Strange small square area at the bottom of the screen where mouse pointer changes and

[computerdoc]

There is a small square area at the bottom of the screen where the mouse pointer changes from a regular arrow to an arrow connected to a vertical rectangle with a small triangle at the top and bottom. The mouse doesn't work there and nothing can be selected or clicked.

The square is about 1 to 2 inches wide right in the middle of the screen. There is an additional small rectangle directly connected to the pointer which looks like the picture that joewinograd drew. However, it is nowhere near the task bar.I tried dragging up and it did nothing but changed to a normal pointer which still doesn't select and highlight normally within the square area.

It doesn't happen in safe mode.

I used Process Explorer to kill every non crucial program that I could get to and it didn't solve the problem.

 

[computerdoc]

An image of the square spot can be seen at

http://www.askthecomputerdoc.com/blog/wp-admin/images/squarespot.png

 

[NYJimbo]

What did you do so far ? Rkill, whats running in taskmanager, any A/V scans, combofix, what was recently installed, etc ...

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

Try this since it manipulates the cursor on mouse over I would imagine win32api's can pick it up:

http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/daphne_portable

 

[computersnmore]

Turn off windows magnifier...

 

[computerdoc]

I ran rkill and a malwarebytes full scan which found 29 infections but they didn't relate to the problem.

ComputerRepairTech hit the nail on the head with Daphne. I found that synTPEnh.exe was occupying the area which "implements a set of additional configuration options and enhancements for Synaptics touchpads, such as defining button functions and changing sensitivity. Synaptics touchpads are found on millions of laptop computers. Also SynTPLpr.exe, which provides more basic functionality for Synaptics touchpads. Both of these processes must typically be left running to ensure proper operation of the input device."

I killed the task with Daphne and the touchpad still works. However, the mouse selection from the control panel malfunctions. In any case, this fixed the problem for the moment. The ideal solution would be to have some way to turn it off in a benign way.

 

[ZPR]

Have you tried bringing up the settings for synaptics? Typically with the program running there would be an icon in the system tray you can right-click on. You may also find it in Control Panel under Mouse, just depends on the laptop.

Also, check Windows Updates and see if it installed an update for it. I've had Windows Update completely disable the touchpad. Failing all of the above try uninstalling the program and downloading a fresh copy from the manufacturer website, it might be under Mouse drivers or something similar. Although you may need a USB mouse to do so, I had one laptop that the touchpad wouldn't work if I wasn't running that program.

 

[computerdoc]

I removed synTPEnh.exe from startup and the touchpad still works. The touchpad icon is no longer in the notification area. The mouse icon in control panel also doesn't work fully. However, it has all the functionality that the user wants without the crazy square which prevented mouse function.

I don't believe there is an option to remove that square adjustment area if I would allow synTPEnh.exe back in. I sent an email to Synaptics and will see if I get any response.

 

[NYJimbo]

So weird you would get that box, that program is in countless machines. So it makes me wonder if there isn't something else wrong.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

It is odd, could always try uninstalling the Synaptics software (preferebly with an uninstaller thats going to search for additional entries) and reinstall it.

 

[computerdoc]

I uninstalled my current driver and reinstalled the latest one which had no problems. I somehow got the wrong driver initially.

Installing the latest driver fixed the problem.