Have anybody had this weird problem?

[Alex123]

Hi people,

I wish somebody could help me on this one.
I am going crazy with my mouse. Or maybe a virus?

This is what is happening:

Since a while ago I noticed my mouse started going crazy suddenly.
I lose control over it and it takes over my computer.
Initially I had a no name PS2 mouse which I decided to change for a different one.
It didn't work, the problem persisted.
Then I suspected of a virus and run a full scan, I had MacAfee virus Scan. It didn't find anything, searched on the web for anything related to the symptoms the computer was presenting and find nothing.
Then I decided to go further:
I made a back up of my important stuff and deleted everything, reformatted, new partitions, everything from scratch, a brand new setup!

I boot up from a fresh OS installation and installed MacAfee again (first thing I did) then made a full system scan and found nothing.
Started installing programs with no problems and suddenly after a couple of days the problem came back!

To not make this story too long after checking some websites for free Online Virus Scans, finally at bitdefender.com I had success finding the worm win32.klez, thing that wasn't caught by McAfee with the latest updates.
I tried to erase it from their website and IE generated errors and closed.
Went back to the site and did another scan and nothing was found.
So, after the last "mouse crisis" happened, (going crazy from side to side, opening and running random programs) I decided to start from scratch again, this time being more thorough about what should I keep and what I shouldn't.
Booted up from my new fresh OS installation and this time I said, Good bye McAfee, you'll be replaced for Norton AntiVirus 2003 with the latest updates. (It was installed right after the OS) Sorry for not specifying which one.... It's W2KPRO.
Ey! It went OK for a couple of days again! Guess what? Yes, it came back. Then this is one of those times in life that you don't know what that hell is going on.
Went for a full scan with NAV (Norton AntiVirus) and found nothing, zero, nada.
Went to online scan sites and again one file was found infected with the same virus wink32.klez. Searched for it in Symantec and followed carefully instructions in how to remove it manually.
I downloaded their tool for this worm named fixklez and then found one file infected and repaired it said. Keep in mind that with the full scan it found nothing.
Then it went ok for a couple of days again and fricking mouse craziness came back!!!
I tried to run the Symantec tool again which by the way has to be run on Safe mode and when arrived to the desktop and touched the mouse it started to do it even when in safe mode. Unbelievable!!! Well, I waited until it made its mind and let me have control over it again. Run the FixKlez tool and this time it said it did not find anything!
I the latest mouse crisis it even started to run Norton AntiVirus among other applications. Funny, it did not find a thing!
Last resource was to change my ps2 mouse for a serial mouse and waiting to see when its first crisis begins.

Folks I know this is a long message but if anybody came across with some as weird as this, please let me know how you got rid of this issue!

Thanks...

Alex123

[RenegadeKing]

Has the problem occured with the serial mouse? Did you try another PS/2 mouse? Since you've reformatted so many times, I would think it isn't a software problem. Probably the mouse, maybe the PS/2 port itself is screwed up? I would try another PS/2 mouse and a USB mouse. See if it does it with either of them.

[Force Flow]

Sounds like someone may be remotely controlling your PC. Do you have ZenWorks or PCAnywhere installed on your computer?

How are you connected tot he internet? dial-up or broadband?

Taking it from Renegade, have you tried a USB mouse?

[Alex123]

Well,
this is weird.
I insist this is a virus, because I had the same problem in another computer in my LAN.
That one was replaced for a newer one.
Since it was a totally new system, with a few important files backed up, the problem dissapeared in that one.
However in mine keeps happening.
It's being like 5 hours as of now that I replaced the ps2 mouse for a serial mouse, and It haven't happened yet with the new one.
However is too early to cheer for a victory yet!
And answering to your question about usb mouse, I don't have one handy, but if that happens with the serial one again, I will definitively will get a USB mouse for testing purposes.
My connection is on Broadband via DSL and I am behind a hardware Firewall, I am talking of The Linksys VPN Router.
I don't have any thing open in there that people can login, unless they are relly good and are trying to get Top Security Secrets, which I don't have.
Anyway, if they were taking control over my computer, how come they can move my mouse even faster than what I can. I mean, this craziness goes from one side of the screen to the other in no seconds, and open and closes windows and back and forth like for 40 or 50 seconds.

But as I said it is suspicious since I saw the same problem in a different computer in my network and with the serial mouse hasn't happened yet!
I will post if that happens again, however if anybody came accross with something like this in the past, please give some feedback of how the problem was resolved.

Thanks.

Alex123

[morriswindgate]

When a mouse starts to fail it will do odd things like the cursor starts moving all over the screen, the screen will start scrolling up and down, and other things you will not be able to control. Then if you reboot the problems will seem to go away then come back.

