Mouse pointer disappears upon launch; can't start demo

[THWIP71]

I saw a couple threads concerning a similar issue (yes, I used the Search function), but no resolutions were offered from Tech Support for any of them. Hopefully I'll have better luck (and service).

So, I've checked all drivers (fully updated), tried different resolutions, messed with mouse settings, yada, yada, yada. Plain and simple: this game renders my PC useless, by hijacking my mouse, forcing me to do a hard shutdown on my PC (which I HATE doing). I can't even shut down the demo via TaskManager, because my mouse is still inoperable while ATDD is still running.

The issue seems to happen AFTER I proceed from the setup menu, and actually launch the game. After that point, no more mouse....and no way to proceed beyond the profile creation screen (got to that point by advancing through the screens with ESC).

I've NEVER had this happen before with any other game, so I'm in the dark here. Any help would be appreciated...ESPECIALLY from FG staff.

BTW, I got the demo from bigdownloads.com....NOT Steam (I've learned my lesson from messing with Steam).


EDIT: O.K., so I FINALLY found a windowed-mode that was tolerable (1176 x 664 :o ), and I can at least see my pointer now, and start the game. HOWEVER, the mouse/camera is stuck looking at the floor, and I can only spin in circles when I try to look around.....so the game is STILL unplayable. LOL....what a buggy mess.