Strange sensitivity problem with my computer (games, mouse, wireless, icon)
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Location: Somewhere along the path to where I'd like to be.
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Just within the past 24 hours, my computer is acting really strange. Not sure what's going on. It's just acting extremely touchy - very sensitive, like the thing is on hyper-drive, or strung out on caffeine. These are the problems I'm having:
When I try to highlight text so I can cut and paste it elsewhere, I'm having problems highlighting exactly what I want. Instead of a couple of words, the whole paragraph suddenly becomes highlighted as soon as I place my cursor next to the portion I want to highlight. Or else if I drag the cursor around what I want to copy, by the time I get to the end of what I want to copy, half of what I had already highlighted will become UNhighlighted. (Is that a word?)
Sometimes when I move my cursor over a link, it will automatically pop open on me, without me clicking.
If I try to click on something - for example, inserting a smilie in a post here in the forums, I will click ONCE, but end up with multiple smilies - as if I clicked several times all in a row.
It's not only happening online - it's happening with other files on my computer, too. Like if I move across an icon on my desktop, it will suddenly open. This is getting annoying. Any chance a virus could be causing this to happen? I mean, I run Avast around the clock, and keep it updated. It hasn't warned me of any intrusions. Maybe it's spyware? Is my computer freaking out on me?
Just within the past 24 hours, my computer is acting really strange. Not sure what's going on. It's just acting extremely touchy - very sensitive, like the thing is on hyper-drive, or strung out on caffeine. These are the problems I'm having:
When I try to highlight text so I can cut and paste it elsewhere, I'm having problems highlighting exactly what I want. Instead of a couple of words, the whole paragraph suddenly becomes highlighted as soon as I place my cursor next to the portion I want to highlight. Or else if I drag the cursor around what I want to copy, by the time I get to the end of what I want to copy, half of what I had already highlighted will become UNhighlighted. (Is that a word?)
Sometimes when I move my cursor over a link, it will automatically pop open on me, without me clicking.
If I try to click on something - for example, inserting a smilie in a post here in the forums, I will click ONCE, but end up with multiple smilies - as if I clicked several times all in a row.
It's not only happening online - it's happening with other files on my computer, too. Like if I move across an icon on my desktop, it will suddenly open. This is getting annoying. Any chance a virus could be causing this to happen? I mean, I run Avast around the clock, and keep it updated. It hasn't warned me of any intrusions. Maybe it's spyware? Is my computer freaking out on me?
Anyone have any thoughts?
Thanks.
Rob, it might not necessarily be your computer, it might just be a problem with the mouse.
How old is the mouse?
Is it a PS1 or a USB mouse?
Is it an optical or regular ball mouse?
You may also want to adjust the sensitivity on it, depending on what kind of mouse it is.
Location: Somewhere along the path to where I'd like to be.
2,180 posts, read 5,422,155 times
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The mouse is probably a couple of years old - no more than 3. It's a USB optical mouse. I haven't had any problems with it before, though, so this is really strange. I frequently use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out, and I just came here from viewing some maps where I was doing that, and there seemed to be a "delayed reaction" of sorts. I zoomed out using the wheel, but when I stopped, the map zoomed in several more levels and then back out. It's almost as if someone else is controlling the mouse at the same time. Really odd.
I ran a spyware check, and it came back clean. No viruses. I cleaned all my cookies and cleared out my registry of miscellaneous junk. So I don't know. If it is the mouse, I'd hate that because my only spare is a PS1 ball mouse. I don't like those things.
Is your mouse a track-ball type? If so, it could be dirty if you never cleaned it. This could affect your mouse's performance. Anyway, I would replace your mouse with a wireless type...pretty cheap these days.
Location: Somewhere along the path to where I'd like to be.
2,180 posts, read 5,422,155 times
Reputation: 829
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steel Man
Is your mouse a track-ball type? If so, it could be dirty if you never cleaned it. This could affect your mouse's performance. Anyway, I would replace your mouse with a wireless type...pretty cheap these days.
No, it's not a track-ball type. I never got the hang of using those. lol!
