I'm not sure if this should go here or in XP, so please direct to the proper forum if this isn't it.

Anyway, I recently (about a month ago) began having troubles with my mouse. Single-clicks often register as double-clicks (sometimes 1 in every 2-3 clicks). Obviously, this is very frustrating and has caused many unintentional moves, deletions etc.

Lately, I've also noticed a problem with the right-click where I will sometimes click an icon in the system tray and the icons menu as well as the normal tray menu will appear together, with the tray menu seemingly registering on top of the icon menu i.e. I can click "Adjust Date/Time" and all of those options, but not the actual program icon I was trying to access in the tray. This screen shot should illuustrate my problem better than I can explain it:

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/...

Does any have any suggestions/solutions?

Thanks. :)

I meant to add that I just bought a new mouse and it hasn't made a difference, or at least it hasn't helped the right-click problem.

Knock on wood, the single-click issue isn't happening.

What kind of mouse are you using? In particular, is it a cordless mouse?

"Single-clicks often register as double-clicks (sometimes 1 in every 2-3 clicks)."

You can adjust the double click speed in your Mouse properties in Control Panel, and some mice also load custom software for the mouse as well that has that - if it is set too fast, slow single clicks may sometimes be interpretred as double clicks.
Every mouse varies somewhat that way, so what setting wasn't working for the old mouse may work fine with the new one.
If the mouse button switch is a bit dirty and moves slowly, it may exhibit the same symptoms - opening up the mouse and using a few drops of isopropyl (rubbing) or methyl (wood) alcohol (gas line antifreeze) on the switch while pressing it many times will probably free up the switch enough for it to work properly.

For your other problem I'm not sure. If you have special brand name drivers for the old mouse loaded in Add/Remove Programs, Un-install them. If you don't, or in any case, try un-installing the mouse in Device Manager and re-booting.

It's a Logitech corded optical - both mice are.

Thanks for the tips. Like I said, I still haven't noticed the double-click issue. It eve used to happen when dragging and dropping and again, I haven't noticed anything. *fingers crossed*

The other issue is still a constant annoyancy. I'll try unintsalling the mouse.

Stupid question, but to uninstall it, do I just uninstall the driver?

Go to Device Manager, under Mouse RIGHT click on the name of the mouse, in your case Logitech something probably, select Un-install, click OK, reboot the computer, Windows will re-install the driver.

If that doesn't help, if you have special brand name drivers for the old o new mouse loaded in Add/Remove Programs, Un-install them, reboot, Windows will re-install the generic mouse drivers that come with Windows.

If the mouse cursor won't move while you are booting, use the Tab key to toggle selected keys, Enter and/or the Cursor keys to choose a choice, and the mouse will work once the Desktop has fully loaded.

If the mouse is USB connected, un-install the mouse driver, follow the install directions - some devices require you install driver software first, then connect the mouse, though that's usually not the case for a mouse.

A side note - I have one USB connected Logitech mouse that conflicts with some other USB connected devices - in my case it conflicts with a USB connected adapter that adapts a standard radio contolled airplane controller so that it can be used with the RealFlight program. Sometimes one or the other device doesn't load while booting, smetimes both work but the mouse does weird things. That mouse is a "combo" mouse - if I connect via a USB to PS/2 adapter that came with it it works fine connected to a PS/2 port.
You could check for a simlar problem by unplugging other USB devices.

Thanks again. :) I'll give that a try. However , it just says PS/2 Compatible Mouse in Device Manager - should I still uninstall it?

Also, I know that it installed a USB device as I did have my old mouse plugged into the USB port. I have no idea where that entry is, though. Maybe it just detected a USB device and didn't actually install any drivers for the mouse?

Like I said, I still haven't experienced the single-click issue again *fingers crossed*, so the weird taskbar problem is still my main concern. Maybe it isn't even mouse related?

Thanks again for all your help.

"..it just says PS/2 Compatible Mouse in Device Manager - should I still uninstall it?"

Sure. That just indicates the generic drivers built into XP were used.

"Also, I know that it installed a USB device as I did have my old mouse plugged into the USB port. I have no idea where that entry is, though"

Usually Windows installs a generic USB HID device (Human? Interface Device) in that case, seen listed somewhere in Device Manager. If you unplug the USB mouse, it is no longer there in Device Manager, at least it isn't after you re-boot. You may have other USB HID devices, in which case there is one entry for each one detected. It doesn't need to be un-installed if it isn't listed. However if there are drivers listed for the old mouse in Add/Remove Programs, Un-install them.

"Maybe it isn't even mouse related?"

That's possible, and can be a puzzle to figure out. It could be caused by a software problem or a hardware conflict problem. If you have other USB devices, try unplugging them all, and uplugging them one by one, to see if the problem goes away when a certain device is unplugged. If that doesn't help it's got to be a software problem
caused by something else.

Thanks, I'll try uninstalling and then if that doesn't fix it, the USB.

The only USB device I currently have plugged in is the UPS battery monitor.