My Glorious Model O mouse has worked normally for years, but today it suddenly started flickering and jumping across my three-monitor setup. After restarting, cleaning it, and changing pointer settings such as enhanced pointer precision, click-lock, and pointer snapping, it now teleports roughly 80% of the time whenever I click something. That makes the computer nearly unusable. The mouse is wired, and it worked normally when I tested it on a friend's PC, so I'm unsure whether the problem is with my computer, a USB port, software or drivers, or the mouse itself. Corsair iCUE was installed because I use a Scuf controller, which had been powered on when the problem first appeared, but I have since removed iCUE and its files. I also reset Windows while keeping my personal files. Nothing new was installed recently, and there have been no obvious updates. What should I test next?
4 Answers
The fact that the cursor jumps across monitors when clicking could also point to another input device sending commands, such as a controller, drawing tablet, touchpad, or accessibility software. Disconnect every nonessential input device and close mouse, keyboard, controller, and overlay utilities. If the behavior remains with only the mouse and keyboard connected, try a different mouse and boot into Safe Mode to separate a Windows software issue from a hardware problem.
Testing it on another computer was a good step, but a mouse can still have an intermittent hardware failure that doesn’t show up immediately. Model O mice have been known to develop cable, connector, or sensor problems over time. Try using it on the second PC for an extended period, not just a few dozen clicks, and test another mouse on your computer. If another mouse works perfectly, replace the Model O; if multiple mice jump around, focus on the PC or USB system.
Since the issue started when the controller was connected, completely remove controller-related software and test with the controller disconnected. You can also perform a clean boot to prevent iCUE and other peripheral utilities from loading. Check Device Manager for USB or HID warnings, uninstall the affected mouse/HID device, restart, and let Windows detect it again. The pointer-precision and snapping settings won’t normally cause the cursor to teleport, so this sounds more like corrupted input software, USB communication, or failing hardware.
Start by isolating the USB connection before assuming it’s a Windows driver problem. Try every USB port, especially ports directly on the motherboard rather than a hub or front-panel connector. Disconnect other USB devices and test the mouse by itself. If the problem follows one port or disappears when another device is unplugged, you may be dealing with USB interference, a bad port, or a power issue.
A short test doesn’t completely rule out the mouse out. Some failing USB devices work briefly and then begin disconnecting or sending bad input once they’ve been used for a while.