Strange 'wandering' mouse problem

Hi everyone. I hope this is the right section to post, this is about USB/cable mouse.

My windows system seems to not work properly with the mouse, so I first assumed it's the (very old) mouse - so purchased a new one (basic one from HAMA - MC-100 / 3 button version), now the problem is even worse.

What happens: the mouse cursor just slowly drifts / wanders off (sometimes just disappearing/freezing, other times just doing 'crazy gaga' swirling all over the window & as if right-clicking things).

What helps: light banging (ie lifting and replacing the mouse on the surface) - admittedly, because the problem is so annoying, I will confess it finds me banging on the table quite a bit at times.. =))))

What didn't help (tried & failed): there is no driver for the mouse (so no driver install/update), checking mouse settings/drivers (and changing smth just to see if it makes a difference), and I cannot find anything on the web about this.. it's not the USB port issue either.

Anyone know what I can try? Or why it is Window (not the mouse) system that keeps bugging the mouse?
I do a lot of work online, so cannot use touchpad - need the mouse, and so it's daily fury unleashed..

Hi LDM2023

For starters, turn your touchpad off and see if it helps. Sometimes the two don't play well together

Are you able to try each mouse in a different computer ?
In the Search box,type in ---dxdiag ---and expand the Input page as necessary for information on the current mouse.
What method did you use to prove --- it's not the USB port issue either.---?
The ---light banging ---method indicates a faulty socket or cable,assuming the method is used for both mice ?
Also in the Search box,start typing ---reliability ---to access Reliability History and check for entries.

fishingfool said:

Hi LDM2023

For starters, turn your touchpad off and see if it helps. Sometimes the two don't play well together

that was one of the first things that I've tried & made no difference..

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fishingfool said:

Hi LDM2023

For starters, turn your touchpad off and see if it helps. Sometimes the two don't play well together

dalchina said:

I'm guessing your mouse is wired, not bluetooth.

Turning off your touchpad is a good idea to check that, but that depends on you having a convenient means of doing so. This varies from laptop type to laptop type.
Enable or Disable Touchpad in Windows 10
- and comments following.

In addition, disconnect your mouse entirely.

In either case, does your cursor then remain stationary?

If not, boot to Safe Mode and compare.

yes, it's USB cable. No matter where/how I plug in (or if I reconnect), it still behaves this way. One thing that I DO seem to observe, is that the mouse going gaga most times (but not all times) is when Windows runs bloatware that I see in task Manager (ie tasks/settings like Modules Installer to check for updates, Smart Screen, Indexer/Realtime Inspection Service, other tasks I'm not using eg Photos/Phone/Search/GameBar, or its notorious wish to check updates for Explorer..).

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joeandmarg0 said:

Are you able to try each mouse in a different computer ?
In the Search box,type in ---dxdiag ---and expand the Input page as necessary for information on the current mouse.
What method did you use to prove --- it's not the USB port issue either.---?
The ---light banging ---method indicates a faulty socket or cable,assuming the method is used for both mice ?
Also in the Search box,start typing ---reliability ---to access Reliability History and check for entries.

Unfortunately cannot test on another computer, but I did have same issue on a different mouse.. which tells me it's Windows/bug, glitch or setting issue. Definitely not USB port issue either - tried unplugging, plugging in, different ports, after sleep, after restart, etc.

Reliability check doesn't find anything either (except that Window's is not happy when I don't update as soon as system coerces.. this is how I crashed my other/main laptop, so I'm on Win10 educational & come to think of it, the mouse glitch may be due to major Win update half a year ago, when I had crashed my other laptop & had to switch to this one so updating it as I've not used it for a while. Before that I did use it, and with the mouse, and no issues..)

3nd said:

have a look at this thread.

kudos, i've gone through it.. the guy seems to have a similar problem, I agree. Except in my case I've barely used this computer & did run the Win Update (then rolling back, but it didn't change a thing). How is it possible to tell if the BIOS would be causing it? Like to check for BIOS updates and see if it solves?

The long-term plan is to back-up, erase windows, and run on Linux. This is my 2nd device, so only 500GB - of which Windows eats up like 85%.. I suspect it would improve things drastically. But in the thread I see that the guy had no difference whether Linux or Windows..

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dalchina said:

Please confirm that with no mouse connected and touchpad disabled that your cursor remains stationary.

What's the make/model of your laptop and approx age. and does it have a graphics card?



Odd behaviour indeed.

Comment:
You can certainly uninstall Photos, Phone, Gamebar ...
Smartscreen is part of Windows security... Indexing is search indexing (I guess that's what you mean) - in my case I can 'instantly' perform e.g. a content search from file explorer starting at My PC.

There's no such thing as an update check for explorer (if you mean file explorer)

BINGO, mouse disconnected & touchpad off = no movement. If I don't touch (and touchpad re-enabled), also no pointer movement (though I've caught a few times the slow wandering off, of the cursor, all by itself..). I know there's such a thing as tuning for game mice, but it can only be done with the driver software (so if HAMA doesn't issue one for this type of mouse, there's not much I could do this way, right?)

ACER TravelMate B-series, 2020 / Win10 educational / updated all in mid-2023

What I meant by Explorer is it's Edge browser.. I'm never using it, so never updating it. PS I'm clear what those tasks are that I see in manager, I was just trying to say since I'm not using or starting them (but win sys does), this is when I coincidentally see the mouse going gaga (every time it does 'all of a sudden', I check the task manager window to verify if it's the case - so this is how I noticed it)

ArthurDent said:

@LDM2023 Can I just clarify something?

With the corded USB mouse disconnected but the trackpad still active you still get the 'wandering mouse' issue?

With me, the mouse was on a desktop (no trackpad) and of all the things I tried (including swapping the mobo/cpu combo) I still had the same issue (because I was reconnecting the mouse each time) as I wasn't thinking.

When I disconnected the USB mouse and put a different USB mouse into the system, the wandering mouse (or jiggling mouse in my case) disappeared.

If with the corded USB mouse disconnected and the trackpad still active, it would seem to point to a trackpad issue rater than the corded USB mouse. I say this because you mention having a different USB mouse plugged in but experiencing the same issue.

To check, leave the corded USB mouse plugged in but disable the trackpad and see what happens (you may need to restart each time you make a change to your system).

Art

when I only use touchpad (no usb mouse) - no issues
when I use another USB mouse - same issues (maybe not as severe, as my other mouse has a driver installed as it's ANCIENT, but the new mouse from HAMA has no driver/updates..)
also, I use a 'rug' for the mouse (vinyl-type material with light imprint, so it definitely 'grabs' the surface to minimise risk of 'wandering' as I found mouse on table surface does that..)
= so the USB swap or mouse swap doesn't work =/ this was the reason I purchased a new mouse, I just assumed it could be outdated cable etc.. but no, it's not the cable/sensor of the mouse

Disabling touchpad doesn't solve it (even if I do nothing with the mouse, or connect/disconnect). But I guess I need to check after a re-start specifically = might take me some more days, I'm currently need to sort project aka lots of open/unsaved work in progress..

Thanks!