Cursor jumps between text boxes

[Gloria]

I posted this question awhile ago but got no helpful replies. When I am
typing inside a text box in my Microsoft Office Word 2003, the cursor keeps
jumping into other text boxes, either higher on the same page or to a box on
a previous page. This happens every time when I want move the typing point to
the beginning of a line by using the horizontal -> & <- buttons and two
vertical buttons on my keyboard. This never happened with text boxes in my
old Word 97. Any suggestions?

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

The lack of helpful replies usually indicates that it's a problem none of us
have encountered before. ;-)

But, I'm in a brainstorming mood... so here's some possibilities that occur
to me...

I think I might've suggested looking to see if Speech was enabled. If not
that... another thought would be to ask if it's possible that something is
physically or electronically interfering with a mouse pad or wireless mouse.
If you have a wireless mouse, try changing channels. Or, install fresh
batteries. (Some of our cordless phones used to interfere with wireless
mice. Are you on the phone when the problem happens?)

Does your keyboard have a "mouse keys" feature that you're accidentally
enabling?

Another thought would be that you have a graphics pad (e.g., such as the
Wacom) and its pen or mouse is being jostled on the pad somehow.

If you start Word in safe mode, does the problem still occur? To start in
safe mode, hold down Ctrl while starting Word, holding Ctrl until Word
appears on the task bar, then click Yes to starting in safe mode. Open a
document in which the problem occurs and see if it still occurs?

 

[Gloria]

Thank you for such a deep analysis, Herb, but none of this applies to me. Oh
well ... it's quite annoying it's no big deal.

All the best!

The lack of helpful replies usually indicates that it's a problem none of us
have encountered before. ;-)

But, I'm in a brainstorming mood... so here's some possibilities that occur
to me...

I think I might've suggested looking to see if Speech was enabled. NO
If not that... another thought would be to ask if it's possible that something is
physically or electronically interfering with a mouse pad or wireless mouse. LOGITECH WIRED OPTICAL MOUSE
If you have a wireless mouse, try changing channels. Or, install fresh
batteries. (Some of our cordless phones used to interfere with wireless
mice. Are you on the phone when the problem happens?) NO
Does your keyboard have a "mouse keys" feature that you're accidentally
enabling? NO
Another thought would be that you have a graphics pad (e.g., such as the
Wacom) and its pen or mouse is being jostled on the pad somehow. NOPE
If you start Word in safe mode, does the problem still occur? To start in
safe mode, hold down Ctrl while starting Word, holding Ctrl until Word
appears on the task bar, then click Yes to starting in safe mode. Open a
document in which the problem occurs and see if it still occurs?

NOT LIKELY BUT I'LL TRY THAT

 

[Bob S]

I would guess that this is a version of the "unnatural linkage"
problem. Try the standard fixes for a corrupt document, e.g. save as
HTML, close Word, open the HTML version in Word, save as DOC file
(with a new name), close Word, open the new DOC and see whether the
problem is still there.

Bob S