Mouse problems

[Jon885]

I have a problem with my mouse. It's a dell mouse. After about a minute the mouse stops functioning but the keyboard is still fully functional. I know it's not the serface my mouse is on, because the left and the right click don't work either. There are 3 numbers on a sticker on the back to the left of the numbers. Next to the numbers are inicials.

DP/N:
P/N:
S/N:

I think s/n stands for serial number, but I don't know what the other ones mean. I tell you this, because I think this information might be important to find help for the mouse. Anyway any help would be appriceated. Thanks ahead of time in case anybody answers.

[Riinuka]

...Sure it's not a problem with the driver, or the port itself? Is it a USB mouse, or a PS/2 port mouse?

[Jon885]

It's a USB mouse. It's a laser mouse I think..the one without the ball at the bottom. I'm not really familiar with the computer terminology. It could be, but I can't find a driver.

[Kenshin]

Sounds like a standard optical USB mouse. You say it works for about a minute or so, and then stops completely, right? The mouse pointer stops moving, and you can't left or right-click anything.

Well, some questions:
What's your Operating System?
When did this problem start?
Did you install/uninstall anything (that includes any hardware) before the problem started?

For the moment, try plugging the mouse into another USB port, if you have any available, and check if the problem occurs again. To me it sounds like some software or hardware is conflicting with the USB ports/mouse, but we'll probably need some more info to troubleshoot this.

[Jon885]

Windows XP
Couple months ago
I uninstalled a few programs I downloaded..I forget all of them but I remember a couple. One was a spyware program I downloaded that you have to pay for. Another was password protection program that I downloaded. Neither of these came with my computer though.

That's what I do. I plug the mouse into another USB port and it works for about an hour. I also have a virus that I can't get rid of and that might have something to do with this. EV-Downloader or Downlover-EV..I forget what it's called. It goes by the name drummerboy too, and I've tried everything to get rid of this, and it looks like the only solution will be to uninstall windows, but I've never heard of a virus that just stops your computer mouse from moving.

[Trump]

If you have a virus, all bets are off. Take care of that before worrying about your mouse.

[japanat]

My wife's optical mouse did that after installing SpyBot, but it turned out to just be a coincidence. Bought a new cheap mouse, no problems. Guess the mouse just died (poor Mickey!)

[Riinuka]

If hooking into another USB port makes it work for an hour, then I'm guessing you've got something up with the USB controller in your system. :/ Same problem I have with my USB modem.

Switch to a port you don't usually use for the mouse, and let me know which virus you have. I can help you with it. Here are some suggestions for anti-virus apps and such, quite a few that I use.

Ad-Aware
Spybot Search and Destroy (just save the .exe install file and reinstall the thing every month or two to not have to pay for virus definition files.)
Spysweeper
CrapCleaner (so it's not anti-virus, but does a good job of cleaning some useless junk from your system)
ZoneAlarm (firewall) - make sure you download the free firewall app, not the suite.
Avast

That's all for now. Ask me about more apps, or if you need anything else.