Mouse Freezes, Jumps, and Scrolls

[Trinitrondel]

System
2.53GHz Pentium 4, 533MHz FSB
2GB PC4200 DDR2 RAM
Windows XP Professional
Logitech Optical Mouse, HP Optical Mouse, Logitech Wireless Mouse

Problem
Every 10 to 15 minutes, I get a series of unusual mouse behavior. Scrolling up and down would result in the mouse moving up and down. The mouse would freeze for a second in short intervals. The only way to snap the mouse out of it is to simultaneously press all three buttons and shake the mouse.

Sometimes, all the windows resize to the same size. If I have six windows open, sometimes they cascade or align themselves next to each other. I am positive that this is related to the mouse because it occurs only when the mouse is screwy. This occurs much less frequently than the mouse freezing though.

Whenever the mouse freezes, the 'Device Disconnected' sound plays. When the mouse comes back, the 'Device Connected' sound plays. This only happens when the mouse is plugged in via USB.

Occasionally, the mouse will freeze completely (even if I press all three buttons and shake the mouse). I can still use the keyboard to restart the computer though.

Ruled-Out Explanations
Drivers: I have tried using the default Windows XP drivers and Logitech drivers (for three different optical mouses). None of them fix the problem.
Viruses/Malware: I keep my system well protected. This problem occurs even if I do a clean install of Windows. I have had this problem for well over a year through three clean installations of Windows.
Faulty Mouse: Definitely not. I have had this problem with every mouse that I have tried on the system.
USB / PS2 Shortage: This problem happens whether I use the USB or PS2 connection. Though, there is the possibility that both ports have shorted, I'll take my chances against that. Anyways, the USB port (less than a year old USB 2.0 card) works fine for all other peripherals.

Possible Explanation
The only explanation I can think of is interference with other hardware connected to the computer. Please note there is nothing special I am doing with the computer when the mouse freezes.

Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Trinitrondel

 

[imported_ravenous]

that is odd...are there any onboard usb ports you can try

maybe you can try to update the drivers for the usb card if you don't have the latest ones already

 

[Trinitrondel]

Thanks for the reply, ravenous. I have tried both the USB ports on the USB card and the ones on the motherboard. With both ports, the mouse behaves the same.

 

[robisbell]

mouse is going bad or the optical sensor is dirty.

 

[Trinitrondel]

It's definitely not a problem with the mice. Thanks for the reply, though.

 

[Fardringle]

Do you have a Soundblaster sound card in the computer? I ask because I saw this same problem on a computer a while ago and it turned out to be an IRQ conflict with the sound card. I moved the card to a different PCI slot (giving it an IRQ that didn't conflict with the mouse) and the problem went away.

 

[Trinitrondel]

Good thought, Fardringle. I have a Turtle Beach Montego II sound card in the computer. I removed it out of the system and disabled the drivers, but the problem still persists. Which other devices could interfere with the mouse's IRQ? Isn't one of the IRQ assignments reserved for the PS2 port anyways?

I'm not 100% on this, but I think this problem occurs only in Windows XP. I don't recall having this problem with Windows 2000 on the system (with the same setup). This would explain why the windows occasionally resize and cascade.

Here is a list of the devices I have connected:

AGP: nVidia TI-4200 Video Card
PCI1: Empty (Video Card heatsink fills this port anyways)
PCI2: Turtle Beach Montego II soundcard
PCI3: Linksys Wireless G WiFi adapter
PCI4: USB 2.0 card (Webcam and Mouse)
PCI5: SATA controller
Onboard PS2: Keyboard (and Mouse if not using USB)
Onboard USB: Cell phone and iPod

Thanks for the help so far.
Trinitrondel