Annoying Windows desktop problem

[GoSeigen]

I've spent many years away from Windows so have forgotten everything I knew; I now have a problem that is baffling me on our work desktop.

There seems to be some sort of process which is constantly taking focus while I am working on something else. I'll click somewhere to write text, then the cursor moves away and I have to click there again. The cursor also constantly flickers as if the task is repeatedly swapping between my active app and this phantom process. I can't figure out what it is that is running though.

The only visual clues I have are the aforementioned flicker of the cursor, which begins even before the login screen, the loss of focus (entering the login password is a challenge), and a funny round, translucent, lightly shaded patch about the size of a small coin towards the top right of the screen, half off the RHS of the screen so that I can only see a semicircle, and when I move the cursor over this circle the cursor changes to a rotating blue "waiting" icon. Occasionally a similar semicircle flickers into view around halfway down the RHS of the screen then instantly disappears again.

It's all very weird and I have no idea where to look to diagnose the problem. Could it be a video card issue I wonder?

Any help very much appreciated.

GS

[Midsmartin]

My first thought was that you have a faulty mouse or touchpad, which thinks you are pressing buttons when you are not. Do you have a spare mouse to try? Or even disconnect it entirely as an experiment.

I can't work out the other symptom of moving shapes.
If there is a weird bit of software misbehaving, a quick and dirty test would be to start it in safe mode to see if the problem goes away. You can find an option to do this in settings of Windows 10:

https://www.techradar.com/how-to/how-to ... -safe-mode

[Breelander]

There seems to be some sort of process which is constantly taking focus while I am working on something else... The only visual clues I have are the aforementioned flicker of the cursor, which begins even before the login screen....

This isn't a touchscreen, is it? If so, I have one that gets symptoms like that occasionally. In Control Panel > Pen and Touch I have now turned on 'show visual feedback when touching the screen', and when this flickering occurs it shows about four of five spots on the screen where fingerprints/dirt is causing phantom 'touches'. Cleaning the screen cures it.

[GoSeigen]

There seems to be some sort of process which is constantly taking focus while I am working on something else... The only visual clues I have are the aforementioned flicker of the cursor, which begins even before the login screen....

This isn't a touchscreen, is it? If so, I have one that gets symptoms like that occasionally. In Control Panel > Pen and Touch I have now turned on 'show visual feedback when touching the screen', and when this flickering occurs it shows about four of five spots on the screen where fingerprints/dirt is causing phantom 'touches'. Cleaning the screen cures it.

Yes it is a touch screen. I'm going to try that, thanks!

GS

[GoSeigen]

Hmm, cleaning the digitiser didn't fix the issue, dot remains in the same place, but it certainly seems to be a problem with the touch screen. Is there a way to disable it for now as we don't use the touch function very much?

The screen fell off the desk recently so this could be a loose connection or some other damage perhaps? There are no obvious cracks or visible damage to the screen though...


GS

[nautical]

If it's a Microsoft Surface Pro or Surface Book device, it may be suffering from the "phantom" touch issue that's affected multiple generations of that device...see this example:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/surface-pro-4-or-surface-book-experiences-phantom-touch-input-on-the-screen-18ce5c3f-4afa-ec86-1f8a-e127e002de35

[Breelander]

Hmm, cleaning the digitiser didn't fix the issue, dot remains in the same place, but it certainly seems to be a problem with the touch screen. Is there a way to disable it for now as we don't use the touch function very much?

I had to use methylated spirits to clean mine.

Yes, you can disable the touch screen. Open Device Manager. Under 'Human Interface Devices' you should find 'HID-compliant touch screen'. Right-click on it and select Disable device.

[GoSeigen]

Hmm, cleaning the digitiser didn't fix the issue, dot remains in the same place, but it certainly seems to be a problem with the touch screen. Is there a way to disable it for now as we don't use the touch function very much?

I had to use methylated spirits to clean mine.

Yes, you can disable the touch screen. Open Device Manager. Under 'Human Interface Devices' you should find 'HID-compliant touch screen'. Right-click on it and select Disable device.

Thank you. I've done that and everything is back to normal now so a positive diagnosis I guess. I'll try a stronger cleaner later.

The PC is a Lenovo C470 if that makes any difference.

GS

[Infrasonic]

Thank you. I've done that and everything is back to normal now so a positive diagnosis I guess. I'll try a stronger cleaner later.

The PC is a Lenovo C470 if that makes any difference.

GS

I've read that some manufacturers warn against using alcohol or solvent based cleaners for touchscreens. I suppose it might depend on what coatings they use for the screens - probably worth checking first.

[Breelander]

The PC is a Lenovo C470 if that makes any difference.

I've read that some manufacturers warn against using alcohol or solvent based cleaners for touchscreens...

This support page has links near the top right for the C470's Hardware Manual and User Guide pdfs.
https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/gb/en/prod ... all-in-one

...and yes, the User Guide does warn against using alcohol. In my case water on its own was insufficient, so I had to resort to a cloth lightly dampened with meths. The guide also includes instruction for using touch screen calibration which may help, though I suspect not if it was damaged by that fall.