Ridiculous erratic mouse/pointer behavior on T43. Help!

[kanderna]

Hey all -

I'm hoping someone can help me out here, as this is one of the most annoying and infuriating problems I've ever dealt with.

Every once in a while my mouse/pointer completely bugs out. Moves around the screen so fast I can't even see it. And looks like it's constantly trying to do a right-click (and potentially a right-click since it immediately shuts down all of the windows I have maximized). It renders the PC useless until I restart. It has been going on for a few months. Sometimes will go days without happening, or like today, will happen 3 times in a matter of a couple hours.

T43 Running XP Pro

One observation. I normally restart immediately (because that's the only way to recover). As the PC is shutting down, I get the "not responding/end now" error on tpshocks.exe. I can say that this absolutely happens every time, but I'm about 90% sure.

I've installed the latest drivers with no help. Anything you can suggest would be greatly appreciated.

[Harryc]

tpshocks.exe is the hard drive protection program. Does this behavior occur with an external mouse? It could be an Ultranav driver problem or a defective Ultranav system. I believe there is a sensitivity adjustment in the HD protection program you could mess with as well. Does this occur while the Thinkpad is on a solid surface?

[kanderna]

Yep, forgot to mention that in case anyone didn't know. And I'm unsure if it occurs in safe mode. It's going to be hard to tell, as I have no idea how to force it and it could go days without happening.

Always using it on my lap/couch arm, so couldn't say if it happens on a solid surface either. I'll check the sensitivity settings.

Assuming the issue is related to tpshocks, it shouldn't really make the pointer go nuts, should it?

[Harryc]

If the hard drive protection program is activating, the heads on the HD are locked down to prevent damage to the disc surface. It is activated by sudden motion. Whether or not that would cause the mouse to jump, I don't know. It's just something to check since you are getting that error.

[kanderna]

Sensitivity was set to High, so I changed it to Low. Will see if that has an effect. Thanks.

[Marin85]

Could it be somehow a stuck trackpad/touchpad button

[kanderna]

Could it be somehow a stuck trackpad/touchpad button

I thought about that, but it's just too erratic for that to be the case. All of the left and right clicks and whatnot. Plus if I attach an external mouse it's usable, I just can't go back to the point or pad until a restart.

[Marin85]

...or incomplete "contact" under the keyboard/touchbad

[madkat]

same problem at my wife's T43
being a machine from the job, obviously bios and control panel are password protected... so i cannot deactivate the touchpad
any chance o solving the problem by opeing the machine up and checking/reseating the touchpad connector?

hdd antishock is off (it was the first thing i've checked)

[kanderna]

I'm probably going to see how things go w/ HDD turned off for a few days since I was seeing the tpshocks.exe issue. If it happens again, I'll probably open up it up and reseat.