Have you ever launched WebEx to demo your desktop, only to have the pointer COMPLETELY DISAPPEAR?
I have, and a few weeks ago, I figured out why -- and how to fix the problem.
Since no good detective reveals the answer to a mystery without explaining to the audience
how he or she arrived at the correct conclusion, let me set the stage:
A year or so ago, I was all set to give a WebEx demo as part of an "audition." Part of the
demo involved PowerPoint slides; the other part involved demonstrating certain features
of QuickBooks. I had rehearsed thoroughly and was prepared to deliver at the appointed time.
The PowerPoint slide portion of the audition went as planned. Unfortunately, when I moved
to QuickBooks, my pointer COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED!
No matter what I tried, the pointer would not return to visibility -- although it was still
active. With a great deal of effort, I navigated a few screens and tried to complete the
audition. The person for whom I auditioned was quite gracious, but I was less than pleased.
We both speculated that my network's low DSL speed coupled with the use of VOIP during the
demo could have caused the problem.
Subsequently, I upgraded my DSL speed. I also made sure to use the telephone for audio delivery
of webcasts. After successfully delivering webcasts on both GoToWebinar and Dimdim, I thought my
problem was resolved.
THEN IT HAPPENED. A few weeks ago, I was set to deliver a webcast on WebEx. During rehearsal with the host, my
pointer COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED. With the webcast presentation date already set, we quickly set
out to find the cause of the problem. The host sought WebEx for answers. It quickly became
clear they had no solution.
I began searching the web for answers. Although I found nothing exactly on point, I found a
post or two that caused me to suspect mouse pointer trails were the culprit. I have a laptop,
and use both touchpad and mouse for navigation. I had pointer trails enabled to assist in
visual tracking of mouse movements.
When I disabled the mouse pointer trails, the mystery of the disappearing mouse (pointer)
was solved!
Okay, so how do you disable mouse pointer trails? First, you have to go to Control Panel -- and
how you do this depends on your computer operating system (Vista, XP, etc.) and how you have
it configured. Generally, the best place to start is on the "Start" menu.
Once you find Control Panel, look for Hardware settings and the for Mouse. Clicking (or
double-clicking) Mouse should open the Mouse Properties window. Here you will find all the
options for controlling the speed, appearance, and other features of your mouse and pointer.
Disable pointer trails and click OK to close the window.
That's it -- you're done! Now when you demonstrate your desktop using WebEx, your mouse pointer
should be well-behaved and you should have one less worry during your presentation.
