AboutShot Expertise I can answer most questions concerning Microsoft operating systems from DOS through Windows 2003. Hardware or software questions welcome. This is what I do for a living, and I love it! So instead of giving extra to Uncle Sam, I decided to give a little for free. Fire away!
Experience I have been working with computers for over 20 years, currently hold a full time job as a Network Administrator for large financial institution, and run my own PC/Network consulting company since 1998.
Education/Credentials Microsoft Certified;
Novell Certified;
Comptia A Certified;
IBM Certified Business Partner in Desktops/Laptops/Servers;
HP Certified Technician Desktops/Laptops/Servers;
Toshiba Authorized Service Technician;
Expert: Shot Date: 6/21/2008 Subject: erratic system behavior
Question I have an Acer Aspire 5100 with Windows XP. In the past my laptop would start acting a bit weird after a while of use where as I'm working, I'd click on something in the menu bar of a program I'm using or Windows Explorer the menu would instantly disappear despite holding down the mouse button; even with right-click. Also in the desktop or in a Windows Explorer window, I'd click on one icon and then several other icons would be selected. This type of thing would happen every now and then and is usually resolved by restarting my computer, though now I'm noticing that this is happening more and becoming a nuisance. Just recently while browsing the web my browser started scrolling up and down by itself even in Windows explorer.
I have no idea why this happens. I thought it could it be CPU usage since i tend to use more than one program at the same time such as photoshop with internet explorer while streaming music on winamp, but I'm not sure.
I have an antivirus that updates regularly and easily detects malware though so far it hasn't detected any virus when it scans my system every week. I have Windows Defender which hasn't detected any spyware, and also I have the regular Windows firewall, if that helps.
I did update the BIOS a few months ago and I don't seem to remember this sort of thing happening prior to that. Other than that, why is my computer acting like this after a certain period of use and how do I fix this?
Any help or referral to another source would be appreciated
Answer Hi Wes, sounds like that BIOS update may have updated the firmware for your trackpad. I would try finding a newer (or at least different) version of the trackpad driver for Windows. Sometimes just un-installing re-installing the same version will also help.
