DONE: Finding Mousepointer Utility

[JoTo]

Dear Community,

as a visually impaired i really miss a feature that i have had in earlier versions of Matrox-PowerTools (the graphicdriver-suite from Matrox).

There was the possibility to activate with a Hotkey a blinking circle around the mousepointer with arrows pointing to the mousepointer. I used this feature a lot if i have my mousepointer lose out of the eyes or if it is positioned on a color i cant recognize it very well. So i pressed the Hotkey and Voila! i know again where my mousepointer is sitting.

In the new version this feature is missing. *SNIFF*

My Logitech Software has such a feature, but i have a problem with this. If i press the Hotkey, only a one-shot circle is moving from big to small to the middle of the mousepointer. There are two problems: 1. The circle is too thin for me to see and 2. as it is a one-shot and very fast, i cant see it also.

What i wish to have is a utility that when a (customizable) Hotkey is pressed draws a thick circle around the mousepointer position in a small distance.

Extensions (if possible it would be GREAT!!!!):

- A blinking circle with two switching colors would be a big help. So the cursor can be easily seen on different background colors.

- It would be nice if the thickness, blinking colors and diameter of the circle could be adjusted.

- Wonderful will be, if the circle could blink until the hotkey is released and move together with the mousepointer when the mouse is moved. So i can track the mousepointer to get to a certain control where i want to click i.E.

I think it is not an easy to realize wishlist. But if someone knows a freeware or a reasonable priced shareware util that do that, or can implement/create such a util i will have luck tears in my eyes. You can't imagine what this will mean to me and how it will make my life easier in private and in my job.

If you have any suggestions, please help.

Very thankful in advance...
JoTo

[skrommel]

How about this one?

MouseMark - Press Ctrl+M to locate the mouse.

Features:
- Two alternating crossmarks.
- Change hotkey, delay, size, thickness and color.
- To change the settings, choose Settings in the Tray menu.



You'll find the downloads and more info at 1 hour Software.

Skrommel

[JoTo]

Boy oh boy, skrommel! YOU ARE THE MAN! Thank you soooooo much. It is exactly what i want and need. And so fast (just one day from wish to delivery).

Dunno if you are so good that you made it in the first shot or if my description was so good *LOL* Just Kidding!

No further change needed! Leave it as is for me! It is just right running on my first machine now. And it works perfect.

Dunno if it is by design or a "bug". You built in a feature that i really havent thought of, but it is helpful. If i press first my special key of the hotkey (i.E. CTRL) and then the other key (i.E. M), mousemark will mark the mouse and keep it marked as long as the Hotkey is pressed.. If i release then the other key first and AFTER that the special key, marking will stop as expected. So far as i thought it should work.

But now i discovered, if i FIRST release the Special-Key and THEN the other key (just the other way i described above), behaviour is another. The marking is now something like "locked" or "hold". Marking goes on even when i press no key at all. Marking stops, when i press the Hotkey again and releasing it in the "normal" way.

That feature is, as i said, very helpful too. Imagine i have to navigate a lot with the mouse to different places where i cant see the mousepointer very good. So i can lock marking ON and navigate and do what i want until i dont need marking any longer. If i only want to see where my mousepointer is, the normal marking will show me it quick and dont disturb any longer. PERFECT!!!!

Please do me a favour and accept my just made donation to you, and when it arrives at your account go out for a beer or two. I'll do it too here and so we can drink virtually a beer together.

WOOHOOO!!!! GREAT! I'm glad! *Jumping around*

Greetings
JoTo

[skrommel]

Cheers, mate! Or Skål! as we say in Norway.

The sticking when releasing Ctrl before M is really a bug, but I thought it could be of use to some, and easily avoidable, so I left it in.

And thanks for your donation!

Skrommel

[Robert Carnegie]

I have in my Windows XP "Control Panel - Mouse - Pointer options" a choice to "Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key".  It gives a dark circle drawn around the pointer, that contracts in to the point.

But it's nice to have a choice.

There is also a free download called "LecturePen" that draws a large fountain pen on the screen to follow the pointer around!  I think you can choose left or right handed ;-)

[JoTo]

Dear Robert,

i know the XP-Feature and i tried it. But as the Logitech-Software, that have a similar feature as well, it is too less intrusive for my bad sighting. I need a THICK BOOM SLAP IN THE FACE thing that stays at the same place for the long time i need to recognize it. I have to search for it at the screen, and this takes a while. So a moving, one-shot circle is not enought for me.

