How to Fix a Skipping Cursor

Cursor skipping around while typing? Does your touch pad seem to have a mind of it's own? Having the unfortunate fate of typing and your cursor skip two spaces back is utterly frustrating. Not only does the cursor type gibberish and nonsense; it loads pages, exits out of pages and generally makes typing one sentence a nightmare. If you're faced with a skipping cursor, try these steps before throwing your laptop against the wall.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Hope
• Internet access

1. 

   Have you noticed the cursor skipping after installing a new program? Open the Control panel and look for recently installed programs or additions to your internet toolbar. Internet add ons affect not only internet browser texts but somehow affect your desktop programs as well. Uninstall any new programs, restart your computer and check to see if the problem is resolved.

2. 

   Hopefully step 1 solved your issue, if not. Here's step 2. Run Windows Defender, Spy Doctor or a similar software for detecting unwanted and malicious programs. Adware or viruses may be causing your cursor skipping problem.

3. 

   Check your touch pads sensitivity. On Windows Vista, go to Control Panel>Mouse>Tapping and set the Touch Sensitivity in the low range. Many times a highly sensitive touch pad will cause the cursor to skip and jump around.

4. 

   Disable the touch pad. Step by step instructions vary for each system. Search in your system's help section for detailed information on how to disable the touch pad. On a few HP models, a touch pad disable button is located in the border of the touch pad. This however, is a temporary fix.

5. 

   Still reading? Have you recently upgraded to Windows Vista? or reformatted your hard drive? Uninstall the generic driver. If the cursor skipping problem started after upgrading to Vista, it may have come from the install. Go to the blog located in the resources section for a great step by step on uninstalling the generic driver and reinstalling your computer manufacturer’s touch pad driver.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are unsure or uncomfortable of doing any of the mentioned steps, call your pc's help line to be safe.

Resources

• uninstall generic driver

[medphysinfo]

on 5/5/2009 Good tips to stop that curser from jumping around. I have the hardest time using my lap top. I always hit the touch pad.

[luv2blog]

on 8/21/2008 Good tips becaus emy cursor does have a life of its own!

[amylaine]

on 8/2/2008 Great info.