See - I’ve already got a pretty good idea what the forum will say, but I’ll try anyways. As much as anything, I’m wondering how common this issue is and whether it’s likely a hardware or software issue.
The problem is that when I press my left mouse button and hold it down for some sort of click and drag operation, it sometimes forgets that it’s pressed, and the program that I’m using thinks I’ve released the mouse button. This is pretty annoying. I’ve seen it happen in Excel, in a game, and I think sometimes in other operations.
It’s a Logitech mouse, wired, a few years old.
I’m reasonably confident that I’m not accidentally releasing the button - there’s a pretty clear tactile/audible click on both press and release, and I don’t think I’m doing it by accident.
I’m in Windows XP.
So, is it common? Perhaps a sign that the physical mouse is starting to fail?
You’d be surprised how often disconnecting and reconnecting the mouse fixes these sorts of things, especially on laptops. Assuming of course that you haven’t done that already.
Buy a new mouse. Even with a clean, tactile ‘click’, there could be something wrong with the contacts or the debounce circuitry that causes spurious ‘button on/off’ events, and that’s probably not very easily fixed without tearing the whole thing apart.
Yes, it’s likely a physical problem. I had this same thing happen on a much-loved Logitech mouse a few years ago. Holding down the buttons would just sometimes stop working in the middle of doing something, which made for some really aggrivating experiences.
I had this problem with a new mouse last year. Eventually I isolated it to a certain spacial location that happened to contain half of my mousepad. Moving the pad 6 inches to the right and putting the wireless receiver less than a foot away fixed it.
Also moving my desk to the opposite side of the room fixed it permanently.
Much as I love Logitech mice for their ergonomics, generally isn’t their strong suit. Unfortunately, Microsoft mice don’t last much longer, either, unless you’re looking at their pre-scrollwheel stuff. I’ve had problems similar to yours on a couple of mice. I’ve tried disassembling them, cleaning out the crud inside, and spraying contact cleaner on the shiny bits, all to no avail. Time to buy.
Also, it’s unlikely to be a driver issue because XP/Vista come with basic mouse drivers already installed and updated (if necessary) when OS updates are done. Drivers by mice manufacturers are for key assignments and other special parts of the hardware.
If you take it apart, be sure you remember how to put it back; that would probably be beyond me.
Yeah, the driver issue seems unlikely, as the mouse USED to work. Perhaps if some Windows XP auto-update messed with something, but that seems less likely than a physical explanation.
I’ll probably try to clean it - I’ve puttered with various old video game systems and am comfortable at least attempting to clean old electronic stuff.
Just had a closer look. No visible screws on the mouse. Either it’s held together by some other method or perhaps the screws are underneath the little glider pads on the bottom. I doubt I’ll be able to get this thing apart, clean it, and get it back together in as nice a shape as it originally was. Feh…
Some mice are not made in such a way as to allow disassembling. I know mine isn’t. The only way you can get it apart is by breaking it, and then it won’t go back together.
Are there any stickers on the bottom of the mouse? Under my Microsoft mouse is a sticker with a serial number on it, if I were to remove that it would show a screw. (I think, that’s what it feels like anyways). Edit: Googling actually tells me that the screws are under the sliding pads.
It’s possible (even probable) that your mouse is made not to be opened at all, but since your only option at this point is to buy a new one, I think it’d be worth a shot. Definitely take a ball point or something and run it over the stickers to see if you can feel any recessed areas that might be there to allow you to open the mouse.
If there’s no screw there, then there might be screws under the pads. Just remove them gently and they should be sticky enough to put back with no problem.
I found the screws that hold it together - they were hidden under the 4 glide pads on the bottom. I was able to pop the pads off reasonably easily and intact with a small screwdriver. Each pad consisted of two pieces - some kind of double-sided tape type thing and the actual pad (hard plastic or something like that).
Inside the mouse were various parts mostly attached to a little circuit board. The problem was that the contacts for each of the two main mouse buttons appear to be inside of some much smaller black plastic thingie (one per button). That small thingie was well attached to the circuit board and did not appear to be something I wanted to try to get open or off or do anything significant with.
So, I blew off dust and wiped things a bit (no fancy compressed air or rubbing alcohol - just blew with my mouth and rubbed with my finger), and sealed it all up. The bottom pads went back on pretty well.
I doubt my little operation will have had any effect, but it’s too early to tell (the problem wasn’t consistent enough that I could easily verify if I fixed it or not in a minute or two). Probably I’ll end up getting a new mouse.
~30-40 minutes (probably closer to 60-90 minutes counting posting here and some quick internet searching) spent on a mildly interesting endeavour.
Replacing the mouse would cost more time than money to me. (Going to store which isn’t all that close. Picking out and buying new mouse. Possibly installing drivers. Possible slightly decreased productivity for a while due to unfamiliar mouse ergonomics.)
Given how cheap mice (mouses?) are, if I do buy a new one, I might buy 2-3 of the same model and stick the extra(s) in a closet.
I like a moderate amount of physical/mechanical puttering activities. I do various stuff around the house and yard that probably has a low (or negative) return on a dollar basis but mostly enjoy doing it.
That’s kind of a fallacy. He actually made money trying to fix his mouse, as for most people in this society any time they are not at their 9-5 job is free time.
Rubber attached to the circuit board is a bummer, and yeah there’s not much you could do unless you really wanted to perform delicate surgery and then super glue the rubber back after cleaning the contacts.