Skrommels MarkMouse give me the opportunity to select the size and thickness as well as color and a changing, stay in place but intrusive crosshair-circle.

Maybe the XP-Feature can help better sighting people, but for me it isn't helpful at all.

You haven't posted the URL for Lecture-Pen. So i can't try it and say my opinion for this. You alse haven't mentioned if it is free like Skrommels MarkMouse.

But thanks for the hints anyway. Maybe others will like XPs Feature more or find LecturePen and find it more useful. Even i will try to find LecturePen and try it out. I'm always interested in new programs.

CU
JoTo

[PitrPaulus]

Hello, Here PitrPaulus from the Netherlands. I downloaded that Mousepointer program and it works great!
BUT.... everytime when I reboot the computer I have to find the program in My Firefox Downloads > start it and then it works.
How can I make it start up right from the start of the computer?
Greetings from PP.

[JoTo]

Hi PitrPaulus, welcome to the forum!

.... everytime when I reboot the computer I have to find the program in My Firefox Downloads > start it and then it works.
How can I make it start up right from the start of the computer?

Move the File with the Windows-Explorer from your MyFirefoxDownlads directory to somewhere else where it better fits for a program that you want to keep and use. E.g. make a new folder in C:\program files with the name MouseMark and move the file there in.

Then grab the program in the explorerwindow with the RIGHT! Mousebutton and DONT release the button. Hold the button! Then move your mouse over the start button from windows in the lower left corner of your screen, wait until the start menu pops up, move the mouse (still hold the right button!) to "programs" and wait again until it pops up, then move the mouse over "autostart" and wait until it pops up (have you still pressed down the right button? - This is important! :-) ), then move the mouse IN the popped up autostart group. Finally release the right button NOW! In the now popping up context menu select the entry "create a shortcut here". Then rename the new created shortcut (right klick on the entry name and select "rename" in the context menu) to MouseMark.

Youre set! The next time you boot up, MouseMark will start automagically. :-) By the way...every program you put a shortcut for in the autostart folder will start automatic when windows starts.

HTH
JoTo

[mouser]

good instructions joto.

i thought this might be a good time to ask members if they can recomend a tool to  help you add items to windows startup list:
http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=4420.

[PitrPaulus]

Hello, Here Pitr Paulus Again in the 'air'!
Thanks for the 1/very quick answer to my question and 2/very clear and workable answer! I exactly did what you said (holding that mousebutton pressed down!!!!) all the time and now The MouseTool starts up perfect!
And: I shall remember this for other start-uppers!
Thanks a lot and bye bye from PitrPaulus from Holland.

b.t.w. If I have questions about some (different) problems I sometimes have with my computer is it possible that I can post them here or is this forum only for its own programs (Donation Coder) related?

b.t.w 2: Where does that name 'Donation Coder' comes from?

All the best! PitrPaulus

[mouser]

b.t.w. If I have questions about some (different) problems I sometimes have with my computer is it possible that I can post them here or is this forum only for its own programs (Donation Coder) related?

we discuss all software here - so feel free to post about any programs

donationcoder comes from the fact that this site is funded by "donations" from users like you!

so the software we make here is "donationware" - it is free but we ask for donations from people who can afford them.  we are also trying to build a community where people can donate a little to others to thank them for their work.

We added this DonationCredits system that will let you give some credits to users that help you, as little as 10 cents.
When you donated to the site, half of your donation went back into your account.  You can now give some of these credits to another user. 

So for example, you might decide now to send Joto a few of your credits as a way of saying thank you to him for helping you.  Give it a try, you'll find it can be quite enjoyable!

[JoTo]

Dear PitrPaulus,

i am glad that it works soon for you.

And as mouser said...you are always welcome with your questions here.

But always remember. The donations and/or donationcredits you send are always at your own choice. We dont help here expecting money. If it feels right for you, do it. If don't, its okay too.

Its more important, at least for me, that you feel you comfortable here in our "family" and you'll take an active part in the forum (writing posts and replys) and in our podcast (recording a short segment about sth. you like to report to others) or write some little reviews about programs you like/dont like and you have tested or whatsoever.

