the mouse [built in and expernal] often jumps around unexpectedly

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:33:13 Z

I use a Dell Inspiron running Vista. Both the built-in mouse and the external mouse behave unpredictably. The mouse often jumps to the top of page or the beginning of a paragraph, while I am typing. The problem appears to happens more often when I strike the 'g' key.

the mouse [built in and expernal] often jumps around unexpectedly

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:27:31 Z

Hello samswaminathan

Thank you for posting. The touchpad remains active even when you have an external mouse plugged in so the problem is more than likely either with the touchpad or the laptop keyboard. I would recommend that you go to the Dell website and enter the Service Tag number for your laptop and download the drivers for your touchpad. Reinstall the drivers the touchpad utility software. Check to see if this resolves the problem of the cursor jumping around erratically. If, as you say, typing on the keyboard, especially the “g” key continues to effect the cursor there could be a short in your keyboard that is effecting the touchpad and or the cursor functionality. You can test this by connecting a USB keyboard to your system and try typing on it. If you can type without the cursor jumping around it would indicate a possible failure in the laptops keyboard. If this is the case I would recommend contacting Dell support to find out what your keyboard replacement options are.

Thanks,

Jack

Jack
Microsoft Answers Support Engineer
Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.