mouse cursor flashing problem when using office 2007

Question

Hi, I wonder if someone can help me on this small but annoying issue.

I have two new Dell optiplex 780 computers with original Windows 7 OS. I noticed when I use Word 2007, sometimes the cursor will flash in the word window (flashing means quickly changing from normal status to busy status while Word is not processing anything), then I found Excel having the same problem only that it was the top row/left most column will flash.

I called Dell and eliminated the possibility of mouse problem, uninstall/reinstalled Word, Office 2007, switched to Word 2003, called printer support as sometimes the problem came up when I open the print dialog box, double checked driver of printer and looks like none of the above could help.

I appreciate anyone's help on this issue. Thanks.

Answer 1

Try working in clean boot mode and verify the results. A clean boot helps eliminate software conflicts

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Note: After you have finished troubleshooting reset the computer to start as usual.

If you are able to work with the Office application as expected in clean boot mode, this might be due to a Non-Microsoft Service.

Answer 2

Install the latest printer drivers and verify the results.

Answer 3

Thank you Guruprasad, I actually verified with the printer support and they told me that we are running the latest version of Win 7 driver. I'll see what we can do.

Answer 4

actually i've found somebody else with the same problem:

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/officeinstall/thread/02beb226-0ff8-43c6-9e87-7e60fe6a7731

and I'm lucky because my Word/Excel is still functioning.

I did the test accordingly and found the problem will be fixed if I disable the printer spooler service, but I won't be able to print at the mean time.

Then I changed the default printer to another one, but the problem persists if I changed it into the Lanier that I used to use.

Looks like it's a printer/OS conflict.

Answer 5

Thanks for your advice. Well I eliminated basically everything, only Symantec Antivirus was left in both start up options and services, but the problem is still there. But it looks OK in safe mode. So I believe there's something going on in the normal mode. Any other suggestions?