My Windows 10 laptop has just started exhibiting "wild mouse pointer" syndrome - the mouse pointer occasionally jumps horizontally or
vertically on the screen by an inch or so (rarely in both directions at
the same time), even when the mouse is kept perfectly still.
Occasionally I've seen windows change position, as if I'd clicked on a window's title bar to bring it to the foreground. It happens at
irregular intervals ranging from once every few seconds to once every
five minutes. Each shift is a permanent one: it's not that the pointer
moves somewhere else and then returns to its original position.
It's a USB mouse, and I've tried two different mice of the same type, in
all three USB ports. It happens both when the laptop is running on
battery and on mains power.
It is reliably cured by rebooting the PC, and then it's fine for a few
hours.
I can't see any common factor which provokes it: I just do standard
things like reading or replying to emails in Thunderbird, browsing the
web in Firefox, running LibreOffice Writer. I'm not aware of having
installed any software that has started it happening. The laptop is
about 5 years old and the problem has only just started.
On 8/28/26 11:39 AM, NY wrote:Sadly its not that. I turned my touchpad off long ago because I was
My Windows 10 laptop has just started exhibiting "wild mouse pointer"
syndrome - the mouse pointer occasionally jumps horizontally or
vertically on the screen by an inch or so (rarely in both directions at
the same time), even when the mouse is kept perfectly still.
Occasionally I've seen windows change position, as if I'd clicked on a
window's title bar to bring it to the foreground. It happens at
irregular intervals ranging from once every few seconds to once every
five minutes. Each shift is a permanent one: it's not that the pointer
moves somewhere else and then returns to its original position.
It's a USB mouse, and I've tried two different mice of the same type, in
all three USB ports. It happens both when the laptop is running on
battery and on mains power.
It is reliably cured by rebooting the PC, and then it's fine for a few
hours.
I can't see any common factor which provokes it: I just do standard
things like reading or replying to emails in Thunderbird, browsing the
web in Firefox, running LibreOffice Writer. I'm not aware of having
installed any software that has started it happening. The laptop is
about 5 years old and the problem has only just started.
Somewhere in the mouse settings, on most operating systems, there is a setting to disable the touch pad.ÿ Some software even goes a bit further
and has a check box to disable the touch pad when an external mouse is plugged. The latter is the best option since all you have to do to
activate the touch pad is pull the mouse out.
On 28/08/2026 17:18, Alan K. wrote:
On 8/28/26 11:39 AM, NY wrote:
My Windows 10 laptop has just started exhibiting "wild mouse pointer"
syndrome - the mouse pointer occasionally jumps horizontally or
vertically on the screen by an inch or so (rarely in both directions at
the same time), even when the mouse is kept perfectly still.
Occasionally I've seen windows change position, as if I'd clicked on a
window's title bar to bring it to the foreground. It happens at
irregular intervals ranging from once every few seconds to once every
five minutes. Each shift is a permanent one: it's not that the pointer
moves somewhere else and then returns to its original position.
It's a USB mouse, and I've tried two different mice of the same type, in >>> all three USB ports. It happens both when the laptop is running on
battery and on mains power.
It is reliably cured by rebooting the PC, and then it's fine for a few
hours.
I can't see any common factor which provokes it: I just do standard
things like reading or replying to emails in Thunderbird, browsing the
web in Firefox, running LibreOffice Writer. I'm not aware of having
installed any software that has started it happening. The laptop is
about 5 years old and the problem has only just started.
Somewhere in the mouse settings, on most operating systems, there is a
setting to disable the touch pad.ÿ Some software even goes a bit
further and has a check box to disable the touch pad when an external
mouse is plugged.ÿ The latter is the best option since all you have to
do to activate the touch pad is pull the mouse out.
Sadly its not that. I turned my touchpad off long ago because I was
finding that I was getting spurious touches. Not sure how I turned it
off, because there's nothing obvious in the OS to turn it back on, and there's Fn-F11 which toggles it but neither setting makes the touchpad
move the pointer or respond to its left/right clock buttons. I remember
even before I disabled the whole touchpad, I turned off "Tapping"
because if I moved my finger several times across the pad to get the
pointer from one side of the screen to the other, I often got a spurious left-click.
I also found reference to the "Enhance pointer position" option in the
Mouse applet of Control Panel and turned it off. I really thought that
would work.
