Computer Hope

Hardware => Hardware => Topic started by: pkarsh on March 27, 2017, 02:43:16 PM

Title: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on March 27, 2017, 02:43:16 PM
Computer is a Dell Inspiron 15R running Windows 10. It is displaying the following behaviors which make me suspect a virus infection:
1. Computer does not react at all to mouse clicks, especially left clicks. Cursor can still be moved around. This happens with both the touchpad mouse and an external mouse. This computer has a touch screen which basically works. Tqab and Eter keys work.
2. Cannot bring up task manager. Attempt to bring up task manager via Ctrl-alt-delete and selecting task manager just brings up initial screen that normally appears when the computer is booted up but not logged into.
3. Cannot restore from a restore point. Select Restore button via Enter key shows list of restore points which has only one entry that cannot be selected. Next button on this screen is not enabled.

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!
Logs:
# AdwCleaner v6.044 - Logfile created 27/03/2017 at 11:16:37
# Updated on 28/02/2017 by Malwarebytes
# Database : 2017-03-27.1 [Server]
# Operating System : Windows 10 Home  (X64)
# Username : Michael - WINDOWS-R28NTV0
# Running from : C:\Users\Michael\Downloads\adwcleaner_6.044.exe
# Mode: Clean
# Support : https://www.malwarebytes.com/support



***** [ Services ] *****



***** [ Folders ] *****



***** [ Files ] *****

[!] File not deleted: C:\Users\PK\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Storage\chrome-extension_jnnbmiailafajdkboegcjcdklooomfic_0.localstorage
[!] File not deleted: C:\Users\PK\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Storage\chrome-extension_jnnbmiailafajdkboegcjcdklooomfic_0.localstorage-journal
[!] File not deleted: C:\Users\PK\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Storage\hxxp_www.sonicelectronix.com_0.localstorage
[!] File not deleted: C:\Users\PK\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Storage\hxxp_www.sonicelectronix.com_0.localstorage-journal


***** [ DLL ] *****



***** [ WMI ] *****



***** [ Shortcuts ] *****



***** [ Scheduled Tasks ] *****

[-] Task deleted: pcdeventlaunchertask


***** [ Registry ] *****

[-] Key deleted: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\protector_dll.Protector
[-] Key deleted: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\protector_dll.Protector.1
[-] Key deleted: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\protector_dll.ProtectorBho
[-] Key deleted: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\protector_dll.ProtectorBho.1
[-] Key deleted: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\protector_dll.ProtectorLib
[-] Key deleted: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\protector_dll.ProtectorLib.1



***** [ Web browsers ] *****

[-] [C:\Users\Michael\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Web data] [Search Provider] Deleted: aol.com
[-] [C:\Users\Michael\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Web data] [Search Provider] Deleted: ask.com
[-] [C:\Users\Paul\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Web data] [Search Provider] Deleted: aol.com
[-] [C:\Users\Paul\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Web data] [Search Provider] Deleted: ask.com
[-] [C:\Users\PK\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Web data] [Search Provider] Deleted: aol.com
[-] [C:\Users\PK\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Web data] [Search Provider] Deleted: ask.com
[-] [C:\Users\PK\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default] [extension] Deleted: jnnbmiailafajdkboegcjcdklooomfic
[-] [C:\Users\pknonadmin\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Web data] [Search Provider] Deleted: aol.com
[-] [C:\Users\pknonadmin\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Web data] [Search Provider] Deleted: ask.com
[-] [C:\Users\Joe Test\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Web data] [Search Provider] Deleted: aol.com
[-] [C:\Users\Joe Test\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Web data] [Search Provider] Deleted: ask.com


*************************

:: "Tracing" keys deleted
:: Winsock settings cleared

*************************

C:\AdwCleaner\AdwCleaner[C0].txt - [6228 Bytes] - [27/03/2017 11:16:37]
C:\AdwCleaner\AdwCleaner[S0].txt - [6154 Bytes] - [27/03/2017 10:49:51]

########## EOF - C:\AdwCleaner\AdwCleaner[C0].txt - [6374 Bytes] ##########

malwarebytes anti-malware
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
www.malwarebytes.org


