Curer movement is irratic can anyone help?

[Newsgroup]

Hi,
Can anyone help with a problem I am having, the curser will drift to the
right or the left on it's own, is this due to a virus? or my settings.
Hope you can help.
Chris

 

[R. McCarty]

There was a documented error in a SP2 release candidate that
exhibited that behavior. According to MS, it was a problem with
the "Acceleration" function of mouse control. However, it was fixed
for the final release of SP2.

Is this a traditional "Ball" mouse or an optical one ? If optical they
are sensitive to the surface you mouse on (?). Try a different pad or
surface. To test, rest the mouse on a White sheet of paper and watch
for the mouse pointer to move on it's own.

Depending on which vendor mouse you have, you might check for
updated mouse drivers which might help resolve the issue.
Microsoft Mouse products has a new Intelipoint package at 5.2
Logitech Mouseware hasn't been updated in a good while, but I
believe their current package is 9.79

Microsoft has a Tech note on how to resolve this type of problem,
but it requires some detailed work in the Registry. Check the symptoms
carefully as this may not directly address your specific issue.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;321122
Don't undertake this process, unless you have a System image backup.
Try the other troubleshooting measures first and repost your results.

 

[David]

I just installed 5.2 yesterday on my 3 weeks old HP computer running XP
Home. The mouse STILL drifts on it's own, a few times per hour, on
average. It drifted from the moment I took the pc out of the box. HP
is sending me a new mouse (corded optical), but I doubt that will fix
it. Sometimes, it appears that there is some processes that cause the
mouse to start drifting, such as opening Device Manager. Sometimes the
mouse drifts to the left, slowly, until I move it, at which time the
drifting stops for anywhere from a few minutes, to more than an hour.
Other times the pointer shimmies back and forth at an upwards angle to
the left, followed by a reverse trip down and to the right (perfectly
retracing it's path, in reverse). I've turned off "Fast
Initialization", but the problem persists. With FI "ON", the problem is
more frequent.

Are you saying that SP2 will FIX this problem?

David

 

[Broomstick]

Other times the pointer shimmies back and forth at an upwards angle to the
left, followed by a reverse trip down and to the right (perfectly
retracing it's path, in reverse). I've turned off "Fast Initialization",
but the problem persists. With FI "ON", the problem is more frequent.

Are you saying that SP2 will FIX this problem?

I got that problem the first time right after installing SP2. The mouse
consistently drifted toward the upper left side.
Turning off "Fast Initialization" fixed it for me. YMMV. Never had that
with SP1.

 

[David]

If you get your problem resolved would you please post the solution?
I've got a new HP Pavilion with a mouse that is "possessed" several
times a day. It will drift either smoothly, or jumpily in a straight
line, and then sometimes retraces it's steps. If I move the mouse when
this happens, it resumes normal behavior. (It is a corded optical mouse)

David