Windows 7 64-bit mouse freezes/stutters multiple times per minute when network activity is high

Anonymous
2010-09-20T19:37:48+00:00

Hi All,

I recently bought a new Packard Bell computer with an OEM Windows 7 that have a problem with the mouse and keyboard. I have been in contact with the manufacturer but they are as puzzled as I over this issue. After searching through numerous of threads regarding mouse problems in windows 7 I have found that there are many who have this problem but there is no consistency in HW setup, i.e. it seems more of an OS problem.

I really like both the machine and Windows 7 but I have a nagging issue with frequent 1-2 second freeze/stutter of the mouse during "high" network activity (e.g. streaming a YouTube video). During my search I have encountered at least 4 people who refer that to network activity affect the mouse behavior.

Sometimes both keyboard and the mouse becomes totally unresponsive and the system must be restarted. However, at these occasions, the rest of the system is not affected - e.g. skype and other programs continue to run without any glitch or lag.

To try to solve this I have done the following (with no affect on the problem):

  • Updated all drivers to the latest.
  • Tried different version of the mouse drivers (running latest now).
  • Tried different versions of the network driver (running latest now).
  • Changed keyboard/mouse to the PS2 that came with the computer.
  • Set the system to "high performance"
  • Changed to USB mouse
  • Tried different Bios "Power/suspend mode" settings (proposed as a solution in another thread)

One thing that did have a strange affect on the problem was:

  • Having both PS2 and USB mouse present, touching one when the other freezes/stutters will instantly resolve the freeze/stutter.

What I have investigated/noted:

  • There has never been an "error box" popping up in Windows when this happens.
  • In the event viewer I see warnings from "i8042prt" regarding (remember, thie is translated from swedish :) "The device sent an erroneous reply after the keyboard was reset" (This was what I found, if you need more info please ask but provide what to search for and where)

My system has the following specs:

Operating system:        Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

Versions:                     6.1.7600 build 7600

Manufacturer:              Packard Bell

Computer model:         ipower G3720

Computer type:            x64-based PC

Processor:                   Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         860  @ 2.80GHz, 2801 Mhz, 4 core, 8 logic processors

BIOS-version and -date American Megatrends Inc. P01-B1, 2010-03-23

SMBIOS-version 2.6

HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) Version = "6.1.7600.16385"

Installed physical memory (RAM) 6,00 GB

In addition to the original outfit, I have also installed a Wireless PCIe network card, D-Link DWA-556 Xtreme N PCIe Desktop Adapter (using the latest windows 7 drivers from d-link)

FYI: this is an offspring per request from MS support, trouble report first posted here:  http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7performance/thread/01655e0a-1489-44e0-ad75-e9ee5486d91e?prof=required

Thanks for any help in this matter

/Rasgra

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2010-11-24T19:20:24+00:00

Hi Chris,

I might have a happy ending to this topic :)

I returned my old system end got another one, it worked fine initially but then the mouse started to stutter yet again.

The system had only a few programs installed so I began to uninstall them to see if it changed anything.

One program did - Skype.

I never suspected it as friends of mine are using Windows 7 and Skype without any problem, although they might not be using 64 bit version and quadcore.

My system has now been without stutters and glitches for a week, so I'm fairly sure that this was the problem.

As Skype is a very wide spread IM, it might apply to others as well.

Thanks for your help!

/Rasgra

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-10-12T19:32:36+00:00

    Hi Rbird,

    Let's see if we can figure this out.

    As the original poster has stated, his issue was not related to network activity, which requires a different approach to troubleshooting.

    Unfortunately this is often the case when using one forum thread to find a solution for multiple users.

    However, I suggest removing all peripherals (such as any eternal hard drives, other USB devices, etc.) from the computer besides the mouse, keyboard and monitor.

    When you restart the computer is the issue still present?

    Do you experience this issue when using a wired mouse?

    Is your computer connected to your network via wireless adapter?

    Have you booted into Safe Mode with networking to see if the issue persist in that state?

    Have you checked the Resource Monitor to see if there is a resource usage spike during the event?

     

    Chris

    Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

    Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

    Hi Chris,

    I unplugged all USB devices, but the problem persists.

