[Savic]

My mouse moves and clicks on its' own. I had this problem on Windows Vista 32 Bit so I Formatted my Main drive and installed Windows XP Pro, I formatted my slave drive after that to get rid of the problem that way, or so i hoped. the problem is still there. someone please help me. My mouse moves and clicks on its own even when the mouse is unplugged, my mouse is a Logitech G9 Gaming mouse, wired. my computer is a Lenovo 3000 J series.

this problem is very annoying, and so far i haven't found anything online to fix it. please help.

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My mouse moves and clicks on its own even when the mouse is unplugged

Hmmm, well that sure does not make sense. It is common for mouse pointers to move a bit once you take your hand off the mouse, but clicking? That's should not happen, in fact, with the mouse unplugged, it is not possible. But what is possible is someone has compromised your network - everything on your side of the "gateway" device, typically a cable or DSL modem, or router.

How are you connected to the Internet? What security software are you using? Does it do it if you are disconnected from the network?

[Digerati]

My mouse moves and clicks on its own even when the mouse is unplugged

Hmmm, well that sure does not make sense. It is common for mouse pointers to move a bit once you take your hand off the mouse, but clicking? That's should not happen, in fact, with the mouse unplugged, it is not possible. But what is possible is someone has compromised your network - everything on your side of the "gateway" device, typically a cable or DSL modem, or router.

How are you connected to the Internet? What security software are you using? Does it do it if you are disconnected from the network?

[Savic]

Even when I unplug the Network Cable from the back of my computer it still moves. this computer is old and doesn't have a Wireless Connection either. trust me I've gone through the regular problems that it could be, I am computer Savvy

[Digerati]

Try another mouse.

[Savic]

It's NOT my mouse, I told you, it happened even after I Unplugged my mouse. if it were my mouse it would have quit after I unplugged it it

[Digerati]

It's NOT my mouse, I told you, it happened even after I Unplugged my mouse. if it were my mouse it would have quit after I unplugged it it

And I told you it is not possible to be the mouse either. I also told you it is possible your system is compromised so I asked how you connect to the Internet and I asked what security software you are using. Instead of helping us help you by providing the information requested, your response was, "I'm savvy".

The point of trying another mouse is to force the OS to interface with a different I/O device - but being savvy, you knew that. Since you won't answer the questions asked so we can help narrow this odd problem down - and since I am obviously not savvy enough to know what's happening off the top of my head, good luck with your problem.

[Savic]

not ever did i say that I was a tech, so if you ask me to do something give me a reason to do it, otherwise i think you're asking me to do something I've already tried. that's all. I never claimed to know everything about computers, so forgive me for my ignorance.

[Digerati]

otherwise i think you're asking me to do something I've already tried

What? No! It does not work that way, bud! You tell us what you have already tried. You answer our questions. If you don't understand, ask for an explanation. We can't read your mind! If you want your computer fixed, take it to a shop where a technician can touch and feel it for himself. If you want help here, you have to be our eyes and fingers by answering our questions and telling us what is going on. We are not going to sit here and play guessing games. You either follow our advice, explain why it can't or won't be done, or ask for clarification. You don't ignore. Otherwise you are wasting everyone's (and we are all volunteers, btw) time!

not ever did i say that I was a tech

Nor did I. You said you were computer savvy. You came here seeking advice and that's great. I'm here to share what I know and maybe learn something new along the way. I'm a tech and I don't know the answer to this problem. Since the computer is not sitting in front of me, I need to get more information from YOU. If you don't want to provide it, I can't help you. But if you want to see if we can work through this, please provide the following information, and maybe we all will learn something new.

So I ask again, what security software are you using? Red flags are flying here, not so much for the moving, but the clicking. When it clicks, is it clicking on something? A button? Icon? Is it opening and closing programs?

Does it do it in Safe Mode?

How does it move? That is, does the pointer just wander and drift about the page? Or does it appear to move deliberately, as if willed from point to point? What happens when it hits one of the sides?

I still say try another mouse - or at the very least, uninstall your current drivers, then reboot. This will cause XP to revert to it's native standard mouse drivers.

[rageface12]

This is happening to me as well, but I know what's wrong. There is a script running in the background, probably from a recent infection. It is making things difficult to write this, it keeps highlighting everything and I end up erasing all my typing.

Happens in safe mode, and scans show nothing. Nothing to do with hardware or OS.

[j.randomuser]

I still say try another mouse - or at the very least, uninstall your current drivers, then reboot. This will cause XP to revert to it's native standard mouse drivers.

This will fix it, but it won't answer why.

Chances are that the user has a Serial device connected to the system, and windows is incorrectly identifying it as a mouse (usually happens with a GPS receiver).

Check "Mice and other pointing devices" in Device Manager, and if there's a "Microsoft Serial Ballpoint" (Or similar - look for something with Serial in the name) device present, click it and hit Delete to uninstall the device. Obviously, if you actually have a serial mouse, this is a bad idea.

[wvbear]

Same problem here. Been going on for a few weeks now. It's not the mouse. It's not the drivers. I'm on an Acer laptop, running Win XP. It started happening with the usb mouse that was used for over a year. It continued after the drivers were uninstalled and corded usb mouse replaced with a cordless. It continued after the cordless was replaced with another wired mouse.

The mouse pointer does not move in a straight line. It moves in random directions, as if someone is moving over or searching for a specific icon to click on. You can tell that it's simulating a click and drag because if it's over the desktop, the selection box appears behind it as it moves. Sometimes it will be over an icon when it simulates a click and it will start the program. If over a webpage, it will select links as it moves over them and open new pages. It happens at random times and for varying lengths of time. The movements, again, are random and cannot be predicted. For example, it hasn't happened while typing this.

