mice

tu 10 Sep 2013	If your wireless mouse becomes hesitant like the Microsoft one we bought at Tesco reconnecting may fix the problem, particularly if like the Microsoft one we bought at Tesco's the mouse doesn't have a Connect button. Unplug the USB doobry, wait for the pc to go dee dah, plug it back in and wait for the pc to go dah dee, that's it.
mo 19 Mar 2012	It's not easy using a mouse with the wrong hand, we recall it took us about two days to become at ease but it does mean we don't reach over the mouse to write or refer and we can swap hands every so often to prevent Repetitive Strain Injury. If you want to try swapping hands you'll need to swap the mouse button functions by going Start/Control Panel/Mouse and what you then get will depend on your hardware.
th 11 Feb 2010	Try pressing the other mouse button, you'll get a pop up menu depending on what you're doing, this menu appears if you're looking at a folder.
we 21 Oct 2009	We often encounter laptop users who either don't know you can tap the touchpad for a click or have turned it off because they can't control it. The Apple Magic Mouse isn't going to help them but it does seem controlling a computer is moving on ... finally
tu 19 May 2009	What's the difference between click and double click on the mouse? Click selects whatever you're pointing at and double click actions it, though not in menus. So if you point at a picture file (for example) and single click on it you have selected it for a subsequent action such as pressing Delete on the keyboard. If you double click on a picture file it will open in whatever application is associated with the file type, usually the Windows Picture Viewer. If you right click on something (that is press the other mouse button, the right button if the mouse is set right handed) then a menu opens offering choices like Print and Delete. So, got it? Click selects and double click actions.
	If when you turn your mouse upside down there's a Soho red glow you have an optical mouse. If you haven't then you probably have a mechanical mouse and periodically have to engage in the cat with a wet paw shimmy to keep it working. The shimmy shakes the fluff inside the mouse about a bit so the rollers move when the ball does. Here's how to remove the fluff. Shut down your PC or you will find the mouse has done something catastrophic whilst you were cleaning it. Turn your mouse upside down. There's a hole about half an inch in diameter with a small rubbery ball coyly hiding in it. Surrounding the hole is a flat disc with the hole in it. On the disc are arrows showing which way you rotate the disc to remove it. Rotate the disc, hopefully there will be a ridge or something you can get hold with your thumbnail. Rotate the disc until it stops, usually about an eighth of a rotation. Turn the mouse the right way up over your other hand. What should happen is the disc and ball fall in to your open palm. What will happen is the ball, which is carpet coloured, falls on the floor and rolls under the largest piece of furniture. Retrieve the ball and give it a superficial brush, a dirty ball is not the problem. Turn the mouse upside down again and peer into the hole vacated by the ball. As long as a worried looking family of black beetles hasn't taken up residence you should see two horizontal rollers at right angles and a vertical disc diagonally opposite. The disc is spring loaded and keeps the ball in contact with the rollers. The rollers sense the mouse's horizontal and vertical movement. Peer more closely at the rollers. Around the middle is a grey band. This is the problem. The band is a belt of solidified fluff between the ball and roller, and the ball is now turning the fluff not the roller. Get a small screwdriver or similar and scrape at the grey band along the axis of a roller until it disintegrates. Do both rollers and then blow or brush out the fluff. Reassemble, there are “tongues" on the underside of the disc that have to be aligned with slots in the mouse. Smile smugly. None of this applies if you have an optical mouse. To avoid balls and rollers an optical mouse detects movement by looking at the surface it's moving over. For this reason it will work better on a textured surface than a very plain mouse mat. A fine comment on human nature that the optical mouse was developed because we can't be bothered to clean our mice.

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