Restore missing mouse pointer cursor files

How to restore the missing mouse pointer cursor files?

Issue: 

How to restore the missing mouse pointer cursor files?

Symptoms: 

When you try to change mouse pointers scheme, you may receive a string of error messages indicating that the mouse pointer cursor files are missing or corrupted. This happens if

some or all of the *.CUR or *.ANI files are missing in the Windows\Cursors folder.

Totally 184 (*.cur and *.ani) cursor files ship with Windows XP by default, and are available
in compressed format in the Windows XP CD-ROM.

Solution:

To extract ALL the *.cur and *.ani files, insert the Windows XP CD-ROM in the drive and type
these lines in the Command Prompt:

• Expand X:\i386\*.CU_ -r C:\Windows\Cursors
• Expand X:\i386\*.AN_ -r C:\Windows\Cursors

Note

• Where X:\ is the CD-ROM drive-letter

• _ is not a space, but an explicit "Underscore"

Change the target path if Windows is installed in a different folder/drive. Now all the
mouse pointer / icons should be restored.