Cursor going crazy

[Zomalik]

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone can help because I’ve spent hours troubleshooting this issue and I’m running out of ideas.

Laptop Information

• Model: HP Pavilion x360 14-ek1xxx
• Processor: Intel Core i7-1355U (13th Gen)
• Operating System: Windows 11 Home
• Purchased: December 2023
• Warranty: Expired January 2025

The laptop has never been dropped, had liquid spilled on it, or been roughly handled. I don’t use it heavily, mostly for browsing or studying.

The Problem

The issue started suddenly with no obvious trigger.

The mouse cursor begins moving randomly around the screen by itself and continuously clicks on random buttons, icons, applications, and windows. It also drags items, highlights text, and makes the laptop almost impossible to control.

The cursor does not keep moving to one specific corner or area of the screen. Instead, it jumps randomly all over the display while constantly clicking.

How the issue progresses

One thing I’ve noticed is a very unusual pattern.

If I leave the laptop completely powered off for several hours or overnight, the next time I turn it on it behaves normally for approximately 10–20 minutes before the problem starts.

However, once the problem begins, every restart makes it worse.

The amount of time before the cursor starts acting up becomes shorter after each reboot:

• First boot after the laptop has been off for several hours: approximately 10–20 minutes before the issue appears.
• After the first restart: only a few minutes.
• After additional restarts: less than one minute.
• Eventually the cursor begins moving and clicking almost immediately after reaching the Windows login screen (where you enter your password or PIN).

The problem does not begin during the HP logo. It only starts once Windows begins loading and reaches the login screen.

If I leave the laptop powered off again for several hours (or until the next day), the cycle repeats. It again works normally for about 10–20 minutes before eventually becoming unusable.

Symptoms

When the issue starts:

• Cursor moves randomly across the entire display.
• Continuously clicks random buttons.
• Opens applications.
• Drags windows.
• Highlights text.
• Selects random items.
• Makes normal use impossible.
• There is never even a brief pause once the ghost input begins.

BIOS

The BIOS appears completely stable.

I can stay inside the BIOS without seeing any random cursor movement or unwanted selections.

Because of this, I originally believed the issue was related to Windows or drivers.

HP Hardware Diagnostics

I then ran HP Hardware Diagnostics (F2).

Initially:

• System Board Test → Passed
• Pointer Test → Passed
• Drag and Drop Test → Passed

However, after remaining in HP Hardware Diagnostics for a short period of time, the exact same issue occurred.

The cursor suddenly started moving randomly by itself and I could no longer control it.

After that:

• The Pointer Test failed because the cursor became uncontrollable.
• The Keyboard Test initially failed, then passed when I ran it again.
• The System Board Test continued to pass.

Because HP Hardware Diagnostics runs outside of normal Windows, this made me question whether the issue is actually hardware rather than Windows.

Everything I have already tried

I have spent several hours troubleshooting and have already tried the following:

• Multiple restarts
• Hard shutdowns
• Embedded Controller (EC) reset
• Reset BIOS to default settings
• Verified Windows is fully updated
• Confirmed no recent Windows updates were installed immediately before the issue started
• Ran HP Hardware Diagnostics multiple times
• Retrieved my BitLocker Recovery Key

Drivers I disabled

To isolate the issue I disabled the following devices in Device Manager:

• HID-compliant touch screen
• Synaptics TPFHID Device
• Synaptics Precision Touchpad Filter Driver
• One I2C HID Device

Unfortunately, disabling these drivers did not permanently resolve the problem.

Additional observation

After resetting the BIOS to its default settings, I briefly saw a message containing the word “CMOS”, but it disappeared too quickly for me to read the full message.

I don’t know whether this is related or simply appeared because the BIOS settings had been reset.

Questions

Has anyone experienced this type of issue on an HP Pavilion x360?

Does this sound more like:

• Intel Serial IO / I2C controller
• Embedded Controller (EC)
• Touchpad hardware
• Touchscreen digitizer
• Touch controller
• Ribbon cable
• Motherboard
• Or another hardware fault?

The fact that the problem eventually reproduced inside HP Hardware Diagnostics makes me think it may not simply be a Windows or driver issue, but I would appreciate any advice before paying for a repair.