Posessed cursor (:>)

Hi, I have been experiencing this weird thing with my mouse cursor. This started about 4 months ago and I have since switched mice 3 times so I know it's not related to the actual mouse. What happens is that sometimes, the mouse cursor moves by itself usually to a corner of the screen or it goes back n' forth very quickly over the taskbar. I have McAfee for the virus + spyware scanner, and firewall & I have performed multiple scans since this started which returned 0 results.

I have Windows XP SP2 Home Ed, on a 2 year old Sony VAIO. No special mods or anything just the standard package/software.

This is really starting to **** me off by now, and I didn't get any helpful results from Googling, so does anybody know what this may be and/or how to fix this???

 

Hi and welcome to the BBS,

Have all 3 replacement "mice" been the same type? If they are, try a PS2 type, rather than a USB. Try a ball type rather than an optical (if you run an optical on a shiny surface, try using a matt surface).

If the Sony came with a mouse with special drivers, you may need to update the drivers or remove and reinstall them, so try uninstalling the drivers for the mouse in Device Manager and watch what drivers Windows installs when you reboot. If Windows installs some type of special drivers, you may need to "update" them back to standard drivers.
See if the Sony website has any updates for mouse drivers for your model (even look through the BIOS upgrade information, but only upgrade the BIOS if you run out of other options).

Matt

 

As strange as it may sound... sometimes your video drivers can cause this erratic mouse behaviour. Try updating your video drivers and see if there is any change.
Also (as Mattman suggested) if there are any specific mouse drivers, try updating those also. Is there special software that came with your mouse (mice, meese, oh my!), then try reinstalling that also. Just out of curiosity what kind/type of mouse is this?

B

 

thanks for the quick replies! The 1st was a ball mouse that came with my computer, the 2nd one was also a ball mouse from an older IBM pc. My current mouse is an optical logitech (UltraX).
Since they were all so different and this thing happened while using them I concluded that the problem wasn't with the mice. The 1st n' 2nd were PS2, the logitech one is connected thru USB.

As for the mouse drivers, there haven't been any updates since the original ones so that shouldn't be a problem too.

I think the problem may lay somewhere in the actual pc itself because from the mouse & to my eyes, that looks like the most likely place for the problem to occur (Graphics drivers, BIOS, etc)

I checked for any graphics related updates but there weren't any (that I didn't have).

The thing is, this problem started randomly because I remember quite cearly that I didn't make any changes back then (not even install/uninstalls).
I am going to try and find other possible new drivers, like for BIOS but if I don't, could this be caused by anything else?

 

Along the lines of the graphics, I wonder if it may have something to do with javascript. I might think so if it happens while you have your browser open.

If you think this may be a source, try upgrading at the Sun Java download site.

Have you connected/installed any other types of controllers like a joystick or steering controls? If so try uninstalling and/or upgrading their drivers.

I am not sure whether Win XP is the same as previous versions, try booting into Safe Mode and checking in Device Manager there. In previous versions old drivers would still be listed in Device Manager and could cause problems with current drivers.

Check there are no programs running that may effect the mouse. Run both Spybot and AdAware and maybe run an online virus check (see the stickies at the start of the Security forum) in case it may be a trojan not covered by your antivirus.

Matt

 

Thanks for your help, I tried everything, scanning, online scanning, and I even got a new antivirus.

I'm sure it's not Java script -related because it can happen at any random time.

But I'm intrigued about the "Safe Mode" solution. Should I compare the drivers of the devices listed when logged in normally with the ones I can find in Safe Mode?

 

Hi Lenev, sorry to hear you haven't had any luck.

Something just came to mind and I should mention it before I get involved in your last question. I think I remember a while ago, something about resetting lower or upper "filter drivers ", you need to delete a key or two in the registry. I cannot find any information at MS. Maybe PeteC might remember the thread if he reads this. Try a Google search with those terms and "mouse" (maybe I'm wrong and it refers to another piece of hardware ).

-------------------------------------------------
Safe Mode...
When you install hardware, Windows will install the drivers for it (obviously). When you upgrade or install a similar type of hardware, unless you have uninstalled the old drivers, new and old versions of driver files will be hanging around. Some hardware will only work with certain versions of the files (an example is the reason for the graphics files sticky at the start of this forum). If you go into Safe Mode, third party and other upper level drivers are not loaded. This is the best way to uninstall drivers because the files are not in use at the time. In the old versions of Windows you would find all your old hardware still listed in Device Manager and be able to uninstall them if you were having problems with the current hardware (best is to uninstall all, including the new hardware, that way, all the driver files will be reinstalled for your new hardware). UNFORTUNATELY, I have not needed to do this with Win XP, I keep mine wrapped in cotton wool and in pristine condition (or so I think ). I think I will make a "test" Win XP installation and abuse it , that way I can see how it reacts and make repairs like I did with the previous versions.

Yes, go into Safe Mode, look in Device Manager (and Add/Remove Programs) for similar hardware and uninstall them all. There is no reason to worry about uninstalling hardware as long as you have the drivers available and even if you don't, if you know the drivers are not working correctly, the choice is between living with the problem, trying to find the correct drivers from the manufacturer's website or a "drivers" website or reinstalling Windows and hoping that may fix the problem.

Drivers...rip 'em out and shove 'em back in again .

Luck

Matt

 

Thanks Pete, my searches lead to CD/DVD references as well. Wrong hardware by the look of it

Matt