[Alex123]

So, Morris.
Do you think it can be just the mouse that started failing?
What about 2 different ps2 Mice that were tried?
Isn't too much of a casuality that that happened with both?
Well, as of last night it didn't happen with the serial mouse.
Waiting for tonight that I give it a try and see what attitude this mouse is going to show.
Anyway, it would be wonderfull to find out that it was a hardware problem better than a software one.

I will post back tonight and let you know what happened.

Thanks for your replies guys...

Alex123

[TEEB]

If you want to pursue the virus idea. Do a google search for "stinger.exe" (without quotes). This little AV will search for 11 viri that the other will miss. I believe the Klez is one of them.

[Alex123]

Thanks, I will give it a try!

I will post back with results.

[edge345]

Did you try to clean the ps2 mouse, remove the bottom round part thats goes around the mouse ball.


edge345

[Alex123]

Thanks edge for the suggestion.

Yes I did clean it, but the same kept happening.

I am puzzled as if this is possible to be a hardware problem even when some virus scans on line detected the wink32.klez virus.

What do you people think?

[edge345]

Have you tryed to remove the mouse from the device manager so the system will install new drivers when you reboot.
Heres a site to rescan:
http://www.onlinepcfix.com/virushelp/antivirus.htm
The above site is a pay site so i edited this page and here a site that i would use.
http://securityresponse.symantec.com...klez.e@mm.html

[Alex123]

Edge, I did not have that tip in my repertory.
I will do it as soon as I get home.
And thanks for the scan site. It will be tried!

[avx]

maybe its possible that his ps2 port is screwed up..maybe you should try opening up the case and checking around the back panel or on the mobo, and see if you find any blackend or melted pieces near your ps2 ports and such, its just a guess, but it might be possible.

H.T.H.

avx

[KHT]

Do you have a USB hub?

I ran into the exact same situation myself. The mouse was initially a USB but even a Ps2 mouse went nuts but would work in safe mode.

By booting with a bare bones system, monitor, keyboard and mouse and adding devices gradually is then that I discovered the USB hub was the cause.

[Alex123]

Edge and other that has posted.
As of last night when the ps2 mouse was replaced with a serial one, it hasn't done it again.
Fingers crossed!
So, I will give it more time, remember it usually happens every couple of days once a major change is made.
I also run the stinger.exe utility and found nothing.
The ps2 connector was checked and it doesn't show any external symptoms of being burned.
Kht, I do have a usb hub, the one that comes with the motherboard and the drivers are installed. No mouse is attached to it.
Well people, if anything else comes up I will post again.
So far so good.
If things go well for about 5 days, I will connect the ps2 mouse back and see if it does it again.
And then it would be confirmed as a ps2 connector problem.

Thanks everybody!

[Alfie]

irq 12 is reserved for ps2 mouse,is there a device sharing?
It could be a conflict between devices,check that out,also the memory addresses.

[Alex123]

Could that be possible?
would not the serial mouse use the same irq #?
How can I check if other device is using the same irq?

Thanks!

[Alfie]

Serial mouse would use another irq,so that is possible.
Make sure ps2 is enabled in bios and it is assigned irq 12,check in device manager and see if anything is using irq 12.

[Alex123]

Well people.
Coming back to this thread to post an update on what happened with this mouse story.
After replacing the PS/2 Mouse with a serial mouse, the problem disappeared.
I let it go for about five days with no problems at all.
Today, I connected back the PS/2 mouse to see what could happen, and the problem came back immediately. The mouse went crazy all over the screen and started acting like before, opening windows and programs. If I leave it alone it won't do anything but if I touch it starts acting like crazy. So, definitely the theory of a virus is discarded since a fresh OS was installed and Norton Antivirus Software was installed immediately after it. It even caught the W32.ElKern.4926 virus from a cd rom that was inserted in the PC.
Now, after making a little research it was found that one user (MY WIFE) one day turned on the PC and she could not find the mouse, then checked the back of the PC and unplug the mouse connector and plugged back. All while the pc was still turned on.
I understand that you can plug a serial mouse while the computer is on but not a PS/2 mouse because you can damage the motherboard. I confess that by mistake I have done it, but never saw the consequences like this time.
Am I speculating? Am I getting to a wrong conclusion?
Is it possible that, it was the cause of the problem?
I am posting back the results of what have concluded because I think it is a good learning experience. Things that you never thought that could happen.

Well folks post any comments that you may think of it.

Regards,

Alex123

[RenegadeKing]

I don't know if the hotswapping of the PS/2 mouse could have done that, but you are correct that it shouldn't be done, and can harm the motherboard. You shouldn't hot swap with the serial port either though, it's USB that it is safe with. And speaking of USB, did you ever try a USB mouse?

[Alex123]

No, I didn't. I don't have one handy, and since the serial mouse did the trick, I din't see the need.
Thanks for your comments.
Anybody else?

[gerberdude]

blame the woman and call it a day.