My cursor is POSSESED!! HELP!!

[Rick67]

This is really freaking me out! My cursor will randomly move up, down, left, or right without me moving my mouse! Sometimes it will move an inch and sometimes it will move four inches or more! What he heck is going on? Is anyone else having this problem with Windows XP. I do not have a optical mouse. This is really driving me nuts and I'm almost to the point where I'm going to call Dell tech support. I really don't want to cal ltech support.

 

[SPB]

This is most likely a varriation of or the same virus that I would receive calls about as a "Gateway Tech Support Specialist". The cursor would move on its own and icons would RUN from the cursor even. Have you looked into this? Its a fairly easy virus to remove if you can get to Symantec and find the instructions on it or use the norton antivirus program with updated deffinitions. Then there is the possibility that it is the mouse in which case you could just try a different mouse and see what happens. Or its the usb/ps2 connection on the back of the computer. Could be the chipset and the part of it responsible for the usb/ps2 devices. Look into the possibility of a virus first and then go from there. Good Luck.

 

[Rick67]

I don't think it's a virus because I've got Norton Antivirus 2002 and I update my definition patterns and scan for viruses regularly. I've only had the PC a few months and I noticed it soon after buying it. I've never seen a icon move. I'll look into the other possiblities you mentioned. Thanks,

 

[Mitzi]

Could it be a mouse driver problem?

 

[bacillus]

does the problem persist if you reboot??

 

[Rick67]

It doesn't happen very often and when it does happen it's real quick. The cursor will move and then I won't see it happen anytime soon after. If I blinked, I'd probably miss it. Rebooting hasn't fixed the problem. I'm using the standard MS mouse that came with my PC and I don't think I have a special mouse driver installed.

 

[jfall]

Humm... I know there are several different small programs that are designed to mess around with your mouse. They are usually harmful and are more designed for playing jokes on other people... I have used them my self. Some of them will make the mouse randomly move, others will make the mouse slide half way across the screen when it's moved a few inches. I would check your startup section in MSconfig and see if there might be a program starting up that might be causing this.

 

[Rick67]

I contacted Dell and they want me to reinstall my mouse driver and if that does't work reinstall/fix Windows XP system files. The only problem is, I have no idea how to reinstall my mouse drivers! Does anyone here know how I can do this? Thanks,

 

[bacillus]

suggest you look in device manager to see what drivers your mouse is presently using before going any futher! I suspect it'll just be windows xp drivers but post back to let us know.

 

[Rick67]

It's using the standard issue Microsoft Windows XP mouse driver. I found this in the Device Manager area and it looks like I can uninstall it and then reinstall. I'll try that and see what happens.