Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

If I leave my laptop on overnight, it seems to have a life of its own - files get opened, documents get printed etc.

I'm pretty sure it's something to do with the mouse. I use a wireless one and I did start to think it might be interference from something but the same thing happens when I remove the receiver, so it's like the touchpad has a life of its own too.

Seems like the only workaround is to connect a wired mouse in to a USB port but still, I'd rather deal with the problem than mask it if anyone has any suggestions?

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

Do you have any pets Russ, or a Geeky Ghost :)

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

when you use the pad does it move somewhere you don't want it to or not move at all? if so when it happens lightly yet forcefully hit each side of where the pad is, i had issues with my pad and had to hit the right side, shoddy wiring/connector.

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

Kind of. Sometimes if I'm typing a long paragraph or something, part of my hand or finger may lightly brush the touchpad and suddenly whatever I type from that point continues wherever the cursor is but I don't think that's exactly what you meant. It never not moves though.

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

has your pad got a program installed on your laptop? you might need to configure it. if not update the drivers and configure it via the program installed.

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

@Russ

Its not an acer laptop is it lol

am sayin nothing but had loads of probs with my acer, so much so i gave up and got a toshiba and give the acer to my daughter.

she is now using the laptop with an external mouse

juliex

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

It is an Acer :erm:

In fairness it isn't a massive problem as I use my external mouse, more a minor irritation.

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

Tried reinstalling the drivers yet or even uninstalled them and let windows install them after a reboot

---------- Post added at 18:44 ---------- Previous post was at 18:43 ----------

Another thing try to give the mouse pad a clean as well

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

I have an acer.

I use a usb mouse as the touchpad is so awful.

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

Isnt there any adjustment for how sensitive the touchpad is ?. I have the wife's little acer aspire and the touchpad is unbelievably sensitive. Just wondering if it's getting more sensitive the warmer it gets (as things expand etc) and that's why it's doing stuff while your getting your beauty sleep Russ.

Or can you not just disable the pad (using the shortcut "Fn and F7") when it's not being used just to see if it is the cause, just a thought

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

Acer have (afaik) always used Synaptics pads and yes, you can adjust the sensitivity or turn it off completely.

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

It isn't anything to do with how sensitive the touchpad is. I updated the drivers yesterday and left the laptop on overnight and again options had changed and files were opened. I could turn the touchpad off but that's just masking the problem.

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

How strange, If you had to hazard a guess, what would you say could cause such a phenominon.

Does it ever play up whilst your in front of it.

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

It never happens when I'm using the laptop, and seemingly never during the day when I leave it.

All I'm aware of is when I leave the laptop on overnight to download something, in the morning multiple files/windows will be open (as if someone pressed the left mouse button about 20 times even though the cursor was left nowhere near that file) and once, one of the documents on my desktop printed out by itself.

If I had to hazard a guess, it's as if someone else is controlling the mouse (I have mainly pensioners and late-middle-aged people living around here, it's unlikely to be a rogue neighbour) but not 'intelligently' - I'd have thought they'd go after my bank details or something. When I was using a wireless mouse and it was left plugged in, I did think it may have been interference from something but this is happening when I take the receiver out. Even if I lock the keyboard, in the morning the 'Ease of Access' icon on the bottom left has been played with, as the options you get when you use it are open.

Again, disabling the pad would stop it or plugging a cabled mouse in but I want to deal with the problem, not mask it.

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

I think I'd be tempted to set up a hidden camera, web cam or something if poss because it sounds suspisiously like someone is messing with your kit, rather than your kit messing with you.

Can't really offer any more advice I'm afraid, but it would be interesting to find out.

The reason I initially asked if you had any pets Russ, was on the off chance a cat was falling asleep on your laptop due it being nice and warm.

A bit of long shot I know.

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

Heh, no secret ninja cats to blame I'm afraid! And I can virtually guarantee nobody is physically messing with my laptop. I'm sure it's some sort of software bug really.

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

Disable the touch-pad Alt F9 (I think). This should solve the random cursor jumping to an odd part of text whilst you are typing.

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

:D:D:D

You maybe right, but you would have thought it would have become apparent whilst your working on it at some point, if that was the case.

Another long shot and I'm sure you have already covered all the bases, BUT, it's not possible someone is gaining remote access.

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

I was about to suggest a camera and do a complete spyware check.

If you disable the touchpad, does it still happen?

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

My Norton has a spyware check built-in and I do a full scan once or twice a week but that hasn't flagged anything. If I disable the touchpad then no, it doesn't happen.

Re: Laptop mouse/touchpad with a mind of its own..
 

shoddy ribbon/connectors under the case?