Emergency Mouse (?) Problem

[Prof.Wizard]

Oh boy. This came down like thunder. I don't know why buy while playing Hitman 2 I had an unusual (actually freak!) glitch where I couldn't control the guy- no keys or mouse - would alter his course neither I could exit the game and return to Windows. After a hard reset my mouse (a MS Intellimouse Explorer) I've been using for some 3 years although still active (red light on) is stuck in the middle of the screen and none of the 5 keys or roll will be working. I managed to come to write this thread by keyboard, but I need to know what exactly happened...

Can anyone help or propose if I can verify it as a mouse problem (so tomorrow Saturday first thing I go and buy a new one)?
No I DON'T have another mouse to check it right now.

What if I took it off the PS/2 and inserted it as a USB cause the Intellimouse came with dual connections. Can I change (take out) a PS/2 while the PC is on?

The mouse didn't give in the past any indications it was about to fail...

[Prof.Wizard]

Okay it came back... turned off the PC took the connection completely off so the mouse powered off and re-inserted it.

Now the mouse is back on but it scared the crap out of me. Previously I checked the connection (actually pressed it a little further) but it didn't work. Also powering down and restarting the computer didn't help.

What was it and why it happened? Any speculations?

Sorry for the false alarm.

[blakerwry]

I've seen mice stop responding before.. If you are using winXP I believe all mouse commands (in games anyway) go through directX.. comforting thought, eh?

usually you can restart the computer or just remove the mouse from the device manager and scan for new hardware to reinstall it....


I have not experienced this problem with my optical intellimouse explorer 3.0 in the 1 year of use I've given it.

[Fushigi]

For me, it seems the halted mouse syndrome is a by-product of static. If I'm wearing shoes, and its winter, I have a relatively high chance of freezing the rodent. If I don't wear shoes, or during summer, it rarely freezes.

Typically a warm boot is enough to bring it back to life.

- Fushigi

[blakerwry]

lol

[Prof.Wizard]

Happened once more. I followed the same procedure. Though I'm afraid of the day it won't work anymore...

[blakerwry]

you should put yourself in an anti static bag...

[Prof.Wizard]

Cool. I'll try it... :-?

[Tannin]

Please note that anti-static bags are not, generally speaking, made of jute; nor do they normally contain an assortment of antique computer storage devices of doubtful provenence.