It's very odd. It's only just started happening. And it's very
irregular: it happens a few times in rapid succession and then behaves
fine for tens of minutes.
On 2026-08-28 17:37, NY wrote:
On 28/08/2026 17:18, Alan K. wrote:
On 8/28/26 11:39 AM, NY wrote:
My Windows 10 laptop has just started exhibiting "wild mouse pointer"
syndrome - the mouse pointer occasionally jumps horizontally or
vertically on the screen by an inch or so (rarely in both directions at >>>> the same time), even when the mouse is kept perfectly still.
Occasionally I've seen windows change position, as if I'd clicked on a >>>> window's title bar to bring it to the foreground. It happens at
irregular intervals ranging from once every few seconds to once every
five minutes. Each shift is a permanent one: it's not that the pointer >>>> moves somewhere else and then returns to its original position.
It's a USB mouse, and I've tried two different mice of the same type, in >>>> all three USB ports. It happens both when the laptop is running on
battery and on mains power.
It is reliably cured by rebooting the PC, and then it's fine for a few >>>> hours.
I can't see any common factor which provokes it: I just do standard
things like reading or replying to emails in Thunderbird, browsing the >>>> web in Firefox, running LibreOffice Writer. I'm not aware of having
installed any software that has started it happening. The laptop is
about 5 years old and the problem has only just started.
Somewhere in the mouse settings, on most operating systems, there is a
setting to disable the touch pad.ÿ Some software even goes a bit
further and has a check box to disable the touch pad when an external
mouse is plugged.ÿ The latter is the best option since all you have to
do to activate the touch pad is pull the mouse out.
There is also often a similar setting in the BIOS.
Sadly its not that. I turned my touchpad off long ago because I was
finding that I was getting spurious touches. Not sure how I turned it
off, because there's nothing obvious in the OS to turn it back on, and
there's Fn-F11 which toggles it but neither setting makes the touchpad
move the pointer or respond to its left/right clock buttons. I remember
even before I disabled the whole touchpad, I turned off "Tapping"
because if I moved my finger several times across the pad to get the
pointer from one side of the screen to the other, I often got a spurious
left-click.
I also found reference to the "Enhance pointer position" option in the
Mouse applet of Control Panel and turned it off. I really thought that
would work.
It's very odd. It's only just started happening. And it's very
irregular: it happens a few times in rapid succession and then behaves
fine for tens of minutes.
Initially this sounds like the mouse hardware is dying or possibly that
of the USB port that it's plugged into, but by swapping them around
you've discounted that, so it's going to be something within the OS that might be fixed by rebooting ... Virus? Failing memory?
On 28/08/2026 17:18, Alan K. wrote:
On 8/28/26 11:39 AM, NY wrote:Sadly its not that. I turned my touchpad off long ago because I was
My Windows 10 laptop has just started exhibiting "wild mouse pointer"
syndrome - the mouse pointer occasionally jumps horizontally or
vertically on the screen by an inch or so (rarely in both directions at
the same time), even when the mouse is kept perfectly still.
Occasionally I've seen windows change position, as if I'd clicked on a
window's title bar to bring it to the foreground. It happens at
irregular intervals ranging from once every few seconds to once every
five minutes. Each shift is a permanent one: it's not that the pointer
moves somewhere else and then returns to its original position.
It's a USB mouse, and I've tried two different mice of the same type, in >>> all three USB ports. It happens both when the laptop is running on
battery and on mains power.
It is reliably cured by rebooting the PC, and then it's fine for a few
hours.
I can't see any common factor which provokes it: I just do standard
things like reading or replying to emails in Thunderbird, browsing the
web in Firefox, running LibreOffice Writer. I'm not aware of having
installed any software that has started it happening. The laptop is
about 5 years old and the problem has only just started.
Somewhere in the mouse settings, on most operating systems, there is a
setting to disable the touch pad.ÿ Some software even goes a bit
further and has a check box to disable the touch pad when an external
mouse is plugged.ÿ The latter is the best option since all you have to
do to activate the touch pad is pull the mouse out.
finding that I was getting spurious touches. Not sure how I turned it
off, because there's nothing obvious in the OS to turn it back on, and there's Fn-F11 which toggles it but neither setting makes the touchpad
move the pointer or respond to its left/right clock buttons. I remember
even before I disabled the whole touchpad, I turned off "Tapping"
because if I moved my finger several times across the pad to get the
pointer from one side of the screen to the other, I often got a spurious left-click.
