Something Odd With Typing

Discussion in 'Software' started by SRBast, Oct 6, 2004.

  1. SRBast

    SRBast Specialist

    I never thought I'd have to create a thread about this, but it's driving me insane! No matter where I type (Word, Email, Fax, etc) my cursor unexplainably jumps up to a different part of the text (usually 3 lines or so) and then I wind up typing in the wrong area. It has no rhyme or reason. I'm nowhere near the arrow buttons and it doesn't happen when I Shift or Enter - thinking maybe my fingers are slipping. It will happen in the middle of the sentence. I try to retype the same line to see if it happens again, and it doesn't. I type very fast and I would say the cursor is jumping every other line. Enough to drive me insane. Any ideas? I have Windows XP. Did I accidentally mess up my "hotkeys" - (I know that I see them in my registry, but I never used them because I don't know how...and perhaps my CleanUp deleted them) or set "sticky keys?" Mucho thanks. Kodo already walked me through a long process with another computer problem, so I hope this is a quick fix.

    Stephanie:)
     
  2. Wavetar

    Wavetar Sergeant

    Unplug your mouse & type up a page or so, see if the problem goes away. If it does, perhaps the mouse is defective. I've heard similar stories of Dell & various optical mice.
     
  3. SRBast

    SRBast Specialist

    Oops, major omission. It's on my laptop - and there's no external mouse. Just a touch pad.

    Thanks, Stephanie
     
  4. Wavetar

    Wavetar Sergeant

    Same deal with the touch pad, they can go bad as well. I don't like them at all, just personal opinion though. Are you sure you're not hitting the touchpad with your wrist or something? I do it all the freakin' time, which is why I don't like touchpads. Find a regular mouse & reboot the computer with it plugged it. Then go into your touchpad settings & disable it. See if the problem goes away.
     
  5. SRBast

    SRBast Specialist

    My hands never rest on my computer pad while typing, so I know I'm not touching my pad. I did so much stuff to my laptop yesterday to fix problems, and then I cleaned the registry out - and THEN this started happening, so I really feel it's a software issue...but I'll dig up a mouse and see how that goes. THanks, Stephanie
     
  6. SRBast

    SRBast Specialist

    Wavetar,
    How do you disable Touchpad? I went into Control Panel, but there's only Mouse controls, no Touchpad. So I can't disable the Mouse - or else it won't work. :rolleyes: Stephanie
     
  7. SRBast

    SRBast Specialist

    I've just had a very frustrating time with Sony Vaio. My warranty is up, they tell me that the cursor randomly jumping is a common issue, yet to give me the resolution, they're going to charge me $ per incident. They said it's a malfunction with Sony Touchpads and yet they want us to pay for it. I refused to. I googled this problem and indeed, many people (not just Sony's) have this problem and I believe it may come to 2 issues.
    1. OVer-heating. I am on a wireless modem and on AC. It gets very hot. Could this be a possible cause?
    2. The handrest. People have said it's a malfunction with the heat and the pressure on the handrest on the notebook. I do rest my hands, but I noticed that if I make sure not a single part of my hands touch...it happens less often.

    I still want to try the external mouse, but don't know how to disable Touchpad. Also, I bought a Notebook for a reason...I don't have the space for an external mouse.

    Also, via Google search, some people stated success in "Flashing Bios" although it seems like it works for some and not for others and can cause problems if it's not the former. So what do you think of that?

    Why would this suddenly be happening? It just started yesterday.

    If you think it could be the heat, can you please give me threads stating how to cool down a Sony Vaio. It is so Greek to me that I don't know where to begin.

