Cursor Freezes

[tesseract]

I am having an irritating problem with my desktop. I'll be moving my cursor around the screen, it will stop for several seconds, the "working in the background" blue circle will appear, and often it will make that "ba-DUMP BA-dump" sound.

I've run Avira, Malwarebytes, Defrag and CCleaner. I tried to perform a System Restore, in case something changed during a recent MS update, but it failed to take, twice. I've tried varying the speed of the pointer.

Any ideas what is happening? This has really put a damper on my web browsing.

[Ajax]

Are you using a wireless mouse? If so, it sounds like the computer is momentarily losing connection to the dongle and then getting it back again.

You might try unplugging the dongle, wait 15 seconds and plug it back in again. If that doesn't work, you might try uninstalling and reinstalling the mouse.

If you are using a wired mouse, you may totally disregard my ramblings.

[tesseract]

It's the USB wired that came with the computer.

What is weird is that something is going on in the background, like it is running another program. It does it whether it's on my browsers or wallpaper even.

After a week and a half of this, it's not doing it at the moment. :confused:

[django1]

I had some annoying problems like that lately and went to Windows Update (in "All programs") and removed the latest oupdates one by one until the problem went away...

[tesseract]

It happened right after a major MS update which is why I tried a Restore point. I am too worn out to mess with Bill Gates right now, I'll give that a try tomorrow after work.

It is back to doing it again. :doh! 1:

[django1]

You can review your update history and un-install stuff...

My cursor would randomly select stuff.:crazy:

[tesseract]

Uninstalled every update since the problem began, restart the comp, no go. Still having an intermittent problem.

[Mike4AU]

I put my money on a broken mouse, or a bad USB port.

[django1]

I'd try the mouse too...

[Steve_vai_rules]

step 1: set computer on fire
step 2: can you use linux? if yes then build box and install linux if no continue to step 3
step 3: buy a mac
step 4: laugh at never having these issues again
step 5: consume large quantities of bourbon or gin


*from a sys admin/code monkey/security expert/consultant who deals with windows/linux/mac environments daily. i.e. me*


Matt

[Wendigo]

step 1: set computer on fire
step 2: can you use linux? if yes then build box and install linux if no continue to step 3
step 3: buy a mac
step 4: laugh at never having these issues again
step 5: consume large quantities of bourbon or gin


*from a sys admin/code monkey/security expert/consultant who deals with windows/linux/mac environments daily. i.e. me*


Matt

These steps are not very scientific. If you swap step1 and step5 then you will be on the right track.:fingerscrossed:

[sbdman]

This may help to dig into what's causing the problem. Open Windows Task Manager (easy way is to hold down 3 buttons <ctrl>-<shift>-<tab>), go to the Processes tab and sort (click on the heading name) the column CPU Usage. If you don't see this column you may have to click it on in the View -> Select Columns tab. Move the window to the side, (you may have to adjust the program your working on like Internet Explorer not to be full screen so you can see both windows) then go about your business.

When your mouse locks up, glance over at the task manager to see what process has jumped to the top of the list. Usually it will be just under System Idle Process. You can usually goggle the process image name to find out what it is, and if it's a virus, or other info.

[Steve_vai_rules]

These steps are not very scientific. If you swap step1 and step5 then you will be on the right track.:fingerscrossed:

I assume that since everyone here knows me they just would assume that there would be copious amounts of drinking throughout the whole thing regardless. :D

Matt

[tesseract]

This may help to dig into what's causing the problem. Open Windows Task Manager (easy way is to hold down 3 buttons <ctrl>-<shift>-<tab>), go to the Processes tab and sort (click on the heading name) the column CPU Usage. If you don't see this column you may have to click it on in the View -> Select Columns tab. Move the window to the side, (you may have to adjust the program your working on like Internet Explorer not to be full screen so you can see both windows) then go about your business.

When your mouse locks up, glance over at the task manager to see what process has jumped to the top of the list. Usually it will be just under System Idle Process. You can usually goggle the process image name to find out what it is, and if it's a virus, or other info.

I have eliminated the mouse as the problem, I am pretty sure that it is a program running in the background.

I tried the Task manager at the beginning, but not with the Process tab opened. here are the processes using CPU when the cursor freezes.

- dwm.exe
- firefox.exe
- taskmgr.exe

Sometimes, but not often, shows this activity.

- csrss.exe
- explorer.exe

Google shows that there are dwm.exe and csrss.exe viruses, but I am unsure about deleting what are most likely Windows apps, and not viruses, to find out.

I am thinking it is a recent Windows update, or Firefox browser update causing the slowdown. A simple Restore could prove this out, if only I could get the Restore to take.

[Murrel]

I have eliminated the mouse as the problem, I am pretty sure that it is a program running in the background.

I tried the Task manager at the beginning, but not with the Process tab opened. here are the processes using CPU when the cursor freezes.

- dwm.exe
- firefox.exe
- taskmgr.exe

Sometimes, but not often, shows this activity.

- csrss.exe
- explorer.exe

Google shows that there are dwm.exe and csrss.exe viruses, but I am unsure about deleting what are most likely Windows apps, and not viruses, to find out.

I am thinking it is a recent Windows update, or Firefox browser update causing the slowdown. A simple Restore could prove this out, if only I could get the Restore to take.

tesseract,

This web site is a great resource. Has info on a ton of processes on windows based machines. I have used it many times.

http://www.processlibrary.com/

murrel