[Luisg]

I have recently encountered something new in my computer: Whenever the mouse cursor is on a box where text can be entered or where text can be highlighted, the cursor's shape changes from the regular arrow to a pattern of something like 15 horizontal lines about half inch square with a thin T inside the square.

I have checked the Microsoft-provided mouse cursors under the Control Panel and this one is something else.

Does anyone know what this is and where it came from? Could it be some kind of virus-generated cursor?



Luis

[rgreen4]

Is this in a particular application or all applications on your machine?

What are the specifications of your system? - Make, model and mouse brand.

What OS are you using?

[Luisg]

My computer is about five years old.

Windows XP-SP2

MSI KT Ultra MoBo with AMD Athlon XP 1700+ and 1GB RAM

80GB Western Digital HD

ATI Radeon 9200 AGP Video Card

The cursor appears in Firefox 2.0.0.9, in MS-Word 2000, in Merrian-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary, in MS-Outlook 2000, in Picasa 2, in the Help Contents of Spider Solitaire, in Windows Explorer (if renaming a folder or file) ... I haven't opened every program, but it seems that it is everywhere there is a text box.

If you need any other information, just let me know. So far, it doesn't seem to be malicious but I wonder why it appeared all of a sudden about a week or two ago. When I'm typing something and the cursor is on the text, this new cursor blocks the letters to some degree so that it makes them unreadable even though it is transparent. Like I said it is only about a half inch square.

I have been using Ubuntu (in a different hard drive) for the past few days, so this cursor hasn't bothered me all that much.

Thank you for any help.

[Luisg]

Sorry; you wanted the mouse info, as well.

Microsoft, two-button, several years old. PS2 connection for the mouse and the Microsoft keyboard. The keyboard is not new neither. Everything seems to be working just fine.

[Knifeblade]

An idea, have you recently changed your cursor symbol? If not, try to, and see if that works. Then try to go back to the cursor symbol you were using.

[rgreen4]

Well, all the bases have been covered. I know that some install special software with a mouse installation but yours is several years old and the change is recent. It also occurs across almost all, if not all applications, so it is not some option in an application.

Did you download anything unusual around the time this occured? (Anything other than windows or program updates, new programs that are not well known).

I would definitely scan for viruses and spyware.

I have never seen anything like this. I fired up my XP machine and tried everything I could in the mouse pointer options, but nothing worked. I cannot duplicate it, so I doubt seriously that it is any normal pointer in XP.

[mphenterprises]

Hi Luisg and welcome to PCWorld. :-)




I have been watching this Discussion and, as RGreen mentioned, all bases have been covered. This is a very odd situation. So that we may all see exactly what you see, please provide us with some screen shots. If you are not familiar with posting screen shots, please read this Discussion.

[Luisg]

Knifeblade,
No, I haven't changed the cursor recently.
At your request, I tried several different pointers a few moments ago, but it didn't change the new cursor.
Very odd.

[Luisg]

rgreen4,
I did install the new Safari browser from Apple recently (22 October, I think).
On 6 October I installed Norton's 360. (That's an all-in-one security suite.) I didn't notice anything strange with this program (other than it kept pestering me to do a backup before giving me the all-green).
Before that, I tried Bittorrent; but I couldn't get it to work properly (because of my firewall, I think). I uninstalled it last week, though. I didn't notice anything strange then.
I'm stumped.

[Luisg]

mphenterprises,

I did the PrintScreen thing several times, with different programs on the screen, but the mouse pointer didn't appear in the shot. Instead, what I did was to create the image in Paint. It is about twice the size of the actual mouse cursor, but it will give you a good idea of what it looks like.

I hope this image will fire up some neurons.

Here is the link in Photobucket, as you requested, (hope it helps):

[mphenterprises]

Hi Luisg. Why does that image remind me of some type of volume control?



I have some questions for you:

- I don't remember if you mentioned it or not but exactly how long has this problem been occurring?

- Have you tried a System Restore to a point before you noticed this issue?

- I really do not think this is a viral issue; however, what other security applications do you have besides Norton?

[Luisg]

It appeared about two weeks ago. Maybe less.

I just finished doing six System Restorations: three at system checkpoints, one from the date I installed Safari, and two from Software Distribution Service 3.0 dates.

All of these produced a "Restoration Incomplete" message saying: "Your computer cannot be restored to [such and such a date]". The dates were between 11-7-07 and 10-9-07 (well before I noticed this cursor thing).

After I did all these "Restorations" [Ha!], the system announced: "The system has recovered from a serious error. A log of this error has been created. Please tell Microsoft about this problem". I did send the report to Microsoft.

