck in the
keyboards but had no other ideas. As all the machines have slightly
different hardware, even the drivers are different.

Suggestions anyone?

Thanks,
George

 

[Malke]

Hi all,

Ever since I started using XPpro, every so often the "select" function
seems to get locked on (as if SHIFT is being held down), resulting in
selection of every object the mouse or text cursor passes over. I
have checked that sticky keys and all the other disability options are
disabled.

It doesn't seem to be tied to any particular application and once it
happens all applications (including Explorer) are affected. I now
have 3 different computers which exhibit the same symptoms.

AFAICT the only common link is my using a left handed mouse. The
problem does not occur on any of the computers if the mouse is set
right-handed. It occurs with disturbing frequency when doing lots of
selecting and/or editing with the mouse set left-handed. Getting to
the control panel and reseting the mouse to right handed cures the
problem immediately (if I can make it to the mouse applet without
accidentally starting 50 erroneous applications). Reboot also cures
it and sometimes it is so bad I can't even save work.

All the computers are Dells, but they are different models purchased
at different times. They have different mice (a PS/2 ball, a PS/2
wheel/ball, and a USB wheel/optical) and different keyboards - one
QuietKey and two standard. One computer is brand new (2 weeks) - the
others are 2 and 5 years old. All run XPpro SP2 and are networked but
one is used only for software development and the others are for
home/office use - there is little software apart from the OS which is
common to all of them.

Dell tech support suggested I check the keyboard and mouse connectors
(they all look fine to me) and check for anything stuck in the
keyboards but had no other ideas. As all the machines have slightly
different hardware, even the drivers are different.

Since all the computers and mice are different, that leaves only one
common factor: you. It sounds like your mousing style is what is
causing the issue. You might try turning down the mouse sensitivity
and/or changing the way you select. Perhaps you are holding down the
mouse button and dragging through the text you want to select instead
of using the Shift or Ctrl-select functions. Maybe you should look into
some keyboard selection commands.

I'm not saying this to be uncaring about your problem - I know it's easy
to interpret posts as being rude and I really don't mean to be, but I
have clients using XP with mice set left-handed who don't have the
problems you describe. It must be the way you are doing it.

Malke

 

[George Neuner]

Since all the computers and mice are different, that leaves only one
common factor: you. It sounds like your mousing style is what is
causing the issue. You might try turning down the mouse sensitivity
and/or changing the way you select. Perhaps you are holding down the
mouse button and dragging through the text you want to select instead
of using the Shift or Ctrl-select functions. Maybe you should look into
some keyboard selection commands.

Sorry, I've been mousing (left-handed) since Windows 2.0 and though
3.0,3.1,3.11,95,98 and NT (skipped 2K). I never had any problem until
I encountered WinXP.

Also, there are 2 other users here who normally use mice right-handed
without difficulty but they can each, with verying degrees of
difficulty, replicate the problem when forced to use it left-handed
.... so I am fairly certain it is not "me".

I also don't think it has anything to do with mouse sensitivity. But
I am convinced it has something to do with the mouse driver. I have
always enoutered the problem initially while using the mouse, but once
the select function locks on, it affects the keyboard as well.
Everything either the mouse cursor or the keyboard cursor passes
becomes selected. Nothing works right until either the mouse is
somehow reinitialized or the computer is rebooted - even logging out
doesn't work as I can't successfully type my password to log back in.


The problem occurs whenever I do a whole lot of select/edit. This last
time, I was reorganizing a large library of PDF files and moving and
renaming files from within Explorer. When the trouble began, I had
just typed a new name on a file and hit enter. The name changed and I
then moved the mouse to select the next file to be renamed - and every
file the cursor passed over became selected. Moving the mouse in the
other direction just selected a different set of files just as if the
mouse key were being held. I tried the keyboard arrows but it did the
same thing - selecting all files as if the SHIFT key were being held.

I abandoned the explorer window and clicked on the desktop trying to
get to My Computer (to open the control panel), and managed to select
5 icons on the desktop. I gave up on the mouse, pressed CTRL-ESC to
open the Start menu and keyed my way to the control panel, but I could
not select the mouse applet without simultaneously selecting 17 other
applets. I tried using the mouse again to open the mouse applet, but
nothing I could do would select just the mouse applet (I don't know
how to start it from a command line).

Finally I gave up and rebooted. Fortunately this time I wasn't doing
anything that could have lost data - I have lost work several times to
this gremlin when I could do nothing but reboot.

George

 

[Malke]

Sorry, I've been mousing (left-handed) since Windows 2.0 and though
3.0,3.1,3.11,95,98 and NT (skipped 2K). I never had any problem until
I encountered WinXP.

Also, there are 2 other users here who normally use mice right-handed
without difficulty but they can each, with verying degrees of
difficulty, replicate the problem when forced to use it left-handed
... so I am fairly certain it is not "me".

I also don't think it has anything to do with mouse sensitivity. But
I am convinced it has something to do with the mouse driver. I have
always enoutered the problem initially while using the mouse, but once
the select function locks on, it affects the keyboard as well.
Everything either the mouse cursor or the keyboard cursor passes
becomes selected. Nothing works right until either the mouse is
somehow reinitialized or the computer is rebooted - even logging out
doesn't work as I can't successfully type my password to log back in.


The problem occurs whenever I do a whole lot of select/edit. This last
time, I was reorganizing a large library of PDF files and moving and
renaming files from within Explorer. When the trouble began, I had
just typed a new name on a file and hit enter. The name changed and I
then moved the mouse to select the next file to be renamed - and every
file the cursor passed over became selected. Moving the mouse in the
other direction just selected a different set of files just as if the
mouse key were being held. I tried the keyboard arrows but it did the
same thing - selecting all files as if the SHIFT key were being held.

I abandoned the explorer window and clicked on the desktop trying to
get to My Computer (to open the control panel), and managed to select
5 icons on the desktop. I gave up on the mouse, pressed CTRL-ESC to
open the Start menu and keyed my way to the control panel, but I could
not select the mouse applet without simultaneously selecting 17 other
applets. I tried using the mouse again to open the mouse applet, but
nothing I could do would select just the mouse applet (I don't know
how to start it from a command line).

Finally I gave up and rebooted. Fortunately this time I wasn't doing
anything that could have lost data - I have lost work several times to
this gremlin when I could do nothing but reboot.

George

Then I'm sorry I couldn't help you.

Malke