topic Re: Cursor only working in safe made in PCs & Accessories

Cursor only working in safe made

KAZZBAR — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:46:05 GMT

Greetings all (again)

Can anyone advise me as to why my cursor will only work properly in safe mode please ?

Initially I thought this was caused by a dodgey e card which froze during playback (it tried to install an exe) the cursor at this point would not shut the the card down and I tried to use the task manager, which would only start with Ctrl-alt-del (I had no right click either)... Task manager started with multipull entries and would not respond,I had no option but to hit the power button and close the system down.

I went and found the offending file and deleted it off the computer (in safe mode)

Now, If I boot up the computer everything seems to load up ok but the cursor does not hi light anything if hovering above any buttons and I have no left or right click (in other words, I can't start or stop anything (and task manager when started with the Ctrl-alt-del again shows multipull entries of it's self)

I can however use the cursor in any of the safe modes (as I am doing now) with limited options)

My computer is a Vaio PCG FX701 ... all up to date, has Avast anti virus, Kerio firewall and all the usual spyware tools installed (none of which find any thing)

Any help you guys or gals could offer would be most appreciated (you helped me out superbly last time I had and issue)

Many thanks for your time,

Kind regards,

Andy.

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

phase_k — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:10:23 GMT

Are you using a touch pad? Have you tried reinstalling the drivers for it?

Have you checked in Device Manager to see if it is reporting any problems or conflicts? (Right Click My Computer > Manage > Device Manager > Look for anything with a yellow warning sign)

Does the cursor move around the screen properly?

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

KAZZBAR — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 22:35:46 GMT

Hi Phase K, Thanks for your answer.

Yes I am using the touch pad, yes I have checked in device manager and not seen anything marked up as having a problem.
Yes the cursor moves around ok.

As regards re-installing the driver,I don't know if can.... I only have recovery disks,and I thought that they performed a complete system restore.

I thought that I saw a reference to a similar problem else where on this forum and someone saying the driver could be found else where on the hard drive and could be re-installed this way ? (but I may have got the wrong idea with this suggestion)

Either way, I would really like an answer to this problem as it is starting to do my head in !!

Is there any way that the active windows that boot up in normal mode have actually become in-active and that the cursor is ok and the windows not ?

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

KAZZBAR — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 02:14:29 GMT

UPATE ...

I found the the link about updating the Alps driver and did as it said, sadly it doesnot make any difference.
I should add that the cursor does work ok on the log in screen but not once logged on.

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

phase_k — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 09:54:28 GMT

It may be worth running System File Checker as it does sounds as if a core windows file may have become corrupt. You can do this by selecting Start > Run > sfc /scannow

Please note that you may need the original XP cd and it may have to reboot to run.

Good luck.

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

KAZZBAR — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 13:17:48 GMT

Hello again, and thanks for your latest reply.

Still no luck... Initially when I try to run SFC /scannow ... the dos window only pops up for a split second .... If I type CMD and then the SFC /scannow command I get the following message that the RPC server is unavailable with the following error code .. 0x000006ba.

I have googled the error code and info about the RPC server but a lot of the info I have seen is starting to go over my head !! (and im not sure that it relates to the problems I am having)

I have checked the settings in "services" and made sure that the rpc settings are set to auto (on advice of a google search) but still no luck with running SFC /scannow.

More help PLEASE !!!

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

rich912 — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 13:10:34 GMT

Hi KAZZBAR,

Can you please confirm that Device Manager is listing an Alps Pointing Device under Mice and other Pointing Devices and NOT a PS/2 mouse?

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

KAZZBAR — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 19:42:31 GMT

Hi Rich, Thanks for taking the time to look at my request for help.

Yes, I can confirm that under pointing devices in device manager Alps is indeed listed.

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

rich912 — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 20:05:26 GMT

Hi KAZZBAR,

Yes, I can confirm that under pointing devices in device manager Alps is indeed listed.

But is this listed as an Alps PS/2 pointing device or an Alps PS/2 mouse?

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

KAZZBAR — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 11:43:39 GMT

Hi Rich,

Yes it says it's an Alps pointing device and in the general tab it says the device is working properly.

