# Ideas for fix: usb mouse stops actually clicking Windows objects **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 20, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-fix-usb-mouse-stops-actually-clicking-windows-objects/619457 "2012-04-20T22:33:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-fix-usb-mouse-stops-actually-clicking-windows-objects/619457/1 "2012-04-20T22:33:05Z")
I’m thinking this is more of a poll for ideas for a fix, so I’ll put it in IMHO. My usb mouse just stops clicking windows shortly after being plugged in. I’ve been using the laptop’s touchpad only because of this. The mouse cursor will move, but clicking a window will actually deselect that window and the color will fade in the border. The wheel-click won’t close Firefox tabs, either. Sometimes the right-click stops working too. Is there some sort of universal usb mouse driver that I can try, or are there other suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-fix-usb-mouse-stops-actually-clicking-windows-objects/619457/2 "2012-04-20T23:32:36Z")
Try uninstalling and installing it if you have not. Sounds like you have though. Try the mouse on any other computer available. If it works, then yes, remove the drivers too and reinstall the mouse so new drivers will be installed. If the mouse did not work in the other computer, it’s a hardware problem. Chances are slim for a solution at that point. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-fix-usb-mouse-stops-actually-clicking-windows-objects/619457/3 "2012-04-21T07:40:00Z")
Reinstall what? ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-fix-usb-mouse-stops-actually-clicking-windows-objects/619457/4 "2012-04-21T12:22:14Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > Reinstall what? I assume the mouse driver. I agree that trying the mouse on another computer will tell you if the mouse itself is the problem. Have you shut down and restarted Windows since the problem appeared? ---
**Author:** ![Ruby\_Slippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/94ad74/32.png) [@Ruby\_Slippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby_Slippers)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-fix-usb-mouse-stops-actually-clicking-windows-objects/619457/5 "2012-04-21T13:18:07Z")
Check the batteries. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-fix-usb-mouse-stops-actually-clicking-windows-objects/619457/6 "2012-04-21T13:20:25Z")
Mice cost $2 - $250…Why not expand the variables you have available to you and _buy a new mouse_? ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-fix-usb-mouse-stops-actually-clicking-windows-objects/619457/7 "2012-04-21T14:07:30Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > Mice cost $2 - $250…Why not expand the variables you have available to you and _buy a new mouse_? Because that might not fix the problem? ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-fix-usb-mouse-stops-actually-clicking-windows-objects/619457/8 "2012-04-21T14:35:15Z")
But it’s a cheap way to reduce the variables. Buy a $10 mouse and see if it fixes the problem. Bonus points _if you like the mouse better_. Mathmatically (as stated in **Al Bundy’s** subject) sometimes you have so add something to the mix to determine if it’s a driver or the hardware. No way around it. You either buy the part, or PAY someone else who already has a spare mouse to determine if it’s a hardware problem. Moving the mouse to another computer will not necessarily troubleshoot a hardware problem on the laptop. But really… $5 shipped from China. [http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c\_id=108&cp\_id=10809&cs\_id=1080901&p\_id=8496&seq=1&format=2](http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10809&cs_id=1080901&p_id=8496&seq=1&format=2) What’s to lose? ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-fix-usb-mouse-stops-actually-clicking-windows-objects/619457/9 "2012-04-21T19:28:41Z")
Because I can try a driver for free first. But no one has mentioned what the driver is. Is there such a thing as a universal use mouse driver is to try? Are there multiples? ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-fix-usb-mouse-stops-actually-clicking-windows-objects/619457/10 "2012-04-21T20:02:02Z")
Because the odds of it being the -mouse- driver are slim. Unless you’ve installed an oddball drivers for a kinect or webcam or special keyboard. Right click “my computer”, select manage, select device manager, expand “mice and other pointing devices”, uninstall each devices listed and reboot. But I’ll bet it’s a hardware issue, simply because your trackpad works okay. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-fix-usb-mouse-stops-actually-clicking-windows-objects/619457/11 "2012-04-21T20:40:54Z")
I’m not a computer expert, but the behavior doesn’t sound like a hardware issue to me. It sounds like a software glitch of some kind. I’d be surprised if the OP can’t find a second computer to plug in his mouse and test it. If it works there, you can rule out the mouse hardware much more quickly than waiting for a mouse to ship from China. > [@Cardinal](#): > > Because I can try a driver for free first. But no one has mentioned what the driver is. Is there such a thing as a universal use mouse driver is to try? Are there multiples? I searched my mouse make and model number: _logitech m305 mouse driver_, and the first link was [this](http://www.logitech.com/en-us/428/6383). You could try the same with your make and model. I’d try **Unintentionally Blank** ’s advice about uninstalling the mouse first, though. I don’t think you even have to reboot\*, just tell it to search for new hardware. I’m not on Windows, so I can’t check exactly what the steps are. Before trying _that_, though, have you tried plugging the mouse into a different USB port? I’ve had some USB hardware not work in some USB ports and work in others, on the same computer. I’ve also noticed that in Windows, the first time I put a USB flash drive in _each port_, it loads drivers. Maybe just using a different port will be enough to re-install the mouse drivers, at least for that port. No idea on the why of any of that. - But _have_ you rebooted since the problem developed? That’s always one of the steps I try. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-fix-usb-mouse-stops-actually-clicking-windows-objects/619457/12 "2012-04-21T21:52:44Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Before trying _that_, though, have you tried plugging the mouse into a different USB port? I’ve had some USB hardware not work in some USB ports and work in others, on the same computer. That Jogged a memory loose…and not to sound too fatalistic, but it seems the cheaper laptops we’ve purchased all seem to lose USB ports as they age. Usually the battery does bad, then it becomes a stationary computer…then eventually ports start going bad. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-fix-usb-mouse-stops-actually-clicking-windows-objects/619457/13 "2012-04-22T22:40:31Z")
At IBM, some people had problems with conflicts between the touch pad and mice, and the recommended fix was to uninstall the touchpad drivers. I’d recommend trying a different mouse before doing that, as it may not be as un-doable as you’d like.