Random mouse events

Two computers on our network have started showing some odd mouse effects. On a 98 machine a load of shortcuts changed to 'copy of...' and the mouse pointer sometimes moves by itself, especially if it is near the top or bottom of the screen. On an XP machine when Outlook is opened it is very difficult to open a message as the back button is somehow activated without even touching the mouse. It's like they are possessed! Does this sound like a virus problem or a hardware issue?

Cheers

 

On the 98 machine:

Did those shortcuts change to "copy of" all by themselves without any human intervention? The reason I ask is, I've had that to happen when I would highlight several files & then my dumb finger would jerk & I'd accidentally doubleclick on a highlighted file & all of a sudden I'd have a pot load of "copy of" files.

However the mouse moving on it's own, does sound like possible virus activity, or some cursor controler intervention that got downloaded to the computer by a web page without your knowledge.

Run full system scan with updated Anti-Virus. Download & install Spybot S&D & then update it before running a scan. Download AdAware & install & configure it. See what they find.

Spybot S&D: http://spybot.safer-networking.de/index.php?lang=en&page=download

AdAware: http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/3000-2144-10186632.html?tag=lst-0-1

I am not familiar with XP, but it would seem that even XP shouldn't be doing what it is, so unless someone knows a reason why Spybot & AdAware should not be run on XP, which I believe they can be, I'd use them on it too. Plus run a full Anti-Virus scan.

I think networked computers are vulnerable to each others viruses. When one gets one, the other one usually does to, I believe.

Just some suggestions.

Post back with results. Good or Bad.

 

Thanks

Thanks Deloris - I'll check out your suggestions and get back with the results.

 

sherpa

while you are checking things, i would recommend a good anti-trojan tool, like TrojanHunter. the erractic mouse behavior you have described could be the result of a trojan server on your pc that has been contacted by a remote machine.

TrojanHunter has a "try it before you buy it" policy, and it is an easy program to install, configure and run. i use it and can attest to its superior performance.

reason i suggest running a trojan scan is that, as you may know, AVs are primarily designed to go after viruses. yes, they do detect some worms and some trojans, but not like a program that is dedicated to such detections.

i wholeheartedly concur with the good advice that deloris has given you, but just wanted to mention ATs.

hth



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