[Toby Keen]

My cursor (the arrow that is moved by the mouse) has developed a mind of it own. It flies all over the screen the moment I touch the mouse. It also scrolls the page without any help from me. Occasionally, the cursor will freeze and not move at all. I have to shut down the computer and restart it. Does anyone have any ideas whats going on? I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to computers.

[travis]

It could be a virus, but I have also had "mice" (that doesnt sound right) that have developed shorts in the wiring and would cause the pointer to go nuts like that. You might want to try another mouse before digging deeper.

[JHunter]

If its a rotary, traditional ball type, remove the ball and clean it, they gather a lot of "funk" as the ball moves over a moust pad that your hand rests on, collecting sweat and dirt, you'll find some pretty nasty 'belly button' link in there, which will make the mouse track like crappola. If its an optical mouse, it may have just gone bad, or as was mentioned, a virus.

[HwyStarJoe]

These guys both hit the nail on the head.
I'd start with the two black rollers that the ball inside the mouse rides on first. Scrape the "belly button lint" from them. You'll be amazed how much crap will be wrapped around them. Usually the mouse will just not respond though, when it's that dirty.
Swap the mouse if it doesn't help.

I've experienced this when my computer is all glommed up with spyware, adware and virus's. Dance the Tango explained in this link and see if that doesn't help..... http://securitytango.com/tango.php

[Go69]

Also, if it's wireless, try changing out the batteries....

[click]

I clean my track ball once every few weeks to get the belly button lint and grease off it. When I see the cursor move a little by itself I know its time for clean the ball

[Chris396]

I have an optical one and it does that when it gets a little hair on the sensor. I just blow it off.

[BPOS]

I cuss at my cursor all the time. Cursed thing!