Does your Mouse Behave Differently?

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 2:36 pm

I am noticing some "misbehavior" of my mouse and I do not know what has changed to cause this. If I point the mouse and then go on to the task of entering text...and then...want to relocate the mouse, I can not...until I left click on the mouse.

Once I left click, the mouse is under my control again until I again touch the keyboard. Once I have done that, again I have to left click on the mouse.

Time seems to be part of the criteria for freezing control.

dasgud · Post by **dasgud** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 2:51 pm

hi Dusty,

is your mouse USB? does it have batteries? Did you have to install drivers when you installed your mouse?
Both my mouse and keyboard have batteries (they're wireless) and will do some really crazy stuff when I need to change the batteries. If yours is a USB mouse then perhaps a driver update is needed.

Stay safe everyone

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:21 pm

I have the same questions dasgud asked, but I'll ask a few more too.

This is a real mouse, not a trackpad on a laptop right?

Is it optical (with the red light under it) or an older ball mouse?

Have you rebooted the computer? I find that solves a lot of little quirks like this.

If it's USB, have you tried it in another USB port?

Do you have another mouse you could swap out with it to see if the problem is the mouse or something else with the computer?

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 5:31 pm

I'll answer you both at once.

This computer is a desk top and I am using a wireless optical mouse connected to one of the USB Ports. I have never changed batteries but it rests (at night) in a cozy container with a charger built in. I have never updated the driver but if there was an update available how would my mouse know to misbehave because of that.

Maybe I did not make it clear. This mouse has been working "normally" until today.

I'll break now for a reboot and I'll report back IF that corrects the behavior.

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 5:40 pm

Based on what I know so far, my guess is the batteries going out. The mouse detects the battery is getting low so goes into a sort of "sleep" mode. You awaken it from sleep when you click the button.

dasgud · Post by **dasgud** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 5:44 pm

Yes Dusty, I believe it's the batteries in the mouse. There should be an indicator warning light on the wireless receiver. Once my light goes red I have about 3 or 4 more days before the mouse goes intermittent operation. Then it just goes dead.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 5:54 pm

I rebooted and it is the same or worse. I actually had to click the mouse to get the infra red light on (wake up the mouse).

I put in a pair of AA batteries but I don't know yet that this changed performance characteristics and I am unsure of whether these batteries can be used (because of the charger).

I do believe that all will be well as long as I do not but the mouse on the charger. In the meantime, I guess I gotta go find another battery.

hoagie · Post by **hoagie** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 6:53 pm

If you could post model information for your mouse that would help. (Gee, where have we heard that one before??:) )

If you installed standard AA batteries in that mouse DO NOT put it in the charger. The wireless mouse units I'm familiar with that have charging stations use rechargeable Li-Ion batteries. These do go bad after some time, even when you are diligent about putting the mouse back in the charger. You can probably find a replacement pair at the local Radio Shack. It is possible to destroy regular batteries if you try to charge them in a Li-Ion charger, also possibly damaging the mouse.

As for drivers, driver updates are released to fix all kinds of problems. And drivers for one device can affect the performance of drivers for other devices, updates to the OS, etc. So although unlikely in this instance from what you've told us so far, it is possible for an un-installed, but available driver to fix an issue.

HTH. Good luck.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:32 pm

hoagie wrote:If you could post model information for your mouse that would help. (Gee, where have we heard that one before??:) )

If you installed standard AA batteries in that mouse DO NOT put it in the charger. The wireless mouse units I'm familiar with that have charging stations use rechargeable Li-Ion batteries. These do go bad after some time, even when you are diligent about putting the mouse back in the charger. You can probably find a replacement pair at the local Radio Shack. It is possible to destroy regular batteries if you try to charge them in a Li-Ion charger, also possibly damaging the mouse.

As for drivers, driver updates are released to fix all kinds of problems. And drivers for one device can affect the performance of drivers for other devices, updates to the OS, etc. So although unlikely in this instance from what you've told us so far, it is possible for an un-installed, but available driver to fix an issue.

HTH. Good luck.

I checked with Logitech and found that I am using the latest driver for this mouse. I have a new battery pack coming; should arrive some time this evening. My daughter is stopping at Batteries R Us on the way home from work. The Model # is C8033.