I also found reference to the "Enhance pointer position" option in the
Mouse applet of Control Panel and turned it off. I really thought that
would work.
It's very odd. It's only just started happening. And it's very
irregular: it happens a few times in rapid succession and then behaves
fine for tens of minutes.
On 28/08/2026 17:18, Alan K. wrote:
On 8/28/26 11:39 AM, NY wrote:Sadly its not that. I turned my touchpad off long ago because I was finding that I was getting spurious touches. Not sure how I turned it off, because there's nothing obvious in the OS to turn it back on, and there's Fn-F11 which toggles it but neither setting makes the touchpad move the pointer or respond to its left/right clock buttons. I remember even before I disabled the whole touchpad, I turned off "Tapping" because if I moved my finger several times across the pad to get the pointer from one side of the screen to the other, I often got a spurious left-click.
My Windows 10 laptop has just started exhibiting "wild mouse pointer"
syndrome - the mouse pointer occasionally jumps horizontally or
vertically on the screen by an inch or so (rarely in both directions at
the same time), even when the mouse is kept perfectly still.
Occasionally I've seen windows change position, as if I'd clicked on a
window's title bar to bring it to the foreground. It happens at
irregular intervals ranging from once every few seconds to once every
five minutes. Each shift is a permanent one: it's not that the pointer
moves somewhere else and then returns to its original position.
It's a USB mouse, and I've tried two different mice of the same type, in >>> all three USB ports. It happens both when the laptop is running on
battery and on mains power.
It is reliably cured by rebooting the PC, and then it's fine for a few
hours.
I can't see any common factor which provokes it: I just do standard
things like reading or replying to emails in Thunderbird, browsing the
web in Firefox, running LibreOffice Writer. I'm not aware of having
installed any software that has started it happening. The laptop is
about 5 years old and the problem has only just started.
Somewhere in the mouse settings, on most operating systems, there is a setting to disable the touch pad.ÿ Some software even goes a bit further and has a check box to disable the touch pad when an external mouse is plugged.ÿ The latter is the best option since all you have to do to activate the touch pad is pull the mouse out.
I also found reference to the "Enhance pointer position" option in the Mouse applet of Control Panel and turned it off. I really thought that would work.
It's very odd. It's only just started happening. And it's very irregular: it happens a few times in rapid succession and then behaves fine for tens of minutes.
Microsoft has, on occasion, released filter drivers where the INFOn 8/28/26 11:39 AM, NY wrote:
My Windows 10 laptop has just started exhibiting "wild mouse pointer"
syndrome - the mouse pointer occasionally jumps horizontally or
vertically on the screen by an inch or so (rarely in both directions at >>>> the same time), even when the mouse is kept perfectly still.
caused the driver to "bind to all HID devices". An affected individual
could have started with one OS, got some filter driver installed, and
it only became an issue when upgrading to some other OS. This could be
Generally, optical mice, the array sensor on the bottom is very
good regarding dirt and obscuration. When you flip the mouse over
and have a look, generally there is nothing to note in that area,
no "fuzz" collects there. Whereas the "fuzz" does collect internally
and can cause scroll wheel issues or mouse button issues. I actually
swapped scroll wheel assemblies between two mice, in an effort to keep
one of the mice "going". The bearing seemed to be going in one of them.
Could not visually make out the defect.
On 2026/8/29 10:41:0, Paul wrote:
[]
Microsoft has, on occasion, released filter drivers where the INFOn 8/28/26 11:39 AM, NY wrote:
My Windows 10 laptop has just started exhibiting "wild mouse pointer" >>>>> syndrome - the mouse pointer occasionally jumps horizontally or
vertically on the screen by an inch or so (rarely in both directions at >>>>> the same time), even when the mouse is kept perfectly still.
caused the driver to "bind to all HID devices". An affected individual
could have started with one OS, got some filter driver installed, and
it only became an issue when upgrading to some other OS. This could be
By "My Windows 10 laptop has just started exhibiting", I presume NY means
1. he has _not_ just changed OS
2. the behaviour seems to have started randomly.
