Re: Something (Trojan?) Takes Over Mouse

From: MyndPhlyp (notreally_at_home.now)
Date: 10/07/03 

Date: Tue, 07 Oct 2003 16:08:15 GMT

"PapaBear" <PapaBear@bear.com> wrote in message
news:HmAgb.25029$wC1.6825@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
> Some program on my computer takes over the mouse, takes it to the edges of
> the screen and clicks it madly, tiling windows, opening programs etc. I
run
> W2K Pro and I have installed both ZoneAlarm and Norton Internet Security
> after the problem began - so now the program must reside on my local
drive.
> To stop the mouse mischief, I do a Ctrl-Alt-Del which most often, but not
> always stops the mouse. I see no unusual processes running, so the mouse
> process must be hiding somehow. I checked registry and cannot see any
> unusual programs under RunOnce or Run. I also have Norton Antivirus with
up
> to date virus definitions and nothing is detected.
> Has anybody seen something similar before? I would like to get rid of the
> problem without having to reformat/reinstall.
> Thank you for your advice.

Doesn't sound like a trojan or virus, especially since you are using NAV.
Chances are either the mouse is experiencing a physical problem (read:
overabundance of lint or just plain dying), the mouse connection may be
poor, there's a stuck key on the keyboard, or maybe even a bit of driver
corruption. And there is the possibility that whatever software you
installed or updated just prior to the symptom is causing the problem
(especially if it is shareware/freeware from a questionable author).

W2K is somewhat of a "self repairing" system. It tracks whether key files
are inappropriately updated (down-dated is more like it). You could try
forcing the system to reinstall the mouse driver. Log in as the
Administrator. Wrong-click My Computer and select Properties from the pop-up
menu. Click the Hardware tab. Click the Device Manager button. Locate the
mouse and delete it from the list. Reboot and log on as the Administrator.
W2K will rediscover the mouse and reinstall it. The down side is that you'll
have to use the keyboard to close the dialog boxes and shutdown 'cus you
just deleted the mouse.

If that doesn't do the trick, investigate the possibility of rogue software
being installed just prior to the event.

And, clean the mouse once in a while.

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