Mad Mouse!

[BOAC]

W2000 Pro: Every now and then (after a longish session on-line), my mouse goes mad:confused:

Nothing untoward showing in Task Manager but it zips around the screen all on its own, clicking here and there. It once moved my Taskbar up to the side.

I've got an AV running + firewall and run 'Trend' frequently with nothing showing. Where do I start looking (and do I need a cat?:D )

[Saab Dastard]

If you are very impatient while surfing it might just be the mouse buffer catching up!

You can sometimes get these problems with wireless mice - see manufacturer's site for troubleshooting.

But if it something more sinister, try opening up the Task Manager to see what processes are running (and using resources) when that happens. Take particular note of any that are running under under your user ID. Let us know what's running and if it's safe to kill the process.

Run Ad-aware and / or Spybot.

Search Google for symptoms of the problem.

SD

[BOAC]

SD - thanks for the response. Forgive the ignorance, but how do I check what is running 'under my user i/d'? Have done the rest.

Tonight there has been no problem - so far!

[BOAC]

MJ - I m ok with task manager (see above) - it was the 'under my user id' I was not familiar with - can stuff be running any other way? Wondering if a mouse re-install might be the easiest option?

[Saab Dastard]

BOAC,

Sorry I didn't elaborate further - in Task Manager, there's a tab for Processes, and when you look at the owner of the process, you will see that it is usually either "System" or the logged-in user.

If a strange process is running under your user ID, then you should be able to kill it without causing too many issues if it turns out to be benign.

It is more likely that any sinister things are running under your user ID than system.

SD

[BOAC]

SD - ta for that - I was a bit puzzled as that option is not there but it looks as if I need to install 'terminal services' (undertakers?:D ) to get it? Bit of homework, methinks!

[Saab Dastard]

BOAC,

My apologies, I've only just read the first line of your first post - the bit where you say that you are running Windows 2000...:O

I'm referring to Win XP.

:O

[BOAC]

Nae probs, SD.
This is really weird - I have been doing 'a serious bit' of peer-to-peer downloading these last few days and the mouse has just gone wild again - cannot control it, it clicks all over the place, opening and closing things, and when I manage to WRESTLE the machine to task Manager there is nothing I can see running? Then all is peace and tranquility again.

[FJJP]

With W2K my trackball sometimes does peculiar things. Occasionally, it will stick at the right side, or the up down slows to virtually zero movement. I unplug it and plug it back in again, and that sorts it out every time! Re-loading the software doesn't fix. I wonder what can cause that? And is it the same fault?

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

BOAC,

If you have an optical mouse, the incorrect mousing surface will cause the issue you described.

Take Care,

Richard