[]
Generally, optical mice, the array sensor on the bottom is very
good regarding dirt and obscuration. When you flip the mouse over
and have a look, generally there is nothing to note in that area,
no "fuzz" collects there. Whereas the "fuzz" does collect internally
and can cause scroll wheel issues or mouse button issues. I actually
swapped scroll wheel assemblies between two mice, in an effort to keep
one of the mice "going". The bearing seemed to be going in one of them.
Could not visually make out the defect.
He's tried a different mouse.
[]
My Windows 10 laptop has just started exhibiting "wild mouse pointer" syndrome - the mouse pointer occasionally jumps horizontally or
vertically on the screen by an inch or so (rarely in both directions at
the same time), even when the mouse is kept perfectly still.
Occasionally I've seen windows change position, as if I'd clicked on a window's title bar to bring it to the foreground. It happens at
irregular intervals ranging from once every few seconds to once every
five minutes. Each shift is a permanent one: it's not that the pointer
moves somewhere else and then returns to its original position.
It's a USB mouse, and I've tried two different mice of the same type, in
all three USB ports. It happens both when the laptop is running on
battery and on mains power.
It is reliably cured by rebooting the PC, and then it's fine for a few hours.
I can't see any common factor which provokes it: I just do standard
things like reading or replying to emails in Thunderbird, browsing the
web in Firefox, running LibreOffice Writer. I'm not aware of having installed any software that has started it happening. The laptop is
about 5 years old and the problem has only just started.
Rebooting always fixes the problem and it takes an hour or so before the behaviour starts again.
I jump around a lot of Linux systems testing them. Or used to. And it
took a while to get used to booting up a new system and FIRST going to
mouse settings and killing the touch pad in some way. I lay my
hand/fingers on the touch pad a lot.
On 2026/8/29 20:8:46, NY wrote:
[]
Rebooting always fixes the problem and it takes an hour or so before the
behaviour starts again.
_Did_ you try "Switch User" (option under Ctrl-Alt-Delete)? If you're
the only user, it's a lot quicker than a reboot.
[]
On 30/08/2026 12:24, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
On 2026/8/29 20:8:46, NY wrote:
[]
Rebooting always fixes the problem and it takes an hour or so before the >>> behaviour starts again.
_Did_ you try "Switch User" (option under Ctrl-Alt-Delete)? If you're
the only user, it's a lot quicker than a reboot.
[]
Next time it happens - and, sod's law, it's been behaving itself in the
last two days - I'll try Switch User and see whether just restarting
user processes (without restarting system processes) makes any difference.
NY wrote:
My Windows 10 laptop has just started exhibiting "wild mouse pointer"
syndrome - the mouse pointer occasionally jumps horizontally or
vertically on the screen by an inch or so (rarely in both directions
at the same time), even when the mouse is kept perfectly still.
Occasionally I've seen windows change position, as if I'd clicked on a
window's title bar to bring it to the foreground. It happens at
irregular intervals ranging from once every few seconds to once every
five minutes. Each shift is a permanent one: it's not that the pointer
moves somewhere else and then returns to its original position.
It's a USB mouse, and I've tried two different mice of the same type,
in all three USB ports. It happens both when the laptop is running on
battery and on mains power.
It is reliably cured by rebooting the PC, and then it's fine for a few
hours.
I can't see any common factor which provokes it: I just do standard
things like reading or replying to emails in Thunderbird, browsing the
web in Firefox, running LibreOffice Writer. I'm not aware of having
installed any software that has started it happening. The laptop is
about 5 years old and the problem has only just started.
Have you tried system restore to a pre-annoying mouse time?
Have you tried safe mode?
Have you tried disabling all non-essential startup programs?
[]NY wrote:
My Windows 10 laptop has just started exhibiting "wild mouse pointer"
Why not invest in a new computer, mouse and keyboard? You could also purchase dust covers to protect your valuable items! :).
On 2026/8/31 23:26:34, McDonald Trump wrote:
[]
[]NY wrote:
My Windows 10 laptop has just started exhibiting "wild mouse pointer"
Why not invest in a new computer, mouse and keyboard? You could alsoAh, the ultimate helpdesk solution, after "reboot your system" and
purchase dust covers to protect your valuable items! :).
"reinstall your OS".
If that's your philosophy, what are you doing in a Windows 10 group? :-)
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