Mouse cursor freezes up semi-permanently with whole computer

[myfathersson]

Just got my first Vista computer and dont know where to turn for
assistance with this problem: Tried googling it and all I can find are
people whose mouse freezes for a few seconds but which starts working
again. Every few hours (or more often), my mouse cursor and whole
computer freezes. The only way out is to control-escape into a switch
user and then (as there are no alternative users) log in again. As
soon as it logs out, the mouse starts working again. So this doesnt
seem to be a hardware issue?

The only other symptom I have noticed is that occasionally at all
sorts of odd times as I am performing some common function (such as
clicking on a link etc) I get a question asking me which program I
want to use to open this program. And occasoinally I am told I dont
have administrator rights where I thought I was the administrator and
there doesnt seem to be any other way of logging on as administrator
either in normal or safe mode. ( I can usually esc out of this message
or perform the function as adminstrator

Have done all a/vs, spybots, anti-malwares, sfc /scannow, defrags,
driver updates which are supposed to be automatic on Asus computers
which never find any new drivers, (even where such exist!). The only
minor problem I have found is that av-cls doesnt seem to run properly,
instead it downloads most files it needs to do a sweep and then cuts
dead or returns me to the start menu

 

[housetrained]

borrow a mouse and see what happens.

 

[myfathersson]

Brand new or second hand ?

Second hand, which is why I was asking the question.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Just got my first Vista computer and dont know where to turn for
assistance with this problem: Tried googling it and all I can find are
people whose mouse freezes for a few seconds but which starts working
again. Every few hours (or more often), my mouse cursor and whole
computer freezes. The only way out is to control-escape into a switch
user and then (as there are no alternative users) log in again. As
soon as it logs out, the mouse starts working again. So this doesnt

I agree with housetrained - borrow a mouse.

The only other symptom I have noticed is that occasionally at all
sorts of odd times as I am performing some common function (such as
clicking on a link etc) I get a question asking me which program I
want to use to open this program. And occasoinally I am told I dont
have administrator rights where I thought I was the administrator and
there doesnt seem to be any other way of logging on as administrator
either in normal or safe mode. ( I can usually esc out of this message
or perform the function as adminstrator

Either you don't have a program on your computer to open the file, or
you haven't yet told the system which program to open the file with.
Next time, go through the exercise of telling Windows which program to
use, and don't forget to check "always use this program".

Have done all a/vs, spybots, anti-malwares, sfc /scannow, defrags,
driver updates which are supposed to be automatic on Asus computers
which never find any new drivers, (even where such exist!).

Not relevant to the file-open problem. Driver updates might be relevant
to the mouse problem, but I would think not. Intermittency is usually a
hardware problem, but of course, not always, unfortunately.

The only
minor problem I have found is that av-cls doesnt seem to run properly,
instead it downloads most files it needs to do a sweep and then cuts
dead or returns me to the start menu

That sounds like av-cls (whatever that is) isn't working properly.

 

[myfathersson]

Things going from bad to worse: It doesnt freeze with an external
mouse but the first thing I tried was seeing if there was an updated
trackpad driver through the included Asus driver/software update
utility and there wasn't. I HAVE found that the Asus driver update
program doesn't seem to do anything and doesnt find updated drivers.
I wonder if I should delete this program and do everything manually.
Has anyone ever found any reason to keep any of these programs? Do
they ever perform any useful function?

I cant help but think that if I can log off and log on immediately and
the trackpad starts working again, it is unlikely to be a problem with
the driver? Nevertheless I did look at the Asus site itself and did
find a newer driver than the one installed for the Luxpad on this
computer: That was when my troubles started!

I downloaded and installed the newer driver with the utility (which I
assumed was newer) from the Asus site. It took me from a 2007 driver
to a 2008 driver and utility and insisted on uninstalling the prior
utility before installing. Then it insisted on a reboot and when I
installed the new utility and drivers, the whole Synaptic software
stopped starting up completely and the mouse won't work at all (though
the USB one still does), and mysteriously the keyboard wont work
either! Restoring to a few earlier last known good configurations
resulted in the keyboard starting working for a minute or so before
the computer stopped taking any input from it again.

Does anyone have any idea what on earth is going on here?

Oh, one last thing: I tried to run David Lippmans av-cls and it dly
downloads all its anti-virus files and then stops running (shuts down
and returns to the supposed start menu) as soon as the anti-virus
software starts scanning!

 

[myfathersson]

Things going from bad to worse: It doesnt freeze with an external
mouse but the first thing I tried was seeing if there was an updated
trackpad driver through the included Asus driver/software update
utility and there wasn't. I HAVE found that the Asus driver update
program doesn't seem to do anything and doesnt find updated drivers.
I wonder if I should delete this program and do everything manually.
Has anyone ever found any reason to keep any of these programs? Do
they ever perform any useful function?

I cant help but think that if I can log off and log on immediately and
the trackpad starts working again, it is unlikely to be a problem with
the driver? Nevertheless I did look at the Asus site itself and did
find a newer driver than the one installed for the Luxpad on this
computer: That was when my troubles started!

I downloaded and installed the newer driver with the utility (which I
assumed was newer) from the Asus site. It took me from a 2007 driver
to a 2008 driver and utility and insisted on uninstalling the prior
utility before installing. Then it insisted on a reboot and when I
installed the new utility and drivers, the whole Synaptic software
stopped starting up completely and the mouse won't work at all (though
the USB one still does), and mysteriously the keyboard wont work
either! Restoring to a few earlier last known good configurations
resulted in the keyboard starting working for a minute or so before
the computer stopped taking any input from it again.

