Strange mouse (possibly USB) behaviour

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kirsty Kambites
  • Start date Start date
K

Kirsty Kambites

For some time on and off I have had problems with mouse detection at
startup. Initially I had a PS/2 mouse. This broke and I replaced it
with another PS/2 mouse which I knew was quite old so when the left
mouse button seemed to fail I went out and bought a new mouse, which was
USB as occasionally the computer had failed to recognise the mouse and
even more rarely the PS/2 keyboard. My computer is quite old so my
logic was "perhaps there is something wrong with the PS/2 port so if I
buy USB then it really ought to work!"

Everything was fine for a few weeks but the last 5-6 times that I have
booted the computer up the mouse has been unresponsive and no mouse
symbol appears in the device manager. However the device manager will
refresh a few times (especially if I open "Plug and Play Software Device
Enumerator") and then the mouse will be found.

I am not totally convinced this is a software issue as rarely (maybe 1
time in every 50 boots) the computer will hang at the POST splash screen
and equally rarely it will fail to recognise my wireless USB dongle, so
I wonder if there is something wrong in hardware. The computer is a
6-year old Compaq S5000NX with 376mb RAM. I have SP2.

Suggestions please!

Kirsty
 
Kirsty

Change batteries in mouse and keyboard?


--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Gerry said:
Kirsty

Change batteries in mouse and keyboard?
Click to expand...
They are wired. No batteries to change. Sounds like you lot are as
stumped as I am!

This morning I just waited and it started moving after about 5 minutes
but why should it take so long to find a mouse?

Kirsty
 
Kirsty

A lot goes on in the few minutes after the desktop appears when you
boot. The most notable being your anti-virus is more than likely doing a
scan. This process takes up available CPU capacity and memory. Your
problem with the mouse may not therefore lie with the mouse but be
elsewhere.

What are your anti-virus and anti-spyware arrangementments?

What is the CPU and how much RAM does the computer have? Right click on
the My Computer icon on the Desktop and select Properties to get this
information.

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?


--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Gerry said:
Kirsty

A lot goes on in the few minutes after the desktop appears when you
boot. The most notable being your anti-virus is more than likely doing a
scan. This process takes up available CPU capacity and memory. Your
problem with the mouse may not therefore lie with the mouse but be
elsewhere.
Click to expand...
I understand that, but surely mouse should be found by log-in time? I
am logging in using tab and enter! Also it doesn't happen everytime,
twice today it has been perfect.
What are your anti-virus and anti-spyware arrangementments?
Click to expand...

None. Yes that sounds dangerous but I have spent a lot of money on
subscriptions in the past and never had a virus detected so I take the
risk, my activity is low-risk.
What is the CPU and how much RAM does the computer have? Right click on
the My Computer icon on the Desktop and select Properties to get this
information.
Click to expand...

2.5 GHz Celeron and 384MB RAM.
Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?
Click to expand...
Total: 256516, Limit 904576, Peak 267208. Thunderbird and Firefox only
two apps in operation and both are pretty much idle.

Hope that helps!

Kirsty
 
Singapore said:
Hello,

Things you can try

1) Try another USB port. Do not use non-powered USB hubs.
2) Disconnect other USB devices and connect only the mouse and keyboard.
3) Try the mouse on another computer and see if the problem repeats there
Click to expand...

I doubt this will help as it is an intermittent fault. All USB devices
(mouse, printer, wireless dongle) are plugged into rear USB ports on the
computer, no hubs in use.

Kirsty
 
Kirsty

A mouse can become unresponsive when the demands for memory are high.
Without direct access to your computer it is difficult to know exactly
what is the cause so by asking / answering questions we can look for
clues.

Are there any yellow question marks in Device Manager? Right click on
the My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties,
Hardware,Device Manager. If yes what is the Device Error code?

Have a look in the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for
Errors and Warnings and post copies here. Don't post any more than 48
hours ago.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.

You should have protection from malware. You can get more than adequate
protection for free.

Here's the link for AVG 8.5 (Freeware) Anti-Virus
http://free.avg.com/

You need also to have an anti-spyware programme providing
real time protection. I use Spybot S & D (freeware) for this purpose.
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/ownmirrors1/index.html

Your RAM is marginal for Windows XP but it's adequacy does depend on the
programmes run. If the Total under Commit Charge increases to more than
375,000 you will know that your system is becoming reliant on the
pagefile. This is when the computer starts to slow down.

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Gerry said:
Kirsty

A mouse can become unresponsive when the demands for memory are high.
Without direct access to your computer it is difficult to know exactly
what is the cause so by asking / answering questions we can look for clues.
Understood.

Are there any yellow question marks in Device Manager? Right click on
the My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties,
Hardware,Device Manager. If yes what is the Device Error code?
Click to expand...

Nope, I've made sure to check hidden devices too.

Have a look in the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for
Errors and Warnings and post copies here. Don't post any more than 48
hours ago.
Click to expand...

One reference to MA730PT which seems to be leftover from when I tried to
download some photos from a Motor
 
Gerry said:
Have a look in the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for
Errors and Warnings and post copies here. Don't post any more than 48
hours ago.
Click to expand...

Found some errors pertaining to some drivers for a mobile phone which I
thought I had uninstalled, but clearly had failed to uninstall cleanly.
Following instructions I found through Google I have now uninstalled
this and the error is gone. The mouse has not misbehaved since but as
it was an intermittent fault I shall just have to watch this space!
Your RAM is marginal for Windows XP but it's adequacy does depend on the
programmes run. If the Total under Commit Charge increases to more than
375,000 you will know that your system is becoming reliant on the
pagefile. This is when the computer starts to slow down.
Click to expand...
Well it's been upgraded (trebled) since I bought the machine with XP for
programming. Nowadays I don't do much with it and what I do do it copes
with.

Thanks for the help,

Kirsty
 
Back
Top