Update, 3/27/2017 1:56 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Remediation Database, 2017.1.23.1, 2017.3.14.1,
Update, 3/27/2017 1:56 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Rootkit Database, 2016.11.20.1, 2017.3.11.1,
Update, 3/27/2017 1:56 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, IP Database, 2017.2.7.1, 2017.3.26.1,
Update, 3/27/2017 1:56 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Domain Database, 2017.2.7.5, 2017.3.26.4,
Update, 3/27/2017 1:57 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Malware Database, 2017.2.7.6, 2017.3.27.2,
Scan, 3/27/2017 2:21 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Start:3/27/2017 1:57 AM, Duration:23 min 51 sec, Threat Scan, Completed, 0 Malware Detections, 0 Non-Malware Detections,
Update, 3/27/2017 11:31 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Remediation Database, 2017.3.14.1, 2017.3.27.1,
Update, 3/27/2017 11:31 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, IP Database, 2017.3.26.1, 2017.3.27.3,
Update, 3/27/2017 11:31 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Domain Database, 2017.3.26.4, 2017.3.27.7,
Update, 3/27/2017 11:31 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Malware Database, 2017.3.27.2, 2017.3.27.6,
Scan, 3/27/2017 11:54 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Start:3/27/2017 11:31 AM, Duration:23 min 39 sec, Threat Scan, Completed, 0 Malware Detections, 0 Non-Malware Detections,

(end)

