Dell laptop running Win 10 with optical mouse.
My drag and drop function for moving files has become erratic. Sometimes it drops a file somewhere before I get to the intended location and before I release the mouse button. Have tried the mouse with different USB ports. Don't have another mouse to test. Googled but didn't find much I could work with and/or understand.
Has anyone else experienced this problem? Any helpful suggestions?
Thanks!
Replace the battery in the mouse.
No, however I'd suspect possibly a dirty mouse button.
Do you have another mouse to try? Borrow?
At least that may be eliminated.
I've had similar occurrences from the way I had my finger the mouse.
twowindsbear wrote:
Replace the battery in the mouse.
Good idea, especially if the mouse doesn't have a "replace battery" light.
Longshadow wrote:
Good idea, especially if the mouse doesn't have a "replace battery" light.
Th OP doesn't say whether the mouse is wireless or plug in. Plug in doesn't require a battery. I only use plug in mice after many bad experiences like the above with the wireless variety.
therwol wrote:
Th OP doesn't say whether the mouse is wireless or plug in. Plug in doesn't require a battery. I only use plug in mice after many bad experiences like the above with the wireless variety.
You are correct.
That's why everyone has to keep guessing on most replies for most questions.
Usually insufficient information is provided in the question for a definitive/appropriate answer...
I suppose people like guessing games.
I've had two wireless mice for YEARS. Had to replace one because the scroll button started disintegrating.
therwol wrote:
Th OP doesn't say whether the mouse is wireless or plug in. Plug in doesn't require a battery. I only use plug in mice after many bad experiences like the above with the wireless variety.
You're right, it's a USB plug in mouse. I should have mentioned that....
Longshadow wrote:
No, however I'd suspect possibly a dirty mouse button.
Do you have another mouse to try? Borrow?
At least that may be eliminated.
I've had similar occurrences from the way I had my finger the mouse.
I think I'll just buy a new mouse to at least eliminate the mouse as the source of the problem.
DirtFarmer
Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA
I gave up on mice about 30 years ago. Went to a trackball. Does not require much desk real estate since you don't move it around, you just move the ball. You can even use it under a pile of paperwork on your desk.
srt101fan wrote:
I think I'll just buy a new mouse to at least eliminate the mouse as the source of the problem.
Have another USB mouse? Swap & test.
(Turn computer off first. Computers, I found out years ago, do not like hot-swapping mice at all.
I'll guess keyboards are the same way as they are always being polled also.)
If you use any sort of battery driven mouse/keyboard then there is no excuse for not having a few spare batteries (alkaline of course not heavy duty). Then it is easy to quickly swap a battery in/out. If you happen to have a digital multimeter then measure the battery voltage. A new battery should be about 1.57 ish. If it is less than 1.5 it is well on its way out so replace, if down to 1.2v then you are fortunate that the battery has lasted so long. For the price of a pair of AA alkalines (usually a shelf life of several years) you must be Scottish if you don't buy some. I buy packs of 40 alkaline for about $15.
If a USB attached mouse go out a buy a spare - they are cheap. If the button seems not to work then probably the mini-switch inside has crapped out. Sometimes these can be repaired/replaced although for the price of a spare mouse maybe not worth bothering about.
Sometimes you can have a switch problem on a battery mouse so repair might be worth it. I always exclusively use Logitech as they give little trouble for years. Both my mouse and keyboard are both over 5-7 years old and are Logitech. If you find that they are packing up more often than that start looking at your technique.
I have recently started using bluetooth attached mice/keyboards and headphones. My bluetooth headphones (Sennheiser) does have a cable or internal battery. I have started to use it as bluetooth to save plugging and unplugging the cable and wearing it out. I downloaded and bought a bit of software called battmonsetup which does tell me the state of charge of the battery and it works well. Although the software claims use only on bluetooth (and there are a few provisos) it also happens to work with the Logitech gear - just don't know how good this is yet as early days.
Having no cords for anything works extremely well.
Longshadow wrote:
No, however I'd suspect possibly a dirty mouse button.
Do you have another mouse to try? Borrow?
At least that may be eliminated.
I've had similar occurrences from the way I had my finger the mouse.
Right! When I've had similar problems, it's either the battery or a dirty mouse.
srt101fan wrote:
Dell laptop running Win 10 with optical mouse.
My drag and drop function for moving files has become erratic. Sometimes it drops a file somewhere before I get to the intended location and before I release the mouse button. Have tried the mouse with different USB ports. Don't have another mouse to test. Googled but didn't find much I could work with and/or understand.
Has anyone else experienced this problem? Any helpful suggestions?
Thanks!
A simple rule that keeps me out of trouble: Never drag and drop!
I think drag and drop is poor practice. It's too easy to accidentally drop the clipboard contents into an unintended location, and create a real mess. It's better to cut, copy, and paste with either the right click menu, or the keyboard commands...much safer.
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