Mouse Pointer Lost Switching from MS-DOS-Based Application (85390)

This article was previously published under Q85390

If you are running Microsoft Windows in 386 enhanced mode and losing the mouse pointer when switching to or from MS-DOS-based applications, then change Device Contention for the communications port to Never Warn.

Steps to Change Device Contention

1. Run Control Panel.
2. Choose the 386 Enhanced icon.
3. Highlight the COM port being used for the mouse (COM1 or COM2) and select Never Warn.

This is equivalent to adding the line Com1AutoAssign=0 to the SYSTEM.INI file's [386enh] section.

For more information on this setting, refer to page 247 of the "Microsoft Windows User's Guide," or page 195 of the "Microsoft Windows Resource Kit" guide.