About a week ago my cursor started blinking. I checked my mouse controls on control panel. Nothing there. I checked the keyboard on control panes and I found cursor speed. I changed it to slow. Didn;t work. Still blinking. I did a search and found it could be firefox so I uninstalled firefox. Nothing. Still blinking. I searched for 2 1/2 days off and on for answers. Then the cursor just quit blinking and went back to normal. Now 3 days later it just started blinking again! *SCREAM* It slows down my comp and I can't tell where the point of the arrow is half the time. It is so seethrough and wavery it doesn't stop moving. The only time it is still is when a screen is frozen.( of course!) It is driving me nuts!

Any help would be appreciated.

Rhonda,
My guess and only a guess is that you may have a virus. They tend to control the mouse. Make sure your virus definitions are up to date.
liblueeyes

Have you tried running anti-spyware?

I'm assuming you have a PC. Have you loaded or updated any software? Does anyone else use your PC? Have you created any new users? Does it always happen or only when you are on the net? Do you have virus protection? Was it updated recently? What system are you running?

Hmmm if it is acting slow...are your pages loading slower too? Mine is doing this due to the cable lines being over loaded at peek times... It can also happen in very cold weather if there is a break in the cable line I have been told...

Spyware is also notorious for this too...it will slow down your computer at various times...and virus's....

I have a Hp slimline with windows xp 2006. It flashes all the time. The first thing I did was run a scan with my Mcaffey. No viruses. I haven't uploaded anything lately. Noone else uses my PC I haven't even been letting Zach use it now for a couple of weeks or more. He uses the laptop instead. HP updates automatically. My service is through my phone acct. I have had it for 3 years and never had this problem before. I have DSL.

Anti virus is not the same as anti-spyware.

I have the same type of computer, and also have McCaffee, you might want to go to their online site and chat with one of the techs there to help you get rid of the spy ware. Sometimes they can be installed when you go to various websites...one or two may not show up, but when there are enough of them running it will slow down your whole system.

does you mouse have a battery(ies) I have a wireless and it will act crazy when the batteries need changed

Thanks Amma and Shadow and everyone. I will see if I can talk to someone at McCaffee. I'll post on here if I get it fixed. Thanks alot everyone!

I didn't think to ask, do you have a wireless mouse? Have you installed a new mouse? There could be an incompatibility between your mouse and your DSL. Go to the web site of the mouse manufacturer and download the most recent mouse driver. Or choose "generic" driver for your mouse. It is so hard to diagnose without being hands on. Check with HP.

Does it make any difference if you are onlline or off?

I have a wireless mouse but I have had it for months. It's isn't new. When I went to the control panel and clicked on the mouse there was a place to install a new driver. I just did't want to do that til I had checked out some other options first. It may be what I need to do.

I did not know that...I thought they would just die.....peacefully LOL

McAffee is the worse thing about not detecting viruses. And everyone is correct you need to run a Spyware program to empty out all of the nasties that might be there.

My computers (3) are set up like Fort Knox and there is no way they will be hacked into, my buddy has tried so many times, to test my system. Go get these programs they are free and will fix any issues that you might have. The worse case scenario you will have to wipe the HD clean and start over.

Go here

http://download.cnet.com/windows/

In the search bar type in Avast and get their anti virus, then type in COMODO and get their firewall, then type in Spyware Terminator and get the spyware program. (this is a real time program so you know if something is trying to get into your computer), then type in CCleaner and get that program. This is the one that you need to get and run immediately. It can also repair your registry which could help a lot with the situation that you are having now.

I know this is a lot to comprehend but it will help you out in the long run. Oh and put Firefox back on your computer, IE is bad news.

All of these programs are free and are the best on the market.

Billy

BIlly, good suggestions. I put AVG on all my hubbies PC's.

