[Lizzybeth]

I got this problem while others were using it so I can't really give insight for possibilities of why it happened. The regular mouse doesn't even work, even though I know it's connected and has power, though my tablet does work, but it's very hit and miss with what I can click. The bottom line is I have no visible mouse pointer anywhere. I've only managed to get a glimpse of the pointer when I drag something and the pointer sometimes flickers for a second. What's more, the computer is in safemode, and I don't know how to get it back to normal as just restarting it didn't help. I'm using windows ME. If anyone could give me some insight or help into this matter I'd really appreciate it.

[office politics]

did you always have this problem or did this start happening recently?

[Lizzybeth]

It just started happening. I just came home today to find my computer in this state, and supposedly no programs were installed or settings changed by the person who had used it while I was gone, at least not knowingly.

[office politics]

when you restart your machine, it should boot into normal mode unless it didnt shutdown properly. If it didnt shutdown properly, you should see a boot menu just about when the windows ME splash screen normally appears. If you see this menu, press up until you highlight Normal Mode and press enter.

[Lizzybeth]

Well I got that screen and selected normal but it started up the same way. I guess I'm not in safe mode after all, though it looks like it. I tried to change my display settings and when it restarted nothing changed, I'm still stuck in 16 colors with a 640x480 screen.

[Trifid]

Try last known good config. To get back to that screen hit F8 just before the loading ME screen, and then press the up key until Last good known config is highlighted.

[Lizzybeth]

When I did that I got the boot menu csamuels mentioned, and saw no last good config option. I did take the chance though to restart in safe mode and then the mouse worked perfectly. Unfortunatelly normal mode is still messed up.

[talldude123]

Install new mouse drivers.
Look at the make and model of your mouse (Eg. Microsoft Basic), and go to www.google.com and search for drivers.

[Lizzybeth]

Thanks!
I installed Microsoft Intellipoint 4.1 and the mouse now works fine.
Since reinstalling the drivers for the mouse worked, I thought reinstaling the drivers for the asus motherboard might fix the issue with the display, which it did.

[ShoobieRat]

Yeah, you were definately missing some drivers. The inability to change your display settings should have been the first hint...although it is weird to lose the mouse like that. Windows has default drivers for virtually everything, so you don't accidentally kill yourself by getting rid of something necissary. Stupid Windows, huh? Anywho, sounds like you're back on track, so you should think about making a stopping point, backing up things, and updating every hardware component you have. Mobo, mouse, video, sound, display, motherboard, chipset, processor, etc...