Psychotic mouse...

[Heretic Apostate]

I bought a new computer about a month ago, and most things are okay (aside from not being able to play M.A.X.). However, the mouse is driving me insane.

I've got an optical mouse, and it tends to skip suddenly to the corner of the screen. I don't know why, and I don't know how to stop it. Is this something common for optical mouses, and/or Windows XP Pro?

Make it stop. Please, make it stop!!!

 

[reveal]

I bought a new computer about a month ago, and most things are okay (aside from not being able to play M.A.X.). However, the mouse is driving me insane.

I've got an optical mouse, and it tends to skip suddenly to the corner of the screen. I don't know why, and I don't know how to stop it. Is this something common for optical mouses, and/or Windows XP Pro?

Make it stop. Please, make it stop!!!

What kind of surface is the mouse on? Sometimes that can cause it to skip it the laser hits an uneven surface. If it's on a mousepad, try just putting it on the table.

Another thing to try is to make sure you have the latest drivers for that particular brand of mouse.

 

[Ferret]

Sounds like an uneven surface, but it must be quite rough; I had an envelop (with plastic bits) under my Optical mouse and it was fine.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Take if off your mouse pad!

 

[XCorvis]

It's not just uneven surfaces. If you have a repeating pattern on your mousepad sometimes the mouse will get confused about it's location - it's not sure how it moved, and it flicks the cursor across the screen. Try swapping mousepads or take it off the pad completely.

 

[devilish]

It's not just uneven surfaces. If you have a repeating pattern on your mousepad sometimes the mouse will get confused about it's location - it's not sure how it moved, and it flicks the cursor across the screen. Try swapping mousepads or take it off the pad completely.

Ditto. The surface should be monochromatic -- any photos or highly designed
mousepads and an optical mouse flips out.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Yep, it's probably the mouse pad. The mouse pads that Dell sends out with their pcs have a very sublte pattern in them, and it causes this behavior all the time with optical mice. Don't know if yours is a Dell, but the symptoms sounds the same, so try another mousepad, or no mousepad at all (opticals don't need a pad, just a flat, smooth area).

 

[Klaus]

Okay, how about this:

I got a non-optical mouse. Every now and then, the cursor goes Taz around the screen, repeatedly clicking like a machine gun in full auto mode for a couple of seconds.

Opinions?

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

I got a non-optical mouse. Every now and then, the cursor goes Taz around the screen, repeatedly clicking like a machine gun in full auto mode for a couple of seconds.

Opinions?

It's possessed. Burn it, say a few prayers, and get a new mouse.

Seriously, have you tried getting updated drivers for it? What OS are you using? What brand mouse? I used to have problems with a Microsoft mouse that sounds similar to what you are having (it would shoot to one side or the other at random intervals, but no clicking). I updated the driver, and that seemed to fix it. Then it died a few weeks later. Now I've got a Logitech Trackman Wheel, and will never go back to a standard mouse for my own PCs.

 

[Ranger REG]

Seriously, have you tried getting updated drivers for it? What OS are you using? What brand mouse? I used to have problems with a Microsoft mouse that sounds similar to what you are having (it would shoot to one side or the other at random intervals, but no clicking). I updated the driver, and that seemed to fix it. Then it died a few weeks later. Now I've got a Logitech Trackman Wheel, and will never go back to a standard mouse for my own PCs.

Does MS have the latest driver for their optical mouse? Heh.