I'll have to consider switching it out with my other one to see if that clears up the problem, although it's not really doing it too bad now. Sometimes I think my computer just likes to mess with my mind!
Oooops... I spoke too soon. See those double smilies? That's an example of what it does. I only clicked on the smiley once. Go figure.
The mouse is probably a couple of years old - no more than 3. It's a USB optical mouse. I haven't had any problems with it before, though, so this is really strange. I frequently use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out, and I just came here from viewing some maps where I was doing that, and there seemed to be a "delayed reaction" of sorts. I zoomed out using the wheel, but when I stopped, the map zoomed in several more levels and then back out. It's almost as if someone else is controlling the mouse at the same time. Really odd.
I ran a spyware check, and it came back clean. No viruses. I cleaned all my cookies and cleared out my registry of miscellaneous junk. So I don't know. If it is the mouse, I'd hate that because my only spare is a PS1 ball mouse. I don't like those things.
If you're using a wireless network, make sure it's secure, because it's possible somebody nearby can get on it by tracking your password. Setting up to be secure will depend on the brand of the router you have. This should eliminate the possibility of somebody hijacking your computer, also make sure your Windows OS has the latest patches.
If possible, put a different mouse on it temporarily and see if it behaves the same way. If it doesn't, then obviously your mouse is either damaged or needs adjustments, which can be done in the control panel/mouse.
A HiJack log reads things that Avast can NOT see. Just because Avast says you are clean does not mean it's totally true. It can miss things. Liz
Yeah, I thought about HijackThis. I have it on my system, and was going to give it a run. It doesn't seem to be acting quite so schizo now, so I'll see how it goes and if it acts up again, I'll switch out the mouse to see if that helps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Magnum Mike
If you're using a wireless network, make sure it's secure, because it's possible somebody nearby can get on it by tracking your password. Setting up to be secure will depend on the brand of the router you have. This should eliminate the possibility of somebody hijacking your computer, also make sure your Windows OS has the latest patches.
If possible, put a different mouse on it temporarily and see if it behaves the same way. If it doesn't, then obviously your mouse is either damaged or needs adjustments, which can be done in the control panel/mouse.
Hope that helps.
Nope - not on a wireless network. As I said above, I'll see how it goes today. Not acting up now, but if it does, I'll try switching it out and/or running HijackThis.
You may also want to check a few windows settings. I am not sure what your level of proficiency is in working with registry files so if in doubt, don't do it. If you are comfortable working within these files then you may want to verify that these settings are at least within spec. Definitely check out #72 at the bottom.
30. Speed up mouse movement, part 1
Windows XP applies an acceleration curve to the mouse by default, meaning that every time you move the pointer, it starts out slowly and accelerates with continual movement. If you like a really fast and precise mouse setting, you may find that even increasing the mouse speed in the 'pointer options' tab of the mouse entry in the control panel does not get you the speed you want. A good partial solution is to uncheck the 'enhance pointer precision' box below the mouse speed setting in the 'pointer options' tab.
While this does not completely remove the acceleration curve, it mostly does, allowing your mouse to reach much higher speeds in normal operation.
31. Speed up mouse movement, part 2
As stated in the previous tip, Windows XP applies an acceleration curve to the mouse which can be disabled for better overall mouse performance, especially during games. Unfortunately, the option in the control panel as detailed above does not fully disable mouse acceleration. To do this, it is necessary to make some registry changes.
First, open up REGEDIT and navigate to 'hkey_current_user\control panel\mouse'
Change the value of 'smoothmouseXcurve' to the following:
This should eliminate the acceleration curve of the mouse once and for all.
72. Reduce menu delays
The Windows XP start menu incorporates a built-in delay between the time your mouse pointer lands on a menu and the time that menu unfolds. This can get annoying after a while. Using the registry, you can speed up menu response, speeding up your computing experience.
First, open REGEDIT and then navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\
Edit the MenuShowDelay value.
The default is 400; lower values will speed up the start menu.
Setting it to 0 is not a good idea unless you like 5 or 6 menus popping out at you every time your mouse pointer strays, but experiment to find your favourite setting.
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These are the problems I'm having:
