My Windows XP computer is running well, except for a strange problem with the mouse and keyboard which started occurring about 1 month ago. When I do a cold-start, everything works correctly. However, should I do a warm-restart (i.e. Restart through Windows, or press the Restart button on the computer) the computer starts OK, but the optical mouse and keyboard stop working (i.e. neither the optical mouse LED, nor the keyboard indicators will illuminate) after the Windows splash screen disappears, and the desktop appears. Then, if I do another warm-restart the computer starts OK, and the mouse and keyboard work in Windows. Doing another warm-restart causes the mouse and keyboard to again stop working. Then, doing another warm-restart the mouse and keyboard work. I have done this routine 18 times, and this pattern continues (so the problem is not random). Moreover, should I turn-off the computer and do a cold-start, everything works correctly. The computer is a Pentium III 500MHz with 256 MB RAM. (more…)

For the past six months when playing games, the mouse pointer jumps across the screen from place to place, rather than moving along smoothly. I have run virus scans using Norton Antivirus 2003 and scanned with Spybot and Ad-Aware. Changing the mouse did not fix the problem. This problem is extremely irritating when playing a shooting game such as Unreal Tournament or Counter Strike. (more…)

Recently I installed Windows XP Service Pack 2. Everything seems to be running alright except the cursor slowly moves in the x or y direction until it reaches the edge of the screen. If I slightly move the mouse, the behaviour ceases. This happens both in applications (such as Microsoft Word) and whenever I open a new web page. The computer is running Windows XP Home Edition. (more…)

A quick question, but one that is driving me crazy. I have a Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard, and was wondering if there is a way to lock-on the ‘F Lock’ key, so it is on by default when the computer is started? The computer is running Windows XP Professional. (more…)

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. (more…)