I get a white mouse cursor on a white text page

[GNNMartin]

Version: v.X
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Processor: Intel

When working on text, the mouse cursor turns white when moved over text, which makes it invisible unless it is actually over a letter, and even then it is almost invisible.

I've been using Word for ages, but only infrequently and I can't be sure when I first noticed this problem, so can't be sure it has not always been that way. Is it a bug? Is it fixable? My 'about Word' tells me I'm on service release 1.

 

[GNNMartin]

Clive, thanks for the suggestion. I've just discovered (I think) a bypass of the problem. I can use format/backgound to set the page colour to a very pale beige. This doesn't significantly affect the readability of the text (indeed, it makes it slightly less tiring to read), and does mean the white cursor is now faintly visible.
Nigel Martin

 

[Clive Huggan]

Glad to hear that innovation knows no bounds, Nigel!

Clive
=====

 

[CyberTaz]

FWIW, I'm not seeing anything of the sort in 2004 or 2008 running on 10.4.11
or Leopard. The pointer appears as a black I-beam over unselected text & as
a black arrow when over selected text.

If your software & OS X are fully updated it must be specific to that
version of Word. I'm afraid I don't have an installation of Office X to test
in & honestly can't remember much about that version.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Clive Huggan]

Yes, the only thing I can think of, Bob, is that it's an anomaly specific to
Word v.X in Leopard. Have never heard of it before in the almost 8 years
since it came out.

As you know, currently we're hearing of more anomalies with Word v.X and
Leopard than in previous versions of the OS. I'm surprised, given the
rushed-to-market nature of both OS X and Word X, that Word X has lasted as
long as 8 years.

Cheers,
Clive
======

 

[CyberTaz]

I know what you mean - but I am also aware that WinWord does in fact use a
white arrow (prior to 2007) when you hover over an object or selected text.
I believe earlier versions of MacWord did the same but I didn't use X
long/intensely enough for anything about it to stick in my mind. Whether the
change to a black arrow happened in X or 2004 I simply can't say :-}

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[GNNMartin]

Bob, just for the record, the white cursor giving me problems is in the shape of a text cursor, not in the shape of an arrow.
Nigel Martin

 

[GNNMartin]

Having posted that, I realise the post was ambiguous, so I'll clarify. By 'text cursor' I mean the cursor that looks rather like a decorative 'I' that indicates one is hovering over text, not the blinking cursor that marks one's current point in the text.
Nigel Martin

 

[CyberTaz]

Thanks for the clarification but that makes it even more incomprehensible
than before :0( I don't ever recall seeing a white I-beam pointer in any
version of Word - at least not without some type of finagling to
intentionally make it so. Might you possibly have some sort of utility or
"haxie" that could be causing the behavior?

I just went back to your original post in the thread - IIRC "service release
1" means 10.1.0 (or 10.1.5) but in either case you're missing major updates
to Office X. That could be the source of the problem. Download the 10.1.9
update from here & see if that makes a difference:

<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=FEA9FD8A-EA16-4B3C
-9381-18A389D5599A&displaylang=en>

If you don't have Tiger at 10.4.11 it might not be a bad idea to take care
of that as well. In fact, if the Office update doesn't do the trick I'd go
ahead & reapply the OS X update even if you're already at that level... But
use the Combo Updater available here:

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Clive Huggan]

I know what you mean - but I am also aware that WinWord does in fact use a
white arrow (prior to 2007) when you hover over an object or selected text.
I believe earlier versions of MacWord did the same but I didn't use X
long/intensely enough for anything about it to stick in my mind. Whether the
change to a black arrow happened in X or 2004 I simply can't say :-}

There was no white arrow over an object or selected text in Word 2001, Bob
-- just for the record. (I didn't buy Word X, so can't shed light there.)

Clive
======

 

[macgirl06]

I have a client that is having this same issue and he is using Office 2004. It happens in Entourage when he is typing in the body of an email and it happens in Word. The problem was originally reported to me that his cursor was vanishing but I noticed it was indeed there but just white. Deleting all preferences associated with Word did not fix it.

 

[CyberTaz]

As replied to the OP in this thread this appears to be an issue isolated to
that particular system. There's no means within either program to change the
color of the pointer, so if the I-beam is displaying as something other than
black it's being influenced by some external source.

Make sure that Office 2004 is fully updated (11.5.2) & that whatever version
of OS X is updated using the appropriate Combo updater from the Apple site:

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/

Repair permissions after any updates.

If that doesn't resolve it you might check the mouse System Prefs or
separate prefs based on any other mouse driver. You might also have the user
log in while holding the Shift key & see if the problem occurs. If not,
that's a pretty good indication that there's some utility or haxie or other
software on that system that's causing the problem. Identify & remove it and
the problem will disappear.

Good Luck |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Guest]

Other pressure is stopping me following up Cyber Taz's advice: I now have the bypass mentioned earlier, of setting a grey background to the page, and anyhow, I don't use Word all that much.

However, I have noticed in one or two other places a white on light grey Ibeam cursor, and even sometimes a white on white one. For example, I've noticed it in some pages shown by the Firefox browser. I guess it is a problem that came in with OSX 10.4. In none of the other places where the white Ibeam has been inappropriate has there been any need for the cursor, so it wasn't until I had been sensitised to the issue that I noticed the oddity.
Nigel Martin