Laptop Cursor Frozen

[countrykid]

I need to finish some work using my 6 month old Toshiba Laptop, it runs Windows 8.1. For some reason when I just switched it on, the cursor on the screen would not move - it was visible but frozen. I did not know how to power down without being able to direct the cursor, so simply unplugged the laptop and took out the battery. I hoped upon restarting all would be fine!! On restarting, the cursor was nowhere to be seen. I waited ages but no joy. I powered down again and this time on restarting, the cursor was visible and could be moved initially, but within seconds it was fixed to the spot again. I am using a friends laptop to send this question. Can anyone help? Hope so. Thanks

[Buenchico]

A couple of thoughts:
1. It might be an overheating problem. Check that the vents are all clear and that you can hear the fan running. Also try placing it on the rack out of a grill pan or something similar. (I'm not joking. I've had a laptop which needed to be placed upon something like that to get it to work reliably!). If overheating does seem to be the problem, a USB-powered laptop cooler might help.

2. If you're reaching the point where your cursor becomes visible, I assume that Windows is loading (or at least starting to load). Try booting into Safe Mode (by pressing F8 during the boot process) and then running System Restore.

[countrykid]

just an update - I think I have resolved the problem and thought this might help others with similar problem. I connect a usb mouse and cursor moved ok. Using usb mouse selected Control Panel, then Ease of Access, then Mouse Settings. There was an option in that for the Touch Pad settings. It appeared that the touch pad was switched off but I have no idea why that would be, or how it happened. Perhaps there is a key on the keyboard that can switch it on/off that I have pressed by accident, but if there is, I have no idea what key or combination of keys does that. Anyway, I changed the setting to Touchpad ON and it now works fine. I have closed the laptop down and restarted and still ok. Hopefully it will stay that way.

[Buenchico]

Pressing F9 and Fn together on a Toshiba laptop toggles the touchpad on and off. I've found that the most frequent cause of strange key combinations being pressed on my keyboards has four paws and purrs a lot ;-)

[countrykid]

Thanks for those tips Buenchico. I'll see how it goes for now, but overheating may be an issue, although it froze upon starting, when the laptop was cool.

I will also give the Safe Mode and system restore a try.

Many thanks for your suggestions