Why is my mouse not functioning properly?

Answer 1

Based on your comment in the discussion (moving the mouse makes the cursor fly around the screen randomly and exhibit other odd behavior), it could be a driver issue but that is usually not the case since mice tend to work just fine with the driver installed by default within Windows. Now if you tried installing the specific software that came with the mouse, that could be the culprit. In that case, try removing that driver and just use the standard one from Windows.

You might also try using this mouse on another computer and see if it exhibits the same problems. If so, then you could have a bad mouse.

Something else to consider is whether this is a wireless mouse and, if so, where is the USB dongle located in regard to any power cords or other cables, speakers, or other such items. Anything that can put out a large magnetic or electromagnetic field can affect the operation of the mouse. Other things that can interfere with reception of the signal includes other computer equipment (network switch, flight simulator displays (such as I have in my computing environment), etc.), piles of dense material such as stacks of CDs/DVDs that are several inches tall, metal drink cups, and so forth.

Finally, once again if this is a cordless mouse, you might see if the battery is getting weak. When the battery is dying, the mouse doesn't properly track its movement and can misinterpret one "snapshot" of its movement from the previous and therefore make it think that it should move significant farther across the screen than it should have.

I hope all this helps. If you have any further questions or would like additional assistance in troubleshooting, let me know. If you happen to be in the northeast Kansas area and would like professional assistance from my company, drop me a line and I will be glad to set something up with you.

Update: Since I posted this answer a couple of months ago, I have had some other thoughts that might be relevant. First, if the mouse is a corded mouse, you might want to make sure that the connector is undamaged. In the days of old PS/2 mice (the ones that had the small round connectors), one or more of the really tiny and thin pins could get bent by improper alignment while being inserted into the jack and that most often caused the mouse not to work at all but would in some cases cause erratic behavior such as you have described. Nowadays with mice being only USB-attached devices, that is less common but it still may occur. Check to make sure the plastic blade inside the USB port and that inside the mouse connector are not loose, cracked, or otherwise damaged. If there is any such damage to the computer's port, use a different port (if one is available) or get a USB hub and start connecting your devices into it while plugging the hub into one of the undamaged ports on the computer. If it is the mouse that is damaged, replace the mouse.

Second, if the computer in question has a touchscreen, there are a couple of issues that could arise. At the top of the list is a conflict between the mouse driver and the touchscreen driver. Try disabling the touchscreen functionality and see if that resolves the problem. Next, make sure that the touchscreen is squeaky clean. I recently had an erratic mouse issue and it turned out that the problem was a very dirty screen in that it was covered with all sorts of brown gunk due to the client being a heavy smoker. (I used three paper towels and plenty of Windex to get all that goo cleaned off!) Once the screen was clean, both the touchscreen capability and the mouse worked normally.

Third, check the surface on which you are using the mouse. If you have not had this issue until recently and you have changed where you use your mouse, it could very well be the surface. For example, if you use an optical/laser mouse and you are working on a mirrored surface without a mousepad, then that could cause bizarre behavior because of the various paths that the light signal is taking to return to the mouse's sensor. If you are instead working on a very uniform surface, such as an untextured plastic surface of a uniform color, the mouse will have a hard time detecting which direction the mouse is moving due to its inability to see any variation in the surface pattern. This could cause the mouse not to move at first but then, when it does, it may jump wildly due to its perception of the change in its position. Use something that has a cloth surface or something else that gives a more noticeable (and trackable) variation while the mouse moves to see whether this could be an issue.

As always, let me know if I can be of any further assistance. I am always glad to help.

Answer 2

cuse youer lazer is disconnecting :P ((ithink))