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Why does the mouse pointer jump around the screen?

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Summary: Fortunately for most cases, there is a simple solution to why your mouse pointer would jump around the screen.

My infrared Microsoft Intellimouse is being erratic. Doesn't follow the direction of the hand movement and lags behind sometimes not moving. I have checked all settings and drivers as much as I know how.

Erratic mouse movement is a pain. You move one way, and the mouse jumps around the screen - often to some other random location.

In most cases the solution to a jumping mouse pointer is actually pretty simple.

Optical mice are great - I love 'em. No more dirty mouse balls (and the jokes that go with them). Over time I've converted all of my mice to optical, both wired or wireless.

But what I've found with optical mice is that they are surprisingly sensitive to the surface they're on. On a bad surface they'll often behave exactly as you describe. They seem to not only stop responding, but occasionally misread movement and dart off in completely unexpected directions ... like a mouse scurrying for cover.

The best surfaces for the mouse would be something with a slight texture, and a constant surface. Make sure there's no high contrast text or images as well.

After not using mouse pads for a long time, I've found that they're typically the best solution and very helpful in keeping my optical mice behaving.

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Recent Comments

I just have it when the mouse jumps to left or right or bottom left or right corners. Sometimes it jumps between the corners, top bottom, left, or right. And when it jumps it presses mouse buttons. Most of the time it's nothing, other times it's a left click but its also done the right and the scroll button (which is annoying)

I tried leaving the mouse disconnected over night the hooking the batteries up again and turning on the PC. I've tried using the mouse on the computer desk vinyl, even using my hand as a mouse pad :( I think I'm going back to the balls.

Posted by: Homer at March 6, 2008 10:36 AM

My laptop is only 3 months old and I am having problems with the cursor jumping all over when typing etc. and if I move it across the page it turns the type blue. I use the touchpad not a seperate mouse (same problem occurred with wireless mouse)

Posted by: Pam Holder at March 15, 2008 07:52 AM

I looked in my Device Manager on my computer. Under the "Mice and other pointing devices" I noticed that there was a mouse that I didn't use so I uninstalled it and it fixed my problem.

Note: If your mouse problem is really bad, here are some keyboard only instructions:

1. Use the windows button + pause/break to go to System Properties.
2. You should then be able to use TAB and the arrow keys to get to the hardware tab.
3. While on the hardware tab, press TAB until the "device manager" button is highlighted and then press ENTER.
4. In Device Manager, press TAB once and then use the arrow keys to navigate down to "Mice and other pointing devices"
5. Press the right arrow to expand the tree.
6. Highlight the unused mouse and then press Alt+A and then press U to uninstall the mouse you are not using.
7. Press enter to confirm the uninstall.

This is a crude method to do it but it worked for me. This may not solve everyone's problem but it's worth a try. Good luck!

Posted by: Ben at April 7, 2008 11:31 AM

This problem can happen if you restart the machine with RS-232 active communications (a serial cable plugged in that is transmitting data). The mouse will appear to jump around and click even after disconnecting / disabling the mouse. Once the communication source is disconnected the jumping will stop. This is due to Windows looking for a pointing device and finding data on the com port. Microsoft details how to fix this here - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/131976.

This is just one possible yet annyoing problem.

Posted by: Chris H at April 7, 2008 03:32 PM

I found out why my cursor started jumping around the screen... The person in the next office got a new portable computer with a wireless mouse -- which my remote mouse sensor "sees" -- and the cursor follows her movements... So far I have no solution.

Posted by: Jim Droppo at May 27, 2008 12:21 PM

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Hash: SHA1

That's fascinating, thanks for the report!

The only solutions I can think of are for one of you to go
to a wired mouse, or for one of you to switch to a different
wireless technology such as bluetooth.

Leo


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Posted by: Leo at May 28, 2008 10:16 AM

Re wireless mouse interference - try resetting the mouse to receiver link while your neighbor is using their computer. This should result in it picking up a different channel. I had to do this with a wireless keyboard when my neighbor complained that she was getting my text (including passwords in plain text) on her screen! And she lives next door!

Posted by: John Chamberlain at June 3, 2008 08:38 AM

One erratic problem which I faced with a laptop was that the mouse pad seemed to accept a double click instead of a single click no matter how slow I made the Windows double click setting in Contol Panel >> Mouse section. It was really irritating & I decided to reinstall the complete OS from scratch when I discovered the cause. Guess, The problem was that I was connected to an Online UPS. This UPS was giving Poor Quality Power Output which made the Laptop run smoothly but disturbed the Mouse. After getting the UPS out of the Power Circuit between the Laptop & Mains, normal working was restored. Lucky though, my laptop's mouse pad did not fry.

Secondly, Optical Mice do have a problem of the Mouse Pointer running in a Particular Direction. The most common cause being debris between the surface & optical sensor of the mouse.

Posted by: Ravi Agrawal at June 3, 2008 10:23 PM

I had exactly the same problem with erratic mouse behavior and found out the problem thanks to one of the comments. My wireless keyboard was interfering with my laptop's mouse (any mouse for that matter. even touchpad). As soon as I disconnected it, all problems went away.

Posted by: oleg at June 29, 2008 08:41 PM

I have a wired Logitech Optical mouse and experience this erratic behavior every day. There is no cell phone sitting on the cord, and I use a solid black cloth mousepad from Staples. The behavior is insane and there is no driver specific to this mouse (Logitech says it doesn't need one). Sometime the bouncing from place to place on the screen will go on for a full minute before I regain control of the mouse.

Posted by: Roxanne at August 15, 2008 11:34 AM

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