Dealing with a pesky rodent.
Task Manager displays the program, but doesn’t indicate what’s stalling the mouse – at least, no indication that I can tell. I’m running Windows 7 Pro fully updated. It doesn’t matter which wireless mouse I use, the Logitech or the HP. It does not appear to be program- or application-centric, and it happens in various programs. Any thoughts?
I have several ideas. But before we start, I have a question for you: when you say that the mouse is freezing, are you certain it isn’t your entire computer freezing?
Become a Patron of Ask Leo! and go ad-free!
When the mouse stops working
Wireless mouses can freeze due to weak batteries, signal interference, or system-wide crashes. While it may appear to be a mouse problem, the root cause could be deeper computer issues. Check battery levels, test with a corded mouse, and keep an eye on the mouse’s distance from your computer.
Is it a mouse crash or a computer crash?
Related
Why Is My Computer Crashing Randomly?
Random crashes are annoying and difficult to diagnose. I'll review common causes and steps you can take to determine what's happening on your computer.You said you’re able to get to Task Manager with CTRL+ALT+DEL, but can you do anything else with the keyboard? Does ALT+TAB or CTRL+ESC do anything at all? They should bring up the task switcher or start menu respectively. If they do, then your computer is probably running okay and the issue is limited to the mouse.
If your mouse stops working, the pointer doesn’t move at all, clicking does nothing, and you can’t type into your computer at all, it’s possible the computer itself froze or crashed. That means looking at the mouse may not help; you likely have other problems. In that case, check out my article Why Does My Computer Crash Randomly?
Let’s continue with the assumption that the mouse is failing.
Batteries and interference
When you’re dealing with a wireless mouse, my first recommendation is always to check the battery. If the wireless mouse signal gets weak because the battery is too low, the mouse stops working. That can manifest intermittently.
Another possibility is electrical or radio interference. These days, almost any device, from your Wi-Fi router to your microwave to your cordless or mobile phone, can cause this kind of interference, particularly if the signal to and from the wireless mouse is weak from a low battery.
You may want to test your mouse with other electrical devices removed or turned off to make sure those devices aren’t transmitting too much radio interference.
Weak signals
The mouse may be too far from its receiver, which can be internal to the computer or in a tiny external USB dongle.
Check this by putting your mouse close to the receiver. Roll the mouse to see if the pointer is in synch on your monitor, and then move the mouse further away from the receiver as you continue to check. Once the mouse stops responding, you’re too far away.
If this is the case and you don’t want to reorganize your workspace, one approach is to purchase a USB extension cord. I did this for a long time when my desktop was too far away. I ran the extension up to just below my monitor and plugged the USB dongle or Bluetooth adapter into it. With that in place, the receiver was inches rather than feet away from my mouse.
Drivers
Once you get past batteries, signals, and proximity, start looking at the mouse and its software. Your mouse should always have the latest drivers for either your machine (in this case, HP) or its manufacturer (in this case, Logitech).
In your case, I suspect that drivers are not the problem. Nonetheless, if the problem continues, cross this off your troubleshooting list.
When all else fails…
The most effective thing you can do is to try another mouse. In particular, get a corded mouse.
If the corded mouse works consistently without crashing, then there’s something wrong with the wireless mouse. The trouble could be related to being wireless, or it could be some other problem with the mouse’s hardware.
If the corded mouse doesn’t work, then something else is going on. That’s when we go back to my theory that the computer itself is crashing. In that case, the mouse pointer no longer moving could be an indication that there’s a bigger problem afoot.
Do this
When diagnosing mouse-related problems:
- Check the battery.
- Try another mouse.
- Try a corded mouse.
- Look for larger non-mouse-related issues.
Subscribe to Confident Computing! Less frustration and more confidence, solutions, answers, and tips in your inbox every week.
Odd behaviour of the mouse, when everything else works fine, can be the fault of the miniature receiver that many wireless mice and keyboards are using. I have had two of them die completely and one would cause various problems like erratic movement, inconsistent dragging of selections and complete freezing of the mouse.
