Hello everyone!
I’m new here. 
I’m having a mouse problem and am trying to figure out what is causing it.
First, here’s the problem:
I have a PS2 mouse with a scroll wheel that lights up blue and the optical sensor light is red. Recently, I found that the the mouse often stopped moving. However, the red light from the bottom of the mouse would brighten for a couple of seconds when I move my finger over the sensor. At that point of time, the simple solution was to remove the wire and replace it. The mouse would start working again. However, switching off the computer resulted in the mouse failing again. So this had to be done on every boot. (I dual boot and this problem began for both OSs at the same time)
Now, however, after removing and replacing the wire over thirty forty times in the past few weeks, the situation has worsened. Very often, replacing the wire only leads to the mouse working for a few seconds and failing again. (Failing means that the cursor doesn’t move, but the light and sensor still respond by glowing brighter when they sense movement). Restarting the computer doesn’t help.
Also, the dim red light that comes when there is no activity has also stopped coming on for at least half an hour after I switch on the computer.
So, here’s what I did. I used a vacuum cleaner to blow the PS2 male and female ports. Then I noticed that the male PS2 mouses pins were horribly misaligned. After using a pair of tweezers to correct their positions (I know it’s correct now because the socket feels tight when I put the male socket in).
Now, this tweezer business has only randomized this whole thing even more. Sometimes, the mouse starts working right after booting, even without replacing the wire. At other times, the mouse just stops working. The dim red light doesn’t come at all. When it does come, replacing the wire only lets the mouse work for a few seconds before the cursor finds a place to rest.
Note: I could still click and use the scroll wheel at this point of time. So I could use mouse keys to move the cursor and the mouse to click and scroll. (.: No problem with the data pin on the mouse, I presume).
Now I was pretty sure that something in the mouse was wrong. I though it must be some electronic component failing because of the time it took for the red light to come. However, since the last two days, two keys on my keyboard have stopped working. I also can smell something very much like an electronics lab at back of the CPU. So I get the feeling that there is a problem with the CPU.
Then on more research, I found that the power also matters. We have a power backup that is a little slow to come on when the power goes. So we use a UPS only for the computer, so that these one minute breaks don’t spoil the computer. When the power goes and the UPS comes in for a minute or two, the mouse stops working even if it was till the power went. This is bizarre because nothing else on the computer stops working. The power supply should be the same, right? Everything else keeps working normally. The CRT screen doesn’t flicker, there is no other apparent problem with any part of the computer when there power goes.
I’m going to try an get hold of a mouse within a few days, and see if I can use that to determine where the problem is (mouse or CPU). However, that might take a long while and this computer is going to start being used for something very important in a months time, so I need to get this checked properly before handing it over to the non-tech savvy.
So can anyone tell me what else I can check to find where the problem is and how I can fix it?
Also, I’d like to confirm whether in the worst-case scenario, I will just have to get the PS2 system from inside the CPU replaced by a local assembler and buy a new mouse and keyboard.
Thanks a lot in advance!
I use one for the printer and another for the UPS battery status (via a USB hub). When I need to use a pen drive, I unplug the UPS USB cord and plug the pen drive into the hub.