Sooo frustrating...

If it's the old "ball" mouse, it could be as simple as having dirt and grime sticking on the ball that's why the pointer movement is erratic.

If your mouse is an optical mouse, two things you can quickly check: first, the surface on which the mouse rests upon, if it's too reflective and glossy it will affect how the laser disperses against the surface, try putting your mouse on different surfaces to see if it's the problem. The second thing you can check is the speed and pointer settings of your mouse. Go to control panel>mouse and adjust the speed of your mouse.

If that still doesn't do the trick and you're convinced it's your USB port that's the source of the problem, try plugging your mouse to your PC's ps/2 port. You can buy a usb to ps/2 converter which will allow you to plug a USB mouse into your PC's ps/2 port.

Good luck!

Try a different USB port if you have one available. Also check that the surface you are using is clean (or a mouse pad). Is it a optical or ball mouse?

Hi MsTickle
he only other things that I can suggest is, try a different USB plug and also go to Control Pannel then to Mouse and see if the settings have changed I the new Mouse might not be working because I used to find that once it is plugged in you need to restart the Computer and then it work so give that a try to
Hope this Helps

Sounds like you did just about everything. Maybe try a scan disk.

I think it is just a very ordinary problem that most of us have encountered or will encounter when operating a computer.

Judging from what you said above, i don't think it is some kind of software problem.And my suggestions are as below:

Make sure you have got a good mouse(it means that you have tried it on another computer and it works fine), then try it in the USB port you suspect broken,
if the good mouse works, then your old one is broken.
on the contrary,if the good one doesn't work either, then it must be something wrong with the USB port.

Hello Sweets

It's so annoying to have a problem

with your computer! I use a laptop and

haven't used a mouse in years so I'm no help.

I'm just here to say I am sorry you're

have a bad time.

xoxoxoxoxo

Clean off the ball.
Mine is all scared up but if I get it back in a scertain place it works fine again.

How about going to your settings under contro panel? Just find that icon that says mouse and keyboard or something like that, and it'll enable you to adjust the speed of your mouse. I know cz i have expereinced something like this before due to the switch of a new mouse...Hope i was able to be of much use... take care!^_^

If it's the roller ball mouse it is dirty and needs cleaning. If it is there is a little plate around the ball you can remove and take the ball out. You will see two little plastic pins and one plastic wheel the ball rolls on. They will have bunch of lint built up on them where the ball has been touching them. When I used that kind of mouse I used the point of my pocket knife to remove the lint. I finally got tire cleaning it and bought a lazor mouse. They don't have the ball and don't need a mouse pad.

Art

As most of the people in this topic could be right, you have to troubleshoot in a linear fashion. You have to do the whole "process of elimination" when troubleshooting. The best thing to do is take your old mouse (you say it is USB), and bring it to a friend's house or to another computer. See if it exhibits the same erratic behavior on another computer as it does on yours.

If it works fine in another computer then you are most likely dealing with a hardware issue. That can include cleaning the ball and wheels on the inside as many have mentioned. It also sounds like you might have an optical mouse (red light under the mouse instead of a ball). In this case when you need to "unplug and plug" the USB connection, before you attempt this check under the mouse to see if the light is even lit up at all. This will tell you if you are getting power and can be a good indication if there is an issue with the physical USB connection.

If it does not work in another computer, then it still could be the moue ball needing cleaning. If not then you might have another type of unrepairable problem with the mouse. The reason the new mouse would not work is maybe you do not have the software installed that includes the drivers for the new mouse. You may have a earlier version of windows that does not come with the standard drivers.

You "might" want to include more information on this though. How old is the computer? Do you know the exact type of computer? Exactly what type of mouse? Any other USB ports available on your computer?

Do not listen to anyone who tells you that a scandisk, or defrag, or any other "scan" on your computer could be causing the problem. The fact that unplugging and plugging it in fixes the issue momentarily can rule out all of that stuff.