Possessed Optical Mouse?

[torpid]

I've got an MS optical mouse. For years now I've been trying to fix this problem. Every once in a while it will randomly move to the lower right. This has happened in 3 operating systems now, and even happens in games. There is no real pattern to it. I'll be using the mouse and all of a sudden it will go down and right. For a while I thought I was being remote controlled via a back door.

Has anyone experienced this before?

 

[GtPrOjEcTX]

probably a hair or something stuck in the little area that holds the laser. try to find it without blinding yourself.

 

[jeece]

Originally posted by: GtPrOjEcTX
probably a hair or something stuck in the little area that holds the laser. try to find it without blinding yourself.

^

Got same kind of problem with my MX700, except cursor goes up. Usually, there's a hair (from my cat 😉 ) stuck near the LED that causes this.

 

[wfbberzerker]

if the problem you're experiencing is the one i think it is, it has to do with the mouse's resolution. some of the earlier generation optical mice had a lower resolution than they do now, so they were more prone to errors. whats probably happening is that your mouse's optical sensor is occasionally comparing two images and thinking they are very far apart (i.e. you moved your mouse very quickly), and thus is moving the cursor a far distance. unfortunately, since it is a hardware issue, there is nothing you can really do about it, lest you upgrade to a newer optical mouse. my mouse also has this problem (its a 1st generation optical mouse), but i've learned to deal with it, because i love it so much.