PinPoint utility equivalent for Windows?

[R. Mansfield]

Does anyone know of a Windows equivalent for the Mac utility PinPoint that puts a circle around your mouse pointer? I often use PinPoint when leading webinars or training seminars on my Mac. I’ll be using my ThinkPad for the training seminar at Westminster this weekend, so I’d like to have something that would make my mouse pointer easier to follow.

[Michel Gilbert]

Hey Rick,

 

There used to be an option in the Control Panel, Mouse Properties, to show the mouse when you hold down the Ctrl key. It would show a yellow circle around the cursor. Not sure it that will help, just a suggestion.

 

Regards,

 

Michel

[R. Mansfield]

Thanks. I’ll check it out.

[Michel Gilbert]

https://dottech.org/13949/how-to-find-your-mouse-cursor-after-you-have-lost-it/

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

MPSeminars (who does the training for the other major Bible study app) sells ClickTricks which I think can do this and more. It also allows drawing on the screen, etc. It seems to work well on traditional Windows machines. It didn't work too well when I had a Surface Book due to the funky DPI on those.

[R. Mansfield]

15 hours ago, Nathan Parker said:

MPSeminars (who does the training for the other major Bible study app) sells ClickTricks which I think can do this and more. It also allows drawing on the screen, etc. It seems to work well on traditional Windows machines. It didn't work too well when I had a Surface Book due to the funky DPI on those.

 

Yeah, the interface for ClickTricks is horrible. I actually threw away the CD I got it on the other day when I was going through some old stuff.

 

By the way, I made that original post above when I was using a Windows laptop for my main travel (for work) device. With very little travel over the last two years, I ended up replacing the Thinkpad with an M1 MacBook Pro. I run the ARM version of Windows on it in Parallels, and Pinpoint, when turned on via the Mac side of things works just as well in Windows 11.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

Nice! By the way, how has Windows 11 been? Wondering if I should use Windows 10 or 11 for my Windows VM for Accordance.

[R. Mansfield]

9 hours ago, Nathan Parker said:

Nice! By the way, how has Windows 11 been? Wondering if I should use Windows 10 or 11 for my Windows VM for Accordance.

 

I've had no issues, including no issues with the ARM version. Keep in mind that Windows is not my primary OS, although I am usually in it every day. Personally, I prefer to use the most current version of any OS (at least a couple of revs past the initial release) because it receives the most support attention. I have Win 11 in Parallels on my MBP, but unfortunately, I cannot upgrade my Win 10 install in Parallels on my iMac to Win 11. I would if I could. I could install fresh, but it's not upgradeable as is. First time  I've ever run into this in Parallels.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

Sounds good. I'll see if I can get 11 working on my machine. If not, I may be stuck with 10 for a while myself. I've heard trying to upgrade VMs from 10 to 11 are a pain on all VM technologies and generally requires a clean install. Windows 11 has been a little funky with that.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

I managed to get a Windows 11 VM spun up using the Bypass Secure Boot and TPM Check registry key changes. I tossed it and went back to a Windows 10 VM for now since Windows 10 still seems to have a little better performance on VMs at the moment. In 2025, I can see what I need to do. Much could happen before then (Jesus could return, etc.).

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

By the way Rick, how are you able to install PinPoint on a Mac now? It’s disappeared from my purchases on the Mac App Store.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

Rick, are you using Doceri at all between a Mac and iPad? I’ve used it in the past. Trying to decide if it’s worth bringing back. Thanks!

[Erhard]

There are some mouse pointer options in settings - devices - mouse - adjust mouse and cursor size (top right)

you can make the pointer quite large and Red or any other colour you want. It should be quite easy to see that way.

[R. Mansfield]

On 7/23/2022 at 7:13 PM, Nathan Parker said:

By the way Rick, how are you able to install PinPoint on a Mac now? It’s disappeared from my purchases on the Mac App Store.

 

Right now, I have it installed on my iMac and MBP, but I do notice that as you said, it's no longer in the app store. And the website seems to be gone. I get a "Can't find the server" error.

 

On 7/27/2022 at 8:20 PM, Nathan Parker said:

Rick, are you using Doceri at all between a Mac and iPad? I’ve used it in the past. Trying to decide if it’s worth bringing back. Thanks!

 

I don't think I've ever heard of it. Or if I did, it wasn't memorable!

 

37 minutes ago, Erhard said:

There are some mouse pointer options in settings - devices - mouse - adjust mouse and cursor size (top right)

you can make the pointer quite large and Red or any other colour you want. It should be quite easy to see that way.

 

True. Really, it's not an issue for me anymore. For a while, I was using a ThinkPad running Windows for travel for conferences and training seminars. I eventually went back to a MacBook Pro running Parallels so that I could demo both Mac and Windows version of the software. And Pinpoint, when loaded, worked for both. 

 

Of course, now, I no longer have the ThinkPad; and even if I did, I no longer work for Accordance. So no immediate need. But if it comes up again as a need for Windows, independent of a Mac, I'll explore the Windows mouse cursor options. 

[ScottDF]

@R. Mansfield, on Windows, there is the built-in mouse pointer finder. In Mouse Properties, on the Pointer Options tab, at the bottom, select Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key, and then select OK. There will be a brief animation that does well to draw attention to the pointer. 

[mgvh]

I realize this was a revival of an old thread, but for Windows I use either:

this free app:

https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/mouse-pointer-highlight/9P7SB9S4RQ7Z?hl=en-us&gl=us

Or this free microsoft app:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/zoomit

 

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

Dr. J demoed Doceri in an earlier Accordance podcast. I tried it a while back, but I can’t remember if it was worth using or not.

 

PinPoint seems to be gone. If anyone finds an alternative for it, let me know!