Scrolling Issue

[kiwisoda]

Hi! I'm brand new to the form, so, please forgive me if I sound completely stupid.

I purchased a macbook approximately... 8 months ago? It's worked just fine until recently... First: The mouse pad stopped functioning. I can move the mouse with the pad, however, I cannot click with it. Not a big deal. I bought an external mouse and that problem was ... relatively solved.

Now I'm having another malfunction. Whenever there's a scrolling bar at the bottom of a browser it automatically drags it all the way to the right. It's making it impossible to use Microsoft Excel (Mac version). Any ideas what could be causing this?

At first I thought... maybe one of the arrows was suck, but... it's giving me no problems when I navigate though text. Just the windows.

 

[Makosuke]

First off, being unable to click is probably a hardware problem (unless the button got stuck down due to dust or crumbs or something), and if it's only 8 months old it's still under warranty, so get Apple to fix it sooner rather than later--it'd be a shame to have the warranty run out before getting something broken repaired for free.

Second, what you're describing sounds like maybe the "scroll right" command is stuck on. To test: Get a window with a right-left scrollbar open behind the main window; move the mouse pointer over the background window without clicking it or bringing it to the front. If it immediately starts scrolling back there, then that's what's happening. Arrow keys or any other interface things I can think of wouldn't do this.

Two possible causes, assuming that's what's going on: If your mouse has a left-right scroll feature (for example, an Apple mouse with the ball, or Logitech mice with the tilting scroll wheel), the sensor/button that detects right scrolling could be stuck. Easy to test--unplug the mouse (or turn it off) and see if it keeps happening. If so, not the mouse; if not, must be the mouse.

Alternately, and more likely, since your trackpad is apparently malfunctioning anyway, it could be detecting a two-finger swipe to the right--which would do what you're seeing--even though you're not touching it.

Again, the fix would be to take it to Apple and have them repair it under warranty.

Just to rule out software on both of these problems, you could try booting into the installer on the disc that came with the computer and seeing if you can click normally there (not sure if there are any left-right scrollable windows in the utilities on the install disc to test the scrolling).

 

[Mal]

Just a note, on a lot of MacBooks with the no-click scenario, I found that a swollen battery was the issue. Of course, the same solution mentioned by the previous poster applies: take it to Apple.

jW

 

[kiwisoda]

Thanks so much for your help. I fixed the problem (or so I thought) by turning off the touch pad completely. That fixed it from when I posted originally until just now...

Sending it to apple was my first thought. I took it to Best Buy's Geek Squad as soon as I noticed the no-click problem, but they said it'll be at least a month before I could get my computer back. I'm a full time college student... That really needs to be avoided if at all possible.

But again. Thank you very much for your responses!

 

[Makosuke]

Apple will turn it around MUCH faster than that--normally it takes ~2-3 days plus shipping both directions (I think Apple pays for FedEx 2 day usually), faster if you have a local Apple store to bring it in to. Normally I'd count on having it away from you for a week or so, not much longer. If you've gotten it working temporarily, you could of course wait until classes are over for the semester, but don't forget to get it repaired before your warranty expires.

Also don't forget to back up everything before you bring/send it in--there's no guarantee your files will be there when it comes back, so having a restorable image ready is a necessity, even if you don't end up needing it.