Mouse moves in a jerky motion and then works fine

My mouse works fine most of the time but every now and then it starts jumping and clicking around for a few seconds and then goes back to normal. Its annoying because it opens and closes things when it does this. It doesn't look to be a trojan horse to me because I've run a virus scan, what is causing this problem and how can I fix it? By the way, my mouse is in near mint condition, it is still fairly new.

This question was answered on November 20, 2001. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

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Thanks for your question : The mouse is stuttering, sticking or moving in a jerky fashion

Explanation: The mouse's motion is not smooth and fluid the way it used to be or the way it should be When you move the mouse it tends to jump around or stutter, stops moving unless you shake it, or moves in a jerky fashion (the pointer seems to pause between redraws on the screen for example)

Diagnosis: There are four main causes of this sort of behavior The first is a dirty mouse, which can cause spurious behavior in a number of ways The second is a resource conflict with another device The third is damage to the mouse cord caused by excessive bending of the cord, especially near where it attaches to the mouse The fourth is a problem with the mouse driver, although this is much less likely.

Recommendation:

Check the mouse to make sure that it is not physically sticking Clean the mouse

Try using a mouse pad instead of your desk (or other surface) for rolling the mouse In many cases the surface the mouse is on is actually the problem Using a mouse pad allows the mouse to roll smoothly (I have, however, seen desks that worked better without one.)

There may be a resource conflict, especially with regard to an IRQ channel This is especially true of serial mice, because of the fact that serial COM port pairs 1 and 3, and 2 and 4, share IRQ lines Check the mouse cord to see if it is frayed or becoming loose If you see cracks in the plastic housing of the cord, this is a sign that this may be your problem If you have a soldering iron and patience, you can fix the problem, but replacing the mouse is normally the action of choice here

There may be a bad driver associated with this mouse It is unlikely that this is the case (since mice are such simple affairs) but is it possible You may want to uninstall your mouse and then reinstall

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Posted by Jeffrey of Chandler-Gilbert Community College on November 20, 2001

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