# [SOLVED] Mysterious mouse freezing



## Keykon (Dec 20, 2010)

Hello all!
Sorry for my first post on these forum being a cry for help, but I'm running out of options, so here i am.

The mouse cursor on my computer keeps freezing, and i can't figure out why it's happening or how to fix it.
What's strange about it, is that most, if not all of the freezes occurs when moving the mouse from left to right in a long solid movement, if i move the mouse small instances at a time it is much less likely to freeze up, and if i move it right to left it doesn't seem to freeze up at all.
When the mouse freezes, every function on the mouse stops working(cursor movement, clicking) for about 5 seconds, then it goes back to normal again, if i had a mouse button pressed at the time of the freeze, the computer will act as if i am continuing to hold the button down.

The freezing first occurred with a mouse i bought alongside my computer about 4-5 years ago, a Logitech MX518 optical USB mouse.
When the freezing started i simply figured the mouse was broken, so i swapped it for an old PS/2 ball mouse i had lying around.
This solved the issue completely, however after a month or so, it started all over again.

Since then i have tried all kinds of ways to solve it...
I tried the mouse on another computer and it worked fine there, so I'm convinced this is a problem within my computer not the mouse itself.
I have tried uninstalling/installing different mouse drivers, and graphic card drivers.
I have scanned the computer for malware with both Nod32 and Avast!, none of which found the computer to be infected.
I have checked if any part of the computer is overheating and i can't find any, the mouse will freeze up in the same way no matter if i just started up the computer or if it's been running all day.
I have tried turning hardware acceleration both off and on and everything in between.
I have done a major cleanup, removing and uninstalling all software and items that i had no use for, freeing up loads of space.
Last thing i tried was a registry cleaner(CCleaner), i've heard they can quite easily damage your computer but i was beginning to get desperate.

Windows XP home edition SP3
Intel Core 2 duo 6400 @ 2.13GHz
2gb RAM, 2.13GHz
Nvidia Geforce GTX 460
Antec Basiq 500W PSU
I'm currently using latest available drivers for both my graphics card and mouse.


Sorry for the large wall of text, but i figured it's better to include too much info than not enough.
Any tips, suggestions, requests or questions are very welcome, thanks a lot for any help in advance.


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## fractalman93 (Feb 22, 2006)

*Re: Mysterious mouse freezing*

Silly question: Have you tried different USB ports? Also, did the Logitech mouse come with software in addition to the drivers? If so, completely uninstall everything; drivers and software. Make sure that the Logitech folder no longer appears under c:\program files. Finally, open Explorer carefully navigate to c:\windows\inf. That folder is hidden. So, you'll have to set the folder options to show hidden folders. Delete all OEM##.inf and OEM##.pnf (where ## represents the numbers after OEM) files. *Be careful*. There are one or two files after the OEM stuff that you do not want to select and delete. Reboot the PC.

Make sure the mouse is connected before the PC boots. WinXP should recognize it and install a generic driver for it. That will get the mouse working. If you want some of the more advanced features aside from left and right clicking and the scroll wheel, you might want to install the Logitech software. Otherwise, just leave it as is. Let me know if this solves the issue.


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## patmark (Jul 11, 2010)

*Re: Mysterious mouse freezing*

Hi Keykon, and welcome to TSF. Let me ask you a couple of questions to see if I can help you figure this out. 

Which mouse are you using at the moment? is it a USB mouse or a PS2 one?

How many USB ports does your computer have and what devices are plugged into them at the moment?

I have a sneaking suspician that the trouble is with your USBs not the mouse itsself so lets start there. 

Look in the device manager for me and tell me if there are any ! or ? by any of the USB stuff. Then check the settings in the control panel - mouse Icon and post back how they are set and if the mouse is showing under the hardware tab. That will get us started.

I will monitor this thread throughout the day. If you resolve this problem on your own or with the info I provided please let me know so I can move on to other issues. Also *please mark this thread solved using the thread tools option located at the top of this thread and selecting solved from the drop down menu when your computer is working correctly and you are through with this thread so that others may benifit from it in the future.*

Thank you
Patmark


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## Keykon (Dec 20, 2010)

*Re: Mysterious mouse freezing*



fractalman93 said:


> Silly question: Have you tried different USB ports? Also, did the Logitech mouse come with software in addition to the drivers? If so, completely uninstall everything; drivers and software. Make sure that the Logitech folder no longer appears under c:\program files. Finally, open Explorer carefully navigate to c:\windows\inf. That folder is hidden. So, you'll have to set the folder options to show hidden folders. Delete all OEM##.inf and OEM##.pnf (where ## represents the numbers after OEM) files. *Be careful*. There are one or two files after the OEM stuff that you do not want to select and delete. Reboot the PC.
> 
> Make sure the mouse is connected before the PC boots. WinXP should recognize it and install a generic driver for it. That will get the mouse working. If you want some of the more advanced features aside from left and right clicking and the scroll wheel, you might want to install the Logitech software. Otherwise, just leave it as is. Let me know if this solves the issue.


Hi there.
I have tried all of the available USB ports on my computer, and it made no difference, i am also using a USB keyboard and that has been working this whole time without any problems, no matter which port i use.
The Logitech mouse did indeed come with a disc that included drivers and a piece of software for tweaking and utilizing the different features of the mouse called SetPoint, i have tried using the mouse both with and without the drivers and the SetPoint program, it made no difference though.
However when i uninstalled it, i simply executed the uninstall file. I will try the more thorough way that you described and see how it works out.




patmark said:


> Hi Keykon, and welcome to TSF. Let me ask you a couple of questions to see if I can help you figure this out.
> 
> Which mouse are you using at the moment? is it a USB mouse or a PS2 one?
> 
> ...


I am currently using the PS2 mouse.

My computer has 8 USB ports, 4 on the front, and 4 in the back, i only have a USB keyboard plugged in, which has been working without any problems this whole time.
Back when i used the USB mouse the only other USB device i had was the keyboard aswell.

I checked the device manager and there are no ! or ? signs near any of the USB stuff.

I'm not entirely sure what you meant by "Then check the settings in the control panel - mouse Icon and post back how they are set", do you mean cursor speed and all those things?
The mouse does show up under the hardware tab correctly.


I'm very thankful for both of your replies, and i will keep updating this thread if i try something out, if i get this to work again i will be sure to mark it as solved and give regards where it's due.
Again, big thanks for trying to help my sorry butt.


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## CCT (Mar 21, 2009)

*Re: Mysterious mouse freezing*

In Control Panel, Power Options under Advanced - set the power button to turn off the comp when pressed.

Then in Control Panel, Mouse, under Driver, click uninstall and make it so.

Press the Power button to shut down.

Start again and see if it improves.


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## [email protected] (Nov 16, 2004)

*Re: Mysterious mouse freezing*

More silly questions:

Did you clean the PS2 mouse?

Are you using a mouse pad?

Could the USB Kybd have a intermittently stuck key? Can you try a PS2 kybd?

You could also do a Ctrl + Alt + Del, in the Task Manager window that opens, click 'Processes' tab, dbl click the 'Mem Usage' column title to order the mem usage most to least, then press Alt + PrtScn, open Paint and paste it there with a Ctrl + V, then post the bmp here.

Thinking it's possible that you might have a program that's gobbling resources but isn't a virus or malware.


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## fractalman93 (Feb 22, 2006)

*Re: Mysterious mouse freezing*

[email protected] - Good point about some sort of resource hog. I didn't think of that.


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## Keykon (Dec 20, 2010)

Hi again.
A friend of mine just figured out what the problem was.

Not sure about the exact phrasing here, but basically the part of the mouse where the cord goes into the mouse is glitchy/broken.
As long as the cord was pointing straight away from the mouse or to the right( | or / ) the mouse would work as normal, however if the cord would point to the left from the mouse( like so: \ ), it wouldn't receive any power, and act as if i unplugged the mouse.
So, if i move the mouse far enough to the right, eventually the cord would get turned to the left enough for this glitch to come into effect and the mouse to stop working.

What's weird is that this happened on two different mice, and neither me or my friend can see anything that would cause this to happen, the mouse cord is not under any tension, pressure or snagged in any sharp turns, it's just hanging freely.
And by no means am i a rageaholic that toss my things around or anything like that.

One thing we noticed is that my computer and my desk is placed in such a way that the mouse cord is prone to point left more easily, but it seems noway near enough for the mouse to take damage from it.
I used a bit of tape on the mouse cord and mouse to keep it straight for now, and it's been working fine.


Big thanks to all of you for being so keen on helping me out, i hope you don't feel as if i wasted your time by having you looking for software issues when the problem was the actual mouse itself.
I do feel a bit stupid over this, but i did try both of my mouses rather extensively on two other computers without it even freezing up once.


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## fractalman93 (Feb 22, 2006)

Not at all. I'd never have guessed it was the mouse cable. I suppose it happens, but it's highly unusual. I know I've accidentally yanked my optical mouse several times over the 7 years that I've had it and, knock on wood, it's still working fine.

No, you definitely didn't waste our time. I know I learned something from the experience. I'll keep it in mind when troubleshooting future mouse issues.


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