Symptoms:
1) The common fixes from the past do not resolve this problem on Windows 7 64-bit.
2) When you open an existing Word document you are able to use the mouse as usual to move the insertion point cursor to different sections of the document, to select objects (like pictures) within the document, and to highlight existing text as expected. As soon as you type anything new anywhere in the document the mouse can no longer be used to move the insertion point to another location in the document nor can it select text or objects. The arrow and shift keys still allow you to move around the document and select objects.
3) When you create a new document you are able to type normally and use the Enter key to add text to the Word document. As soon as you type anything in the document the mouse can no longer be used to move the insertion point to another location in the document nor can it select text or objects. The arrow and shift keys still allow you to move around the document and select objects.
4) You CAN use the mouse to select Word menus and buttons on the ribbon bar but you cannot use the mouse on or inside the Word document itself once the condition occurs after typing begins. The mouse works fine and as expected in Excel and every other application.
5) As soon as ANY open Word document is impacted by the "mouse stopped working" problem, all other open Word documents can't use the mouse either until Word is closed and you start the tests over again.
Solutions that did not work for me:
Similar symptoms have been reported by others using Word 2007 and 2003 on Windows 7, Vista, and XP but I have not found an acceptable solution to this problem with this system configuration. It seems related to some kind of UAC or permission problem or is 64-bit specific but I am not certain.
I have already tried the following:
Rerun Office Suite 2007 SP2 to confirm it was installed.
Tried (twice) to rename the original, "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data" registry key as suggested in these posts. The new Data key gets created by Word and new values are added to the registry key but problem remains.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/921541
- Other posts out there blame various Word Add-ins for the problem and have had success disabling or removing them.
I only had 3 Add-ins showing as active, all from Microsoft. Two Visual Studio Tools for Office COM Add-ins and one Smart Tag "Person Name" add in. I ran Word as admin so I could disable both of the COM Add-ins. I renamed the FNAME.DLL file so the "Person Name" Add-in would not load because the Word GUI had all Smart Tag options dimmed and wouldn't let me uncheck that Add-in from the UI. I restarted Win, launched Word, and it showed no Active Application or Document Related Add-ins. No luck, mouse problem still present with all Add-ins removed.
Bad Workaround:
The only way I have found to USUALLY get the mouse to behave as expected and eliminate the problems described here is to force Word to "Run this program as administrator”. I opened the properties of the "Microsoft Office Word 2007" shortcut in the start menu, chose Compatibility tab, and chose that option under privilege level. Without running Word as administrator I have been unable to eliminate these mouse problems.
Once you force Word to Run as admin, you now get the annoying warning prompt from Windows that asks you if it is okay to run as admin every time you start Word. This would be an almost tolerable workaround if all you ever did was create brand new Word documents. If you want to work on an existing Word document this solution isn't a good one, here is why:
1) If you want to open an existing Word document from either the Windows 7 recent jump list menu or by double-clicking a Word doc file, the delay caused by the UAC prompt every time you start Word generates an error of, "There was a problem sending the command to the program.", and the document you wanted to open is not loaded into Word. You get the Word shell launched with no document. The only way to open an existing document while running as admin and getting the UAC prompt is to launch Word with no document or a new blank document and then manually open the existing document you really wanted via the Word menus.
2) As a temporary option I tried to disable User Account Control (UAC) completely by telling it to NEVER notify me about anything. You would think that this would allow you to run Word as admin without the delay caused by the UAC prompt and then Word would open existing documents from the taskbar or by double-clicking as desired. I did the required restart after disabling UAC and confirmed that Word was still set to "run as admin". To my surprise, when UAC is totally disabled and no longer prompts you for permission each time you launch Word, the "run as admin" trick STOPS working. The existing documents now load from the taskbar or by double-clicking as desired because the UAC prompt delay is gone BUT the mouse problems come back!
3) I have no idea why "run as admin" ONLY works if UAC prompts you for permission first and does NOT work if you tell it not to prompt you but that is what is happening on my system. I am still looking for a better solution.
**Update to the "Bad Workaround" section: I experience the EXACT same behavior if I do NOT "run as admin" but instead tell the shortcut to Word to run in "Windows XP SP3 compatibility mode". Everything described above acts the same if I use either "run as admin" or "act like XP", this method ALSO required UAC to prompt me in order for it to work. If I tell UAC to not prompt me then the XP mode fails just like run as admin did. I am not sure what "run as admin" and "XP compat" have in common when running with UAC turned on but using either method results in the mouse working.
Anyone have any ideas?
System Info:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, RTM Version 6.1.7600
ThinkPad T61p (Lenovo) Laptop, 4GB RAM
Word 2007 (12.0.6504.5000) SP2 MSO (12.0.6425.1000) Part of Office Ultimate 2007.
Patched with all recommended updates for Windows/Office through Windows/Microsoft Update as of this post date.
Latest nVidia Video Driver for Windows 7 64-bit installed (v8.16.11.8694), that version is in Windows Update and on Lenovo site.
