Mouse pointer "jump to" (default button) function

I have a problem that I've never experienced before in XP, Vista and Windows 7. I have researched the problem but the only thing I can find is how to turn on and turn off the "jump to" default button pointer setting. In the past, the jump to feature worked as intended but appx. two weeks ago I started having this problem. We all know how the function works and the fact that it will not work with all default buttons, which is good. Here's the current situation: the pointer still goes to the window in which the default button is located but instead of landing on the button the pointer goes to the upper left corner or mid-left side of the window. I haven't installed any software lately that would cause such a thing to happen and I haven't made any changes. The problem occurs in both my user account and my wife's user account, mine being an Administrator account and hers being a Stanard account. My Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard software is up to date and the current driver is installed. I have not changed/updated the driver in the software. I have uninstalled, rebooted, reinstalled and rebooted to no avail. The mouse settings are properly set to enable the jump.

I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 on a Dell XPS-17 L702X laptop. All updates are current. This is not a widespread problem because I can't find any discussions related to the problem although I've searched the Internet for hours. I simply don't understand it. I can't take a screen shot using Paint as the mouse pointer arrow doesn't show and I can't take a window snip because I have to move the pointer arrow to initiate the snip in the snipping tool window. However, I have taken a window snip and circled the two spots where the pointer arrow most often lands, which as you can see is not on the default button.

Thank you for your time and any assistance provided.

Edit: I have no idea where this post ended up. I selected "Software" when I created the post but I can't find it there or anywhere else. Could a moderator please place this post in the proper area of the forum? Thank you.

It's not solved, but I'm going to mark it as solved.

I have the same exact problem now.

All of the sudden, I've got two pointers showing up on my screen. The "real" pointer is showing up to the upper left of the box or window, while a phantom pointer lands on the button directly.

If I press enter, I get a warning bell, and then I have to physically move the offset pointer to the button. The phantom pointer disappears as soon as I move the off-setted pointer to the correct position.

I'm running Vista on a HP Pavillion laptop.

Any help or workarounds would be welcomed ...badly.