# Is there any way to make my mouse work properly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 11, 2004, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-make-my-mouse-work-properly/233636 "2004-03-11T04:25:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-make-my-mouse-work-properly/233636/1 "2004-03-11T04:25:22Z")
I got a Logitech cordless optical mouse about a year ago, and I’ve been very happy with it, except for one thing. It seems to be incompatible with Flash. When I click on something, it won’t work until I move the mouse just slightly. Also, with stuff like the index of Strong Bad E-Mails, if I click on the scroll button it will continuously scroll rather than just stopping where I want it to stop. Needless to say, it’s a minor (and sometimes major) hindrance, since a lot of the things I find are in Flash and I then have to find some sort over workaround to make it function properly. Does this happen to anyone else, and is there a way for me to resolve this problem? I looked on Logitech’s site, and I saw no mention of this problem anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-make-my-mouse-work-properly/233636/2 "2004-03-11T04:30:33Z")
I have an optical mouse as well (corded, Compaq), but no problems with Flash or anything else. Have you tried downloading the latest drivers from Logitech? Sometimes driver updates address issues like this, even if the manufacturer’s site doesn’t mention them specifically. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-make-my-mouse-work-properly/233636/3 "2004-03-11T05:07:00Z")
Thats a rather bizarre problem. Have you tried with a corded mouse? It might be a flash problem. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-make-my-mouse-work-properly/233636/4 "2004-03-11T07:14:15Z")
The first thought I had when I read this was: is the mouse clean? I had a very similar problem with my mouse. I opened the bottom of it, and took out the roller ball. The wheels inside which contact the ball had a stripe of gunk on them. Once I cleaned that off (using a cotton swab and some alcohol) it worked perfectly. It may be a stupid suggestion, but it’s worth a try. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-make-my-mouse-work-properly/233636/5 "2004-03-11T07:19:36Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > It may be a stupid suggestion, but it’s worth a try. This would be a perfectly sensible option, if it weren’t an _optical_ mouse, which has no roller ball. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Gest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gest)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-make-my-mouse-work-properly/233636/6 "2004-03-11T07:41:29Z")
I had a very similar problem with a Logitech, wired, 2 button + scroll wheel trackball on my iBook. Nothing worked until I reinstalled the _Logitech Control Centre_ software. I’m not sure if it was an update or just the reinstallation of it but there have been no problems since. Download it from Logitech’s site even if you still have the original software CD in case the software and driver has been updated. It’s a large file (7 meg?) but worth the try if you’re not on dialup. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-make-my-mouse-work-properly/233636/7 "2004-03-11T13:38:49Z")
Well, I tried loading the newest driver, and it didn’t help me with the problem. Soooo…I still have the old-school trackball mouse, so I think I’m going to delete this one and start all over and see what happens with the reload. ---
**Author:** ![fezpp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fezpp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fezpp)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-make-my-mouse-work-properly/233636/8 "2004-03-11T15:26:13Z")
I’ve seen this behaviour on flash using a standard ps2 dell mouse on a dell machine. I don’t think it’s mouse specific. I really wish I could reproduce this.