Security check
 Results of screen317's Security Check version 1.014 --- 12/23/15 
   x64 (UAC is enabled) 
 Internet Explorer 11 
``````````````Antivirus/Firewall Check:``````````````[/u]
 Windows Firewall Enabled! 
Windows Defender                     
McAfee Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware   
 WMI entry may not exist for antivirus; attempting automatic update.
`````````Anti-malware/Other Utilities Check:`````````[/u]
 Java 8 Update 121 
 Java version 32-bit out of Date!
 Mozilla Firefox (51.0.1)
 Google Chrome (56.0.2924.87)
 Google Chrome (SetupMetrics...)
````````Process Check: objlist.exe by Laurent````````[/u] 
`````````````````System Health check`````````````````[/u]
 Total Fragmentation on Drive C:  %
````````````````````End of Log``````````````````````[/u]

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
www.malwarebytes.org


Update, 3/27/2017 1:56 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Remediation Database, 2017.1.23.1, 2017.3.14.1,
Update, 3/27/2017 1:56 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Rootkit Database, 2016.11.20.1, 2017.3.11.1,
Update, 3/27/2017 1:56 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, IP Database, 2017.2.7.1, 2017.3.26.1,
Update, 3/27/2017 1:56 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Domain Database, 2017.2.7.5, 2017.3.26.4,
Update, 3/27/2017 1:57 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Malware Database, 2017.2.7.6, 2017.3.27.2,
Scan, 3/27/2017 2:21 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Start:3/27/2017 1:57 AM, Duration:23 min 51 sec, Threat Scan, Completed, 0 Malware Detections, 0 Non-Malware Detections,
Update, 3/27/2017 11:31 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Remediation Database, 2017.3.14.1, 2017.3.27.1,
Update, 3/27/2017 11:31 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, IP Database, 2017.3.26.1, 2017.3.27.3,
Update, 3/27/2017 11:31 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Domain Database, 2017.3.26.4, 2017.3.27.7,
Update, 3/27/2017 11:31 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Malware Database, 2017.3.27.2, 2017.3.27.6,
Scan, 3/27/2017 11:54 AM, SYSTEM, WINDOWS-R28NTV0, Manual, Start:3/27/2017 11:31 AM, Duration:23 min 39 sec, Threat Scan, Completed, 0 Malware Detections, 0 Non-Malware Detections,

(end)

Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: SuperDave on March 27, 2017, 05:06:45 PM
Hello and welcome to Computer Hope Forum. My name is Dave. I will be helping you out with your particular problem on your computer.

1. I will be working on your Malware issues. This may or may not solve other issues you have with your machine.
2. The fixes are specific to your problem and should only be used for this issue on this machine.
3. If you don't know or understand something, please don't hesitate to ask.
4. Please DO NOT run any other tools or scans while I am helping you.
5. It is important that you reply to this thread. Do not start a new topic.
6. Your security programs may give warnings for some of the tools I will ask you to use. Be assured, any links I give are safe.
7. Absence of symptoms does not mean that everything is clear.

If you can't access the internet with your infected computer you will have to download and transfer any programs to the computer you're using now and transfer them to the infected computer with a CD-RW or a USB storage device. I prefer a CD because a storage device can get infected. If you use a storage device hold the shift key down while inserting the USB storage device for about 10 secs. You will also have to transfer the logs you receive back to the good computer using the same method until we can get the computer back on-line.
*************************************************************************

You have two AV's running on your computer: Windows Defender ( the default Av which comes with Win 10) and McAfee. One of these Av's should be disabled.
How does the computer run in Safe Mode?
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on March 28, 2017, 02:15:37 AM
Hi SuperDave
Thanks for helping me.

I checked Windows Defender and McAfee. The Settings for Windows Defender said that it was turned off. McAfee is turned on.

I noticed that I have some functionality with the right mouse button. If I go into Mouse settings and change the Primary button setting to the right button, then I get most of the functionality that I would normally get with the left button, but I cannot do with the left button what I would expect to be able to do with the right button. For example, when things are operating correctly, then if I right click the Start menu, I get a menu that contains many options including Control Panel, shut down, and restart. If I switch buttons to make the right button the primary button, I do not get this menu by clicking on the left button. If I switch buttons back so that the left button is once again the primary button, then clicking on the right button gives me that menu. The left button still does nothing.

I have not yet been able to successfully boot into Safe mode. I'm still trying to get that to work.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: SuperDave on March 28, 2017, 08:04:27 AM
Keep trying to boot in Safe Mode and let me know how that goes. Did you try an external mouse to see if that works? How old is the laptop?
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on March 28, 2017, 08:37:10 AM
The laptop is a refurbished machine and I think it is a couple of years old. It originally had Windows 7 and was upgraded to Win 10 via Microsoft's free upgrade. I have tried an external mouse as well as the laptop's touchpad. I will keep trying to boot in Safe mode.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on March 28, 2017, 12:13:20 PM
I managed to boot the machine in Safe mode. The mouse behavior appears to be the same in Safe mode as was originally reported. I did not try changing the primary button from left to right in Safe mode. In addition, I noticed that I cannot close apps by selecting the close (upper right hand corner x) icon in Safe mode. I don't know if that's normal.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: SuperDave on March 28, 2017, 03:20:41 PM
Quote
Cannot bring up task manager. Attempt to bring up task manager via Ctrl-alt-delete and selecting task manager just brings up initial screen that normally appears when the computer is booted up but not logged into.
Task Manager should be at the bottom of the list.
How long has this been happening? Did you make any changes to the laptop prior to this problem?
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on March 28, 2017, 09:47:53 PM
It's my son's computer. He says he might have added Google Earth the day before he started having these problems. He says that after he added Google Earth it still worked correctly for about a day. I hadn't tried to bring up Task Manager on it lately, mainly because I don't usually use that computer. I just know from using other computers that if I do Ctrl-Alt-Delete and then select Task Manager, that it comes up. Sorry that I can't give you a more definitive answer.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on March 29, 2017, 08:01:58 AM
