Problems with using the interface.

Scrivener Scrivener for Windows
1

I recently bought a new laptop that runs on Windows 8.1 and after installing and activating Scrivener I’ve found that I can’t click on most of the interface.

The problem persists on pretty much any screen and generally occurs after I first open up the program. I’ll be able to click on things initially, but once I choose something to click on the rest of the window suddenly becomes unclickable. E.g. I click on Fiction for a new project and I can’t click on any templates or click the field to give the file a name. Or open the project at all, really.

Tabbing through the fields seems to work, but that’s obviously a bigger hassle than just being to click around!

I’m using a standard logitech mouse and I’ve tried two other mice and my trackpad - none of these work either.

Thanks in advance for any help on the matter.

2

I’m stumped. Nothing immediately leaps out at me as the likely culprit.

Some semi-random guesses and things to try follow… USE AT YOUR OWN RISK…

If this is impacting only Scrivener, uninstall, re-download and reinstall Scrivener.

I’m assuming that when Scrivener launches, Windows goes into or is already in the traditional Windows interface rather than the new tiled based Metro/Modern interface?

For the following, start/go into Control Panel (and set it to small or large icons rather than categories), so have icons for launching the things mentioned… or just type the name in for Windows to run the thing mentioned…

Control Panel > Action Center and see if it reports anything, particularly anything that seems related.

Control Panel > Windows Update > Check for updates and install whatever updates it offers.

Control Panel > Programs and Features and see if there are any extra keyboard/touch apps present… if there are you might uninstall them. Likewise, review the apps in general… manufacturers tend to add a lot of “crapware” that you might want to uninstall. Likewise, you might have picked up some questionable supposedly helpful apps while browsing the Internet… if so you might want to uninstall them.

Control Panel > System > Device Manager

  • Expand Display adapters item, right click on display adapter, select Update Driver Software and select “Search automatically for updated driver software”…
  • Do the same for Mice and other pointing devices
  • Any items in the device list highlighted with yellow question mark? If so, may need to resolve their identification, drivers and such (may require tech help).

Run the File Explorer, drill/navigate to
C:\Program Files (x86)\Scrivener
right click on Scrivener.exe
and select Compatibility tab
and see if “Run this program in compatibility mode for” checkbox has a checkmark in it.
Generally, it should not.
You could always try running the compatibility troubleshooter while there… don’t know if would prove useful or not.

What antivirus are you using? With some antivirus products, you may need to turn them off/disable them temporarily during the Scrivener install and/or tell them to exempt Scrivener.

Do a Google search on “mouse unresponsive” and see if anything mentioned in the articles it turns up sounds related.

Post back here as to how things go.

Hope something in the above helps or at least provides a lead.