Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: Bug report - highlighting in Edit window and beyond. (Read 6022 times) previous topic - next topic

Bug report - highlighting in Edit window and beyond.

I had this problem on my old computer, with Windows 98, back in the early betatest stage and it was probably to do with a cluttered operating system.  Maybe this time it has something to do with installing a new monitor yesterday, maybe not.

When I move things up and down on a staff a few times, I lose control of the highlighted area.

Step 1, highlight text (a Boxmark2 rehearsal letter).
Step 2, move it down, say from position 20 to 12
Step 3, change visibility to top staff only.
Repeat this with other rehearsal letters.

After the third or fourth time, suddenly I find any movement of the cursor extends the highlight.  Any movement of the mouse does too.  And then when I come into this forum, and click of the mouse in one of the messages immediately highlights a whole block of text.

Software - Version 2, preview 1x
Operating system - Windows XP Professional.
Hardware:
ASUS 2.6 ghz chip
Big hard drive with lots of room left
19" flat LCD monitor
Logitech cordless optical mouse
Microsoft Natural keyboard
Printing to PDF Creator, from there, from Adobe Reader to a Samsung laser printer.

Is anyone else experiencing this uncontrolled highlighting?

Re: Bug report - highlighting in Edit window and beyond.

Reply #1 –
G'day David,
coupla' points
  • The problem is not confined to NWC
  • The behaviour is like that of holding down the shift key.
Something that we used to see a lot was systems that "got lost" when it came to remembering the Shift, Control and Alt key status.

If I'm correct, press and release each <Shift>, <Ctrl> and <Alt> key at least twice without pressing any other keys.
I.E.
<Left-Shift>, <Left-Shift>, <Right-Shift>, <Right-Shift>,
<Left-Ctrl>, <Left-Ctrl>, <Right-Ctrl>, <Right-Ctrl>,
<Left-Alt>, <Left-Alt>, <Right-Alt>, <Right-Alt>
and the problem will "go away".

This can be caused by a number of things:
  • Slow PC
  • Dodgy Keyboard Driver
  • Dodgy Mouse Driver (Yes, Mouse Driver, and ANYTHING Logitech is a good candidate - nice hardware, crook software - going back at least 15 years that I can remember!)
  • Dodgy BIOS
  • Cheap (read dodgy) Motherboard
  • LOTS of active software running concurrently
  • Or the corollary to the above, not enough RAM for the tasks at hand
  • Malware (a key logger or 2 would be good candidates - anything that interrupts the keyboard data stream)
are the most common.

Another possibility: given the new monitor - did you also install a new video card?  Given Windows close integration with video drivers, perhaps this is the culprit (the driver I mean, hardware is not usually the direct cause)

Lawrie
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.
 

Re: Bug report - highlighting in Edit window and beyond.

Reply #2 –
Sounds like a sticky ctrl key. Tap it a few times or try to pull it up with a finger.

You also get this problem if you are running any apps that send keys to another app. If it sends ctrl+<something> as its last key, sometimes you get stuck with the legacy. This happens regularly with VBScript's SendKeys. I make it a habit to send {Esc} somewhere harmless as part of onexit.
Registered user since 1996

Re: Bug report - highlighting in Edit window and beyond.

Reply #3 –
Thanks, Lawrie and Rick.  After the second or third reboot, the problem disappeared, but then came back again a little later.

Your suggested fixes will undoubtedly help next time, but the reason I wrote is to see if others have the problem.

I didn't install a new video card.  Windows XP Pro does run a lot of background programs, plus I've got Norton Internet Security running, and a bunch of other things that load on boot - not all of which I want to clean out and some I can't (Messenger, for instance).  The mouse could be a problem, too.

If several other users with similar hardware and software experience the same problem, Eric needs to know, because then it will likely be a bug.  If I'm the only one who reports it, then it's likely something screwey at my end.

Many thanks, and happy Boxing Day.

Re: Bug report - highlighting in Edit window and beyond.

Reply #4 –
David,
the problems you describe are "normal", Windows sometimes misses just a keyboard message. As Lawrie suggested, just hit and release the shift , ctrl and alt keys.
Its also a god time to check for malware.