Mouse posessed

[GT]

Dell Inspiron 4000 laptop with WinME. Mouse cursor has started moving
(slowly) across the screen on its own. We normally use the PC with an
external mouse, but the problem is the same with or without it. We have
'googled' and found mention of mobile phones interfering and mouse mats
being at fault, but moving the mobile phone away doesn't help.

Any ideas / suggestions / similar experiences?

 

[kony]

Dell Inspiron 4000 laptop with WinME. Mouse cursor has started moving
(slowly) across the screen on its own. We normally use the PC with an
external mouse, but the problem is the same with or without it. We have
'googled' and found mention of mobile phones interfering and mouse mats
being at fault, but moving the mobile phone away doesn't help.

Any ideas / suggestions / similar experiences?

I'd wonder if the (touchpad?) is failing and if out of other
ideas, disassemble the laptop enough to unplug the touchpad,
leave the external mouse plugged in and start up the
laptop... making sure the disconnected ribbon cable is
isolated so it can't short out anything.

 

[don]

Yep, this is a common problem on this series of laptops.
Time to get a new one.