I am not a total idiot but it is intimidating to do some of these things. I will try to do all of this Billy. Most of it is just gibbberish to me. But I can read and follow directions. I just don;t know enough about it to make informed decisions. That's what bothers me the most. I don't have enough background to be able to problem solve. And everyone has a differant opinion. So it makes it hard to know what to do. I am going to follow your directions and see how it goes. Thanks for all the help!

You are WOOOMANNNN - you can do it. Look at all the other stuff you have figured out and done. I have every faith that you will do this, too.

LOL burnsk I will try. I remember when I got my first comp(the same one I am trying to fix!) and I set up my first website store and I didn't know what a URL was. I would call the helpline and they would ask me for my URL and it took a while for me to figure that out!! LOL Then I really really really! struggled on figuring out how to link pages to other sites. the help site on the comp that hosted my site only told you how to link pages within my site. I kept getting service guys who talked over my head. Til I finally got a young guy who would walk me minutely through the steps instead of assuming I knew the lingo and where to find things. I didn't know what a browser window was and this one tech (not the nice one)so aggravated with me I just hung up. That was 3 years ago. I have learned alot since then but there is so much I don't know.

Now I'm going to be up another hour trying to get rid of the giggles that are lingering from that one...

Sorry JustMe I missed this post. Yes I tried that too. It was one of the first things I did. Thanks for the thought tho!

If only taking the batteries out of the four legged variety would work then all you'd have to do is catch the little thing and take out the batteries! No mess no fuss! New Age pest control!! LOL

Ahhhhh if only it could be that easy :D:D:D

Not yet Loretta I haven't taken time yet. I am using the laptop til I get time to work on it. I couldn't do it last night I was too tired and this morning I want to finish up the tail end of this checkbook so I can get them in the mail. I will work on it soon. I like my own keyboard so much better than this laptop but I am finally getting the feel for the buttons. It is smaller than my keyboard and things are spaced differantly. Aggravated me at first but now I am getting the hang of it. The laptop being fairly new yet is so much faster than my comp. Especially while it is sick!

Can you attach your keyboard to your laptop? Is it a USB connection?

Probably burnsk but I am using my HP to answer emails that pertain to the templates etc that I don't have the files for on the laptop. So I am actually using both til I take time to try the spyware and see if that fixes my problem. I can see the cursor but it is hard to see and hard to use but I can't deal with anything that I need my files for because I don't have access to them on the laptop. I got the laptop for the grands to use so I really don't want to connect them totally. I thought about it but decided to keep them seperate. So for now I can use the laptop online and the HP to deal with business. I will get time to try the spyware thing soon I hope. Then I can go back to working normally again. Thanks!

Rhonda, one of the computers at work, uses the F keys for different things, and one is the blining cursor and the solid (instead of underline) cursor, or the blinking solid cursor. You might try using the ALT key or the CTRL key in conjunction with all the F keys and see if anything changes. For example, at work, if you do ALT+F9 it will change from an underline cursor to a solid square cursor, then if you do ALT+F8 it will change from steady to blinking. To reverse it, you just do that same step again. An idea to try anyway..........good luck. Oh, this also works for "clacking" or silent typing too!

grammatjr I tried them all and nothing worked. I probably do need to just go download the spyware.

Well it is back to normal again but I haven't taken time to do anything yet. I know I need to. I'm not good at making changes. I worry that I am doing the wrong thing. As soon as I have time to I will work on it.

Have you tried a different mouse? If a different mouse does the same, then I'd say it was spyware. Be sure and turn the computer off completely when uninstalling or installing new hardware, a reboot sometimes does not reset everything.

Rhonda, I'm assuming you have a back-up of all your documents. If not, Please do one first before you do anything else. I was the QUEEN of preaching about back-ups at work. Too many times my clients didn't and when I went to help them they were at the point of not being able to retrieve documents that they desperately needed. Recovery software can only do so much. That was always my first question - when did you do your last backup? It became part of my everyday conversation - did you do a backuup lately. Oh, oh, I'm starting to preach again. Sorry. I just can't emphasize that enough. EVERYONE - backup
LOL

Thanks everyone for the advice!