Cursor with mind of its own

I have recently purchased an Acer Aspire One netbook D250. Intermittently the cursor takes on a life of its own. Examples:
- When typing characters it will insert a space between letters
- When using the login password box the cursor inserts black dots without my touching the keyboard
- When using a search box e.g. Google,the cursor will insert space bar blank characters moving along the line to the right without my touching the keyboard
- The cursor freezes and I can only get it moving by holding down the Ctrl and Alt keys

This is spasmodic. The computer operates fine on most occasions but then the above occurs. I have to shut down and start again. I tried the helpdesk initially who suggested a recovery which I have done but the problem still lurks in the wings.

I have tried reconfiguring the mouse/pad settings,also tried using a USB and cordless mouse as well as the touchpad.

Any similar expeience/solutions would be appreciated. Thanks

 

try opening the back of the machine and removing the connectors between the track pad and the keyboard, blowing on them a little and replacing tightly.

 

Thanks very much for this suggestion, Techmark. I'll try that and run the computer for a couple of days to check results. I will report back in a few days time for your interest.

 

Hi again Techmark. I regret to say that I cannnot easily remove the back to check the connection you suggested. After removing the perimeter holding screws the back does not come away under reasonable pressure and despite many tries. As it is plastic I am not game to force it too much, as this is new territory for me. I have been unable to find a guide on the Web as to how to remove the back, so will have to leave things as they are until I can find a technician who knows the niceties of the D250 model. If you happen to know of a guide to tell me how to remove the back, I'll give it another try. Thanks again for your interest.

 

Sorry for my mistake, i wrote the previous message too hastily. You will need to remove the keyboard to get access to these pins. There are some clips above the F2, F8 and Pause key that need to be pushed in to be able to get the keyboard loose so that it can be removed. it's kinda tricky first time but after you know what to do it's faily easy.

 

Before dismantling the box, you might try spraying in some electrical contact spray (100% isopropanol, no lubricants, is best) through vents, etc. I had complete recovery with it after a wine spill that bricked mine entirely. (Obviously remove the battery and power until the solvent dries, only a few minutes.) I've also used it to clean noisy lugging power supply fans when they hit "that certain age."

 

Just to acknowledge with thanks again for your tips.

 

Postscript - I experienced subsequent problems - trouble booting up, frozen cursor, blank screen on start, inability to use recovery Alt + F10. Probably these were related to my initial problem. This was diagnosed as a hardware fault, a stuck key (not visible to the user), and required the keyboard to be replaced. Hope this is useful feedback.