Typing Issues (Jumping cursor...moves my text to another line while typing)

I have a windows xp laptop which has never had this problem......now I have 2 windows 7, Sony and Toshiba and both have this problem out of the box.  It doesn't happen if you use the 2 finger typing method, but that can only last about 30 seconds for me.  I am so frustrated.  If I want to type something I have to use one of my old computers!

I have the same problem as Tim's except that it occurs only with 'Y' and 'T' characters, upper and lowercase. I am using an external mouse, hence rarely use the touchpad. Have been grappling with problem ever since Windows updates were done and am inclined to believe Gabby Jim's suggestion. It's been almost a year and Windows support have not been able to resolve my problem. Its are real pain especially when typing out lengthy documents with time constraints.

Anyone out there who can throw me a lifeline?

Thank you.

Siraj

Gabby Tim

I agree with just about all that you have said.  I tried the lot, uninstalling & reinstalling drivers, Synaptics options, USB mouse - to no avail.  

Like you, I tried a rigid panel over the touch pad - still no good, the insertion point still jumped to the 'I' beam location, so it doesn't appear to be the touch pad.  It almost seems as though the driver is polling the mouse pointer location and then resetting the insertion point.  I don't have the programming skills to check or correct this, if that's what's doing it.

If anyone finds a fix, I'd love to hear about it for my own use and for friends with the problem, who know less about computers and software.  They ask me and I am unable to do more than make all the suggestions above :-(

This is a deliberate duplicate from my post at

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistawu/thread/3b935c1e-9c66-4236-93e8-b3356bfbb7c7

The reason for duplication is that Microsoft seems to think the issue is resolved – only by making a new post is it likely that they will make any further attempt to get a real answer.

I've been battling this Jumping Cursor problem for over a year - today I finally decided to google the problem - Microsoft disowns the issue, but it looks like their "windows update" may be part of the problem, but not entirely.

Although now retired from the field for over ten years, from my over 20 years as a computer support rep, both in the field and on the help desk*, I've seen this finger pointing all to often, where the software folks blame the hardware folks and they, in turn, blame the software people.

("Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." - - Hanlon's Razor).

Many folks here have offered solutions, (most of which I have tried without success) and it appears that no one has a real handle on a solution. What some claim works for them, others say doesn't work in their situation. I wish I could say I found a fix, but I cannot say that. I HAVE found something that seems to help though.

I'll not echo what has been said describing the problem. We all know that it's a royal pain.

Here's my "work-around" - - When composing text, I keep an eye on the position of the "I" beam Mouse Cursor, to insure it stays inside the text area. Then, I also keep an eye out to be sure the letters I am typing appear on the screen in the right place. (If you are not a "touch typist" - Rots-a-Ruck!) I tried the fix, below, and had some modest improvement - enough to make it tolerable - - until I can afford a Mack.

What appears to be happening is that the windows automatic update may be inadvertently changing some settings in the touch pad / mouse options. In the case of brand new machines, these may be the default settings.

This does not seem to be related to any particular Operating System or computer manufacturer. It DOES appear to be restricted to computers that use a touchpad. Apparently most computer manufacturers use the same bit of hardware - quite possibly from the same source. (Very common - why reinvent the wheel?)

It seems the touch pad is too sensitive and may cause the cursor to move around just from vibrations caused by typing - the faster / harder the typing, the greater odds that the cursor will move unbidden. (My laptop is ancient, I've literally worn through some of the keys and have had to put bubbles of epoxy on them to cover the holes.) Then when lint and hair (and breadcrumbs, etc - grin) build up under the keys, one types progressively harder to get the keys to work! This increases the vibration level.

Anyway, to obtain some relief, I went to mouse properties in control panel and took all the check marks out of Pointer Options (I'll put those I want back, one at a time - over time - to see if I can narrow down the actual culprit). I then went to Device Settings and selected "Static tray icon in the taskbar" (the animation may degrade system performance just a tad and possibly be part of the problem). I then right clicked the Snaptics icon in the system tray and removed the check from "Tap to Click" - I then returned to mouse properties, device settings, and selected "Remove tray icon from taskbar" (it needs to be there to right click it - DUH!- Windows XP Home, SP3, no other way)- - I then slowed down the pointer speed. Although these measures helped a great deal, it seems theydid nottotally resolve the issue. (and yes, all my drivers "seem" to be current.)

Now, for those suffering as much frustration as I am - I taped a piece of scrap metal over the touch pad, hinge fashion, to ensure I wasn't "palming" the pad as I type. No fix. Obviously, turning the pad completely off is not an option with a laptop. After all, with the device on your lap, where are you going to place the mouse to USE it? On your chest? - Definitely NOT for the ladies! <grin> - On your thigh? UH, that looks bad, too, even for the guys. In addition, carrying a mouse around with a laptop LOOKS funny!

I'm afraid that for some of us, we are just screwed, until Microsoft and Snaptics decide to get together and actually resolve the issue.

* I was on the Packard Bell help desk for over 5 years, before they got fed up with the US political corruption and moved to Europe. (Which is why you don't see PB computers in the US market today.) I was one of over 2,000 (laid off) support technicians who largely answered questions and did trouble shooting from scripts. We were alternately under great pressure to "move on to the next call as quickly as possible" when sales were up, and, when business was slow, to "Do everything you can to solve the problem on the first call". In the former situation, there was a lot of pressure to give the caller some quick fix, terminate the call, and let the NEXT technician try to solve the problem if the same person called back. This seems to be the attitude of Microsoft today - shove the problem under the rug and hope it will go away.

Thanks to all who contributed - good luck to those who are still living with the problem.

Gabby Jim