Dave, I use a Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse with a computer
running Windows XP Professional. Generally speaking, everything works just fine EXCEPT THAT from time to time my mouse pointer “leaps” to the bottom
left corner of my monitor screen .. and invariably JUST as I am about to
“click!!” I’ve tried uninstalling and re-installing, but to no avail. Do you
know how this little dilemma can be cured??
First off, a clarification. I presume that you mean that the cursor on your screen leaps around. If your actual mouse unit is jumping then I think you might want to vacate your house or get a really aggressive cat or something. 🙂
There are plenty of reasons that your cursor could be weirding out, actually. It could be as simple as you needing new batteries in the unit since it’s wireless. Secondly, optical mice are very sensitive to the material upon which they sit: are you using an optical mousepad or other surface that is optical friendly?
Hmmm…. what else…. you could be seeing interference with the wireless unit. Do you have other radio or wireless units right by your computer? If you hook up a traditional wired mouse, does the cursor exhibit the same behaviors? If you move your computer and mouse to another room, does the behavior remain?
You might also want to check the sensitivity that you have selected for your mouse in the Windows XP Control Panel area. Choose Start -> Control Panel -> Mouse then go to the Pointer Options tab and see if any of those settings affect the behavior you’re seeing.
Also, according to my pal Leo Notenboom, super Windows guy, it’s possible that the Microsoft Speech Recognition engine has been turned on and the system is trying to interpret noises as cursor motion requests. I’d say that’s a pretty unlikely explanation given what you describe but if you’re still seeing the problem after all the suggestions given above, you might want to check out Why does my computer go nuts sometimes? for more troubleshooting advice.
If none of the above worked, and you have a notebook with a touchpad but prefer to use a wireless mouse or especially because the touchpad stopped working, the touchpad could be the problem. To test is easy, apply pressure to the touchpad with your fingers and see if the mouse stops jumping. If it does, you might be able to solve the problem by applying constant pressure to the touchpad, say a paperweight. Not sure you can replace the touchpad, it depends on the notebook.
Hi I have a microsoft wireless mouse 5000. Had it for about a year the cursor jumps when i’m using it its been fine up until now.
Tried
Batterys
Reinstalling drivers
blowing at optical
new mat ( also tried on hard surface.
Looked a control panel and mouse setting all fine I have another microsoft wireless 500 mouse on another computer so checked setting from that they are the same )
can anyone help me with this. I dont want to just rush out and buy another one but its unusable the way it is.
I feel your pain! If it’s not the wire getting tangled it’s the mouse misbehaving! I’ve been through this so many times and people LOVE to tell me all the things I have already tried a month ago.! Irritating.
What finally worked for me (for now) is I slowed down the speed of the mouse in settings. It was set to medium but I did not think that was too fast, but turning it down a notch helped right away.
Hope that helps you too.
That slowing down the speed of the mouse really worked. Thanks,
Jessie
I had the same problem, put the USB closer to the mouse (in front of PC and not at the back) and it works a treat..
I have a Mac OS.X Lion with a wireless mouse. My computer tech friend told me to always use a white surface under my mouse to avoid difficulties & I should have listened. Ever since I got a “really cool” mousepad I’ve noticed more & more
pointer jumping & it can make you crazy! Today I went back to the smooth white surface & everything seems fine again. Maybe this will help others too.
Hi,Dave,
The two triple AAA batteries in my HP wireless mouse (model G33) have to be replaced about every 5-7 days. The problem began about three months ago. I’ve tried Duracell, Energizer and RayOVac and the problem is the same with all of them. The expiration dates for the batteries were sometime in 2014.
Any ideas what’s going on? Does a wireless mouse “wear out”? Thanks, Louise
It can be THE FAN MOTOR that causes interference!
Now you may fix this for a day by replacing the batteries in your mouse, but that’s not fixing the root cause. It’s usually e.m. interference.
I discovered this by accident when I tripped over my usb extension and tore out the front usb ports on my tower. Having to resort to the rear ports I could never get it working until just now even on 3rd day batteries; I had a short usb extension only 6″ for magic jack. I plugged it in there and walla ! no more interference! got it 5″ further from the fan.
I have the erratic jumping mouse pointer. It shows up periodically. After reviewing this entire thread, you’d think the mouse manufacturers or microsoft would fix the problem. This thread started 6 years ago.
Anyway, I have an HP mouse on my quad hp 64-bit 8-gb system on windows 7 that exhibits the “long jump” erratic movement problem periodically. I’ve changed mouse surfaces, mice and adjusted the settings… none of which worked, btw.
The only thing that I’ve found that actually worked was to restore to a restore point before the problem began. Then, when I add new software, I take a new restore point.
It looks to me that it is actually a “ghost” virus that no one can find or a microsoft problem. I vote for microsoft.
