D610 Mouse Drift

Question

I've got a Latitude D610. Every now and then, the mouse pointer will drift to one corner of the screen or the other. It doesn't seem to drift more to one direction or the other, so I don't think it's sticking. Sometimes the drift is bad enough that I can't get the cursor to respond for a few seconds.

The issue does seem to go away when I plug in another mouse.

The problem gets worse when I use the trackstick, so I'm almost convinced it's the cause. Some quick searching with Google pretty much confirms this. However, disabling it isn't an option; the pad is clumsy and hard to manipulate well, and if I had space to use a mouse, I wouldn't be needing a laptop.

Does anyone know of a fix for this that /doesn't/ involve disabling some part of this piece of junk that I shouldn't have to disable in the first place? It's frustrating to be in the middle of working on something only to have the cursor drift to the corner of the screen and become unresponsive for a few seconds.

I'm running XP pro SP2, with the latest drivers I can find, if that helps.

Message Edited by Dakhath_ on 01-22-2008 11:52 AM

Dragunov308 · Answer

I've got the same problem.  The touchpad stop responding and the pointer moves to the top or bottom of the screen on it's own.  I have to use the keyboard mouse pointer or wait a while and then it will come back to life.  It's doing it all the time.  Please help anyone.  I have the Dell Quickset A39 installed.

gradofan2 · Answer

Same problem with my D800.   Problem seemed to occur initially after I updated the drivers, and installed Dell Quickset.   I guess I'll roll back the driver, and uninstall Dell Quickset, or at least stop it from launching at start-up - see if that resolves the issue.   If you find a solution - post it here.   Thanks, Gradofan2

gradofan2 · Answer

As noted in the prior posts... the solution seems to be to disable the pointing stick via the "mouse and other pointing devices" in Device Manager - if you have the most current '05 driver.

If you have the '04 driver - it doesn't appear that you can disable the pointing stick, but the problem doesn't seem to occur with that driver.

So... it seems that you can either rollback the driver to the '04 driver, or disable the pointing stick in the '05 driver via the Device Manager to resolve the issue - at least it seems to have resolved the issue for my D800... to this point.

If you're having problems finding the switch to disable the pointing stick... you need to undock your notebook, and restart it, before going to the mouse settings in control panel - the switch is on the first page (general) of the mouse settings in the control panel. It doesn't appear, when your notebook is docked - only when its undocked. Turning off the pointing stick - definitiely resolves the issue with uncontrolled "mouse drift."

Message Edited by gradofan2 on 01-02-2008 11:38 AM

Dragunov308 · Answer

Thanks for the info.  Dell support couldn't figure it out so they dispatched someone to replace my motherboard on my Latitude D610.  I've used it now for 2 days and I haven't had the problem.  If I do, I will disable the pointing stick.

gradofan2 · Answer

In the past, I've had problems with my key board also - Numbers being entered with my fingers only hovering above the key board - a bit like mouse drift.  They replaced my keyboard at that time.    So... I suppose mouse drift could sometimes be caused by a failing key board.   This time... disabling the pointer stick, seems to have resolved the issue for me.

ADSabado · Answer

I am also having this wandering mouse problem with my Dell Latitude C610. I have just registered to the Dell Community today, hoping to find out a solution to this problem. Right now, this laptop is being used by my daughter as I am using the IBM laptop issued by my employer.   The laptop is running at XP with Service Pack 2.    When the problem appears, I instruct my daughter to reset the computer. Most of the time, it works. But last week, there was a time that resetting did not stabilize the mouse.   If you have received any working solution or if somebody knows of one, please share.

Dakhath_ · Answer

As previously mentioned, disabling it isn't really a solution. Thanks for the responses, though. I know of a fix that's supposed to work on another model - I don't know if it will work on mine or not, but I'm willing to try it: Link Note that you might not want to attempt this if yours is still under warranty, or if you don't know what you're doing. Once I get around to trying this I'll edit this message with the results.

dee30 · Answer

I just recived the Inspiron 1721. however my mouse drifts occasionally and when in microsoft word sometimes it highlights sentences and I cannot un-highlight it by clicking anywhere. I litterally have to shut the program down and re-open it in order for it to un-highlight. any ideas about what could be wrong?

gradofan2 · Answer

I posted the solutions to the infamous 'Dell Mouse Drift' problem/issue.    Unfortunately... because I was critical of Dell and Michael for their lousy products and customer service - they deleted them.    Send me a private message if you want the solutions.

gradofan2 · Answer

'Its a Dell... Dude!' (if you remember this infamous tv ad series).   You've got a bad keyboard - replace it.  Hopefully, you've still got a warranty - if you can get Dell to honor it.   Sorry... Message Edited by gradofan2 on 01-29-2008 03:48 PM

Briguy213 · Answer

I own a C840 Latitude. I had the drifting mouse problem. I loaded the Alps touchpad driver. I actually downloaded the driver R113813, even though it wasn't listed under the C840 drivers. After choosing the pad only option, I can use the touchpad without any problems. I don't really like the pointing stick anyway.

higherbriars · Answer

I have the same problem/s with my work Dell Latitude D610. I'm running Windows XP Pro. I mostly use the touch pad mouse. My mouse drifts on it's own...Sometimes very fast, sometimes slow. Often it will stop working all together. When it stops working, the sympoms are...I can see the pointer on my screen but no matter what I do I cannnot move it. Eventually I end up having to power down hard and then back up. I've told our Support People about this numerous times. The problem did go away for a couple of months after I became frustrated and gave the pad and left/right buttons a few good slaps with my hand...At that point I figured I had nothing to lose. However, now the problem has returned and I've begun to lock up again. Does anyone have a solution for this? I'm also inclined to believe it's not related to drivers.

Any help would be appreciated...Maybe something I could refer our support people at work to. Thanks!

Message Edited by higherbriars on 04-15-2008 01:57 PM

gradofan2 · Answer

Read the posts above for the solutions.

1. Have Dell Replace your keyboard / touchpad, or

2. Disable your touchpad in your mouse properties (if I recall correctly - you can use a PS-2 Mouse, but not the touchpad) - oh yes, to do this, I think you have to start up your notebook with a PS-2 mounse connected to it, to access and disable the touchpad properties. You can't see them otherwise.

3. Disassemble your notebook, and cut the wire to the pointing stick.

And... based on the last post... they might have a new driver for the mouse that allows you to disable the pointing stick. That would be the best solution, if that's true. When I encountered the problem they didn't have a driver solution - that I could find anyway - my driver wouldin't allow me to just disable the pointing stick.

I think I recalled these correctly - but, you can confirm by reading the posts above.

As I said before... "its a Dell Dude" - "ya pays yo money... ya takes yo choice." Better luck next time.

Message Edited by gradofan2 on 04-15-2008 03:22 PM

EssKayKay · Answer

EXCELLENT....We've had the same problem on our C840.  i downloaded and installed R113813.exe; disabled the 'stick' and it works fine. Thanks again,SKK

Problem Solver · Answer

I had the same problem I think everyone is talking about and the problem I found is with the pointing stick - if you can't disable the pointing stick through Control Panel, Printers and Other Hardware and Mouse, the solution is simple - go to Google and type in 'dell touchpad / pointing stick download' and download this driver from Dell and it will give you the utility (open it and click on 'Device Select, Button Settings' in the upper left hand corner) you need to disable the pointing stick and Problem Solved.

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D610 Mouse Drift

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