MS SEC Essentials scans clean as does Malwarebytes. Hijackthis log doesn't show anything out of the ordinary. But I'm thoroughly convinced it is a background application running. It runs in safemode. And watching task manager before and during doesn't show another process suddenly appearing. I really don't want to reformat, but I'm at wits end.


Any other thoughts?

[rivboi]

To those saying that it is impossible for the cursor to move and click without a mouse physically plugged in, it just means you haven't encountered the issue before and have a closed mind or know it all attitude. I'm a Network Admin at a bank and have been working in the IT field for over 15 years, I can list my certifications if that would make you happy, or just trust that I am savvy enough to know when a mouse is plugged in/unplugged.

This issue started happening to a computer in my network, my first thought was also that it is probably a hardware issue as the cursor seemed to be moving and clicking randomly without any attempt to open files or browse the network as an attacker would. Tried all the obvious stuff, nothing worked. I eventually ended up taking the computer into my office, the problem still occurred when it had no network connection, when it had no mouse or keyboard, and when it was in safe mode. No strange processes running, no scripts executing in the background. I used our corporate vulnerability scanner which finds any OS/MS vulnerabilities along with 3rd party software, driver, and even hardware vulnerabilities, it also didn't return any results to explain the issue.

So I just started going to town on the computer. I noticed on C: there was around 60 folders for hotfixinstaller which is part of windows update, but it shouldn't have 60 folders. I deleted all those folders(which will recreate as you run windows update), I uninstalled all Dell software listed in add/remove programs(since its - - - - anyways), uninstalled all drivers and reinstalled/updated, used windows installer cleanup utility to confirm remove other Dell software not listed in add/remove programs. Deleted every Dell file, folder, key, value, etc I could find anywhere on the computer(you may have guessed by now I've seen a lot strange issues with Dell software before). End of story; problem fixed but I have no clue what fixed it, so take your choice between that or reformatting.

[Macboatmaster]

rivboi

1. Welcome to Geeks to Go

2.

To those saying that it is impossible for the cursor to move and click without a mouse physically plugged in, it just means you haven't encountered the issue before and have a closed mind or know it all attitude

and it is certainly not necessary for you to

I can list my certifications if that would make you happy, or just trust that I am savvy enough to know when a mouse is plugged in/unplugged.

With respect I do not think anyone on this topic displayed a closed mind or know it all attitude.

What was said - was - it cannot be the mouse, if the mouse is disconnected - and indeed that is correct.
To that, perhaps could have been added, unless it was a laptop, with an external mouse and of course the touchpad etc is causing it.

3. If the mouse has been disconnected, then the usual cause is a device connected to a port, usually in times past a serial port, although these days it could be to a usb port, as some devices although usb connected are in fact seen as serial devices and from the days when a mouse was connected before the PS2 on the serial port, windows then sees the device on the port, determines it is a serial device and attempts to find the mouse.
It then incorrectly interprets the data and hence the cursor appears on the screen.

4. The original document from Microsoft which I read years ago, I cannot now find but the principle is explained, in broad terms here
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/131976

5. Thank you again for your post.

[Aleksey]

Ive been having the exact same problem for a week. it just start randomly and then a restart fixes it for a while. at first i thought it was usb fault or drivers. plugging the mouse into a different port helped at first, but then unplugging it didnt solve the problem either. so no mouse plugged in and still moving.

Now after reading this thread, and going to device manager. I realized i had a tablet plugged it that i forgot about because it was covered with stuff on my desk... (facepalm) I hope that was the problem

[emphatico]

* This response applies only to users with laptops, external trackpads/digitizers, or other pressure sensitive devices attached to their system. *

 

Hi: I'm answering this for posterity (the next readers with the same problem), since the poster has probably already dealt with the issue or gotten rid of the computer.

 

[N.B.: There is no etymological connections between "posterity", "poster", or "poser" - but there might be some psychological connections! ]

 

It usually isn't the mouse itself.

Most security conscious users will...
 - first disconnect the mouse
 - then disconnect the network cable or disable the wireless connection
 - then uninstall & re-install the mouse drivers
 - then repeat all of these steps in safe mode
 - then start looking for a malicious script or program running in the background
...and finally start doing reality checks to see if they're losing their mind!

(TIP: Do try all of ^ those ^ first, or just skip to the next ideas...)

Yes, as some posters have indicated, it _is_ usually a problem with the trackpad/touchpad. BUT: as good as using something like the TouchFreeze program might be (one attempt at using a third-party program) - using it only solves this kind of problem very temporarily.

Think about it...soon after you stop typing, the cursor starts moving and clicking again as if it's possessed! (And, I suppose, that MIGHT also be a possibility, but probably not anything that most people need to worry about!)

The problem is _usually_ a physical issue right on the touchpad itself. Either somethings stuck to the surface, or prior abuse/wear & tear, or a problem between the pressure-sensitive layers of the touchpad.

The best fix(es) for this issue? Surprisingly simple. Once you've ruled out the neighbourhood script kiddie, the criminal hacking community, a rogue program/driver...you might want to spray some (non-corrosive!) cleaning fluid on the trackpad (or - even spit!), and rub the pad vigourously for a few seconds. This may only solve the problem temporarily - or even make it much worse - but if it changes the results, you've proven that the issue is physical.

Now: If it goes away and stays away...so much the better. If not, then either plan to replace the trackpad, or "simply" disconnect it by unplugging the power leads to it, which would be found below the laptop cover. [ Sorry folks - you'll have to check elsewhere for the instructions on how to safely dismantle the cover on your laptop...but the cursor will no longer have you cursing! ]

A simple fix for a pesky problem which looks like something much more complicated and sinister!

Cheers.