Jumping Optical Mouse: This Is Gross

It seems that there are a large number of people experiencing problems with optical mice erratically jumping to a new position on the screen.

In the most common case, this is simply a matter of the table surface being oddly patterned or textured.  You know this is the problem when the mouse just goes in the wrong direction for no good reason.

In the least common case, there’s actually a hardware problem, and you can often get the vendor to replace it.  This exhibits itself as the slightest touches sending the mouse pointer rocketing to one of the screen corners.

But there’s a fairly common problem that most people have over looked, and it’s friggin’ gross, but knowing about it fixes the problem in most cases.  I put this tech solution in the “Everybody Poops” bin. You know you have it when your optical mouse works fine most of the time, and for no apparent reason will make a short hop to a new location near by the old mouse cursor position.
Perhaps you’ve heard of keyboard plaque, that nasty cruft that collects on keyboards?  Well, part of the reason we’re all using optical mice is because a wheel mouse picks up dirt and dust off the table and it eventually gets wrapped around the internal rollers, meaning you have to take the wheel out and pick the crud off.  But with optical mice, that shouldn’t be a problem… right?

Problem is our hands sweat as we use a mouse.  Natural oils and preperation rub off on the table.  This can make small sticky areas for dirt and dust.  Dead skin comes off too, which some estimates say is what 90% of indoor dust really is.   This builds up as an area of concentrated table plaque.

If you look real carefully and up close at the area where your mouse sits on the table, you’ll see it is covered with little dark grey specs.  And long before you notice these, your optical mouse has to dance over them.  Unchecked, they’ll get quite visible and even flake off.
Who knows what the mouse optics see, but the texture and reflectivity radically change for an instant, and your optical mouse will jump on the screen trying to compensate for the motion it incorrectly perceived.

The solution is simple, borrow a credit card, cause you most likely won’t want to use your own, and scrap the table surface with its edge.  You’ll notice stuff coming up easily, and a hint here: it’s not the finish.  In moment’s you’ll have a clean surface, and surprisingly your mouse will start working again.