Runaway cursor

I had that problem once - went into the 'puter shop and the man suggested I was perhaps absentmindedly touching the rightclick side of the mouse from time to time.
I never found out the reason for sure, but it doesn't happen now.

I think you can adjust the speed of the cursor?

Thanks Tricia,I'll bear that in mind. I must admit that I am a bit heavyhanded when using the computer.

Have you got a touchpad on your keyboard?

I used to have problems with my cursor jumping about when I was typing until I managed to turn off the touchpad on my laptop completely, even though I was sure I wasn't accidentally touching it or brushing against it.

Probably needs cleaning, google the kame/model of your mouse for instructions. If it has a ball, that can be removed and you will probably find the sensors caked with grot (that is the technical term) or if you have an optical/IR mouse you will need to clean the lens/sensor. Dirt is nearly always the problem if a mouse becomes erratic. I clean mine about once a month.

Does your computer run Windows? You can change your mouse settings at
Control panel/Ease of access/Change how your mouse works/Make the mouse easier to use/Mouse settings

I had dreadful trouble as well with a wireless mouse, because Windows couldn't find it - "No windows mouse detected" - so it assumed that I wanted to use the touchpad. That was so sensitive that if my wrist just brushed the surface of it the cursor went mad. I solved that by going to Control panel/Ease of access/Change how your mouse works/Make the mouse easier to use/Mouse settings and changing all the mousepad settings to the minimum possible sensitivity, but I have to repeat that EVERY TIME I SWITCH ON THE COMPUTER which is a pain.

Your PC might also offer a keyboard shortcut (such as pressing Fn and F7 simultaneously) to disable the touchpad - that's what I did when doing it via the control panel didn't seem to work!

It all depends on whether the mouse has been working OK, if it has and you have not made any changes, I would be pretty sure it needs cleaning. If it has never worked properly then you may need to install a driver for it or change the mouse settings, but don't do that if it was working.

Ana you've just solved the problem I have! When I use the backspace key it deletes words and jumps all over the show - now I know why! My hand brushes the touchpad. Thank you

Oops! That was meant to be a not a maniacal grin...

Ana

Thanks everyone for your help.
Ana-I don't have a touchpad,it is a desktop.
Pompa- Yes it has worked okay previously.Probably does need cleaning.
But Shh.... it is working okay at the moment perhaps using a different USB slot is the answer. Nevertheless I will print off all your helpful suggestions and place them in my' Help' folder.

granjo39 Mine's a desktop, too, but my keyboard has a small touchpad to the right of the keys and that's what I was inadvertently touching. Your keyboard may be similar???