Author Topic: Cursor freezes - Windows 7 (Read 9011 times)

ideasguy · « **on:** January 08, 2013, 02:19:55 PM »

My HP W7 computer goes into sleep mode when left for a short period - a blank screen.
On return a shake of the mouse usually wakes it up.
Sometimes, perhaps if its a longer period, the Mouse freezes.
Keyboard is fully enabled.
I did a quick surf and found loads of questions from people reporting the same problem on the same subject, but no definitive answers.
One suggestion was to unplug the Mouse (USB port) and plug it in again. That works

Rather than trawl again for more info, I wondered if any of our members have a solution to prevent this freezing "feature".

NightHawk · « **Reply #1 on:** January 08, 2013, 05:10:04 PM »

My computer setup George is a Dell laptop running Windows 7 Home Premium Edition, and I have a wireless mouse.

I have it configured to go into sleep mode whenever I close the lid.

When I open the lid again I enter a password to unlock the screen which then goes straight to the Desktop and it's ready to go.
I've never had any mouse freezing issues with my current computer.

There are various options to set through your Control Panel for Power saving, which is available for laptop or Desktop PCs.

I have found in the past that having screensavers running can cause freezing problems. I used to have a screensaver on my old Desktop PC which had Windows 7 and I had random freezing when I moved my mouse to deactivate the screensaver. Disabling the screensaver eliminated that problem for me.

All I can suggest George is to go through different options in your Power Saving Preferences and see which configuration works best for you, without freezing.

I trawled the Internet for solutions to my screen freezing problem, but no-one seemed to have a specific answer to suit everyone. One solution worked for some people, a different solution worked for others.

Trial and error for now I would suggest George, unless any of our other members can offer anything else, or failing that an Internet search maybe $:-\$

ideasguy · « **Reply #2 on:** January 08, 2013, 10:08:59 PM »

Thanks for that Laurie.
Its rather odd. Went out to the garden for an hour in the afternoon. Returned, shook the mouse and all was well.

Looked at my settings.
Control Panel

Personalisation
Screensaver:- None

Power Options
Options are:

Balanced
Power saver
High performance

Mine was set at 1)
Clicked Change Plan Settings
Turn off display - set at 10 mins
Put the computer to sleep - set at 20 mins.
I changed this setting to Never. Lets see if the problem reoccurs

ideasguy · « **Reply #3 on:** January 11, 2013, 12:30:37 PM »

No problems since setting the Put the computer to Sleep to Never.

To complete the exercise, I'll leave it for a few days more and then set it to a value again and see if the problem re-occurs.

NightHawk · « **Reply #4 on:** January 11, 2013, 05:50:14 PM »

That's usually the best way to go George.

Methodically go through the settings to try and isolate the offending one.

It can be a bit of a pain - I know because I've had to do that several times in the past, but you don't have many other options.

ideasguy · « **Reply #5 on:** January 11, 2013, 09:01:48 PM »

Its not the only pain in this switch to W7

I love the fast response though! Ive cut down on tea breaks waiting for things to happen

Palustris · « **Reply #6 on:** January 12, 2013, 10:00:21 AM »

We have ours to Sleep after 20 minutes and dame for turning off the Screen. Never had any problems with the Cursor freezing.
If it does it again try Alt+Ctrl+Delete to get to Task Manager. That seems to kick start most things.

ideasguy · « **Reply #7 on:** January 12, 2013, 10:54:00 AM »

Yes, alt-ctrl-del - the old fashioned two finger salute as it was known

That what I had to do, Eric.
In W7, its difficult to shut down when your mouse isn't working!
Try it for a giggle using only the keyboard

Palustris · « **Reply #8 on:** January 12, 2013, 08:16:18 PM »

Surely it is 3 Fingers. I found when the Screen froze on the Screen saver that all I needed to do was Alt Ctrl Delete and that cleared the problem without needing to actually open Task Manager. Obviously it is better to stop the problem occurring in the first place though.
Was shown how to use the Keyboard alone but forgotten how.