    Thank you, Stephanie
     
  8. bigbazza

    bigbazza R.I.P. 14/12/2011 - Good Onya Geek

    Steph. Sounds like heat related to me. On my Gateway, when I use an external mouse, the touchpad is automatically disabled. Maybe the same on your Sony. As an experiment, see if you can lift your laptop up off where it is resting. Put a couple of 1 x1 " blocks of wood underneath to improve ventilation. Also get one of those cheap personal fans, or any kind of fan, and direct the flow of air to the air vents on the laptop body to see if additional "cooling" helps. Also try an external keyboard, I know you are short on space, to see if that makes a difference. What CPU is in your Sony? Pentium 2, 3, 4 or whatever? What speed? There is software that will monitor CPU temps but I can't find a reference right now. Rain, is the name of one that I remember. It turns off unnecessary CPU instructions from my memory of it. Google for it, or search on MG. Bazza

    ===

     
  9. SRBast

    SRBast Specialist

    thanks BB. Here are my stats (I got them from Control Panel>System)
    Mobile Intel(R) Pentium (R)
    111 CPU - M 1200MHz
    1.9 GHz 256M of Ram

    Does my computer suck? I hope not, I paid a lot for it. I know that I have 53 processes running when I check it and I want to end some of them - but not quite sure which ones to end and they all give me a frightening message saying that I can lose data and cause system instability - so I never do it. I'll search for the RAIN program and I've elevated my laptop on a wire rack that I have for baking. It's about 2 inches off the surface...does it matter that it's metal? Also, I've been wanting to search just for software programs that MGs has and it always brings up a bunch of threads and I have to search each one. Is there a way to search only MGs downloads?? Thanks BB!!!

    Stephanie
     
  10. bigbazza

    bigbazza R.I.P. 14/12/2011 - Good Onya Geek

    Steph, I'll swop you anytime for my P2/400. :D Don't worry your specs are not the problem. 2 inch clearance is even better. Metal basket is not a problem, prefer wood though. Try an external fan if you can rig one up, blowing on the underside. 53 processes is, maybe, a problem. I use

    Starter from CodeStuff http://codestuff.netfirms.com/news.shtml

    I am using 18, just now, just checked (W98SE). I've forgotten, but I assume you are using a version of XP. Blackvipers site is apparently great for XP users. It tells you what you should use and what you can probably delete from running.

    try www.blackviper.com.

    XP users please step in with more detailed link as I can't find mine at the moment. Getting weary, been on the net for hours this morning.

    All the above still doesn't solve your original typing problem, though. Looks like a "feature" of the Sony.:p and some other laptops. A computer shop owner friend of mine told me that some laptop manufacturers are going back from P4 to P3 Celerons to reduce heat problems. Baz

    PS: can you hear if your internal fan is working? Can you hear it? Can you hear it switch from off to on, and vice versa. Maybe it isn't working at all? baz

    ===

     
  11. SRBast

    SRBast Specialist

    Baz,
    Yes, I have Windows XP. Funny you should mention if I hear the fan working because I haven't now that I think about it. I'll have to pay closer attention to it - but if it's not running - is there a fix for that or does that = bringing my laptop into Sony for attention? I'll check out the links that you gave me. Thanks so much and I'd love to hear from more people if you know more specifics re: XP. Stephanie
     
  12. SRBast

    SRBast Specialist

    Alas, I don't think it's a heat issue, because the cursor starts to jump around right after start up when it's cool. Also, I plugged in the external mouse and I can't get it to work. I've Googled how to disable touchpad (which a lot of Sony Vaio users want to do) but can't find a solution. Many have suggested that they disable it in Bios - but I have no idea what that means. Any ideas?

    Stephanie
     
  13. SRBast

    SRBast Specialist

    After I re-installed my touchpad software, everything seems to be fine. Thanks for all of your help! Stephanie
     
  14. Oldhound

    Oldhound Private E-2

    Stephanie,

    I am having a similar problem with a jumpy curser on my Vaio PCG-V505ECP laptop.

    Did re-installing the touchpad software resolve the issue for you? If so, how do I go about finding the software? I am really a novice here so I would appreciate the benefit of your experience.
    Thanks... Oldhound
     
  15. SRBast

    SRBast Specialist

    Hey Oldhound,

    YES!!! It fixed it completely. I'm not on my laptop right now...but when I am, I can email it to you for extra ease. If you can't wait - go to Sony.com and look for your model....oh wait - i can't email it to you because we're different models. So go to www.sony.com and go to laptops and your model. You'll see downloads - look for TOUCHPAD and download and install. What a pain in the butt that cursor is when it jumps around! Let me know if you have any problems...when I have more time, I can walk you through in more detail.

    Stephanie
     

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