help; mouse gone weird!

lauzjp · 11-04-2009, 14:08

on my little ibm thinkpad - I've managed without the red 'mouse' button for a while. yesterday it started doing that thing where your mouse just shoots off in one direction for no reason - didn't think much of it - it's doing it again today. It seems to get worse when you try to move in a direction. I got to the task manager & could see a few things there that I didn't recognise, but as I tried to get the mouse to go near the list, it completely froze.

So I give up. What should I do now. I don't even think we've got any anti-virus on there, and we'd only quite recently reformatted it

Angua · 11-04-2009, 14:11

Do you have any other pointing devices attached as well?

If the pen from a drawing pad is not in it's holder this can cause erratic mouse movements for example.

lauzjp · 11-04-2009, 17:40

no, nothing else attached.

goblin · 11-04-2009, 19:05

It's called a 'nipple' or a 'track pad pointer' or even a 'red cap', You can get replacements in a few places if you search for the above terms.

Regarding the moving mouse pointer, it could be a virus infection - yes seriously, it could be someone's deployed a trojan on your computer and is using it unaware you're also using the computer at the same time. Or it could simply be a 'gag' have you let any mates near your computer recently who may have deployed a 'gag program' on it? Are you sure that you've installed the correct drivers for your nipple\trackpoint etc or have they been 'upgraded' incorrectly, if so then maybe you could just use the system tools\system restore option to get it back to a working state?

Or perhaps you're using the 'fn' key and some 'directional keys', in which case you'll just need to turn it off by depressing the 'fn' keys again.

Here's some gag programs:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...earch&aq=f&oq=

Here's some replacement nipples, trackpoint caps etc:
http://laptopbatterymall.co.uk/new-2...21-p-1293.html

http://www.clickykeyboards.com/index...arentcat/13112

If none of the above is applicable, you could try clicking each of the keys on the keyboard one after another, see if one of them is stuck. Alternatively, you could try disconnecting anything and reconnecting whatever the mouse is you're presently using.

If none of the above don't solve teh issue, I must admit to being out of ideas. Perhaps it's something native to the operating system? Perhaps the System\System Restore option maybe a way to go if it's available to you, pick a time\date when the computer was working last and then back the computer upto that date.

HTH

lauzjp · 11-04-2009, 20:02

thanks for the tips, will give anything a go. very frustrating.

is it odd that only the laptop seems to be affected and not the pc?

Dai · 12-04-2009, 08:35

I had an old Dell C600 laptop a while back that did this. The mouse pointer would shoot off to one corner of the screen and refuse to behave.
It turned out to be a fault with the keyboard 'nipple' thing. I found that sometimes wiggling that around a bit would get things back to normal.

Kymmy · 12-04-2009, 09:04

The actualy term for them is "Handi-Point"

Take off the red cap, give it a wiggle... If it stops wandering when moved slightly in the opposite direction then it's a defunct unit...some are built intot he keyboard others can be removed independantly...either way they are expensive

Dai · 12-04-2009, 12:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kymmy

The actualy term for them is "Handi-Point"

(

Handy to know. I guess I was just having a Beavis moment..

lauzjp · 12-04-2009, 17:13

well, we did a restore point, which seemed to remedy it for a while... but then hubby had a brain wave and plugged in a mouse, which seems to be working fine! :insert crossing fingers smiley:

thanks for the help, was sooo paranoid I'd got a bug.