4 ms·

This reminds me of how in Windows 95, installers would complete quicker if you constantly moved the mouse, but would take longer if it was still.

HelloUsername 2y ago
Related: 155 points - 25.May.2009 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=625957 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=625957 493 points 4.Jan.2014 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7011228 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7011228
ToucanLoucan 2y ago
I KNEW IT. SWEET VINDICATION.
dgfitz 2y ago
I discovered a bug in a microsoft software installer where it would hang unless you moved the mouse over the progress bar. Discovered this when trying to use a java api to make silent installers for programs that didn't have them. The solution was to use the java api to move the mouse back and forth over the progress bar.
- SteveNuts 2y ago
  >The solution was to use the java api to move the mouse back and forth over the progress bar. And I thought browsers highjacking the scrollbar was bad!
  - dgfitz 2y ago
    Ha nah, the whole goal was unattended installs. Nobody felt hijacked except me for wasting so much time.
- znpy 2y ago
  > The solution was to use the java api to move the mouse back and forth over the progress bar. Oh the memories of playing with java.awt.Robot...
  - dgfitz 2y ago
    Nailed it.
- yndoendo 2y ago
  Currently use AutoIT and InnoSetup for installation wrappers those that don't have installers with silent support or have the ability to automate the settings. This is where BSD and Linux shine compared to Windows! Scripting and automation is built-in with the ladders and greatly lacking in the former.
  - ChoGGi 2y ago
    It's an awkward latter to climb indeed.
redundantly 2y ago
Still happens for Disk Cleanup, in a way. It can get stuck at parts, and it might finish but the window doesn't go away until you hover the mouse above it.
- ale42 2y ago
  Observed the same, it's very annoying. I start a script to image the VM (which among others does disk cleanup before finally handing over to sysprep)... and sometimes I find the unattended VM hours later still waiting for me to move the mouse over the window.
yial 2y ago
I had an issue like this once installing windows 2000. If you didn’t move the mouse during the installation, it would hang and fail. Finally got it to install by sitting there moving the mouse.
- dijit 2y ago
  Wow, I had that exact same issue before. I wonder what the cause is/was. I'm aware that old PS/2 connectors would interrupt, vs being polled like USB.
  - ahartmetz 2y ago
    USB only polls at the USB protocol level - it signals activity to the host with interrupts like a normal person^W device.
Bluecobra 2y ago
I seem to recall this causing buffer overruns/bad CD-Rs if you did this with the old 1x/2x CD burners.
OptionOfT 2y ago
The opposite happens in CMD on Windows, at least in the past. Applications that wrote a lot to the logscreen were slowed down by it. While writing to stdout is buffered, it seems that the rendering itself runs in the same thread as the application. Making a selection freezes the terminal and this stops the rendering, allowing the application to run much faster. Removing the selection (by pressing escape) rerendered the window (and the buffer), and it went back to its original slowness.
- cr__ 2y ago
  Back in the day making a selection would actually freeze the process in some cases.
  - TowerTall 2y ago
    To this day I still attempt never to click inside a running cmd / powershell console. Too many times script execution has been halted by this. It is probably something that has been fixed long time ago but I am still a bit paranoid about it.
    - raxxorraxor 2y ago
      It isn't a bug, you could actually toggle this behavior. Don't know how the option was called and cannot find it in Windows 11. But it certainly was still there in the latest Win10 build. I think it was called something like quick edit or similar.
  - junon 2y ago
    Still does in CMD.exe
  - dimava 2y ago
    I guess it is intentional, otherwise you couldn't select and copy stuff at all
- raxxorraxor 2y ago
  There is even an option to change the behavior so that the window doesn't freeze if you select anything. Batches freeze completely when you clicked anywhere and I found out the hard way. Probably some feature that John requested because he couldn't read some output quickly enough. I don't understand how this can be the default behavior.
m463 2y ago
sounds like a job for a usb mouse-jiggler

HelloUsername 2y ago

Related: 155 points - 25.May.2009 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=625957 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=625957 493 points 4.Jan.2014 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7011228 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7011228

ToucanLoucan 2y ago

I KNEW IT. SWEET VINDICATION.

dgfitz 2y ago

I discovered a bug in a microsoft software installer where it would hang unless you moved the mouse over the progress bar. Discovered this when trying to use a java api to make silent installers for programs that didn't have them. The solution was to use the java api to move the mouse back and forth over the progress bar.

SteveNuts 2y ago
>The solution was to use the java api to move the mouse back and forth over the progress bar. And I thought browsers highjacking the scrollbar was bad!
- dgfitz 2y ago
  Ha nah, the whole goal was unattended installs. Nobody felt hijacked except me for wasting so much time.
znpy 2y ago
> The solution was to use the java api to move the mouse back and forth over the progress bar. Oh the memories of playing with java.awt.Robot...
- dgfitz 2y ago
  Nailed it.
yndoendo 2y ago
Currently use AutoIT and InnoSetup for installation wrappers those that don't have installers with silent support or have the ability to automate the settings. This is where BSD and Linux shine compared to Windows! Scripting and automation is built-in with the ladders and greatly lacking in the former.
- ChoGGi 2y ago
  It's an awkward latter to climb indeed.

redundantly 2y ago

Still happens for Disk Cleanup, in a way. It can get stuck at parts, and it might finish but the window doesn't go away until you hover the mouse above it.

ale42 2y ago
Observed the same, it's very annoying. I start a script to image the VM (which among others does disk cleanup before finally handing over to sysprep)... and sometimes I find the unattended VM hours later still waiting for me to move the mouse over the window.

yial 2y ago

I had an issue like this once installing windows 2000. If you didn’t move the mouse during the installation, it would hang and fail. Finally got it to install by sitting there moving the mouse.

dijit 2y ago
Wow, I had that exact same issue before. I wonder what the cause is/was. I'm aware that old PS/2 connectors would interrupt, vs being polled like USB.
- ahartmetz 2y ago
  USB only polls at the USB protocol level - it signals activity to the host with interrupts like a normal person^W device.

Bluecobra 2y ago

I seem to recall this causing buffer overruns/bad CD-Rs if you did this with the old 1x/2x CD burners.

OptionOfT 2y ago

The opposite happens in CMD on Windows, at least in the past. Applications that wrote a lot to the logscreen were slowed down by it. While writing to stdout is buffered, it seems that the rendering itself runs in the same thread as the application. Making a selection freezes the terminal and this stops the rendering, allowing the application to run much faster. Removing the selection (by pressing escape) rerendered the window (and the buffer), and it went back to its original slowness.

cr__ 2y ago
Back in the day making a selection would actually freeze the process in some cases.
- TowerTall 2y ago
  To this day I still attempt never to click inside a running cmd / powershell console. Too many times script execution has been halted by this. It is probably something that has been fixed long time ago but I am still a bit paranoid about it.
  - raxxorraxor 2y ago
    It isn't a bug, you could actually toggle this behavior. Don't know how the option was called and cannot find it in Windows 11. But it certainly was still there in the latest Win10 build. I think it was called something like quick edit or similar.
- junon 2y ago
  Still does in CMD.exe
- dimava 2y ago
  I guess it is intentional, otherwise you couldn't select and copy stuff at all
raxxorraxor 2y ago
There is even an option to change the behavior so that the window doesn't freeze if you select anything. Batches freeze completely when you clicked anywhere and I found out the hard way. Probably some feature that John requested because he couldn't read some output quickly enough. I don't understand how this can be the default behavior.

m463 2y ago

sounds like a job for a usb mouse-jiggler