My Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical 1.1a scrolling is very jerky (it looks like waves are rolling over the screen). Reinstalling the Microsoft Intellipoint 4.1 software does not fix the problem. A second problem is my NEC 15′ LCD screen does not display lettering as black and bold as in the past. Finally, how do I know whether Windows XP Service Pack 2 has been installed? The computer is running Windows XP.

As a first step to solving your mouse problems, try installing the latest version of the Intellipoint software (version 5.2) which was released in mid-August 2004. Go to www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.aspx?displaylang=en and search for ‘intellipoint 5.2′ (without the quotes). If this doesn’t help, try completely uninstalling the mouse drivers (either through Add/Remove Programs or, if that fails, through the Device Manager) to force Windows to use its default mouse drivers, which may perform better than the Intellipoint software. Be aware this may have unintended consequences, such as the inability to use the mouse at all, or the scroll wheel not working. So, it may be prudent to have a backup PS/2 mouse on standby just in case things go wrong.

Regarding your second question where the on-screen text is not black and bold as in the past, it sounds like you no longer have ClearType enabled. ClearType has been developed by Microsoft to make text easier to read on LCD screens, such as laptop and flat panel monitors. For a more in-depth explanation of this system, have a look at the Microsoft ClearType website at: www.microsoft.com/typography/ClearTypeInfo.mspx. To enabled ClearType, go to the ‘Start’ menu > ‘Control Panel’ and open ‘Display’. In the window that appears, click the ‘Appearance’ tab and the ‘Effects’ button. Tick ‘Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts’ and select ‘ClearType’ from the drop-down box. Click OK. Click OK. I also suggest you use the ClearType Web Interface to fine-tune your ClearType settings. This can be accessed from the Microsoft ClearType website. Finally, to find out whether Service Pack 2 is installed on your computer, go to the ‘Start’ menu > ‘Control Panel’ and open ‘System’. Click the ‘General’ tab. You will see your system information and the current version of Windows installed. If Service Pack 2 is installed, there will be a statement to that effect.