Mouse and keyboard lag

[astuarlen]

In the past couple of days I've started to experience mouse and keyboard lag on my computer, with the mouse being more troublesome. Every few seconds to minutes the cursor gets stuck or jumpy, seemingly for no reason. I'm not doing anything more taxing than browsing online when this happens. Also, I'm getting a bit of lag when I type every so often, usually when I open Firefox and start typing in an address. This strikes me as odd because I just started having these issues, and I definitely haven't installed anything new. Worse than that, about 20 minutes ago my mouse stopped working entirely (its light went dead *tear*), so I unplugged and replugged it. Then it worked fine for a couple seconds before dying again--and taking the keyboard with it. Boo. Luckily, I also have a tablet, so I was able to restart my computer without trouble. I switched the mouse and keyboard to different USB ports, but they're still acting up. My tablet is connected via USB, too, but I haven't noticed any problems with it so far.
Ideas? ;o

[Ryna]

Is the mouse connected to a USB port on the keyboard? If so, the USB controller on the keyboard may have gone bad. What happens if you just try plugging the mouse into the computer's USB port?

[astuarlen]

Err, there is no USB port on the keyboard. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif
Right now the mouse just plain isn't working, so I'm browsing with my tablet. Keyboard is okay so far, though. >_>

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

It wouldn't hurt also to open up your computer's case and spray some compressed air to get nasty built up stray dust out of there. Chipsets/fans/cables need their breathing room!

(check Shuri's family's computer horror stores of dust in the Rants section!)

And also to check your USB port's connections, among other connections to see if anything got loose since you last took a look inside.

The mouse is an optical mouse?

[astuarlen]

Yeah, I try to clean out the dust pretty frequently. Last time I opened 'im up was about 4 weeks ago.
I actually think the problem might be the mouse itself, 'cause I tried plugging it into other USB ports (and plugging other devices into the port it was in before) and the random nonresponsiveness seems to be exclusive to the mouse. Bah. May just have to buy a new one if this one keeps going comatose. ;o

[Deltra]

You probably want to buy a new mouse and/or keyboard. I've had several mouses that have died out, and I've had to replace them. Usually, if the mouse loses responsiveness that much, it's time to replace it. Unless it's a problem with the USB ports, which I doubt.

[Lux]

Nah don't buy a new one just yet, mouses last a life actually. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif
The cleaning your PC from inside idea is also.. not so good. It wouldn't be possible to cause this error.

Is your mouse/keyboard wireless? If so, are there any things in between the receiver and your mouse? Those could hinder the signal from your mouse and cause the jumpy behaviour or stop the movement totally.

Is your mouse optical? If so, what's below it? Take some surface that doesn't reflect light so much, a sheet of paper should do it for the testing (while wood is bad).

Does it have a ball for movement? Clean it.

[astuarlen]

Deltra > I think I agree.
Lux > No wireless here. I never had much luck with those. It is an optical mouse, but I've got it on a pretty matte surface (and, in any case, it hasn't changed location between the time it was working fine for several months and now). I tend to believe there's something wrong with the little guy 'imself. ;o Well, mice aren't very expensive in any case; it's just troublesome to get a new one when you're a carless college student. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif

[metatime]

How is your operating system doing? Is that laggy too? If it is I suggest a virus/spyware scan.

[astuarlen]

No, my computer is fine other than the mouse thing (keyboard hasn't been doing anything wonky lately, so I figure it's just one of those fluke things ;g). And I've done several AV and spyware scans since the problem started 'cause I were suspicious. ¬¬
I think I've pretty much pinned it down to the mouse itself, because any other USB device I swap in works fine.
Thanks for the suggestions though. 8)