I also have another compaq laptop that has a cursor (as opposed to a mouse pointer) erratic, dynamic repositioning problem. Unfortunately, we don’t have a restore point for that one… wish I did. Again, I vote for Microsoft as the cause.
Al
Hey Thanks,
Fresh batteries fixed the problem.
Whoever suggested it was the Dell mousepad: thanks. That seems to be the problem for optical wired mice.
my mouse doesn’t get under the control of my hand.
Microsoft wireless mobile 3000
I have a brand new, light blue mouse pad. The “mouse pointer” either did not move at all, or it jumped around. I think the laser could not “see” the new mouse pad. To fix the problem, I took a piece of sand paper and lightly rubbed it over the mouse pad (vertically and horizontally). After I wiped off the dust, it worked fine.
My, this is a very long thread. Here’s a fix:
I had the problem of the mysterious erratic cursor with my Apple Magic Mouse starting last night. My Magic Trackpad was working fine, as was my Microsoft optical mouse, so I figured something was wrong with the mouse itself. Looking very closely, there was a cat hair wound up inside the laser cavity. I pulled it out with a pair of tweezers, and lo and behold the mouse started working normally again. Yay.
i have HP G42 laptop,
I also have this problem but with a laptop its a brand new HP G42, wean ever i am typing or writing, on the screen,mouse is curser is jumps over every were, everytime,sometime if press word kay its dosen’t come. i thought perbel
and mast uwhei use the tap to click the curser/pointer/mouse or whatever you wanna call it jumps diagonaly towards the upper left corner of the screen… this is so frustrating this laptop isnt even 2 months old….
Hi, I had that problem too and do you know what it turned out to be? My hand/wrist was touching and moving on the mouse pad on the computer! I turned off the mouse pad on the computer by using “alt F7” and no more problems!!!!! Try that!!!! You turn on the pad the same way!!! 😉
Why on earth would you insist on calling the mouse pointer a cursor? I’ve been around computers since before the introduction of the mouse, and this is as much a pet peeve to me as calling the computer case the CPU. Both the mouse pointer/cursor and computer case/CPU are very different entities, and your light-hearted attempt at mocking someone for calling the mouse pointer a mouse pointer only dilutes your own professionalism.
I use a Microsoft Wireless Notebook
Optical Mouse 4000 on my home computer and when I use it directly on my well lighted shiny desk,
it works irractically awful.
It works perfectly when I use a clean white
8 1/2 X 11 letter sheet the mouse is 100%
Try it out !!
For some strange reason my mouse activates any link it goes over. This is really annoying when on facebook as the ads are all over the place and I keep having new pages opening constantly. I am using a wired logitech mouse on an Acer travelmate laptop. Just to make it more interesting every now and then it makes the page drop to the bottom as if I hit the end button. Is there any way to stop it activating? Thank you. 3’s
Grampa
PS please email me any solutions
My Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse has been playing up, mainly the (apparently fairly common) problem of left-click not working properly, if at all. I removed one of the AA batteries and it works perfectly! What’s that about, then?
Thank You for your tips..I simply removed my old mouse pad and placed my wireless mouse directly on the desk and it works perfectly now. No more cursor jumping around on the screen anymore!
Here’s a good idea for a battery for a mouse…
USB Rechargeable AA batteries… flip the lid and plug the battery into your USB port…
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000LV8YKQ/
O
I have been having this problem for awhile now, optical mouse – REALLY irritating when trying to highlight and it doesn’t work right. I saw someone say hit the Num Lock key – I tried it..it worked very strange. We will see though.
None of the suggested solutions worked for me, but switching to a different USB port on my laptop solved the stuttering mouse problem on a Dell laptop.
Try this of you can’t find the answer, in all of the hundreds of comments! Sometimes a thumb drive, USB storage device may be trying to use the same IRQ and /or memory as the mouse. The following is what worked for me: Also, note: some USB thumb drives use USB 2.0, and it may be a problem if your bois does not properly/ fully support USB 2.0. I have a nVidia, 6310, Biostar board and have had some problems with the bios. Anyway, I disabled the USB 2.0 in the bios (the choices are USB 1.0, USB 2.0, or both- I choose just USB 1.0) after removing the thumb drive and now everything is back to normal. Very Strange. I partially blame the USB thumb drive.
When my pointer suddenly starts to hop around as I move the mouse a change of battery always resolves the problem for me!
My neighbour’s corded mouse was doing odd things so she went back to using the touchpad on her laptop. I went over to troubleshoot and hooked up her mouse. She immediately knew what the problem was. “I had the tail pointing down.”
My wireless laser mouse v2.0 used to work perfect. Now I sometimes have apps scroll all the way to the bottom or top of the page. If I bang the mouse on my desk the problem goes away. The problem is that I’m having to bang more an more often. This pattern seems to suggest that the problems are with connections inside the mouse. If I have to keep pounding the mouse to reset it, sooner or later I’m going to break it.
