mouse problems

[Guest]

about a week ago I started having problems with my mouse the pointer will
freeze but the mouse is still movable and invisible - it can still highlight
things and double click on them but you can't see the mouse restarting fixes
for awhile this happens in both user files and during games

I bought a new mouse and ran all the window checks and virus scan but have
not found any way to fix this

 

[Sharon F]

about a week ago I started having problems with my mouse the pointer will
freeze but the mouse is still movable and invisible - it can still highlight
things and double click on them but you can't see the mouse restarting fixes
for awhile this happens in both user files and during games

I bought a new mouse and ran all the window checks and virus scan but have
not found any way to fix this

Sometimes cursor or mouse problems are a side effect of a display driver
problem. The display driver may be damaged or it may need to be updated.
One quick way to test if this is the issue, is to lower hardware
acceleration. If the problem subsides, then the display driver is the
problem.

To lower hardware acceleration, right click the desktop and select
Properties. When the display control panel appears, click the Advanced
button on the Settings tab. On the next screen that appears, click the
Troubleshoot tab. Move the slider down a notch or two. Click OK. Restart.
Then test the mouse. Repeat if necessary until the mouse problem goes away.

When/if a new display driver is available, reinstate hardware acceleration.
Install the new driver. Test to see if mouse problem returns.

 

[Guest]

Sometimes cursor or mouse problems are a side effect of a display driver
problem. The display driver may be damaged or it may need to be updated.
One quick way to test if this is the issue, is to lower hardware
acceleration. If the problem subsides, then the display driver is the
problem.

To lower hardware acceleration, right click the desktop and select
Properties. When the display control panel appears, click the Advanced
button on the Settings tab. On the next screen that appears, click the
Troubleshoot tab. Move the slider down a notch or two. Click OK. Restart.
Then test the mouse. Repeat if necessary until the mouse problem goes away.

When/if a new display driver is available, reinstate hardware acceleration.
Install the new driver. Test to see if mouse problem returns.

Dear Sharon F,
Thank you, thank you, thank you.... I have been having mouse cursor display
problems and other associated display problems for 24hrs, going wild, and
finding nothing on Google, but your advice to lower hardware acceleration has
worked. What I don't understand is how this suddenly happened. I had a
crash, then an ati2dvag warning, so downloaded new display driver from ATI,
but if new, and supposedly superior to their previous driver, why this
problem? You suggest waiting for new driver and then trying uping the
acceleration, but what I downloaded was the new driver?

But, many thanks,

Colin Sanderson

 

[Sharon F]

Dear Sharon F,
Thank you, thank you, thank you.... I have been having mouse cursor display
problems and other associated display problems for 24hrs, going wild, and
finding nothing on Google, but your advice to lower hardware acceleration has
worked. What I don't understand is how this suddenly happened. I had a
crash, then an ati2dvag warning, so downloaded new display driver from ATI,
but if new, and supposedly superior to their previous driver, why this
problem? You suggest waiting for new driver and then trying uping the
acceleration, but what I downloaded was the new driver?

But, many thanks,

You're welcome, Colin. It's an old bit of advice that has worked in several
versions of Windows. I learned it from someone else originally but,
unfortunately, don't remember who.

Anyhow, new drivers contain fixes but they don't always fix all issues. All
I can suggest is to wait for the next release and try again.

There's other possible outside factors besides updating the video driver
(and reinstalling mouse drivers/mouse software) as well:

I use a trackball on my setup ... If my cursor starts wandering or lags, I
know that a cat hair has slipped into the well where the trackball rests.
Usually just removing the trackball, wiping it off and its receptacle fixes
things right up again.

Application conflicts.. Running a particular program or mix of programs can
create conflicts. In an effort to fix the conflict, various symptoms (such
as unresponsive mouse) occur.

If the symptoms are constant, go back checking connections, mouse drivers,
video drivers and so on.

But if the symptoms come and go, try a restart AND/OR try to determine what
programs are always running when the behavior occurs. Don't forget programs
running in the background. From here it becomes a process of elimination -
change the mix of running programs around to try to isolate the problem
maker(s). This scenario happened more with older Windows. It doesn't happen
as much in XP which tends to keep programs in their own separate processes
but a really cheesy bit of software could still muck up the works.

 

[Guest]

hi problem with my mouse is the arrow slids down the screen it is realy hard
to work with. help! tried all things suggested in here, same thing happens
with my wireless mouse hope someone can help me Kat

 

[Joe Wright]

hi problem with my mouse is the arrow slids down the screen it is realy hard
to work with. help! tried all things suggested in here, same thing happens
with my wireless mouse hope someone can help me Kat

I saw a lady holding the mouse sideways.. it was difficult for her to
move the mouse across the screen without it slipping downwards.