Mouse freezing computer - A solution

I've been struggling with the mouse freezing my computer since March 2004.

I've read an incredible amount of material on this topic and have tried almost all of the suggestions on this and other sites. I regularly run SpyBot, Spyware Blaster, Ad-aware, AVG and Symantec. I've deleted the Cookies, History and Temp folders to no avail (I fortunately backed-up Cookies on a floppy diskette) and I’ve restored the Win98SE System files except those that could have been changed by MS Updates. I've gone through the MSConfig/Start-up suggestions. I've updated drivers and have run RegClean and ScanReg /opt and /fix. I've cleaned the accumulated dust from the CPU fans and reseated cards etc. None of the above has made a noticeable difference in the incidence of the computer freezing and eradicated the problem.

I was at the point of taking the big step of wiping the HDD (with WD-Clear) and starting from scratch at square one.

But. Yesterday I came across the following:
Right click My Computer. Click Properties. Click the Performance Tab.
Under Advanced Settings, click Graphics which displays the following window:
Advanced Graphics Settings:
"These settings control how Windows uses your Graphics Hardware. They can help you trouble-shoot display-related problemsâ€.

It then displays a "˜Hardware Acceleration’ scale:
[None . . . . Full] and a movable pointer

Full:
All accelerator functions. Use this setting if your computer has no problems.

One stop left of Full:
Most accelerator functions. Use this setting to correct PROBLEMS WITH
THE MOUSE POINTER. BINGO!!!

Two stops left of full:
Basic accelerator functions. Use this setting ................etc. etc.

None:
No accelerator functions. Use this setting ....................etc.

Yes, 'One stop left of Full' does slow screen activity down a little but it is a joy compared to the aggravation of re-booting and losing what one has been working on umpteen times in a session. What a relief to be able to confidently drag the mouse pointer across the screen again - sometimes just touching the mouse used to freeze the computer.

This is working for me and there is no guarantee that it will work in every case but it's worth a try.

This solution of course does not address the underlying cause why one or more of the computer components can no longer operate successfully at full graphics acceleration.
But that is for another time. For now, I’m happy.

 

Hi Aubrey Little, Thanks for sharing your experience with us - admire your
patience and resolve !
The symptoms you describe with the mouse are, oddly enough, caused not
usually by the mouse itself, but by your graphics card, it's drivers or age.
If the problem returns,or you want more response from your mouse, you might like to consider relacing the card or updating it's drivers from the manufacturers website.
regards and welcome to the board

 

I would agree with merlin. You should see if there is a video driver update available. The accelerator functions are for your video card and that's where the problem is. There's no guarantee a driver update will fix it but it's quite possible.

 

I had the same problem quite some time ago on my 98SE machine.

The fix posted by Aubrey Little worked.

As Zander suggested I tried updating Video drivers. As he also stated it did not work ( the first time )

I then removed the video drivers and reset the video back to standard VGA 640x480 and then updated drivers and it did work. It has been set a FULL ever since.

BillyBob

 

I have not had a mouse/computer freeze since I reduced the Graphics Accelerator as described in my original posting on October 20th (this is down from 10 - 15 freezes a day).
Never content to leave well enough alone, last weekend I carried-out the procedure described by BillyBob. Reset the Graphics Accelerator to Full (kept all ten fingers crossed) and what ho! - Look Ma, no freezing.
Many thanks for your comments and suggestions.

Aubrey Little

 

Thank you for the good news.

BillyBob

 

Ahhh...good stuff.
One thing I might add is regarding motherboard/chipset drivers. These are very important for some PCs. If you are installing Windows for the first time or just doing a fresh install, install the motherboard/chipset drivers straight after Windows itself, then the video drivers, then install your other drivers/updates. Trying to install later may be a headache.

Congrats to all of you
Matt