Cursor keeps drawing boxes, can't click on desktop icons
I can't move the cursor without it drawing a box and I'm unable to open desktop icons. I've employed force quit to close out all running applications however, this leaves me with the force quit application dialogue box stuck open and unable to click on anything else. Shutting down or restarting has had no effect. I did manage to confirm that the battery status is now at change soon. Is this the source of the problem ?
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.8)