Check out the warranty for your mouse because the warranty period can be much longer than you think. Even if you can’t find any purchase documentation, call the manufacturer’s service because if you registered your mouse, they most likely have a record of it. Both Microsoft and Logitech were most accommodating and replace the mice without much hassle at all.
Unfortunately, erratic or unexplained movements of a wireless, wired, or even a built in touchpad’s pointing device is usually caused by one of three things-you’re lucky and it just needs replaced; you’ve got too many app/site data and cookies saved on your PC and/or apps running in the background, and that bogs down CPU slowing it to snail speed; or, updates are needed in device manager and windows update(RIGHT CLICK on start menu-and under device manager select either MOUSE/touchpad, or BLUETOOTH devices, then click UPDATE DRIVER in windows update and download all available updates). And one more step before you CLICK the panic button, go to settings, open APP PERMISSIONS and make SURE that your web browsers/search engines/apps/and sites you visit do NOT have access to your USB PORTS…click BLOCK access for camera, microphone, from setting THIRD PARTY cookies, adobe FLASH, automatic downloads, and from editing your files, but definately block them from accessing your USB ports and their devices. Oh, and restarting your device whenever any component starts acting up can be a temporary fix as well. NOW the panic button. A mouse, keyboard, or anything else on a PC that starts behaving as though it’s got a “mind of it’s own”…usually DOES. In other words, a virus. Again, check permissions, then make sure you’re using either windows defender, security, whichever has windows SCAN, and turn it on, or Norton, Kaspersky, or McAfee Antivirus, but whichever one you choose, make sure it CLEANS the virus, not just finds it. Good luck~
Cookies and app data file won’t affect the mouse in any way. Too many programs running in the background can cause a computer to bog down. Unfortunately, knowing which Startup programs to disable isn’t easy.
What Windows Startup Programs Do I Need?
And as of yesterday, Flash is no longer a problem for me as I’ve just upgraded to Windows Oct 2020 which no longer supports Flash.
Leo, you didn’t mention Windows’ USB power saving feature, which sometimes drives USB devices nutso. Deep in the Advanced Power settings, under USB settings->USB selective suspend setting the user gets to select whether this feature is enabled or not. I have had to disable the feature to keep some of my USB devices alive and healthy.
Thanks .. finally a real answer… seem everyone thinks we are morons — batteries, etc…. either that or they are playing tech… USB was enabled to suspend in the Advanced Power Settings…. Darn Windows 10 update, this should be a check for wireless mouse attached to usb.
Thanks, I’m going to try this as I have spent enough time weeding out all the nonsense on the net and this was the only real answer with thought behind it and not some How To: about common sense battery/signal issues. Like Fred said, “they think we are morons” and feel the need to reiterate what we already know like speaking to a 2 year old
I’m in system settings and have options. I’m plugged in and in sleep mode. Should I go to hibernate or shut down?
Lulu
Damn. Thanks, Art! That’s one I had not heard before, or tried before, and I thought I’d tried EVERYTHING. I will be checking my settings for that today!
I recently had my microsoft wireless mouse die. I just bought another one, they are not expensive, and I don’t think they last forever. Mine was 5 years old, so it did well. Just got a heck of a lot of use. So, if it is not the pc freezing, and your mouse is old, get a newie.
My mouse & keyboard both lock up occasionally, especially after recovering from hibernate. I’ve found that unplugging the receiver and putting it into a different USB port gets it working again. Then it continues to work when i put it back in the original port.
I use a Digiflip WM006 mouse. Recently it’s been causing a lot of trouble, repeatedly hanging midwork, and today it stopped working altogether. I am thinking that either there’s a problem with the USB, or the batteries. Apart from that it was working perfectly prior to these glitches.
