HIGHLIGHTING IN WRITER

users
#1

I'm using 4.4.22.

The highlighting function is almost totally unreliable.

Whether I use the F8 key or just try to use the mouse button, it takes two
or three passes to get highlighting of more than several letters to hold
long enough to cut or copy.

This is a real pain if you write longer documents on which you to do a lot
of editing.

Am I the only one having this problem?

#2

Sorry -- of course I'm actually using 4.4.2.2

#3

roballjr wrote:

I'm using 4.4.22.

The highlighting function is almost totally unreliable.

Whether I use the F8 key or just try to use the mouse button, it takes two
or three passes to get highlighting of more than several letters to hold
long enough to cut or copy.

This is a real pain if you write longer documents on which you to do a lot
of editing.

Am I the only one having this problem?

No problem here, with LibreOffice 4.4.2.2 on Windows Vista. Whenever I've had problems like that, it's usually been one of:
- If using a laptop, my wrist brushing against the touchpad (acting as a click, so clearing the selection; some of them are very sensitive)
- Something leaning on the keyboard or mouse
- Faulty keyboard or mouse
- Faulty or poor quality USB hub between PC and keyboard or mouse

If it's the touchpad causing the problem, the "tap to click" feature can sometimes be disabled. In Windows, look for a touchpad icon next to the clock, or the Mouse settings in Windows' Control Panel. Exact details vary depending on the device, so it's difficult to be more specific than that.

If nothing is anywhere near the keyboard or mouse at the time, there could be a hardware fault generating spurious clicks / key presses. If the keyboard or mouse is connected via a hub, unplug the hub and connect the keyboard and mouse directly into USB sockets on the PC / laptop; if that works, you need a new/better hub (or just don't use it, if you don't need to).

Otherwise, disconnect your current keyboard and mouse (not so easy if it's a laptop though!) and connect replacements to see if that helps. The replacements don't have to be brand new just to check if that's the problem, as long as they're known to work properly. You may be able to borrow from another PC, or someone else if you don't have any spare.

Mark.

#4

To back up the other comment and add to it:

When using an optical mouse (look underneath to see if there is a light), I
sometimes find this happening, which lets me know it's time to clean the
mouse pad. Apparently even small particles can cause a glitch that somehow
gets interpreted as a click.