Does anyone have any idea what on earth is going on here?

Oh, one last thing: I tried to run David Lippmans av-cls and it dly
downloads all its anti-virus files and then stops running (shuts down
and returns to the supposed start menu) as soon as the anti-virus
software starts scanning!

 

[myfathersson]

Either you don't have a program on your computer to open the file, or
you haven't yet told the system which program to open the file with.
Next time, go through the exercise of telling Windows which program to
use, and don't forget to check "always use this program".


Not relevant to the file-open problem. Driver updates might be relevant
to the mouse problem, but I would think not. Intermittency is usually a
hardware problem, but of course, not always, unfortunately.

I may not have explained myself properly: There is no call for a
program to start when this happens. it happens at all sorts of odd
times such as when I am clicking on a link. And an ordinary link, not
one which calls for (for example) the opening of a pdf file which
might need to start a program.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I may not have explained myself properly: There is no call for a
program to start when this happens. it happens at all sorts of odd
times such as when I am clicking on a link. And an ordinary link, not
one which calls for (for example) the opening of a pdf file which
might need to start a program.

This new explanation confuses me as well

If you are saying that when you click on a file name in Explorer, you
get an unexpected result or none at all, maybe that's part of the mouse
problem - the mouse sends a wrong signal and therefore the response is
wrong.

I still say Hardware.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Things going from bad to worse: It doesnt freeze with an external
mouse but the first thing I tried was seeing if there was an updated
trackpad driver through the included Asus driver/software update
utility and there wasn't. I HAVE found that the Asus driver update
program doesn't seem to do anything and doesnt find updated drivers.
I wonder if I should delete this program and do everything manually.
Has anyone ever found any reason to keep any of these programs? Do
they ever perform any useful function?

I cant help but think that if I can log off and log on immediately and
the trackpad starts working again, it is unlikely to be a problem with
the driver? Nevertheless I did look at the Asus site itself and did
find a newer driver than the one installed for the Luxpad on this
computer: That was when my troubles started!

I downloaded and installed the newer driver with the utility (which I
assumed was newer) from the Asus site. It took me from a 2007 driver
to a 2008 driver and utility and insisted on uninstalling the prior
utility before installing. Then it insisted on a reboot and when I
installed the new utility and drivers, the whole Synaptic software
stopped starting up completely and the mouse won't work at all (though
the USB one still does), and mysteriously the keyboard wont work
either! Restoring to a few earlier last known good configurations
resulted in the keyboard starting working for a minute or so before
the computer stopped taking any input from it again.

Does anyone have any idea what on earth is going on here?

Oh, one last thing: I tried to run David Lippmans av-cls and it dly
downloads all its anti-virus files and then stops running (shuts down
and returns to the supposed start menu) as soon as the anti-virus
software starts scanning!

Have you tried to get a driver from the Synaptice site instead of Asus's
site? It might be better.

But I still say Hardware (it's today's theme).

 

[myfathersson]

Have you tried to get a driver from the Synaptice site instead of Asus's
site? It might be better.

But I still say Hardware (it's today's theme).

Could be my incompetence but I couldnt find any drivers on the
Synaptics site when I tried before I posted here: All I could find was
a message telling users to push off and go bother the computer
manufacturers. And no mention whatsoever of something called a
Luxpad.

So I reinstalled the Asus 2008 driver and this time the utility
installed along with the driver and it now works. But still freezes.

Next step is to boot off a Linux disc to see if it freezes with that
as well to double check the hardware! (problem is that I had been
using the last 3-4 distros successfully for a year or so but had to
throw out my most recent Ubuntu CD when it wouldnt get wireless
working. i will have to see if there is a new version)

On the other point am I just wrong in noting that when I click in
Firefox (or Chrome) on a link which is a URL, the OS shouldn't be
asking me which program to open?

Lastly, does anyone know how to block out the spam on this NG in
Google please?

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Could be my incompetence but I couldnt find any drivers on the
Synaptics site when I tried before I posted here: All I could find was
a message telling users to push off and go bother the computer
manufacturers. And no mention whatsoever of something called a
Luxpad.

Maybe I was just giving you bad advice (but not on purpose!). I didn't
actually check the site, I just made an assumption, since often the
device maker has the best drivers. I apologize for that.

So I reinstalled the Asus 2008 driver and this time the utility
installed along with the driver and it now works. But still freezes.

That makes me think hardware again...

Next step is to boot off a Linux disc to see if it freezes with that
as well to double check the hardware! (problem is that I had been
using the last 3-4 distros successfully for a year or so but had to
throw out my most recent Ubuntu CD when it wouldnt get wireless
working. i will have to see if there is a new version)

Good plan, IMO.

On the other point am I just wrong in noting that when I click in
Firefox (or Chrome) on a link which is a URL, the OS shouldn't be
asking me which program to open?

I agree. Have you made sure that you have a default browser set up? It
might be worth going to FF's Tools - Options menu, then the Advanced tab
- General tab. Under System defaults, Click on "Always check..." or
"Check now" (for default browser). Or whatever is the method in
Chrome...

I'm not assuming you don't know how to do that, I'm just being explicit
on the principle that explicit is good.

Lastly, does anyone know how to block out the spam on this NG in
Google please?

I don't use Google Groups, so I can't help. Especially now that you've
caught me making invalid assumptions