WPO: Flashing Insertion Point (cursor) disappears after a few seconds

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Symptoms:

The flashing insertion point bar disappears after a few seconds of inactivity

Cause:

This is a feature in Windows. It helps to conserve battery in laptops and other battery powered devices. However, if battery life is not a concern, this article can be used cause the insertion point to continue flashing.

Resolution:

Save any unsaved work, close any open programs. A restart of the computer is required to activate this change:

  1. Press WinKey + R to open the Windows Run prompt:
    Windows Run DIalog
  2. Enter the following command (or copy/paste it) into the Run dialog:
    reg add "HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop" /v CaretTimeout /t REG_DWORD /d 0xFFFFFFFF /F
  3. Once the command is entered, (underlined in green), click on OK:
    Run dialog with command typed in, ready to click OK (OK is boxed in Red)
  4. Restart your computer

 

Note, if you wish to restore your original settings, repeat the above steps, but change the command in step to as follows:
reg add "HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop" /v CaretTimeout /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00001338 /F

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