In other words, it is also very acceptable if you "pay back" sth. in this form. And be sure...there will be an issue were YOU are the expert and can help others.

You won't believe how some hints or also warnings/donts, that i've read here from others, come helpful to me. How many hours of fun i have had from website findings the DCs made and posted here, with games and/or free utilities.

You can't calculate this advantages i got from here in money.

CU
JoTo

[PitrPaulus]

Pitr Paulus speaking:
Waauw! That sounds really good, JoTo and Mouser (nice name ). Thanks for al explanations and so on. It's good to be with 'this family'.! I really mean it.
I'm just a beginner in the computer -'business'. Mostly I use Print Shop Deluxe 20 from Broderbund to make all kinds of  greeting-cards, invitations, banners, little posters, personal cards etc. Together with ACDSee 8.0 and (a little bit) Photoshop it can bring me hours of pleasure (sometimes till 1 am. in the morning... !!
I also use IncrediMail: I like it making e-mails a bit more funny en more pretty to see and to read.
Over the last years I've collected thousands of GIF-animations so for every occasion I can get/give/sent the right animation/emoticon.

I shall think about the donation-credits! Nice system. Wait ... and see.

Both the programsI have from Donation Coder I like very Much:
Screen Shot Captor is perfect! For example: I made a small handout with those screenshot-machine for my wife for using some computer programs. ( Shortly I download 'RoboForm' (this program can fill in all internet-forms
with userID and password - Handy) and to make clear how that works for her I make that hand-out!

Also the Where-is-my-mouse tool is really perfect. With tape on my computer I wrote down: CTRL-M (also for my wife to remember. Just when I 'work' with my laptop in the garden and the sunlight is very clear, is sometimes very hard to locate the mouse! So this tool is perfect!!

Well, next week I shall exame the website from Donation Coder, just to see what's where and how it all works. If I have questions about it will let you know.

B.t.w. Maybe it is better that I stop with REPLYING over here and .... Start a new item? Or how does that works.

All the best and C.U.      Pitr Paulus (himself).

[PitrPaulus]

Help! I just used the Screenshot Captor and maybe it is a strange question but on my desktop is a STRANGE icon of Screenshot Captor. I've been looking for the standard one (the blue screen) and in the previous version it was still there.
Now that I downloaded the latest version ... it 's gone.
See my attached screenshot..... with SCREENSHOT CAPTOR.
Can you help me pls?
( I have been looking in the Program Files but I cannot find this one).

[JoTo]

Hi PitrPaulus,

It seems that the connection between the icon and SC is broken. Maybe you installed SC at another location as before and the old icon is pointing to the old location.

Question: Does SC start up when you doubleclick the "wrong" icon? If not, my a.m. suggestion seems right.

If so, then RIGHT click the wrong icon with the mouse and select "Properties" in the context menue. Go to "Shortcut" tab and look in the field "Target". Compare this with the location where you installed SC. If it doesn't match, klick the button "Find Target" and browse for the SC executable "ScreenshotCapture.exe" (maybe the .exe is missing at your pc if you have enabled the windows option to hide known extensions) at the location where you installed it. Select OK on all open dialogs and wait 1-2 seconds. If you've done all right, the icon should change to the normal one.

Hope this will bring back your "right" icon! If my suggestion is wrong and the target path in the shortcut match the installation location, then we have to search further. I need more information then.

CU
JoTo

[mouser]

Question: Does SC start up when you doubleclick the "wrong" icon?

this is the key question - because the icon is for the setup program.

here is my guess:
the setup program and the main exe are named the same.
so it's just that windows has cached the icon (this happens somtimes).
i dont remember an easy way to refresh the icon cache, but
when you restart windows next it will be correct icon.

btw: if you plan to leave sc running in the tray at all times like many of us (and check the option in sc to start with windows), then you dont even want that icon on your desktop and you can delete it.  you can always start sc from the start menu.

[PitrPaulus]

Hello Joto and Mouser, when I started the computer after my weekend-break (few days Rotterdam/Holland, city of all places) the NICE icon was already back .. so Mouser: you were right! Thanks. And thanks also to Joto for thinking about. As you suggested, I have Screenshot Captor now starting-up and thus deleted the icon. (I also learned that here 'how to make programs start-up'!).
Thanks, greetings and all the best for now.
PitrPaulus.