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This laptop/tablet has the cursor hidden unless I plug in a hardware mouse. How do I get it to show the mouse so it works better with eye tracking? |
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Installing a virtual HID device driver should also work, such as a Wacom virtual mouse driver http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/ds004071 UPDATE: Tested on Windows 8.1 x64, using the driver link above, worked great. Basically it installs the "Pen Tablet" version of the Walcom drivers and makes Windows think that another mouse like device may be plugged in all the time, even when there isn't one. One strong advantage this solution has over the TouchMousePointer solution, is it responds properly with the correct cursor when you hover over links or you are on top of a touch area. And it is slightly more responsive (probably by 1/10 of a second). And it doesn't require any configuration after installing. TouchMousePointer does allow for larger pointers, and has a bunch of other features. |
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It looks like the easiest way to fix this is to edit the registry: A post on EightForums.com describing the issue: How to display Windows 8 mouse pointer by default Another post on answers.microsoft.com. A .reg file that will do the change the (Right click on the link and select Be sure to restart the computer after applying the registry change. If that doesn't work, then maybe Mouse Move at CodePlex may help. |
Duplicating the Issue/DiagnosisWhen testing to see if this had been fixed, I used a Windows 8.1 machine and disconnected the hardware mouse. The mouse cursor would disappear within a second or so. Documentation about
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| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| CURSOR_SUPPRESSED 0x00000002 |
Windows 8: The cursor is suppressed. This flag indicates that the system is not drawing the cursor because the user is providing input through touch or pen instead of the mouse. |
Windows 8: Call GetCursorInfo to determine the cursor visibility.This function sets an internal display counter that determines whether the cursor should be displayed. The cursor is displayed only if the display count is greater than or equal to 0. If a mouse is installed, the initial display count is 0. If no mouse is installed, the display count is –1.
Google Searches
The following searches on google yielded almost no help.
Cursor_Suppressed touchscreen windows 8
showcursor windows 8 hidden cursor
CURSOR_SUPPRESSED touchscreen computer
CURSOR_SUPPRESSED
register software hid mouse input device windows
register hid mouse input device windows
showcursor windows 8 hidden cursor
The search that was helpful was:
fake mouse driver
Some of the mouse replacements/additions that were tried include:
- Mouse Emulator - http://rhdesigns.browseto.org/mouseemulator.html
- TouchMousePointer - http://www.lovesummertrue.com/touchmousepointer/en-us/
- Mouse Move - http://movemouse.codeplex.com/
Dead Ends
Some other paths that didn't pan out include:
- Pressing Alt Ctrl Delete to fix it.
- Pressing Fn+F6 (toggle show cursor next to toggle dual display)
- Control Panel > Mouse Settings/Properties > Pointer Options >
- (check) Display pointer trails
- (uncheck) Hide pointer while typing
- Control Panel > Mouse Settings/Properties > Pointers > (check) Enable pointer shadow
- Control Panel > Ease of Access Center > Make the mouse easier to use > Turn on Mouse Keys
Solution #1: Install Walcom's Virtual Mouse HID driver aka Pen Tablet Drivers
This works really well and addresses the issue head on. See the other posted answers for details on downloading the driver from Lenovo's website.
Solution #2: TouchMousePointer
Download and install TouchMousePointer from here.
Change the settings to the following:
- Current Mode (tab) > Fullscreen mode
- Visualize pointer (tab) > (check) Fake cursor
Now a cursor is shown all the time.