Hi all

The other day my [optical] mouse just stoped working. The red light underneath doesnt come on now when i switch it on. I tried another mouse in my PC, one which definately works - the red light came on underneath, but the mouse didn't move the cursor - i.e. the arrow just stays in the middle of the screen. This makes me think that it's something to do with the computer and not the mouse.

Any thoughts/ideas much appreciated - i'm sure you can imagine how un-beleivably annoying this is!

Thanks.

Hello and welcome to PC Help Forum.

Does your mouse use batteries?

Are the batteries dead and need replacing?

If yes replace batteries then reboot PC.

Did you restart your computer? I've found that most times trading mice won't work until you restart your computer.
To do this without the use of a mouse, hit the Windows key on your keyboard (the one with the Windows flag, under the shift button), then use the arrow keys to navigate to the "Turn Off Computer" button, press Enter, then use the arrow keys again to get to the "Restart" button, press enter and your computer will restart.
If some messages pop-up, press enter and they'll go away

no it's not a battery operated mouse, and yes, i tried putting the 'new' mouse in before booting up. The red light [underneath] came on, but the cursor won't move around the screen

The red light coming on just means it's getting power from the computer...the light on your old mouse dying could just be that, the light died. Do you have it plugged directly into a USB port or is it plugged into a PS/2 port (mouse port basically) with an adapter?
If it's the latter, try plugging it directly into a USB port.