I must apologize as I may have inadvertently given you incorrect information. I can in fact bring up Task Manager. I checked again on the computer and saw that if I did Ctrl-Alt-Delete I get a list of things I can do, where Task Manager is the last thing on the list. I press the tab key (as the left button on the mouse has no affect) and then use the arrow keys to scroll down the list to Task Manager, which is the last item on the list. I press on the Enter key, which does in fact bring up the Task Manager on the desktop screen. I cannot close the Task Manager, however. It appears that I get focus on the upper right hand corner exit icon (the x) but pressing the Enter key has no affect.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: SuperDave on March 29, 2017, 10:09:39 AM
This does not look like an infection is causing these problems. However, let's try one more scan.

Please download and run the below tool named Rkill (courtesy of BleepingComputer.com) which may help allow other programs to run.
Save Rkill to your desktop.

There are 3 different versions. If one of them won't run then download and try to run the other one.
 
Vista and Win7 users need to right click Rkill and choose Run as Administrator
 

You only need to get one of these to run, not all of them. You may get warnings from your antivirus about this tool, ignore them or shutdown your antivirus.

Rkill.exe (http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/grinler/rkill.exe)
Rkill.com (http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/grinler/rkill.com)
Rkill.scr (http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/grinler/rkill.scr)

Once you've gotten one of them to run then try to immediately run the following.
 
Now download and Run exeHelper.

Please download exeHelper from Raktor (http://www.raktor.net/exeHelper/exeHelper.com) to your desktop.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on March 29, 2017, 03:11:05 PM
I haven't been able to download exeHelper.com. When I try to "click" on the link (actually touching it onthe computer's touch screen as the mouse is not working right) the connection either times out or I get a warning from McAfee that it isnot a safe place to go. I have previously downloaded rkill.exe. I want to get  everything in lace before I try to run anything as you said I should run exeHelperimmediately after running Rkill. Any ideasabout how to get around this? THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: SuperDave on March 29, 2017, 03:56:06 PM
Ok, that's typical of McAfee. Please try one of these.

Please download and run the below tool named Rkill (courtesy of BleepingComputer.com) which may help allow other programs to run.
Save Rkill to your desktop.

There are 7 different versions. If one of them won't run then download and try to run the other one.
 
Vista and Win7 users need to right click Rkill and choose Run as Administrator
 

You only need to get one of these to run, not all of them. You may get warnings from your antivirus about this tool, ignore them or shutdown your antivirus.

* Rkill.exe (http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/grinler/rkill.exe)
* Rkill.com (http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/grinler/rkill.com)
* Rkill.scr (http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/grinler/rkill.scr)
* WiNlOgOn.exe (http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/grinler/WiNlOgOn.exe)
* uSeRiNiT.exe (http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/grinler/uSeRiNiT.exe)
* iExplore.exe (http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/grinler/iExplore.exe)
* eXplorer.exe (http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/grinler/eXplorer.exe)
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on March 30, 2017, 12:00:33 AM
I did downlod rkill.exe onto the desktop earlier today but I've not yet run it. Just for yucks I did a Google seach on exeHelper download, which returned, among other thigs a site called whatthetech.com which had a download for exeHelper. Specifically the link is https://forums.whatthetech.com/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=43 . I ws wondering if I should try downloading exeHelper from this link or if I should just run rkill.exe

Thanks for your help and indulgence.
 
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: SuperDave on March 30, 2017, 04:00:43 PM
Just run rkill that you already downloaded.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on March 30, 2017, 07:29:58 PM
I ran Rkill.exe. It appears to have generated a file called Rkill.txt. It did not appear to find any malware processes to kill, etc. Would you like me to send you the file and/or its contents? How should I proceed from here? Thanks for your continuing help!
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: SuperDave on March 31, 2017, 08:38:27 AM
I'm going to move this thread to the hardware forum as it does not appear to be an infection related issue. Perhaps someone there can help with this problem
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on April 03, 2017, 10:03:28 AM
I have looked elsewhere and saw two possible solutions that appeal to me. These are:
run sfc /scannow which may find and repair file and/or driver problems. I saw this at: https://bobmckay.com/cloud-sass/solved-left-click-not-working-windows-10/

Another possible solution is to update the mouse drivers in the Device Manager. I saw this in http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fix-left-mouse-button/  It is shown as Fix 6.

Elsewhere in the Computer Hope forums it advises not to do anything outside the Forum advice. As I have heard nothing in the Hardware thread about this, should I go ahead and try these possible solutions?

Thanks for your help.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: patio on April 03, 2017, 10:10:11 AM
Yes....you may wanna try another mouse while you're at it.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on April 03, 2017, 01:54:52 PM
I had previously tried a different mouse. Symptoms are exactly the same. What about doing a restore from a restore point? Is there a way to do that from command line? What about doing a "hard reset"? What  are the downsides to doing that?
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: patio on April 03, 2017, 03:13:39 PM
Lets try the above 2 1st...before we get ahead of ourselves...
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on April 04, 2017, 11:31:35 PM
