Trivial Mouse Problem / RESOLVED

[Barefoot_Tom]

My sister-in-law (who is anything but computer literate) suddenly started having problems with her mouse, in that it wouldn't respond appropriately to her clicks. She asked for help, and after some head-scratching, I realized that the mouse had become left-handed. A quick check in the Control Panel confirmed this. My SIL avers that she "never changed anything".

She is using Win98SE as her OS. I can't remember the mouse model number, unfortunately, but it's a Logitech optical mouse with a scroll wheel.

Does anyone have a thought on what could have happened to cause this?


Does anyone have a possible explanation, excluding gremlins?

[2k_dummy]

Someone or something changed it. Logitech mice always default to right handed unless specifically set to be left handed.

[Barefoot_Tom]

My thoughts, exactly: and I'm sure you've heard in response to "What were you doing when this happened?"; "I didn't do anything, it just happened"

[CBMatt]

Believe me, we hear that a lot.

But it is true sometimes.  What protection does she have?

[Barefoot_Tom]

Believe me, we hear that a lot.

But it is true sometimes.  What protection does she have?

She's using Avast! for virus protection, and ZoneAlarm as her firewall. In addition I've set it up so that Spybot runs as a scheduled task, and she periodically runs Ad-Aware. I haven't been over to her computer recently, but when I go, I'll make sure the mouse is returned to being right-handed, and I'll check out what else may have changed.

I just wondered if anyone had some insight into what might have happened, other than the obvious answer.

[soybean]

Sounds like PEBKAC.

[CBMatt]

You may want to go ahead and scan her computer in Safe Mode after updating Avast.  If she gets a clean bill of health, then soybean might be right.

[contrex]

It's probably not gremlins. It may be that there is some fancy mouse software got installed. One program I know about, called Dmouse, you only have to press Ctrl + F12 to swap the buttons over. Quite a few others use this key combination.

My Genius Webscroll mouse came with a software and driver disk and I installed the software, but I pretty soon took it off again. Various hot keys were set up to do things like change the function of the middle button, swap left & right buttons, etc. There were lots of "handy" features, which soon proved to be a pain in the fundament. 

If you look in Add/Remove Programs, you may find a similar Logitech utility program has been installed. It seems to be called Logitech SetPoint. According to some reports I have read, if your sister does have that software, she got off lightly!

've been using MS mice for the last ten years, and I'm amazed at how a really great mouse as the Logitech MX 400 comes with such a piece of crap as SetPoint.

"Universal scroll" hides middle button clicks from Firefox, "Autoscroll" is plain horrible in certain programs, middle button has to be pressed two times in Firefox to work, no per application assigments, lack of creative functions...

Isn't there an alternative to this garbage?

[soybean]

If you look in Add/Remove Programs, you may find a similar Logitech utility program has been installed. It seems to be called Logitech SetPoint. According to some reports I have read, if your sister does have that software, she got off lightly!

've been using MS mice for the last ten years, and I'm amazed at how a really great mouse as the Logitech MX 400 comes with such a piece of crap as SetPoint.

"Universal scroll" hides middle button clicks from Firefox, "Autoscroll" is plain horrible in certain programs, middle button has to be pressed two times in Firefox to work, no per application assigments, lack of creative functions...

Isn't there an alternative to this garbage?

Using SetPoint here.  It isn't my favorite software but my experience is different from what you portray above.  A single click in Firefox activates Autoscroll or Universal scroll.  Also, I haven't seen programs where "'Autoscroll' is plain horrible in certain programs". 

One problem I have experienced with SetPoint, which I installed for my Logitech mouse/keyboard combo, is that it sometimes drops the keyboard altogether.  In other words, if I open SetPoint, the keyboard section is not there, only the mouse, and special features on the keyboard do not work.  So, I then have a basic keyboard.  To resolve this, I can close SetPoint and then restart it; do not need to restart the computer. 

[Barefoot_Tom]

Sounds like PEBKAC.

And that's an acronym for ..

[contrex]

to save you the trouble...

[soybean]

Sounds like PEBKAC.

And that's an acronym for ..

Why do you think I posted it as hyperlink?  You need to click on it.   

[Barefoot_Tom]

Sounds like PEBKAC.

And that's an acronym for ..

Why do you think I posted it as hyperlink?  You need to click on it.   

I didn't know you had posted it as a hyperlink, It didn't show up as such on my screen. Cut us poor souls  a little slack, will you?

The problem has been resolved, however. It was, indeed PEBKAC. I went over to my sister-in-law's today, and found that she literally isn't able to tell her right from her left (she's 85, and if that's the greatest problem she has, she's fortunate.) The computer mouse is working fine, my SIL not so well.

Thanks, everyone, for your help.

[soybean]

At age 85, that's quite understandable.  Glad to hear you figured out the real problem. 

Re: hyperlinks, the default color in this forum is only slightly different from normal text, making them easy to overlook.  The color can be changed when posting but most forum members, including me, usually do not take extra step when posting.  Here's how it could look: PEBKAC, or PEBKAC, or numerous other colors.

[patio]

And some are underlined...glad to hear she's fixed up and stop by anytime.

BTW Welcome Aboard.