Virus on my Macbook - can't click anything - HELP!

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by timelessmelodee

if anyone does have some constructive tips, that would be great.

We've already offered those. It's a hardware problem. Take it to Apple.

[evil_santa]

Originally Posted by AlphaBob

Maybe if the trackpad is stuck 'down' the software prevents other instances of a mouse from clicking too.
.

yes if the trackpad is stuck down you can not click with an external mouse, but when you move the mouse/pointer about you will constantly highlight any text or icons that you pass over,

[Darth.Titan]

Originally Posted by Mal

It sounds to me like your trackpad is essentially permanently down (where you said that the menubar was highlighted and you couldn't click to deselect it). That can happen when a battery swells up, as some do toward the end of their life or because of a catastrophic failure. Try removing the battery and see if the problem goes away.

Either way, it's probably worth a trip to an Apple store after that.

jW

This is where my money's at OP. Remove your battery and see if the situation improves. You probably have a swollen battery.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by Darth.Titan

You probably have a swollen battery.

Originally Posted by timelessmelodee

it's definately not the battery swell problem (i had that problem before, and just recently bought a new one which is totally fine).

[AlphaBob]

Originally Posted by timelessmelodee

wow, lots of paranoia floating round these here parts...its a white macbook running osx version 10.4.11, not 10.3 as was previously stated

Well I owe you an apology then, but given the information that you had put out in your earlier posts, things were not adding up (blutooth, and old OS) -- but it is certainly understandable that you wouldn't know it off the top of your head.

It just doesn't 'feel' like a hardware issue with both the Blutooth and internal pad acting up.

You may want to do the same thing that I did for my white Macbook that was running 10.4.11, and update it to Snow Leopard. It is a $30 update available on Amazon and lots of other places. It will get you onto the most current 10.6 Snow Leopard platform (I don't think Tiger is supported any longer). In my case I chose to do a fresh install (kept nothing from the earlier version), but you may want to do an update. I wouldn't be surprised to find that everything was working fine after that update.

[Mal]

Originally Posted by timelessmelodee

wow, lots of paranoia floating round these here parts.

its a white macbook running osx version 10.4.11, not 10.3 as was previously stated (i was going off the top of my head, as i wasn't near the computer itself and don't revise these things.)

if anyone does have some constructive tips, that would be great. it's definately not the battery swell problem (i had that problem before, and just recently bought a new one which is totally fine). the mouse physically clicks fine, but thats about it.

If you recently had your battery swell, perhaps it damaged the trackpad in the process, and before you ask, yes it's possible for the problem not to show itself until now, either because of some additional stimulus or because it simply weakened a mechanism that has now failed.

One thing that might possible reduce the cost to fix the issue: is the wristrest area on your MacBook cracked towards the front edge (and nowhere else)? This was a common problem on those models, and if it is, then Apple will replace that part for free, which includes the trackpad, and would thus fix the issue at no cost to you.

Even if you do have to pay for the repair, however, it's not horribly expensive. As has been said, however, no one can give you a miracle fix. You need to take it in, it is almost certainly a hardware problem.

jW

[munkery]

Originally Posted by timelessmelodee

wow, lots of paranoia floating round these here parts.

its a white macbook running osx version 10.4.11, not 10.3 as was previously stated (i was going off the top of my head, as i wasn't near the computer itself and don't revise these things.)

if anyone does have some constructive tips, that would be great. it's definately not the battery swell problem (i had that problem before, and just recently bought a new one which is totally fine). the mouse physically clicks fine, but thats about it.

Unplug and shut down.

Remove the battery and let sit 20 minutes.

Hold down power button 10 seconds.

Reinstall the battery.

Power up the machine.

Report back if you still have the issue.

I had a bluetooth crash in an older macbook and this procedure is the only thing that fixed the problem. Maybe this will work for your trackpad issue.

[larryleveen]

I recently had a very similar experience when borrowing a friend's MacBook Pro. It turns out that her trackpad's _mechanical_ click was broken, but trackpad tap-click still worked fine. She probably had tap-click turned on as the button was dying, but I had no idea. I was trying to repair disk permissions by mech-clicking scores of times. It eventually worked, but then I noticed tap-click worked 100% fine, so I chalk it up to a broken mechanical button. I hope you can find a way to turn on tap-click in System Prefs, and enjoy restored functionality.

FWIW, I recommend that ALL laptop users leave tap-click enabled in case the mechanical button craps out. Also, using tap-click as much as possible saves wear and tear on the mechanical button. Good luck!

[CylonGlitch]

I've had this happen to me several times. Every time it was one of the three mice connected to my MBP (Magic Mouse, Track Pad, or USB mouse) was being pressed by another object that I wasn't paying attention too. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

I would bet that something similar is happening or one of them is broken, meaning the click button is continuously reporting a click.

I would disable any mice connected to the machine, if the problem persists I'd open my machine and disconnect the track pad. After that, if it doesn't work it's likely a hardware issue on the mother board and thus returning to Apple to fix the problem would be needed.

Good Luck.

[richardwh]

I just had this happen to me and thanks to the people on this thread it was indeed a swollen battery pushing against the trackpad causing the trackpad click to be stuck.

I have a 2008 white MacBook where the battery had become swollen. Happened on a warm day in my office which I guess pushed it over the edge.

I removed the battery and ran just off the power supply and the click started to work again.