After weeks of pain, dealing with the fact that my mouse (external, trackpad or pointer) stopped working in Word 2007 and Outlook 2007 after a random amount of time after launching, and having have tried a myriad of “solutions”, I finally came across the relevant and final solution to the problem.

While performing my research into this issue, it struck me as interesting and odd that a great number of posts made mention of the hardware where this issue occurred and it was consistently a Lenovo Laptop.  Different models, but all Lenovo.  Guess what my hardware make is where these sweet problems where occurring?  Yeah, my new Lenovo W500.

If you own a Lenovo laptop running Windows 7 (any version, any platform), the problem is most likely NOT one of the common ones you may have already run across, that include:

• Delete the “Data” key from the registry key
• Reinstall Office/Change the Key
• Disable add-ons
• Launch the app by going the “Run as Administrator” route.

I tried all of the above, mostly in haste after running quick searches and implementing “quick fixes” in what I perceived to be the right way to approach the problem/solution given my limited amount of available time during my very busy and hectic schedule… wrong… I should have dug deeper, I should have persisted and I would have found the solution that ended being the relevant one that applied to my situation.

The real culprit: Lenovo’s Password Manager Utility.

Solutions:

Drastic: Remove, Uninstall, Wipe, Annihilate.
Less Drastic:

1. Open the “Password Vault” utility.  Either search for it, or click on the appropriate shortcut if available.
2. Click “Set Preferences”
3. Under “General” tab, uncheck “Enable Hot Keys”
4. Click “Ok”
5. Close
6. Reboot

That is the summary, for all the thread’s details and other noise, if you feel like it, go to the Microsoft Communities post itself.