    I already checked the safe mode before: problem persists.

    Checked the resource manager during a file transfer from one PC to another in my LAN: no spikes (top processes: taskmgr.exe, dwm.exe, sidebar.exe, explorer.exe -> all around 2 - 4% processorload)

    When using another usb mouse (that happens to be wired) the problem is much, much less to an acceptable level (hardly noticeable stuttering). This one is also Logitech (so is the MK300 wireless). I also tested a Microsoft USB wired basic optical mouse and a fujitsu siemens ps2 wired mouse. All are okay, except for the MK300. Finally I also tested another wireless set (Medion). This one is connected using PS2 to the receiver. **It also has the non-responsive mouse!**A conclusion could be that it is explicitly related to wireless. But how? When no LAN activity is present, the wireless mouse/keyboard works fine. Maybe interference with the Ralink RT73 USB wireless LAN Card (driver 4.0.8.0)? I disabled it (long time ago). Problem is still there! The PC is connected to my router using a powerline adapter. I tried uninstalling the RT73 driver from the device manager. Before reboot the problem is still there. After reboot the driver is automatically recognized and installed again (can I prevent that?). Problem still there. Also after deactivating the device in the device manager again, the problem is still there.

    Greetz,

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-10-14T12:20:57+00:00

    Hi rasgra,

    I've got a few more thing before returning the PC, if you'd like to try.

    I'd like to isolate as many services as possible to see if there is any affect on the issue.

    Step one would be to perform a clean boot:

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

    That should prevent any startup programs that may be causing a conflict of resources.

    In reading back over our posts, I noticed that Defender was requesting action during your SC2 game play.

    Here's an article that explains how to disable Defender temporarily to see if it may be causing the system/peripherals to hang (it says for Vista, but works the same for Win7):

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Turn-Windows-Defender-on-or-off

    Here's another article that explains it in more detail:

    http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/03/11/how-to-disable-windows-defender-in-windows-7/

    To further isolate Windows programs from the system, here's the steps to disable Aero (originally posted by Andre Da Costa):

    Right click the Desktop

    Click Personalize

    Under 'Basic and High Contrast Themes, click 'Windows 7 Basic'

    Is the glitch still present? How are you testing it?

    I've been reading the StarCraft 2 forums for some insight on anything that might be game related. I've seen a few issues with Aero, hence the disabling routine.

    I've also read that the game has a bug that is over heating video cards:

    http://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/07/28/blizzard-confirms-starcraft-ii-overheating-bug.aspx

    and though not exactly the same issue, similar results:

    http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/628240618

    Does the glitch happen outside of the StarCraft game very often?

    Here's a link to patch information that you might explore:

    http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&articleId=35087

    If you don't have that patch, you may want to install it to see if it helps.

    Chris

    Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

    Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-10-24T18:54:24+00:00

    Hi Chris,

    It has been hard to find time to work with this issue lately from my side, here is the current status.

    Tried clean boot, issue stil. present. Disabling Win Defender removed the need to tab out of the game, however it did not solve the mouse issue.

    The Starcraft 2 issues are not applicable in this case, the reasons for this is that I experience the glitches "in windows" too e.g. when playing a video stream or making regular download  (see initial problem description).

    StarCraft 2 is mainly a quick way of testing if the glitches are still present, the mouse is used heavily and any glitch is a "pain" - but any game/program can be used (one of my tests were streaming a high def video while playing solitare for mouse movement).

    FYI:

    I encountered another problem that made me return the computer to Packard Bell. The computer started to use the disk extensively, performance dove and the constant disk sound was very annoying. I started to investigate this but noticed that the disk activity was abnormal even before windows started. The disk activity is abnormal even after making a "factory reset". (The only thing that should differ the "previous" system from "this" are windows updates)

    Packard Bell has been provided this thread as input.

    • I hope that, if possible, progress can be posted in this thread even if different support channels are used between MS and PB.

    Regards

    /Rasmuss

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-11-24T19:22:04+00:00

    Hi Rtbird!

    Check my answer to Chris, it might help you out. ;)

    /Rasgra

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