Then, I removed all the Mozilla Firefox add-ons, just to make sure they weren't causing the problem. The strange cursor is still there.


Well, guys, it's been a long day and I'm hungry and tired. Thank you all for trying. Good night.

[mphenterprises]

Hi Luisg. You missed my last question. Besides Norton, what other security applications do you have and what were the results of the latest scans?

[rgreen4]

Louisg - I think we should to think about re-installation to get rid of this problem. Note - I said think. You probably need to make a list of all your installed programs and have the original install discs handy, as well as the original XP installation disc. You need to make sure that all of your data is fully backed up including any e-mail archives you may want to keep. Go through the machine thoroughly and make sure you can reinstall everything.

This process would benefit you even if a re-install is not ultimately necessary. Gathering all the install discs, data, and download files together, is always a good thing.

[Luisg]

Hello mphenterprises,

Besides Norton 360, there is also Verizon-Yahoo's Online Protection; but I disabled that about a week ago. It is supposed to stop pop-ups only, I believe. This came with Verizon's Internet connection and I didn't buy the whole package. It kept telling that my computer wasn't secured.

I ran a total system scan early today with Norton 360 and it returned the following: 1 cookie (a tracking cookie) - low risk; and 1 Downloader - also low risk. I checked this "downloader" further with Norton's website and it says that this is a type of Trojan Horse.

Just a moment ago I checked 360 again and it says everything is green.

[Luisg]

Hi, rgreen4,



I have thought the same thing - about re-installing everything again. It's not something I'll relish; but I realize that I might have to do it.



Let me gather the necessary information and disks and, at the same time, let me think about this. I'll let you know soon.



Thank you all for helping me out. I'll keep you informed. Meanwhile, if any other ideas come along, please, let me know.



Luis

[mphenterprises]

HI Luisg. Okay, I think this forum will pretty much tell you the same thing. If Norton is your only security, not only are you severely under -protected but Norton is hogging a majority of your resources. Now, since this Discussion is not about the effectiveness of Norton, all I can suggest is that you consider alternative security options.

If you are satisfied with Norton and do not want to pursue alternative options, I am not really sure what in the world could cause that type of cursor irregularity. As RGreen suggested, you may want to gather up your CD and back up your important data and prepare for a reinstallation. This should be an absolute last resort so if any other options present itself, we will explore that first.

[Luisg]

mphenterprises,



Please, tell me more about security. I thought that to have more than one program like Norton's only invited conflicts.



Luis

[mphenterprises]

Well, here is the thing, you can have as many security applications on your computer as your heart desires. However, you should only have one of each (anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewall) active at any one time. There should only be one firewall on the computer at any one time. For example, Windows Firewall for XP is, well, garbage. The vast majority of us use either Zone Alarm or Sygate. I personally use Zone Alarm Pro but there is a very good free version as well.

There is a main school of thought within this forum, stagger or tier security works best. Now, there are just about as many opinions of the "best" security applications as there are members of this forum. What I am going to do is offer what I use and hope that others chime in with his or her suggestions.

There are four main security applications: Firewall, Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, and Anti-Rootkit (click on the hyperlink of each section to learn more about each application.)

Firewall: as mention I use Zone Alarm. Here is Zone Alarm Free. The Pro version has built-in anti-spyware protection.

Anti-Virus: I use several, I repeat, several applications. However, the one that I use as my real-time protection is AVG Anti-Virus Free

Anti-Spyware: Again, I use several. None of my anti-spyware is real-time since my Pro version of Zone Alarm takes care of that. What I would recommend is AVG Anti-Spyware Free

Anti-Rootkit: I use two anti-rootkit applications. Neither of them are real-time protection because Root-Kits are fairly new and I do not do the things that would invite rootkits into my computer (download from P2P sites for example). The one I like the most is AVG Anti-Rootkit Free.




I would also suggest downloading SuperAnti-Spyware. This is a very thorough application that will dig deep into your computer to find spyware.




THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT

If you decide to get any of these applications, it is strongly advised to completely remove Norton first. Norton does not play well with others, at all. To completely remove Norton, you will have to download and run the Norton Removal Tool. Once you completely uninstall Norton, then you can start with the other applications.




Once you follow these steps, if you still get this cursor, there are other more in-depth scans that we can try...but not too many more.

[Luisg]

Wow!
Thank you for taking the time.
I used to have Zone Alarm years ago, when it first came out. I liked it, because it quieted my system a lot after I installed it. I'll have to look into it again. I don't know why I left it behind. Perhaps when I changed computers...
When you refer to "... in real time...", do you mean that you use a particular program most of the time, but from time to time you fire up one of the other programs for specific tasks or to make sure everything is ok?