XP Home suddenly acting strange?

[mkstein1]

My pc suddenly started acting strange. First I thought it was hardware, then software, then virus.

The mouse regularly but not consistently doesn't work like it should. Some times the left button doesn't work but the right one does the work of the left, then the left works like it should for a while. This is on the 'closing X box', opening icons on the desktop, opening emails, the scroll bar diamonds, for example. Regularly, placing the mouse pointer arrow on the start button (bottom left) and clicking the left mouse button does nothing. Clicking the right one always brings up all of the usual options. Sometimes the pc seems to be frozen up but doesn't stay that way. I went to the task manager and checked the processor, and it is changing from 0% to 2 or 4% then back to 0%.

Anyone have a clew? I ran a specific virus scan and it turned up nothing.

Help!?

[ktkendall]

I would change out the mouse to see if thats the problem

[Panama Red]

Have you tried a different mouse? What virus scanner did you use? I'd suggest a scan for both viruses and malware using Trendmicro's Housecall.

[pam123]

It sounds like something zapped your mouse drivers.
Do you have a recent restore point you can use?

[mkstein1]

Replacing the mouse did the trick. I don't believe it is the mouse but the mouse drivers for the usb mouse. The oem works perfect after a restart.

Thanks one and all!