Mouse and touchpad very erratic in behavior

Question

I am trying to fix a problem with a Dimension 4000 laptop.  Sometimes when bootup up the computer, an external mouse and the touchpad work just fine.  The time can vary, but after 15-45 minutes, any of the pointing devices become very erratic in behavior.  It moves across the screen just fine at all times, but the tapping function of the touchpad may work one second and not the other.  Then maybe a moment later, without even tapping, it's as if you are clicking repeatedly.  For example, simply hovering over an icon may rapidly open 20 occurrences of the same program.  Or moving the mouse around may activate the selection function so all you can do is select items.  Next, it may suddenly work properly for 10 seconds or so and then right back to acting like it has a mind of it's own.  It acts as though this is temperature related as letting it sit for several hours can return normal functionality, but a 30 minute cool down which certainly cools it down significantly, has no positive effect.  At one point, I thought this could be a driver problem, but I have re-installed the DELL drivers.  This problem has progressively worsened over time.  It started several months ago but only happened once in a while.  Months later now, it happens every time.   Does anyone have any ideas as to the likely cause?   Thanks!

MonKyMonKz · Answer

maybe you caught a virus

austinpctech · Answer

Thanks for the thought, but it is a very clean machine.  To me, it feels like a harware failure of some type.

snapohead · Answer

Sounds like a dodgy touchstick. If you have the latest touchpad drivers installed, you can disable the touchstick which may rule this out as a fault. Alternatively, you could connect an external kb and unplug the kb thats installed in your laptop and see what happens. In any case, i'm leaning towards a faulty touchstick.

DJ_ShiSaS · Answer

best way to try is to go into diags and try it there, you would know if it is a software or hardware issue, try to disable the track stick to see if it stills the same behavier and you would know..

snapohead · Answer

Diags will not pick up the erratic cursor fault. The methods i've described above are the easiest ways to locate the source of the problem.

DJ_ShiSaS · Answer

if theres something wrong with the hardware it would fail always, that's why you have to go into diags and see if it fails there... you would know right away if its a hardware issue then...

snapohead · Answer

'if theres something wrong with the hardware it would fail always, that's why you have to go into diags and see if it fails there... you would know right away if its a hardware issue then... ' This statement is entirely untrue. The fact is that the Dell diags WILL NOT always pick up a hardware fault. Especially when it comes to intermittent problems, such as the wandering cursor.

AussieChris · Answer

Hi,

I agree with Snapohead. The KBD was a known issue in this model. The early ones had a yellow sticker at the back of the touchstick ( under the keyboard ) the later ones white. Take the KBD out and use an external one, if it works OK, replace the keyboard. The Diags will test if it works, not if it works correctly.

Regards Chris

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