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

rich912 — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 16:58:53 GMT

Hi KAZZBAR,

Although this is reported as working I would first try removing this device via Device Manager and then re-boot and let windows re-install the driver. Chances are that this will have no effect but will hopefully eliminate a driver glitch as the problem.

As you report that the touchpad works correctly in Safe Mode the most likely cause of malfunction is a conflicting driver or service that is loading at start-up.

Try disabling all but the most necessary start-up programs (via msconfig startup tab) and re-boot. If this solves the problem you will then need to re-enable each program, one by one, followed by a re-boot until the culprit is identified.

Repeat this for the Services tab if necessary but hide all Microsoft Services first.

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

KAZZBAR — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 01:31:53 GMT

Hi Rich,
Still no luck Im afraid, and I found it frustrating after making the changes you suggested,as when I let windows boot up normally I could not click on the box that opened telling me about the changes and did I want to continue (or words to that effect...I can't remember the exact words now....well it is late)!!

I have found one thing that I find suspect though ... A reference to guix_dat.exe that has located itself in C:\Windows\system32 and another file located in C:\Windows\prefetch .
Both seem to have been created on the day everything went wrong.

I can't find anything about this with a web search, any ideas ?

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

Thalamus. — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:08:05 GMT

Hi Kazzbarr,

have you tried a system restore to date before the touchpad problem began.?

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

rich912 — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:28:31 GMT

Hi KAZZBAR,

No I can’t find anything on guix_dat.exe either.

Have you tried a system restore back to a date prior to the date this file appeared?

Also scan for malware if you have not already done so…

EDIT: You beat me to it Thalamus

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

KAZZBAR — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:04:19 GMT

Hi Rich and Thalamus,

I switched off system restore to save space(the 701 only has a 20 gig hard drive, I heard it wasted a lot of space) and only use it if I am going to be installing new programs and think I might need it.
Much to my annoyance, it can't be turned on in safe mode, only when the system is fully booted up ... then of course.... I can't turn it on as I can't use the cursor GRRRRRRR !!!

Yes, I have scanned for spyware/malware with Spybot, Ad Aware, Windows Defender, Trojan Hunter and run a scan with Highjack This (no reference to guix_dat.exe is seen in the log file)

Until I have more idea what these files are, I'm not sure if I should mess with them.
I do have a gut feeling that they have something to do with all this though !

And of course .. run Avast Anti Virus

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

rich912 — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:27:59 GMT

Hi KAZZBAR,

You could backup these files and then delete, or rename to guix_dat.old. That way if you find that they are legit and needed you can always reinstate.

Otherwise it is beginning to look as though a system recovery is on the cards

Have you tried attaching a USB mouse?

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

KAZZBAR — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:15:11 GMT

Hi Guys,

OMG !!!

What a scary night I have just had !!

A friend told me about a guy who is pretty hot with computers, so I arranged to go and see him with the offending laptop,

Jeeeezus, he went at it like a made man, running all sorts of special software, deleting and uninstalling stuff left right and centre ..... 4 hrs later !!!!

boot up ...... gasp !!!...... WORKING !!!! .....15 minutes later .....FAILIURE, back to square one with exactly the same scenario. (DAM IT)

Looks like whatever is causing it has put back just about everything we got rid of.

I'm at my wits end now !!

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

KAZZBAR — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 13:12:17 GMT

Hi Rich and Thalamus,

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you quicker.

Just to let you know that I ended up having to reinstall windows at the end of the day.

The guy who was giving me a hand could not work out what was going on either, took the hard drive out and scanned in on the desk (found some nasties) but could not recover the system.

What ever this was, it certainly did it's job !! (scumbags)

But I would like to take the opportunity to thank you both for your input and wish you both a happy Christmas.

Hopefully next time I visit these boards it will not be in such desperate circumstances !

Kind regards,

Andy.

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

Thalamus. — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 18:11:28 GMT

Glad your problems sorted Andy and happy Christmas to you too.

Re: Cursor only working in safe made

rich912 — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 18:30:53 GMT

What ever this was, it certainly did it's job !! (scumbags)

Scumbags indeed!!

Pleased to hear that you now have a function machine again Andy.

Have a good one!