Why does my Windows mouse pointer become a 4-way scroll arrow?

  • Thread starter Thread starter JPCMISC
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JPCMISC

This is annoying thing #2 in my Windows environment, is also something that
started happening fairly recently (late last year I think):
As I work in Windows, my mouse pointer--that nice little white arrow--turns
into a black 4-way arrow pointing N-S-E-W. It still appears to function the
exact same way, but trying to work with it is, well, annoying. Because it
stays there no matter what application I'm running or no matter what the
context.

I can't get back to the default mouse pointer until I reboot or go into my
Control Panel->Mouse->Pointers dialog and unselect and reselect "Windows
Default (system scheme)". Until I do so, the "Customize:" list for the
default scheme shows this same 4-way arrow for all modes (Normal, Help,
Working in Background, Busy, etc).

What's going on??? What is telling Windows to change my default mouse scheme?
JP
 
JPCMISC said:
This is annoying thing #2 in my Windows environment, is also something that
started happening fairly recently (late last year I think):
As I work in Windows, my mouse pointer--that nice little white arrow--turns
into a black 4-way arrow pointing N-S-E-W. It still appears to function the
exact same way, but trying to work with it is, well, annoying. Because it
stays there no matter what application I'm running or no matter what the
context.

I can't get back to the default mouse pointer until I reboot or go into my
Control Panel->Mouse->Pointers dialog and unselect and reselect "Windows
Default (system scheme)". Until I do so, the "Customize:" list for the
default scheme shows this same 4-way arrow for all modes (Normal, Help,
Working in Background, Busy, etc).

What's going on??? What is telling Windows to change my default mouse scheme?
JP
Click to expand...

Not a Windows XP "standard" pointer. Just when did this pointer started
to appear, such as after visiting a new website or after downloading a
file or installing a map program, for instance? Might want to consider
running anti-malware, anti-spyware and anti-spyware programs to check
for unwanted files.
 
JPCMISC said:
This is annoying thing #2 in my Windows environment, is also
something that
started happening fairly recently (late last year I think):
As I work in Windows, my mouse pointer--that nice little white
arrow--turns
into a black 4-way arrow pointing N-S-E-W. It still appears to
function the
exact same way, but trying to work with it is, well, annoying.
Because it
stays there no matter what application I'm running or no matter what
the
context.

I can't get back to the default mouse pointer until I reboot or go
into my
Control Panel->Mouse->Pointers dialog and unselect and reselect
"Windows
Default (system scheme)". Until I do so, the "Customize:" list for
the
default scheme shows this same 4-way arrow for all modes (Normal,
Help,
Working in Background, Busy, etc).

What's going on??? What is telling Windows to change my default
mouse scheme?
JP
Click to expand...


That's the scroll-mode function. Look in the mouse properties (Mouse
applet in Control Panel) to see what you have configured to trigger
scroll mode. Maybe it is the middle button and you are pressing it.
 
This is annoying thing #2 in my Windows environment, is also something that
started happening fairly recently (late last year I think):
As I work in Windows, my mouse pointer--that nice little white arrow--turns
into a black 4-way arrow pointing N-S-E-W. It still appears to function the
exact same way, but trying to work with it is, well, annoying. Because it
stays there no matter what application I'm running or no matter what the
context.

I can't get back to the default mouse pointer until I reboot or go into my
Control Panel->Mouse->Pointers dialog and unselect and reselect "Windows
Default (system scheme)". Until I do so, the "Customize:" list for the
default scheme shows this same 4-way arrow for all modes (Normal, Help,
Working in Background, Busy, etc).

What's going on??? What is telling Windows to change my default mouse scheme?
JP
Click to expand...
Logitech drivers maybe. Hold wheeldown and drag- does that bring up
the compass?
 
Additional information to address the first three replies:

Yes it is a Logitech mouse, but I know for a fact that it isn't caused by
pressing the middle wheel button. I really can't say whether it started
after visiting a certain web site; I don't surf that much. But it MAY have
started around the time I reinstalled Google Earth last fall. However, my
use of that app is very seldom so GE could not be 'directly' causing the
problem. What could GE have done to my system to cause this problem during
general Windows use?

I've since run an anti-spyware tool, so we'll see if the results of that did
anything to fix this.

I don't see in the Control Panel's mouse setup where you can direct what
controls the scroll mode (other than telling it how many lines to scroll at a
time).

The 4-way arrow is normally called Move mode in the default scheme.

I only have one application in which I need to actually use the wheel as a
middle button, but I was having this problem even when I wasn't in that app.

When the mouse pointer does get corrupted to the 4-way arrow, nothing I do
with the mouse buttons/wheels changes the pointer to anything else. It
simply loses all context.

So far, since I did go into my Control Panel and reset the default scheme, I
haven't seen the problem crop up again, but it's only been a few days.
JP
 
Thank you. For me holding down the scroll wheel like a button for a second fixed it for me... somehow I must had did just that while I was doing something else mouse in hand lol. Was driving us nuts. We knew it wasn't suppose to be that it's suppose to be an arrow lol
 
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