Odd "highlight everything" glitch

[ScriptShadow]

Comicbent and Zenplato, come to my rescue.

I have had this glitch ever since I bought this laptop (about a year now) and therefore I've attributed it to some hardware problem in the computer.

Except that doesn't make sense in relation to what happens, which seems like it should be a software glitch.

It happens as I'm typing. I'll be typing a screenplay. And inevitably I'll have to type a character name, which will mean using all caps (this is in Word, not Final Draft), so I'll pinky the caps lock button and BAZOOOM! My cursor freaks out, and zooms up about 3 or 4 pages (sometimes down, sometimes up), HIGHLIGHTING ALL THE WORDS IN BETWEEN.

It's just a really odd glitch. The strangest thing about it is it only happens every 30th to 40th time that I switch on the caps lock button. I do so much writing that I've even been able to sense when it's coming, but I never quite know when it's going to happen.

Needless to say it's incredibly annoying. And while it doesn't happen exactly the same way in Final Draft, something does happen. I'll go to the caps lock and then the cursor will go nuts, jumping all around the place (doesn't highlight though - probably cause Final Draft is a little more strict when it comes to what it lets you do with your text).

I fear I already know the answer but you guys are kinda my last hope. I f*cking hate dealing with this!

[dpaterso]

I'm just an MS Word user not a guru, but that sounds like some kind of "highlight pages above" macro is being run by certain keystrokes. But if you're having to manually cap character names, I'm guessing you're not using macros or templates. Haven't you at least thought about assigning element styles to various key combinations, e.g. Alt-C = capped and indented character name? Or the BBC Writersroom template, http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scriptsmart/

Don't let me interfere with whatever process you prefer, each to their own.

-Derek

[LatteAddict]

Okay, someone has to ask that annoying okay-silly-i'm-not-THAT-stupid question, just to get it out of the way... :)

...but since you do use a laptop, are you SURE you're not touching the trackpad with your palm when you pinky away to the caps lock key?

It actually does sound a bit like that: inadvertently "tapping-and-holding", then inadvertently moving the palm upwards, triggering the "lock-at-edges" function (which basically means: Keep scrolling until the finger/palm stops touching the mousepad).

Depending on the age of your laptop (and/or trackpad driver) there are settings to prevent "inadvertent" strokes -- don't ask me how the computer knows the difference, but anyway, it's there and I think it works.

Anyways. Just a suggestion.

/L.A.

[ScriptShadow]

dpaterso. didn't want my post to get too long but to give you the full story, I moved over to final draft and only use word for notes now. I like to cap teh headings in my notes, and that's where the problem still surfaces.

latte, yes, that was what I suspected as well. So, when I sensed the crazy cursor action, I deliberately pulled my right hand away from the trackpad and pressed caps lock, and it still did it. I still suspect the trackpad has soemthing to do with it. It's a terribly configured laptop (probably why it was marked down a full $400 - you never *really* get a deal :)) that has one of those built in scrollers on the right side of the trackpad and that's where I suspect the problem might be. But it doesn't explain me being able to still perform the malfunction with my other hand nowhere near the trackpad.

[ComicBent]

Hmm, it sounds like an engineering issue at the hardware level.

By the way, I hate those built-in buttons and pads that replace a mouse. I use my laptop on a desk. I turned off the pad and plugged a mouse into a USB port. You might try that and see if it solves the problem.

[zenplato]

Seems like you've been hooked up with some good answers, but to me this sounds like a defect with word from your description. As we say in the biz, "good catch."

Are you hitting the same key before the caps lock each time? e.g. Enter > Caps Lock, Shift > Caps Lock, etc...if you can eventually reproduce it you might be able to find out if they are going to patch it, or have them patch it on their road map (them being MS). Most defects can be reproduced in 8 steps are less. Of course, in software testing there are rumors of the dreaded 50 step bug, :|

Chances are you are inadvertently creating a condition for the bug, or a macro/hotkey.

Or as comic suggested could be a bug with a driver, or bad hardware, though I think you would see other issues on other applications as well.

Couple of things you can do to troubleshoot if it's not a bug with word:

- Alt+f8 on your word document to see if you have any macros enabled.

- Check your trackingpad settings. Maybe turn drag lock off, or on. Also, see if it's reproducible with the mouse. If so, then it's most likely a bug w/ word.

- Try using a style as DP suggested.

Hope it helps.

EDIT: Oops, didn't see that thing about final draft. Sounds like it could be a problem with the motherboard.

[zenplato]

Hey Wilson,

Do you mind changing how you use caps lock?

If you go to this page you can change the caps lock to shift. Apparently, a lot of people aren't a big fan of caps lock.

http://johnhaller.com/jh/useful_stuff/disable_caps_lock/

This could alleviate your problem, but create a whole new one, :)

[ScriptShadow]

Hello everyone. Thanks for the responses. I'm busy reading and writing the rest of the night but I'm going to try some of this stuff tomorrow morning, particularly Zen's suggestion. I'm using Vista by the way.

[Rathmon]

Actually, it's most likely a function that you accidentally turned on... like 'scroll lock', 'jump to', 'home', etc. Most laptops have an 'FN' key that, combined with other keys, toggle certain functions...

Also, check the settings of your touchpad in the control panel....

Without knowing the model of your laptop, I can't help much more... but with that info.... let's just say I'm damn good at what I do. (Computer tech by day)