I am running a Dell Latitude Notebook with Windows XP Professional. Everything will be working fine, then my pointer will stop recognizing clickable links and action buttons. In my browser, I can't click on links. I can't close or open programs. I can't open folders. I can launch the task manager by clicking control alt delete. Sometimes simply by clicking within the Task Manager I can then click on other program links and buttons again, but very temporary. I typically close the open programs from the task manager and then reboot. Sometimes this corrects things for a while and sometimes it does not. If I am in Excel when this happens, the cursor changes to a white wide plus sign and I appear to be anchored on a cell in the spread sheet. I can't let go and if I move the cursor it just keeps increasing or reducing the number of cells selected. Any idea what is causing this and what I can do to fix it? Thanks for your assistance.

Hi neharpoonist, a. Since when are you facing this issue? b. Do you remember making any changes on your computer? There are chances of some third party services causing the issue or user account getting corrupted. Follow the below troubleshooting steps and get back to us with results: Step 1: Let’s check if the issue persists in ‘Safe Mode with Networking’. Below are the steps which talks about how to get into ‘Safe Mode with Networking’: 1. Restart your computer if it is powered on. 2. Tap the F8 key after your computer initially powers on. 3. Once you see the Advanced Boot Options menu you can stop tapping. 4. Use the up/down arrow keys to highlight your selection. 5. Select Safe Mode with Networking’ and press Enter. 6. You should see drivers loading, and then please wait. 7. You should then be at the Welcome Screen. 8. Logon to your computer using an account with Administrator privileges. Access the below link to know more about ‘Safe Mode with Networking’: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Advanced-startup-options-including-safe-mode Step 2: If you still come across the issue, you may create a new user account and then check for the issue. Access the below links to know more about User account: Create a user account http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/Windows7/Create-a-user-account Fix a corrupted user profile http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Fix-a-corrupted-user-profile Hope this helps. Regards, Manasa P – Microsoft Support.