I ran sfc /scannow which didn't find anything amiss but it looks like it just evaluates system files which may not include the drivers that the mice use. I went to the Dell Support site and downloaded and installed a bunch of driver updates that they recommended (including an update to the bios!) but, again, not mouse drivers. At this point I have downloaded a supposedly updated mouse driver executable but have not yet executed it. I did try to restore from an existing restore point but the restore oint turned out to be corrupted somehow and so the restore failed.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on April 05, 2017, 01:06:28 PM
I tried updating the touchpad mouse driver. This did not fix the problem and I think it made things worse as touching the screen doesn't really work right anymore. As far as I know the system still boots. Should I try doing Startup Repair? I basically want to keep the applications and files that are on the computer. Thanks for your help.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: patio on April 05, 2017, 02:38:37 PM
I still believe this is a driver issue...does Dell list Win 10 drivers for it ? ?

Best method at this point would be use your Service Tag # from the laptop...then it'll list ALL available drivers.
Get all the Win 10 drivers if they have them and re-install ALL...

Start with chipset drivers 1st...as many other components rely on those...re-boot afterwards...then install all others.

Having duplicates and/or ones that aren't necessary won't affect the system as Windows will ignore all those it don't need...

Keep us posted.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on April 05, 2017, 04:48:37 PM
Dell does list Win 10 driver updates and I did run some of the updates including an update of the BIOS. I may have updated the chipset as well. How do I find out what drivers and/or other updates I did install?

Another issue I have at the moment is that the system is showning the Startup Repar screen and I son't see a way to back out of it. The Esc key has no effect. Is there anything I could do other than shutting it down via the Power button?

Thanks again for your help.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: patio on April 05, 2017, 04:55:35 PM
Quote
Another issue I have at the moment is that the system is showning the Startup Repar screen and I son't see a way to back out of it. The Esc key has no effect. Is there anything I could do other than shutting it down via the Power button?

You have an incompleted startup repair ...would have been good to know this from the beginning.

Follow This Guide... (https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/27649-run-startup-repair-windows-10-a.html)
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on April 05, 2017, 06:48:57 PM
I never started the Startup Repair. I'm at the screen where it asks to select one of the admin users and then enter their password. I never selected either of the two admin users.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: patio on April 05, 2017, 06:57:10 PM
I think at this point you have to ask your Son what he has done...

At any rate none of these fixes will be any good outside the Admin account...sorry.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on April 05, 2017, 07:03:43 PM
He said the last thing he did was install Google Earth. The difficulties with the com,puter started about a day after that.

I would still like to know if I should just shut down the computer with the Power button to get out of the Startup Repari screen. Please note that, as I said above, I did not start any Startup Repair operations.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: BC_Programmer on April 05, 2017, 07:11:07 PM
"Startup Repair" appears because it can't startup. It wants to repair it. You can turn off the system at that point- but it will likely just appear again next time you start the system. You can't really back out because it's largely not optional- that is, you either repair the startup/boot information- or you don't boot at all.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on April 05, 2017, 07:46:12 PM
I actually "stumbled" into it while I was looking for the way to boot in Safe mode. I shut the system down with the power button and then restarted it. It bootee normally. Should I proceed with patio's suggestion to install all available driver updates?
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: BC_Programmer on April 05, 2017, 07:49:48 PM
Quote from: pkarsh on April 05, 2017, 07:46:12 PM
I actually "stumbled" into it while I was looking for the way to boot in Safe mode. I shut the system down with the power button and then restarted it. It bootee normally. Should I proceed with patio's suggestion to install all available driver updates?

Oh I see, I misunderstood, I thought it was starting automatically. And Yes I agree with patio's suggestion.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on April 07, 2017, 02:53:45 PM
As I diagnostic step, I set up a Remote Assistance session from another computer to the computer that is having the problem. Once I got it working, I saw that I was able to use the left mouse button from the other computer to operate the desktop, et al, of the computer that is having the problem. Does this point to a problem with the hardware on the problematic computer, or could it be the drivers on the problematic computer, or does this not help with diagnosing the problem?

I have not yet done the driver update. When I tried to do the driver update for the Touchpad driver on the affected computer, it seemed to make things worse. Somehow the system came back to being only as bad as it had been before, though I don't know how. Once it "fixed itself", I was again able to use the right mouse button relatively reliably, and the touch screen more or less worked. These things were working only sporadically after I attempted to update the driver. I also noticed that, in the Device Manager, an earlier-dated version of the driver was back in place.  When I activated the Update driver button, I got a message that the driver was up to date. Any thoughts on how to proceed at this point? Thanks again for your help.
Title: Re: Computer unresponsive to mouse clicks, cannot bring up task manager, et al
Post by: pkarsh on April 24, 2017, 09:14:51 AM
I did update drivers that the Dell support site said were appropriate to update for this computer. I eventually concluded that I couldn't do anything more to fix it myself, so I took it to an electronics store (Fry's) to see what they could do. I was demonstrating the problem to a technician, who plugged in an external mouse to see what would happen. As it happened, the left mouse button for the external mouse worked. I don't know if the computer getting jostled around a bit (not seriously) while taking it to the store affected the hardware or if the left mouse button on an external mouse was working all along if I pressed it hard enough. (I had tried only one external mouse, not several). The left button on the touchpad still does not work. These behaviors point strongly to a hardware problem in my mind. I will be taking it back at some point to get the touchpad left button problem fixed.