I also had a jumpy microsoft laser mouse. Turns out, it was my touchpad on my closed laptop. I use a port replicator and work off of a full size monitor with wireless keyboard, and mouse. I changed the sensitivity and it seems to be working fine. I suppose that I could just disable it while my laptop it is on the replicator, if it still gives me any trouble. Good luck.
I tried all the above suggestions. I had my mouse stick plugged into a new external usb port. I have just moved it and so far so good. But I now have a new mouse pad, new batteries, adjusted my screen size and cleaned for viruses.
We are now well oiled for maximum success!
Comment for “jumpy” wireless laser mouse.
I tried most of the earlier suggestions for correcting the irratic / jumpy / etc.. mouse.
I finally fixed it by dipping a trimmed down qtip into alcohol, then cleaning the “laser bulb” by sticking it through the small hole where the recessed laser bulb was located. The mouse was immediately returned to accurate cursor movement. Some times the correction for problems are not always “technical” processes.
In my case it’s because both my neighbor and I have wireless mouses/keyboards. Her mouse has been controlling my mouse pointer’s movement on my screen.
Here’s something related that may help some visitors to this page.
The Original World’s Cheapest Optical Mousepad
http://www.carr-engineering.com/mousepad.htm
Just print one out and you’re good to go!
my mouse is find ,but the wed i try out was my wed search and had all this little cursor on now i got one on my arrow and can’t get it off
I have a Dell XPS 400. I installed a Microsoft wireless 3000 mouse – the thing went NUTZ..! All over the place ,freezing ,stuttering and just flat out not working. I installed the download from Microsoft and a host of other mouse troubleshooting thingamajigger’s. No luck. Went to Dell homepage and downloaded the mouse driver update’s – still nothing. Finally I found something in there that mentioned BIOS update – I installed it and WALLA. All I can say is right now it’s working like a charm. Sooooo look for any update’s you can find for your specific system ( you will need your specific system #) Be sure to go to your official site and not a spin off. Tooooo much cooruption floating around out there.
google gave me this page when I was looking up ‘why when I’m typing on microsoft it jumps to another word and starts typing in the middle of it.
ex.
1. Blah blah blah
2. Blah blah blah type type…
3. blah bypelah blah type type t
is what happends. it even happen while I was trying to type this email up. It’s so annoying. plz halp me Dave….
from,
Alyssa
I also have this problem but with a laptop its a brand new gateway with the double touch function (dwo finger flick, pinch zoom,rotating ect ) exept that it will randomly deactivate all these new double touch functions and everytime i use the tap to click the curser/pointer/mouse or whatever you wanna call it jumps diagonaly towards the upper left corner of the screen… this is so frustrating this laptop isnt even 2 months old….
‘Sticky’ wireless optical mouse:
The four little lugs on each corner of the bottom of the wireless mouse wear with use, and as the optical sensor mechanism becomes closer to the surface the mouse is being used on, the mouse pointer on the screen becomes ‘sticky’. Try four little pads of sticky note paper folded twice e.g., (or perhaps use three sheets of thickness), and cut to size, and stick them on the mouse lugs and see if it makes a difference. Then think of something more permanent to stick on!
Thanks Toubab, your solution resolved my floating mouse issue!
On XP with an Optical Mouse ‘jumping cursor’ .. Try: Start > Settings > Control Panel > Mouse > Pointer Options > Untick the Enhance Pointer Precision box and set the Pointer Speed to around 1/3rd.
It worked for me ! :-))
I am a student at Liberty University and I have a lot of papers to type, after so much frustration with my cursor jumping all over the place I wanted to replace my laptop…Well after talking to few people, I found out that I was not the only one have this problem. This is when I started to work with my laptop to try to find a solution. Well I did find a solution to stop my cursor jumping. If you are interested, I will share my idea with you or if you have a better solution to this in inconvenient situation pleasure share it with me. Thanks!
P. S. After reading all of these cursor-jumping complaints, I do believe that I have the solution. In fact, there is no doubt in my mind that I have the solution.
after reading the suggestions in this thread, my problem has gone away. i am using and old felt type ergonimic mouse pad which was pilling, so i tried rubbing it with a scrubbing brush in all directions, and turned the mouse sensitivity back to default. works perfect now, thanks guys. (also i have intellimouse 2.0)
I have a MS Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 and whenever i get my hand wet and the pad the mouse stops working, first it malfuntions which is understandable but then it stop movies althoghther and nothing help untill it decides to start working again(for no apparent reason) its not the drying up or anything that I can understand?!?!?! This is screwed up!!!! I can’t work normally for hours
I ran in to this problem and found that it was an interference issue with an external hard drive. The hard drive was on top of the tower at the back(not even powered up!) and when I moved it toward the front, voila! Problem solved.