The pointer moves erratically or does not respond when you use a Microsoft pointing device

When you use one of the products that are listed in the "Applies to" section, you may experience one or more of the following symptoms:

• The pointer may move erratically.
• The pointer may not respond when you move the pointing device.
• Button clicks may have no effect.
• The pointing device may stop working after several minutes of use.
• Some options or tabs may be unavailable in the Mouse item in Control Panel.
• If you connect a Microsoft Plug and Play Serial Mouse, a Microsoft EasyBall, or a Microsoft IntelliMouse pointing device to the computer, the new pointing device may not be detected by Microsoft Windows 95 or Microsoft Windows 98. When you run the Add New Hardware Wizard, the issue is not resolved.

This behavior may occur if files from a previous installation of a pointing device remain on the computer. Files may remain even after the pointing device has been removed.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Warning Do not try the following steps on a Microsoft Windows XP-based computer or on a Microsoft Windows 2000-based computer.

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

1. Restart the computer in safe mode. To do this, use the appropriate method for your version of Microsoft Windows.
   
   If you are using Microsoft Windows 95, follow these steps:
   1. Restart the computer.
   2. When you receive the "Starting Windows 95" message, press the F8 key
   3. on the Startup menu, select Safe Mode.
   If you are using Microsoft Windows 98, follow these steps:
   1. Restart the computer.
   2. Press and hold down the CTRL key after the computer finishes the Power On Self Test (POST).
   3. On the Startup menu, click Safe Mode.
2. Click Start, click Run, type sysedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
3. In the Autoexec.bat window, type rem, and then press the SPACEBAR at the beginning of each line that contains the word "mouse."
4. On the File menu, click Save, and then close the Autoexec.bat window.
5. In the Config.sys window, type rem, and then press the SPACEBAR at the beginning of each line that contains the word "mouse."
6. On the File menu, click Save, and then close the Config.sys window.
7. In the System.ini window, verify that the mouse.drv= line in the [boot] section and the mouse= line in the [386enh] section match the following lines:

   [boot]
   mouse.drv=mouse.drv
   						

   
   

   [386enh]
   mouse=*vmouse, msmouse.vxd
   						

   If one of lines does not match, type a SEMICOLON (;) at the beginning of the line, press the END key, press ENTER, and then type the line exactly as it appears in this example.
   
   Note Do not type a SEMICOLON (;) at the beginning of a section header line.
8. On the File menu, click Save, and then click Exit.
9. Use Registry Editor to remove the registry entries for your previous pointing device. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Use Registry Editor to remove the following keys from the Windows registry:
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\Mouse\nnnn
      In this example, nnnn is an incremental four-digit number that starts at 0000.
   2. Remove the following registry key, if it exists:
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\Root\Mouse\nnnn
      In this example, nnnn is an incremental four-digit number that starts at 0000.
   3. Remove any of the following registry keys that contain a "mouse" value data setting in the right pane
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\Root\*PNPnnnn\####
      In this example, nnnn is a four-character alphanumeric string, and #### is an incremental four-digit number that starts at 0000.
   4. Remove all the registry keys under the following registry key, if they exist:
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\Serenum
   5. Remove the following registry keys, if they exist:
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Logitech\Mouseware
      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Microsoft Input Devices\Mouse
      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse
   6. Close Registry Editor.
10. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
11. Click the Device Manager tab.
12. Expand Mouse.
13. Under Mouse, click a pointing device, and then click Remove.
    
    Repeat this step to remove each pointing device under Mouse.
14. Click OK.
15. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
16. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
17. On the Install/Uninstall tab, click Microsoft IntelliPoint, and then click Add/Remove. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to remove the IntelliPoint software.
18. When you are prompted to restart the computer, do so.
    
    Note Repeat steps 18 and 19 to remove any third-party pointing device software that is listed in the Add/Remove Programs item in Control Panel.
19. Click Start, click Run, type C:\Program Files\Microsoft Hardware in the Open box.
20. Click OK.
21. Remove any files that reference the IntelliPoint mouse.
22. Close the Microsoft Hardware dialog box.

When you restart the computer, the attached pointing device is detected by Microsoft Windows and the appropriate drivers are installed. To re-enable the IntelliPoint features, reinstall the Microsoft IntelliPoint software.

Perform a clean boot procedure on the computer

To perform a clean boot procedure on the computer, use the appropriate method for your version of Windows.

Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition

1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. On the General tab, click Selective startup.
3. Click to clear all the check boxes under Selective startup.
4. On the Startup tab, click to select the *StateMgr check box.
5. Click OK.
6. When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Yes.
7. After the computer restarts, click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.
   
   Important Look closely at the General tab to make sure that the check boxes that you cleared are still cleared. Go to step 6 if none of the check boxes are selected. If you see a disabled or unavailable check box, the computer is not truly "clean-booted." You may require assistance from the manufacturer of the program to select the Msconfig check box.
8. After you verify that the computer is clean-booted in step 7, you can isolate the issue. If the original issue does not reoccur after the clean boot procedure, select each item under Selective startup. Restart the computer to see whether the additional entry reproduces the original issue.

Windows 98

1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. On the General tab, click Selective Startup, and then click to clear the following check boxes:
   • Process Config.sys File
   • Process Autoexec.bat File
   • Process Winstart.bat File (if available)
   • Load Startup Group Items
3. On the Win.ini tab, click to clear the following check boxes:
   • Load=
   • Run=
4. Click OK. When you are prompted to restart the computer, do so.

For more information about how to perform a clean boot procedure on a Windows 98-based computer, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Note To restore your original Startup options, click Normal Startup on the General tab in the System Configuration Utility.

Windows 95

1. Restart the computer.
2. When you receive the "Starting Windows 95" message, press F8, and then select Command Prompt Only on the Startup menu.
3. At the command prompt, type win, and then press ENTER.
4. Press and hold down SHIFT until the Windows startup sequence is completed.
5. Turn off any antivirus or disk tool programs that are installed on the computer. For information about how to turn off these programs, see the printed or online documentation for the program.
6. Close all the programs that are running except Explorer and Systray.
   
   To do this, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, click the program that you want to close, and then click End Task. If you receive a message that states that the program is busy or not responding, click End Task again. Repeat this step to close all the programs except Explorer and Systray.

Note To restore your original Startup options, restart the computer, and then turn on any antivirus or disk tool programs that are installed on the computer. For information about how to turn on these programs, see the printed or online documentation for the program.