Sounds like the battery. That would be the first thing to change.
my wireless mouse completely freeze so that I use the USB mouse How can return the wireless mouse? thank you
The mouse for my Apple Mac started to freeze randomly. I soon worked out (with the help of others) that it was the AA batteries I had just replaced. The new ones were Eveready, which turn out to be slightly shorter than Duracell (put the two together with a pencil across the top), so the connection in the mouse was being lost. I changed to Duracell and have had no problem since.
I think you hit the solution right on the head when you said to try a wired usb mouse. If that works, take the wireless mouse and chuck it, if you are going to have to buy a usb extension, you might as well just use a wired mouse as isn’t that the whole idea of a wireless mouse to eliminate all wires?
Recently i purchased a digiflip mouse from flipkart. my mouse receiver is connecting to other mouse but after disconnecting the receiver digiflip mouse is not working. but i tried many time but my mouse is not working.can u help me guys any one.
thanks.
I have a HP2711X COMPUTER and a wireless mouse'( HPPN633280/001CTFBXTAOD262D16000 My mouse froze and I cannot get my computer to RUN. I change batteries 5 times but the mouse does not work. What is wrong? I am using my mothers computer to send this .
{email address removed}
First thing I’d do is try a different mouse. It could be a defective mouse.
More than likely it just needs cleaned.
I wonder if someone can explain the unresponsiveness of my wireless mouse only (not the wireless keyboard) sometimes when the it’s idle for several second/minutes. Under this condition, the mouse however does respond to the left click button but not to the position or wheel movements. It requires several movements in position to respond. The mouse is a mechanical/ball mouse and NOT an optical mouse. The mouse is with a RF wireless receiver connected to the PS/2 ports (keyboard & mouse) rather than a USB port. I have no problem with the keyboard at all. The batteries are always charged for both Keyboard & Mouse. ViewSonic Wireless Keyboard & Mouse Model VSWKBM. Any help or thought shall be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
If it’s a ball mouse, then it must be very old. It might be just wearing out.
Thank you for your feedback. Actually, I bought this ViewSonic desktop wireless set (Keyboard & Mouse) just recently (few months ago) as a complete brand new retail package. I totally agree that it was manufactured long time ago but I was the the first to use it. Accordingly, I was reluctant to open the entire mouse to look inside. As a matter of fact, I do have two sets one was bought used and was stored and I’m using the new set and the mice of both sets behave the same the way. I do not think it’s the sleep mode, if there’s any, because the mouse could become unresponsive in few second sometines rather than minutes. I don’t think either the pad surface that might delay the movement of the ball because I tried pressing hard on the mouse and move slowly with any effect. The RF receiver is very close (within few inches) to the mouse and, therefore, it’s not the distance from the receiver.
Thankyou for this valuable information it helping my frozen issues too. So frustrating. My wireless ..when it freezes even the built in laptop one wont work. I have this problem everyday and I shutdown my Windows at least 3 times a day because of it..sheese. I also have been keeping my laptop plugged in at all times I unplugged it and it seems that it’s cooling down a little bit more I even bought a cooling fan to keep the laptop cooler I don’t know what else to do.
This is happening to me daily now mostly when using Facebook. If I reboot, it will work again. It’s not the computer freezing as the mouse built into the laptop works just fine. I’ve replaced the batteries, updated drivers, completely uninstalled and reinstalled the mouse (this worked the best for a time), but now I turn it off and use the laptop’s mouse for a while then it will start to work again or I reboot and things are fine. Glad to hear others have the same issue.
I am using window 7 on desktop hcl computer and when I connect dell wireless mouse with my computer , it sometimes works very well and sometimes it does not work , what is reason behind it
Is there need to do any settings for connecting wireless mouse with computer ???
Can anyone tell me reason behind it ?
Yay! I moved the tiny port thingy to the front of my computer and the mouse works amazingly well. Thanks!
I simply take the battery out and rub both ends on my pants and stick it back in and it always works Either the battery ends become polarized with oxide or the items listed above are the problem, who knows, but it works.