I know you want at new computer, but the mouse thing . . . I'm looking at a naughty mouse on my desk. It's been there a year or so. It's a Logitech Laser mouse and was quite good, until it started spitting out pulses all by itself.
So, some software will respond to this stream, and other stuff won't. It would 'Pick' things uninvited and generally titter with glee at my angst.