my little red pointer in the keyboard went crazy and isnt working. i have an external mouse that works fine, but when restarting the computer, i still get the 8611 error (saying my built in mouse control isnt working) and wont let me get to my desktop. i have to restart it like 100 times before i dont get the 8611 error. what can i do? thanks.

Look at the device manager and the event viewer for starters. That should point you in the right direction.

The 8611 error is generated by the thinkpad motherboard, and has nothing at all to do with Whenhozed or device manager. Here's at least one hit on Google: http://www.lemoncube.com/347.html BE CAREFUL if you try the above, it envolves hacking the bios, and can be dangerous. I would try (oh WHAT IS THE MODEL) going to IBM, download the manuals--user and "hardware maintenance" and pull loose the keyboard. Unplug and "replug" the keyboard flex cable a time or two to see if the keyboard connector is dirty. If not, you probably need to replace the keyboard. To my knowledge, the average person cannot replace or repair just the trackpoint.

the laptop is an old 600x that gets used for misc purposes only, so i dont want to replace the keyboard, id just like to find out how to disable the red pointer so it will start up without errors. thanks.

Well I told you how. get on Google. Type in Thinkpad, "error 8611"

yeah, great. and how do you think i found this? thanks.

No reason to get beligerant. You aren't getting the answer you want so you get nasty. Remember that the responses here are all done by fellow users and are strickly voluntary. Please be respectful of those who are trying to help you! best of luck Frank :