HI all
I'm tearing my hair out on this one. I can't determine if it's a
hardware or software problem. I'm sending it to PCBUILD as a mouse is
hardware.
Locally built machine
Pentium 3
RAM 512
60 gig hard drive
CD drive
Microsoft Ps/2 wired mouse originally--replaced with MSoft Basic Optical Mouse
Floppy drive
WinMe
Norton Anti-Virus
Zone Alarm--free version
CounterSpy
Microsoft Works
This machine belongs to my sister-in-law. The hard drive died in this
machine the first week of January. I installed a new 60 gig Maxtor hard
drive. Installed WinMe. All WinUpdates installed at that time. All
Norton definitions current. Zone Alarm lastest update. Counterspy has
all updated definitions. All WinUpdates installed. The machine is
used only for mail through Outlook Express, some surfing and playing Bridge
in Game Zone.
Everything worked fine for 2 months. About a week ago or so, after about
10 minutes the mouse began showing the hourglass fluttering...doesn't
rotate...just flutters quickly constantly. This was first noticed while
playing Bridge in Game Zone. For the first 10 minutes, the mouse operates
normally and then begins the fluttering. After about another 10 minutes,
there is no control of the mouse. If when the fluttering starts I close
out the current program and load another, the fluttering continues. But,
after more time, mouse control is lost.
Replaced the mouse with an identical Ps/2 mouse. Same reaction after 10
minutes.
My sister-in-law bought a basic Microsoft Optical mouse and plugged in the
Ps/2 port. Same reaction. Plugged it into USB port...same
reaction. Device manager now shows the mouse as HID-Compliant mouse
instead of the previous Ps/2 mouse.
Googled symptoms. Along the way found info about Windows Update
KB891711 causing problems for many machines with WinMe and
Win98...including machines not booting and some reports of a stuttering
mouse. "MS05-002: Vulnerability in cursor and icon format handling could
allow remote code execution." This particular update runs at start up
(unlike other updates) and is listed in msconfig as running and CAD as
running. Responses for correction (including supposedly contacts with
Microsoft) was to boot into safe mode and then uncheck the running update
in msconfig and reboot. CAD showed update not running. Same reaction
from mouse.
Next recommendation was to remove the update through Add/Remove. The
Update was not listed.
Next recommendation was to remove registry key in safe mode:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/ RunServices-
...and found a listing for KB891711. Deleted that Key and
rebooted. Same mouse response.
Next recommendation: Remove the C:\Windows\System\KB891711
folder. Deleted the folder, rebooted. Same mouse response.
I tried using system restore from March 1, March 4 and March 6. System
restore would do its thing, reboot and then tell me the system couldn't be
restored and no changes had been made.
I have exported the registry on on this machine a couple of times and
imported a registry from middle February. Rebooted. Same response
from mouse.
The KB891711 update was:
Issued: January 11, 2005
Updated: March 8, 2005
Version: 1.2
My feeling is the update might be the problem as things were working
fine..and it was the March 8 update which caused the problem...as problem
was only noted within the last week or so.
So, have the following questions:
1. I'm unsure about registry restore. I don't know if the present
registry is destroyed and the restored registry written. Or, does the
restored registry just write over the present registry? As I'm writing
this, I realize I did not go back into the registry to see if a KB891711was
there.
2. If this were a Ps/2 port problem, why would the mouse work correctly
for 10 minutes? Skipping the Ps/2 and installing the optic mouse via USB
with it working correctly for 10 minutes, makes me think the problem is not
with the Ps/2 port nor with the USB port. Any opinons on this?
3. I'm thinking that use of computer might indicate a problem on the
motherboard in that the mouse works fine for 10 minutes (we've timed it and
it's exactly 10 minutes each time) before fluttering...maybe some expansion
on the motherboard. However, when the mouse goes out of control a manual
reboot of the system causes the mouse to work perfectly again for 10
minutes. I wouldn't think there would be that much cooling in the system
in reboot time. Am I thinking correctly here?
4. Could I be dealing with a trojan?
Any and all suggestions are welcome. The only thing I can think to do
is reformat the drive and reinstall everything. However, if it's a
hardware problem, a reinstall would just create the same situation.
Sue Na
[log in to unmask]
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