Filetonic / I can’t disable the Dr Watson program because I can’t click on anything, the mouse pointer won’t open anything and the icons are flashing.

I can’t disable the Dr Watson program because I can’t click on anything, the mouse pointer won’t open anything and the icons are flashing.

Kat Delong The natural tech reaction in this situation is to tell you to update your mouse and keyboard drivers - until we realize that you can’t do any of this without mouse function. I’m assuming that your keyboard is still working and that you can access the computer in safe mode using keyboard functions.

Check Mouse Issues

The first things to check are basic issues with the mouse. You don’t say whether the mouse is wireless or not, but this will apply in either case. Are all of the cables attached correctly? Have you tried a different USB port? Check to make sure that your mouse doesn’t need a new battery. Turn the power off on your computer, attach the mouse and then turn it on. Sometimes a system needs to have the power off when a mouse is attached before it will recognize it. Does your mouse have a reset button? A wireless mouse often has a reset button on the bottom - sometimes it says ‘connect’ on it. You may need to push it with a paperclip or pen. If you have a non-optical mouse, you may need to clean the ball. Often fuzz, dust, and lint accumulate, interfering with operations. Have you tried a different mouse - maybe one that isn’t wireless - to see if there is a problem with the unit itself? If a new mouse works, it may be easier to just replace the old one.

System Restore from Safe Mode

If none of these things work for you, the best thing to do is try a System Restore from Safe Mode. You can do this with just keyboard functions and bring your computer back to a time where the mouse was working.

Right after you turn the computer on, press F8 to get to Safe Mode.
Use the arrow keys to go to ‘Safe Mode with command prompt’.
You may need to select the operating system.
Log on as the administrator.
At the cmd prompt, type in: %systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe. Press Enter.
Follow the instructions to roll your computer back to an earlier time where the mouse was working.
The mouse should start after your system reboots.

Once you have mouse function back, you may want to check your mouse driver by going to Start and then Control Panel > Mouse. This solution should get you up and running in no time.