[Tractor-Holic]

Every so often,my mouse arrow refuses to respond to the mouse,and I cant do anything to get it to work,other than hit the main power buton and "kill" the computer,and re-start it completely,sign back on,etc--trying to use the ctrl and alt/delete button only activates the windows task manager,and wont restart it...

Any other tricks to get the thing to respond without having to start it over from scratch??--or answers to what causes it to do this??...its highly frustrating,it always seems to do it most when I'm ALMOST finished typing a long post or e-mail...

 

[PopRivit]

There are a couple questions that need answered before anyone can even attempt to help you diagnose the issue.

1. Operating system and patch/service pack level.
2. Mouse connection (USB or PS/2).
3. Does the mouse require third party drivers and software (such as a Logitech trackball)?
4. Have you tried replacing the mouse with a known good one?
5. If the mouse is USB, have you tried simply unplugging it and plugging it back in?

 

[Tractor-Holic]

The computer operating system is unknown,I swapped a hard drive from a dead one into one that still worked but had a hard drive problem...

The mouse is plugged into the usual "green" port on the rear of the tower,I dont know what type that is (USB or whatever)...its a laser type,no roller ball in it...worked OK on other computers..

Unplugging it and plugging it back in does nothing,until the computer is restarted..

I dont know if it needed a third party driver..my knowledge of computers is pretty sparse,I can unblot things and replace them and do some basic things,but I'm far from a techie!...for what its worthmthis problem often occours on other computers and with another "ball" style mouse also...I also have a "delay" sometimes when I type something,it'll take a few seconds to appear on the monitor...I am suspecting its an AOL problem more so than the computers,seeing it happens often on ALL of them at one time or another...

I realize its hard to digagnose things when I cannot give the proper info,I was hoping there was a simple fix,if this is a common dilema..and when its a thrown together pile of parts!..but its all I have to work with at the moment..wish I could learn more about them...(or better yet,upgrade to something NEW and trash all this obsolete crap,and ditch dial up in favor of wireless!)...

 

[LLigetfa]

That is a PS2 mouse. Throw it away and get a USB mouse instead.

BTW, it is possible to shut the computer off gracefully without a mouse, using only keystrokes. Holding the power button is NOT how to do and is playing Russian roulette with the file system.

 

[littletractorguy]

Other question (just 'cause I'm nosey,).... When the mouse stops responding does the light on the bottom of the mouse (the laser, which is, I THINK actually a light emitting diode (LED)... If it's a laser, I want a BIGGER mouse! 'No, I expect you to DIE, Mr. Bond!' :sidelaugh), stay on? Or is it gone out? If its gone out, I'd suspect a bad connection in your mouse cord... They tend to fail RIGHT at where the cord goes into the body of the mouse.... At which point, yes, I'd try replacing the mouse... Its a good, cheap first step in troubleshooting your problem.... AND there's a lot better mice out there these days than what you are using.... That of course, depends on whether you HAVE USB ports on the computer.... They would look like this:

versus the PS2 port, which looks like THIS:

If you DON'T have any USB ports, I concur, I think its time for you to upgrade the whole thing.... Heck, if it would get you away from a computer with PS2 ports, we could pass the hat around to collect enough change to get DTLMG to SEND you one of the ones he's been given, they'd probably be newer....

 

[Vonrow]

sounds like a short in the wires/cable attatched to the mouse. You are using a PS2 style mouse, and these typs are not "hot swappable" --meaning they can not be plugged in and unplugged with the machine "ON." Doing so causes a harware malfunction on the motherboard and in nearly every case--causes a system "lock-up." The machine has to be off in order to plug/unplug these types of mice and keyboards. Doing so while the system is on can actually do serious damage to the motherboard. USB devices however, *can* be plugged & unplugged with the system on or off.

Solution: turn the machine off. unplug your PS2 mouse, and toss it away. Plug in a new PS2 style mouse & turn themachine on... or find yourself a USB style mouse and go from there.

 

[kb0nly]

Sounds like a bad mouse or mouse driver...

 

[Shryp]

One thing I noticed that no one seemed to mention is he said he swapped hard drives from one pc to another. Did you reinstall windows when you did this? When you first install windows it detects the hardware in your computer and gives you the proper drivers. I have never tried it myself, but always heard and was under the impression that if you tried running an OS from another system like that it can lead to all kinds of driver problems.

 

[DTLMG]

What make and model computer do you have? For Example Dell Optiplex 520 (I like to tinker on the dells-I equate them to Briggs Engines)

Anyway, this behavior also can be contributed by bad capacitors on the MOBO if you have an overheating problem. I just resolved this problem on a Optiplex 520 It would boot up, everything good for like 10 mins and then the mouse would freeze. No LAN or keyboard activity either. About to recap a 745 this week too.

Just a thought...

 

[Tractor-Holic]

Well,after having to type this at least twice,then find I cant POST because the mouse froze again,I switched to one off another computer,with the old fashioned "ball"..hope it works long enough to get this page "sent"..

The mouse with the LED stays lit when it freezes,and it has a USB plug,and an adapter to allow it to plug into the PS2 port...(maybe it would work better without that adapter and plugged in the USB port directly?)...

I see no name on the case of this computer--most likely its a "Johnny Cash" one peice at a time pile of assembled peices someone custom made (from junk ones probably?)...but I have a Dell that was doing the same thing with that LED mouse,so maybe its the mouse--either that or after a few hours,the computers get too "warm" and something craps out..I dont know...

I have 4 PC's (desktops) that ALL have some type of "issues",all are hand me down older ones and the one I was using in my room now wont load one of the windows programs,not even in "safe mode"...guess I'l have to hunt down a Windows ME/2000 disc to re-boot it and see if I killed it for good this time--it took a flip onto the floor when my cat jumped on the desk and knocked it over...

The one I'm using at the moment says on a sticker it had Windows ME "pro" but when I boot it up the screen says it has Windows "XP Pro" ,so evidently it was changed since the sticker was put there..I'm sure whover had it before me shut it down improperly many times just as I have (not knowing the "right" way to do so by using the keyboard--I'd like to know how too if someone could tell me please!.)--and I unplugged the mouse with it running more than once too,chances are it may already be (censored!),even before I owned all of them,the former owners were probably tires of the same BS and ditched them!.....sucks having 4 hunks of crap you cant depend to have WORK when you want the too,especially when I cant afford to buy a decent used or new machine...
What gets me is sometimes they'll work perfectly a whole day or more,then other days its noting but grief...fickle electronic POS!..

 

[LLigetfa]

Ja, throw away the adapter and plug in directly into a USB port. At least that way you can unplug/replug it without power cycling.

 

[matt167]

yea, the adapter could be bad. I'v had mouse's crash when they went bad.. nothing wrong with PS/2. most computers still have PS/2 ports for keyboards but it's rare for mouse's.. My desktop has an Actual IBM PS/2 keyboard made in 1988. I built the computer last year. I'v owned the keyboard since 1995 when the PS/2 was given to me, and it has been on every desktop I'v had that used a PS/2 keyboard port..

Wish I knew what happened to that PS/2. It was a model 70 IIRC. but they retail for $300ish now days to vintage collectors

 

[Shryp]

You could download a linux disc for the PCs that don't even load windows.

 

[dontworrybehappy]

Yea. If you want to have some fun trying new stuff, try Ubuntu. It's a free operating system you can download and run. No viruses for it. I'd love to play with it but I don't have a computer that I can sacrifice to try it with. You CAN, however, run it directly off of a CD (not a DVD, it's THAT small) and run it with your computer without installing anything. I might try to do that one day. Just for kicks.