>I am having trouble with the pointer when operating in the response area when replying to a message.
>
>The pointer remains a pointer and does not change to an 'insertion bar' in the lower part of the edit area. The area affected seems to be arbitrary, though I gues it has to do with the existing content.
>
>This makes it harder to edit stuff and so is a pain.
>
>I have NOT changed IE or the OS (XP-Home) in several days and this only started this evening.

I don't experience this behavior. Can you elaborate more about it and what browser you are using? I assume you have restarted the browser, clear cache, reboot or even tried on another PC to see if this was affected by only once PC.