windows 8 - Closing laptop lid and using external display causes mouse to move on it's own

07
2014-07
  • PolishHurricane

    I plugged my ASUS Taichi Laptop into an external monitor via the VGA Adapter that it comes with. It was working fine, but then I configured a power option so I could shut the lid without it going to sleep (so I could use just the external monitor with an external keyboard/mouse).

    Problem is though, now, when the lid is closed and I move the mouse, the mouse is moving around on it's own, but when I open the laptop lid back up, the mouse is fine.

    • I looked under the lid when it was closed and the display properly shuts off on the laptop.
    • It's not the external mouse/keyboard because I completely unplugged them and it was still happening.
    • Nobody is hacking me or anything, I totally went into airplane mode/pulled the wire.
    • I have a touchscreen, but I put a piece of paper over it and it wasn't doing it.

    I was thinking it might be the trackpad being touched somehow by the screen when the lid is closed? But I went into windows 8 control panel options and I couldn't find anywhere to disable it (it sees the USB mouse I think).

    • Answers
  • Canadian Luke

    I went into device manager, Human interface Devices and expanded that. I disable the first USB Input Device, which shutoff the touch screen and it fixed my mouse/pointer issue.

  • ernie

    The Taichi is an unusual beast with a touchscreen on the back of the regular display.

    You mention putting a sheet of paper on this, but I'm going to guess you were mousing on top of this sheet of paper, and the resistance in the paper wasn't sufficient to block touches from registering on the capacitive touchscreen.

    In fact, I just tested on the Taichi behind me, and noted I was still able to operate the touchscreen with a sheet of paper on top of it . . .


    • Related Question

    acer aspire - External Monitor display issue when closing the lid of laptop
  • bbnyc

    Has anyone experienced this with an Acer or any other laptop?

    I am working on a new Acer laptop (1810T) which I almost alway connect to an external monitor with a VGA cable.

    I have set graphic options to display only to the external monitor and I would like to close the lid of the laptop, when I am working at my desk. In the power settings, I have set it so when i close the lid, the computer should "do nothing".

    When connected to the external monitor I am able to view the display fine if the the laptop lid is open. However, whenever I do close the lid, the display on the external monitor continuously cuts in and out about every 2 or 3 seconds. I have seen other posts where the display simply shuts off, but I am getting constant (though irregular) flashes of the display, so I believe this is a different issue.

    Any thoughts would be appreciated.


    • Related Answers
  • Gauthier

    I have the same issue sometimes (sometimes at startup), even in dual display configuration. The external monitor would turn on and off at 1 or 2 seconds period.

    Shutting off and on the monitor itself solves the problem for me, have you tried that?

  • nhinkle

    Odd. I sometimes work with my laptop lid closed and using the external monitor, and it's never been a problem. Have you tried updating your graphics drivers? Look in Windows Update under optional Hardware Updates, and see if there's anything relating to your graphics drivers. Since it's a new laptop that's probably not the issue, but it's worth trying.

    Just out of curiosity, why don't you use both monitors? I've found that having dual displays is extremely helpful.

  • philfreo

    I don't have an Acer, but the following tips helped for my MacBook.

    The only way it will work closed is if the power is plugged in - took me a while to realize this. The other thing is that I had to have an external keyboard plugged in. Then, when I closed the laptop, my computer went to sleep and then I used the keyboard to wake it up.

  • Dave Rook

    Your computer's "help and support" files walk you thru the power saver plans. If that doesn't fix the problem, I'd suggest you return the laptop to your supplier for diagnosis. These days most vendors are quite accommodating due to competition.

    I've set up Sony, Toshiba, Acer, and the configurations seem slightly different but using the built in help files I've always been able to get the lid closure function working OK, especially on VGA using the "balanced" power plan and using the laptop's power adapter.

  • Karan Raj Baruah

    See if setting the "Max performance" power plan helps. Also I recommend you to get the latest graphics drivers from Acer's website.