Mouse has developed an attitude when selecting areas or text blocks

[Clairvaux]

Hi all,

Any ideas about this strange behaviour ? Mouse has begun to misbehave when selecting areas or blocks of text. This happens randomly accross different applications (but not all).

Screen capture : I would begin to click and drag to select an area, and then the area would be captured well before I had finished reaching the bottom of the target zone, sending an unusable screen grab to the editor. Or, the area actually selected in the editor would start at a lower point than where I had first clicked. Happens with Windows 7 Snipping Tool and Pic Pick.

Text highlighting : I would click and drag to select text, usually several lines, then hit a key combination to apply colour highlighting. At some point, instead of selecting text, the program would begin to drag and drop words, messing up the text. Happens inside Cinta Notes notes.

Now when I get very cross at the small animal misbehaving this way, I sometimes press very hard on its head left key in order to punish it , while dragging ; and strangely enough, it then seems to understand and comply. Of course, cruelty to animals is bad, and I can't keep pressing all the time anyway. Might the mouse be worn down ? In need of cleaning ? But if it's a hardware problem, why doesn't it happen in other applications ?

 

[johnhoh]

But if it's a hardware problem, why doesn't it happen in other applications ?

If this is your situation:

"click and release" works fine, that is, a normal click works fine
"click and hold button down while dragging" works fine if you press real hard
"click and hold button down while dragging" works poorly if you press the normal amount.

The question about why does it work okay in other applications is because maybe other applications only need a normal click and release. Is there any application where you need to "click and hold button down while dragging" that does work okay? If not, methinks your mouse hardware has seen better days and the electrical contact that is supposed to be maintained while you hold the button down is not being maintained, so you should probably get a new mouse.