Palustris · « **Reply #9 on:** January 12, 2013, 08:25:44 PM »

Found this fascinating.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/guides/keyboard_mouse/computer/win/win7/index.shtml#setup

NightHawk · « **Reply #10 on:** January 13, 2013, 09:36:08 AM »

Quote from: Palustris on January 12, 2013, 08:16:18 PM

Surely it is 3 Fingers. I found when the Screen froze on the Screen saver that all I needed to do was Alt Ctrl Delete and that cleared the problem without needing to actually open Task Manager.

On Windows 7(and XP), Ctrl-Alt-Del gives you a screen with options to; Lock this computer / Switch User / Log off / Change a password / Start Task Manager

Pressing those three key combinations alone doesn't get you out of the problem, you need to either click on Start Task Manager (where you can select the offending device or program from the list of running applications and stop it). Failing that, on the same screen in the bottom right corner you get a red button where you can choose to Restart or Shut Down the computer. If Task Manager doesn't work then this is your only other choice at that time to get going again.

Palustris · « **Reply #11 on:** January 13, 2013, 10:46:10 AM »

I know that, but still found that no other action was needed when it stuck on the Screen saver.
If it is set up properly, the Mouse pointer may be moved with the Alphanumeric pad, usually on the right hand side of the keyboard. I have mine set to Fast movement otherwise it takes ages for the pointer to go anywhere.

ideasguy · « **Reply #12 on:** January 13, 2013, 03:32:56 PM »

RE:

Quote

Found this fascinating.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/guides/keyboard_mouse/computer/win/win7/index.shtml#setup

Nice find there Eric! Thanks for posting that.

Upon Alt-Ctrl-Del I have the options you described Laurie.
In the absence of a mouse, I had to use the Tab button. Tabbing through the buttons until the Red one was selected, then I hit the Enter key to shut down.
I did that before I discovered that unplugging and then reinserting the Mouse USB connection allowed the Mouse to become active again.

I'm still running in Sleep= Never mode, and no further problems.

Next thing to go reading up on (before I set it back to Sleep=20) - whats the correct method to get out of Sleep mode?
Previously, I had clicked the mouse - screen came on, mouse disabled.
Perhaps I should have pushed the Power switch? I'm SURE you guys know the correct method already so I'll do the lazy thing and ask for an answer

Palustris · « **Reply #13 on:** January 13, 2013, 05:42:38 PM »

Dead easy, bang the computer desk with the computer chair, works every time.

NightHawk · « **Reply #14 on:** January 14, 2013, 08:06:52 AM »

Have a look here George - http://www.computer-how-to-guide.com/windows-software/windows-7-standby-sleep-hibernation/

Eric Hardy · « **Reply #15 on:** January 14, 2013, 09:29:52 AM »

Just to add my tuppence worth, I very occasionally get this "unable to wake-up the laptop" situation with the mouse. Just a quick jab at the start up button seems to do the trick. I am running Windows 7. I see that on the link that Laurie has just posted, this is one of the suggested solutions (although they suggest a slightly longer push on the button but not long enough to close the whole thing down).

Eric H

ideasguy · « **Reply #16 on:** January 15, 2013, 12:14:20 AM »

Thanks for the link Laurie. Its obvious that there is a lot of grief experienced by W7 users.

I'll have a look at those USB port settings next time I get to this.
I would like to enable the sleep mode if it would behave itself

Palustris · « **Reply #17 on:** January 18, 2013, 09:26:58 PM »

Mine froze today, but I reckon that was the weather!

ideasguy · « **Reply #18 on:** January 18, 2013, 09:32:32 PM »

Palustris · « **Reply #19 on:** January 19, 2013, 09:15:14 AM »

Blew hot air on the screen, that fettled it.

Eric Hardy · « **Reply #20 on:** January 19, 2013, 10:05:26 AM »

Quote from: Palustris on January 19, 2013, 09:15:14 AM

Blew hot air on the screen, that fettled it.

Must try that

Author Topic: Cursor freezes - Windows 7 (Read 9011 times)

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