My Optical Mouse

Okay.

I've had this 5 button ps2 optical mouse for a couple of years now and it's been great
But over the past week, the cursor has started doing some weird stuff...

Examples:

- Sticking in the same spot... sometimes it unsticks eventually, sometimes I have to restart the PC to get it moving again.
- Refusing to move over a certain part of the screen (the place varies, seemingly at random)
- Just moving on it's own.
- Highlighting an area and dragging the selection, even though I haven't touched a button or moved the mouse.
- and many, many more whacky things.

I've tried using the drivers that came with XP, as well as the Win2000 drivers that came with the mouse. They both do the same crap. Sometimes the cursor will work perfectly for a whole day, sometimes it'll act up every 10 seconds.

Ack! It's just gone whacko now... if I didn't know my keyboard shortcuts, I'd be screwed.

I've run a full system scan for virii, but nothing was found, so I guess I can rule that out.

So what I need to know is if anyone has encountered the same problem.with an aging optical mouse
Can this problem be fixed without buying a new mouse or is this thing dying on me?

TIA

checked if its not dirty?

Yes. Checked out both the LED area and the ps2 plug too.
And the Socket it plugs into on the mobo.

have u opened the mouse? it could be dirty INSIDE.....

Just checked... it's actually quite clean in there... :blink:

Edit: and theres no loose wires, either.

cables may be faulty...thats my best bet....or maybe the laser light got messed up or something

Maybe its dead.

2 years was long enough, but now you must let go.

i think 'sticking' can be caused by a mouse pad the mouse doesn't agree with, try using a different mouse pad or the table - that doesn't explain the other problems though

Just buy a new one.

They are like $20 at the most.

PS/2 Microsoft Intellimouse Explorers are like £15. They perform well too.

While you had it opened up, did you clean the optical "ball"?
You didn't drop it did you?

Being transparent, they are damn near invisible and can be an absolute swine to find if you drop them. :P

I had similar problems when I was running Windows 98, and I found a solution in the MS Knowledge Base that fixed it. Turns out they also have an article about the same problem in XP. Maybe this will help...

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;321122

Quote:

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Originally posted by lynx@28 December 2003 - 14:18
While you had it opened up, did you clean the optical "ball"?
You didn't drop it did you?

Being transparent, they are damn near invisible and can be an absolute swine to find if you drop them. :P

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There is a ball in an opctical mouse?

Quote:

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Originally posted by lynx@28 December 2003 - 23:48
While you had it opened up, did you clean the optical "ball"?
You didn't drop it did you?

Being transparent, they are damn near invisible and can be an absolute swine to find if you drop them. :P

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Ahhhh! So thats what the cat was playing with yesterday! :o
I thought I heard something hit the floor when I opened mousey.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Seriously though, it seems like there's a lot of folks who've had the same problem with this particular brand of mouse.

Beware the 4D browser mouse optical by Olympic, aka Chic.

The drivers just die after a while, even though the mouse is still mechanically fine.
The only way to fix it is to power off the PC, unplug and re-plug in the mouse and restart

On restart, it'll be functional for all of 5 minutes, then the cursor will stick again.
Also, if you restart the PC without performing the unplugging ritual, the drivers don't even appear in the mouse driver properties window.

So, it's definately time for a new mouse.

Thanks for the input people. :)

My mouse is like that. I researched about it and the "tail" of the mouse is damaged. Some sort of wires are damaged or loosened up. You have to buy a "optical mouse repair kit" which is like 10 dollars and repairs only 1 mouse... Just get a new mouse! :D