PC disaster. I've lost my mouse. HELP!

Someone please, I need urgent help here. I'm on my son's pc right now because the mouse has stopped working on my own one. My daughter was using it yesterday (she's only 6) and then when I switched back on later the mouse wouldn't work. I tried another mouse but to no avail. All I have is the arrow in the centre of the screen. When I go to control panel the mouse file is completely empty???? It's like it doesn't exist. And I'd have thought if the PC was on and I plugged a new mouse in that windows would tell me I needed new HW (or SW or whatever it is you need) but nothing is happening. This is wierd. Help please. Feels like I've lost an arm.

reply to post by wigit


Are you using a USB mouse or the old one with a round plug? If it's USB (the flat plug) it should be automatic. If it's the old round one, then you have to restart the PC to get it to work.

There is a temporary fix within the Accessibility option of the Control Panel called 'Mousekeys'. It's not the same but at least it's a kind of crutch so that you can move the mouse with your numbers keypad.

Cheers for the info. I've been using the keys, (well trying to) but It's rubbish. It's a round port mouse and I've had the pc off and on an restarted etc. but nothing is changing.

reply to post by wigit


It could be something wrong with the mouse itself or the port in question. Is your son's computer using a USB port or the round one (PS/2)? If it's the round one, try swapping it out and see if it works. If it does, then you know your mouse is busted. If it's a USB port mouse, swap it in anyway (to see if it's a problem with your software i.e. Windows itself.)

I've tried another mouse and it didn't work either, and I know it's a fully functional mouse. I've been comparing my son's pc to mine too. (he's got a wireless mouse btw). On his control panel when I open the mouse file, there's a restore default switch. Mine doesn't have that or it would be the first thing to try, and my properties box is empty and so is the hardware one, like the mouse doesn't exist. I don't understand the differences, we're both on windows XP but the files look different.I'm beginning to think I'm being hacked? Last week my emails all vanished including three of my email folders. They just vanished into thin air. Mostly they were online reciepts, and all my sent mail.

I've also looked in the device manager and there's nothing that says mouse there either. When I open the DM in this PC there's "mice and other pointing devices" here. So where's the one on my computer gone to? How can a 6 yr old do all this?

Right. I've been doing a lot of reading on the net and have come to the conclusion that I might need to enable something in the system BIOS. How do I get to that? When I first switch on the pc everything goes so fast from there I would'nt know where to start.

one of the function keys will get you there.

Try F2 or F10 while the system is booting.

Sometimes it's the delete key. "del"
It really depends on your manufacturer.

I know it goes fast but there should be a messege like " To enter setup......."

Once you're in the BIOS, just enable PS/2 mouse and save the settings. Boot.

If this doesn't work, your PS/2 port is busted. You need to use a USB mouse for this.

If all else fails total reboot, I know pain in the keester! Which, if you suspect hacking, which I have been, might be the best. Stay away from yahoo games, it is rife with hacks.

[edit on 29-11-2007 by jpm1602]

chances are you weren't hacked. if you were, it probably wouldn't make your mouse stop working. the guy with the seal as his avatar had some good advice. if it's the older ps/2 style (round) make sure a good mouse is plugged in before the computer starts up - restart if it's already running. if a known good mouse doesn't work in that specific port then the only 3 things i can think of are (in order of likelyhood):

a) hardware issue (connections on the port to the motherboard have been cracked/broken from someone yanking on the cable)
b) some corruption in windows
c) the ps/2 port magically got disabled in the bios

plugging in a newer usb mouse (rectangular connection) will give you a good test against A & C. if it still doesn't work then it's probably option B.

it might help to know how old this computer is and what version of windows you're running.

Thanks for all the help guys. I got into BIOs and had a careful look round, didn't recognise anything there at all, and I crept back out without disturbing anything, (i hope). Borrowed a friends USB mouse and it's working perfect. So, must be that the port's busted after all. (probably from someone yanking on the cable :bash. Thanks again.

reply to post by wigit


I happy it worked out for you.

For reference, next time you suspect something might have been changed in BIOS just set BIOS defaults, save the changes and exit.

Cheers