Is My Optical Mouse Dying?

[mostly_gas]

Had a problem with my wireless mouse, tried it on white paper it worked fine. Got tired of messing with the paper and the problem stayed away. A few years ago had a problem with some Logitech mice where they would freeze. Change USB port would unfreeze it. Had that problem on 6 different computer/mice stations. Problem went away and cannot tell you why it started and why it quit.

 

[MossRoad]

I haven't even used a mouse pad since I got this optical mouse. It's just on a light colored oak veneer surface.

And in spite of the problems I had with it for a couple of days, it's worked just fine ever since I started this thread.:laughing:

HA! Ain't that the way it goes sometimes? :laughing:

You didn't polish the table, did you?

If it happens again, try using the mouse on a magazine, newspaper or piece of construction paper just to humor me and see if it starts working again.

 

[Bird]

HA! Ain't that the way it goes sometimes? :laughing:

You didn't polish the table, did you?

If it happens again, try using the mouse on a magazine, newspaper or piece of construction paper just to humor me and see if it starts working again.

OK, I'll try it. So far, still working fine.

 

[charlz]

When it is not working is the light or lights on under the mouse? I had to replace the LED's in my dual optical after 10-12 years. There are a couple of articles out there on how to do it... mostly because people want to change the color of the LED's. Not really all that hard if you can find bright enough LED's and have a soldering iron :thumbsup:

 

[Bird]

When it is not working is the light or lights on under the mouse? I had to replace the LED's in my dual optical after 10-12 years. There are a couple of articles out there on how to do it... mostly because people want to change the color of the LED's. Not really all that hard if you can find bright enough LED's and have a soldering iron :thumbsup:

Yep, I did check that light when it wasn't working and the little red light appeared normal. And I had a good soldering iron before I moved back to town and sold it in a garage sale, but don't even have one now.

 

[Bird]

If it happens again, try using the mouse on a magazine, newspaper or piece of construction paper just to humor me and see if it starts working again.

Well, just a few minutes ago, it hung up again. The cursor was there but would not move, so I had a sheet of plain white paper handy and tried that under the mouse with not luck. The red light looked fine, of course. So I unplugged the USB cable, plugged it back in, and it's working again.

 

[texasjohn]

suggest you take a pencil eraser and rub the USB plug on both sides with the eraser.... if there is goop on that connection, it should remove it...worth a try...I'm betting on either electrical connectivity problem or software problem at the moment.

 

[MossRoad]

Well, just a few minutes ago, it hung up again. The cursor was there but would not move, so I had a sheet of plain white paper handy and tried that under the mouse with not luck. The red light looked fine, of course. So I unplugged the USB cable, plugged it back in, and it's working again.

Well, thanks for humoring me. :confused3:

I would suggest going to a cheap computer store and buying a $7.00 USB mouse and test with that.

 

[Bird]

Well, thanks for humoring me. :confused3:

I would suggest going to a cheap computer store and buying a $7.00 USB mouse and test with that.

It's still working just fine this morning. Of course, I thought originally the mouse itself was going bad (still a possibility, I guess) but I'm inclined now to think it's a connectivity issue, as mentioned by texasjohn, so next it happens, I'll try his suggestion with the eraser.

 

[LMTC]

Well, just a few minutes ago, it hung up again. The cursor was there but would not move, so I had a sheet of plain white paper handy and tried that under the mouse with not luck. The red light looked fine, of course. So I unplugged the USB cable, plugged it back in, and it's working again.

The cursor is generated by the video software, but moved by the electronic signal from the mouse. What you describe is the way most of my mice die; slowly and erratically. I simply keep an extra $8-10 mouse on the shelf, and when this starts I switch mice. If I have no more glitches over a few days, the old one goes to the garbage and I buy another backup.

 

[Bird]

Well, I tried the eraser and that didn't fixt it. So, I've tried everything except using a different USB port, as jinman suggested. I didn't try that because I don't have an unused port on the back of the tower and I use the front ones frequently for the flash drives, and really wouldn't want the mouse plugged into the front unless there was just no alternative. So I went to Best Buy this morning and the young man there also thinks my old mouse is dying, so I bought a new Dynex ($18.99 plus tax). It works fine right now; more sensitive that the old Gateway so the cursor moves faster. I suspect you're right, Wayne, that the old one was dying so we'll give this one a few days and see.

 

[/pine]

...more sensitive that the old Gateway so the cursor moves faster...

you can adjust the sensitivity and cursor speed of the mouse in the control panel...should be a "mouse" icon...

 

[Bird]

you can adjust the sensitivity and cursor speed of the mouse in the control panel...should be a "mouse" icon...

Thanks, and yes, it's there, but I think I might like the faster speed.

 

[LMTC]

Bird,
Insignia is BB's house brand I believe, and Dynex is about the same level. Never tried their hardware, did buy a couple of dynex tape players on sale a few years back and they had a life consistent with their price. I do know the things I get from the source I referenced to you have always been at least decent, and always worth the money.

I cannot recall a mouse ever just going "belly up" on me; there always seems to be a short period of erratic behavior, but I cannot tolerate even the erratic behavior when I have orders to process. Sounds like you have an inexpensive fix that was going to be needed sooner or later anyway.

 

[Bird]

Yep, we have one of their little Insignia 20" flat panel LCD-HD TVs in the bedroom and I think the Dynex is also a house brand. Since I've never had a mouse go bad at all in the past, I don't want to buy "spares" and while I know some don't like them, so far I've had pretty good luck with Best Buy.

 

[Redbug]

Also Bird...you can adjust your mouse speed, (the way it reacts to your movements), by going into your "Control Panel", and clicking into the "Mouse" section. There's different adjustments you can make to it so it works better for you.

 

[Bird]

Thanks for the information, Dave, but I've gotten used to this faster speed now and like it.

 

[arrabil]

Bird, you got a lot of dust behind the computer and all over the ports?

 

[Bird]

Bird, you got a lot of dust behind the computer and all over the ports?

I guess it depends on what you call a lot.:laughing: It's amazing how much dust can accumulate, but I periodically bring my shop vac in and use the brush/dusting tool everywhere I can. And then less frequently, and to my wife's dismay, I shut everything down, open the case on this desktop computer, and bring the air hose and blow gun in. Yep, I have plenty of hose to reach from the compressor in the shop, through the back door, through the living room, and in here where the computer is.

 

[arrabil]

If you've ever cleaned it, its not a lot of dust/dirt. Yesterday I pulled sheets of it off a customer's computer and it didn't fall apart while I was holding it. Like if you didn't clean the dryer screen for twenty cycles.

I've had that amount of crud cause problems was the only reason I asked....