ctrl key dilemna

Ok, was messing with the registry and services yesterday and somehow I have set the system to show a decreasing circle delineating where the cursor is whenever I hit the ctrl key. Now I'm having problems finding where to turn this off again. Can anyone help with this problem? I promise I won't tweak my system again for at least 3 minutes! I really do promise!!!


Wraith.....

 

this should be in the control panel under your mouse properties.

 

Looked there but did not find it Kodo. Thanks for moving my post m8, did not realize it was in the wrong forum.

 

Wraith,

Control Panel, Mouse, Pointer Options tab, go to bottom of panel and UNcheck
Show location of pointer...

That'll do it.

 

sorry folks, not on my version of Win XP Professional, not sure why tho.....

 

hmmmm probably should have mentioned that I am using a Logitech Trackball instead of a mouse. I'm trying to remember how to take a screen shot and upload it here....

 

Wraith,
Just open Explorer and go to your main Windows folder and to System32 in that and go to main.cpl, and double click that filename. Then follow my instructions above for terminating the pointer-finder.

 

nice try Wise but no joy. I get the page you are referring to but there is no option to "hide pointer while typing" to check or uncheck. Next idea?

 

yes I did turn some off and turned others on. Now I guess I will just have to go back into the document I used to make a gaming machine and retrace all of my steps. Oh joy!

Wraith

 

Wait a minute! You say you get THE PAGE? It's a panel with a bunch of file tabs at the top. Click the one that says Pointer Options.
Try 'er again, mate.

 

yes, it's a panel with the same type of tabs as you show above, mine has the following....

Quick Setup
Pointers
Buttons
Motion
Orientation
Devices

Under Motion it has Cursor speed and acceleration, Smart Move, Cursor Trails, and Advanced Features

That is the closest to your panel as mine gets

Wraith

 

Ok here is the opening screen and options......


and the second image is the closest that comes to your options.....

 

second image I hope....

 

Omigawd! It's Logitech software!

Sorry, Wraith.

I'm outta here. I have no idea what to do with Logitech software driving your trackball. We we were assuming a Windows standard mouse control panel or a Microsoft-altered one.

Hmmm. Let's see what somebody else says. I know what I'd try if I still had the CD that came with the trackball. But let's see ...

 

Try shutting down your machine, plugging in a standard PS2 mouse (if you have one laying around), start your machine, then uninstall the Logitec mouseware. Then check your device mgr, and if it's showing the PS2 AND the Logitec mouse.......Delete the logitec mouse. Reboot, then reinstall the Logitec mouseware and mouse again, like the first day you bought it.

 

Wraith,

Just to back up BrianC (who doesn't need backing up), he's exactly right, and that's what I'd do, too, if you have the CD or can get it, cuz I don't think your trackball will run very well on native Windows drivers.

I'm not sure how tech-savvy you are, so here's a set of step-by-steps, in case you need help.

Borrow a mouse if you don't have one. You're not going to hurt it at all. With your machine OFF, unplug the t-ball and plug in the mouse, then boot. The native Windows drivers will kick in and run the mouse for you. Now Go to Add-Remove Programs and UNISTALL Logitech TrackBall Whatever-It's-Called.

Don't forget that extra step Brian mentioned above: after you fix the mouse pointer in Control panel>Mouse, and before you shut down the machine, right click My Computer, Properties, Hardware tab, Device Manager button, and look at "Mice and other" and if the Logitech thing is still listed there, delete-remove it, so that there's only a standard mouse mentioned there.

Shut down, plug in the trackball, get out your trackball software CD, and boot and re-install the software. You should be laughing all the way to the bank.

 

Thanks for clarifying one thing I left out WISEWIZ......Unplug the trackmouse, and connect the PS2 mouse after you shutdown.
( I forgot the "unplug the trackmouse"). !!!!! Woops

 

done, thanks to Brian and to Wise, I was working my way to that point but was more concerned with what I had changed to bring up this issue. Wise, I've been working with pc's since the TI-99a back in the late 70's, had a CoCo II and CoCo III in the 80's then graduated through the Tandy line of 8086's and '386's to finally come into other brands of pc's. I ran a computer bbs in the early 90's out of the house for 3 1/2 years with Fidonet and Sacnet to distribute mail with before the Internet got into our small town (used a Fidonet gateway to peruse the Internet with Archie and WAIS email commands, remember those?? LOL). Thought about becoming the local ISP but did not have the $15,000 needed to upgrade my system at home to the point of having a 10 node system to start up with. Have done quite a bit of HTML programing, some Flash work and other graphics (including the original graphics for Legend of the Red Dragon BBS Door game). Also work on PC's as a sideline and help some with network installs. I currently have a 5 machine LAN at the house with connection to the net via a Linksys router. Have not yet ventured into wireless but looking for the opportunity to do so. Am also looking for a good used 500 mhz or faster machine to do some hosting for a game that I'm part of (got any laying around??? LOL).

I did not take offense but you wished to know what my background/experience was. Now you have "the rest of the story." LOL

 

Thanks, Wraith, and I'm glad the problem is solved. And the info is impressive.

Now that I know the truth, the truth will make me free -- of the urge to explain things to someone who knows more about them than I do.

 

not more m8, just different information. I hope to never be so arogant as to believe that I know more than the next guy. It is what is so great about this board the MA and the others have here. They are generous enough to give us "Geeks" a place to pool our knowledge and to help each other. May it never go down. I appreciate and value all of the help I've received here. I only hope that I will be able to return it in kind. Take care friend.

 

Wraith. Background and experience has nothing to do with it. Every one of us goes blank sometimes. We have so much in our heads. Thats the beauty of this message board. So many people doing so many things, we don't need to rack out brains out over something. We just post, and usually someone has the answer off the top of their head. Just so happened I was recently working on a very similar situation, on someones computer. Hope we didn't give the impression that we thought you were a newbie !!!! I think it's good practice to post help in simple terms that everyone will understand. That way, if someone is running thru the posts trying to find a topic similar to a problem they have, they can use the information no matter what their level of knowledge is.

 

Not a problem Brian, I did not think you were inferring I was a newbie. I was merely answering Wise's question on my experience. I took no offense at anything said. Have a great day m8 and thanks again for the help.