My mouse is hyperactive.

[CathyA]

LOL..........my computer mouse, that is.
Got a new mouse pad last week and it's been working great. But now, the arrow that the mouse controls is all over the place. It's overshooting everything. It's just too sensitive. Any suggestions to calm it down?
Beta Blockers?? Xanax? :~)

[SteveinMN]

Heh.

A few things to try:
- Turn the mouse over and make sure the beam that positions the arrow is clean and clear. If your mouse is old enough to have a little ball inside, release it and clean the metal rollers the ball rolls against and make sure there's no junk on the ball itself.
- (the is-it-turned-on question) What happens if you just roll the mouse on the old surface (that is, remove the new mouse pad). Things OK? There's your problem.
- Replace the mouse driver software. I don't remember if you use Windows or Mac, but if you go into the Control Panel [Windows]/System Preferences [Mac] and switch the mouse driver to something generic and save that setting, see if you still get basic correct movement from the mouse. If so, then it's possible the driver or the mouse-preferences file has been corrupted. Removing them forces a rebuild of the file and should solve the problem. But I would not take this step first. Knock out the possible physical issues first.

[goldensmom]

My mouse does that when the batteries are getting low and then it eventually quits. I replace the battery and it works normal again.

[KayLR]

If the above don't work, and they should, try dumping all your temporary files, history and cookies, too.

[CathyA]

Thanks everyone. I didn't know mice had batteries?
It's funny.........I just told DH about it and he said "Oh I had that trouble last night. I turned it over and the eye had some hairs over it and once I removed them, it was fine."

But there aren't any hairs on the eye now and it's just too fast. It requires too much concentration and effort to get that little arrow to the right place. This is a brand new one. I didn't want to try too much until DH comes home, so he can clean up any mess I might make with trying to fix it!

Remember before the mouse, you had to use a lighted pen to point at things on the screen?
Remember when the concept of personal computers wasn't even a remote possibility?
I hope they offer "Fixing the dang computer" as a course in high school now. They really should.

[Kestra]

In the mouse settings control panel you can adjust the pointer speed.

[Miss Cellane]

In the mouse settings control panel you can adjust the pointer speed.

This is what I'd suggest to try first. In Windows, I think it is in the Control Panel, then Hardware. (But I might be wrong there.) You can set the mouse to move faster or slower. Depending on the mouse driver, you might be able to change some other settings to make the mouse work better for you.

Have you checked out one of the Windows for Dummies books? They go into a lot of detail on stuff like this. Since you just got the new computer, you probably will have to change several settings to get it to work the way you want. The Dummies series of books is great for this sort of thing. Your library probably has a copy.

[CathyA]

DH thinks it's normal, but it's still spastic to me. It's clean, works the same on a different surface, and I tried changing the speed, but it all stays the same. I went from "fast" to "slow", and couldn't feel any change. Does it feel like it changes for you, if you change the mouse speed?

[SteveinMN]

Thanks everyone. I didn't know mice had batteries?
The cordless ones do. Maybe some of the "gamers" mice with extra buttons/features.

I hope they offer "Fixing the dang computer" as a course in high school now. They really should.
I'm guessing they don't. Hardly anyone "fixes" anymore. Even the folks at places like Geek Squad and ChipHeads pretty much learn OJT to swap out pieces to rule out problems. Labor is just too expensive relative to the pieces-parts.

[ToomuchStuff]

I would think it would depend on what you mean by fix the dang computer.
My local schools have adult education classes, and both MS operating sytem basics and "clean up your computer" are classes that are taught. I've always joked about going with a Linux computer to really see how knowledgable they are.

[CathyA]

LOL...........DS is home for a couple days while he's doing a local project, and he mentioned something that I hadn't even noticed, on my mouse. Under the wheel there's an area that's lit up with bars and a little clicker underneath them. It has 4 bars. When you click on that little clicker, you can change the sensitivity of the mouse/arrow by choosing 1 bar for less sensitive to 4 bars which makes it "hyperactive". hahaha All this time I never even noticed that on the mouse. Duh! So now my mouse is calmer. :)