MY mouse is MOVING! HELP!

[b-boy]

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Hi all.

Right to begin with here is some info:

1:WIN XP SP2 Version 2002.
24 (HT) 3ghz, 1gig RAM... anything else important?
3:Nothing led to this problem. Seemed fine for a long time, then suddenly...
4:I have no error msgs or hardware conflicts.
5:I have Norton AV (trial) and MS anti-spyware installed.

So... my mouse seems to have a life of its own! I know that the most common reason for this is a trojan or a joke program controling the mouse movements.

My system is clean according to both AV and MS anti-spyware. Even when i unplug the 'net cable, the mouse continues to refuse to let me click on what i want and it also randomly clicks both right and left buttons.

I have eventually formated the harddrive and re-installed xp. Problem still pesists. My thoughts are, a normal program such as Skype or Winamp etc has a trojan/joke program built in, but this seems unrealistic as all programs (not alot after re-install) have been downloaded from program-source/owner websites.

I really would appreciate some advice/help as this problem is causing the PC to be virtually unusable. Any more info that you guys require, i will be happy to provide it.

Thanks

Chris

[UltraMagnus]

is the mouse usb or ps/2?
does it still do it when the mouse is unplugged?
have you tried a differnt mouse?
have you tried a differnt port?
have you tried a usb mouse plugged into a usb card (incase your mobo is busted)

apart from that im not sure...

[TheAnimus]

is it a wireless mouse.

[BEANFro Elite]

If it is a completely wireless mouse, i.e. no cable, then the battery may be low, or the may be a bit of hair or dust on the laser...

[b-boy]

the mouse is usb (mouseman opitical), but the problem persists even when the mouse is unplugged. I have also tried it a different port, i have no usb card or hub to check with. I also have a MS wireless opitical mouse, OS says mouse battery is low, so i took them out as i previously thought that this might be the problem. No. That doesnt work either. Strange eh?

I also have thought that possibily (havent checked) my mobo has a wireless chip onboard. If so, and its on and open, people locally maybe able to access my sys. I have closed/disabled my 1394net card (wireless, im not sure) and that doesnt help either. I have ran Adware and Spybot, both reporting my sys is clean, same as Norton AV.

Any more ideas guys????

Thanks so far,

Chris

[UltraMagnus]

well this is certainly odd!

if it continues when no mouse is plugged in, it cant be the mouse, or the port...

hmm, i really dont know what it could be to be honest,

to check if its a spyware, virus, start in safe mode and see if it still happens

[megah0]

*edit, didn't read the thread properly

[autopilot]

When you say you have not got the mouse plugged in, you mean you have unplugged the wireless reciever yes?

[b-boy]

i have only got 1 keyboard its wireless, same as the mouse. So i cant check if its the wireless receiver picking up some one else's signals in the house, as i would not be able to type this msg...help!!!!

[b-boy]

i do believe i have the solution.

while the mouse is moving, i unplugged the wireless receiver (which controls the mouse (which i have another that i use) and the keyboard) lo and behold the mouse stops moving. Think that somewhere close (has to be real close i guess about 5m?) someone has also a wireless keyboard/mouse which interfers with mine.

Anyone else had this problem before?
Anyone know of a permenant solution?

[megah0]

In the house i shared in the second year at uni I had a similar problem with wireless mice. You should be able to set diferent channels for your mouse to eliminate this problem.

[b-boy]

how do i do that? mouse software from microsoft doesnt seem to allow me to do this...

[Ferral]

Mine does the same, I have an optical mouse myself and occasionally it has a tendancy to glide to the left ever so slowly. I think its the mouse mats surface that is causing my problem as the mouse is clean.

I just move it about for a few secs and it stops it, it only ever does it on Windows desktop however, never experienced it during gameplay at all.

[eloquence]

Some wireless mice have a switch on the bottom for selecting the channel (on the receiver too).
For jittery movements, I've generally found that the problem has been low batteries or being close to the maximum range of the mouse. Occasionally a slightly reflective surface has caused similar problems, though (varnished wood, etc).

[Zak33]

don't suppose you could try a wired keyboard and mouse for a quick test could you?

Just so you KNOW its just the wireless thing thats at fault!

If a WIRED mouse and keyboard are perfect, at least you know you've got a working clean PC.

[b-boy]

you guys are right... everything ive already thought of tho...

The movement is not the kind you get when the sensor picks up stray light and causes the mouse to flick around... oh no!! this is real movement. It seems to know where/what im trying to do and moves the cursor away! Just like one is controlling it! It also happily clicks away using both main buttons and the wheel (as demonstrated to me in IE)!

Yes, my friend zak33, that would indeed let me clarify the issue but i have no wire-keyboard, and i have a wire-mouse (wireless mouse is without batteries to rule it out as the source of the trouble) this obviously means that i still have the keyboard attached, with which the receiver may be the root of the problem.

A slightly worrying thing tho... i installed and ran adaware. Great program, quick and seemingly effiecient, as it displayed about 20 data miners and ad-ware. So, i did the obivous and deleted them. A few hrs later and i came back to the pc and ran adaware, just to be on the safe side. Oh OH! same number (ish) of data miners and ad-ware. Could this be the work of the MYSTRIOUS MOUSE??!

These problems i am encountering is classic of a trojan horse attack. Yet if i unplug the CAT5 cable, the mouse continues to fly around merryily clicking on this and that (ecspecially annoying the BF2!!).

So today i called MS support. Got through to hardware tech and let them know the full story... "mmm" they said, "sounds very strange!", "yes" i said "ok, we will send you a replacement reciever/keyboard/mouse as maybe the reciever is malfunctioning" YOU CAN SAY THAT AGAIN DUDE!!!

Well i shall what the required 7-10 days while they ship me another, and i shall let you all know the results of this saga of the "GHOST MOUSE!!"

Until next time