Mouse lag in video games since upgrading to Windows 8.1

Anonymous
2013-10-31T03:24:23+00:00

Since I’ve upgraded to Windows 8.1, when playing some games the mouse doesn’t behave right. It lags, or the pointer jumps back and forth, or I can’t click fast.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Gaming

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Anonymous
2013-10-31T03:29:40+00:00

Updated (11/8)

We want to thank our gaming community for the detailed feedback many of you have provided on these issues.  We have released some fixes and workarounds that will allow you to get back to your gaming.

The “mouse lag” issue is actually several different issues that could vary based on the game, input methods used, etc.

The three following issues are addressed by a fix we have provided in **KB 2908279**:

  1. Mouse jitters (jumps forward and back) as you move it through a game – This occurs in some games because Windows 8.1 introduced changes to mouse input processing for low latency interaction scenarios and this causes some games to respond differently to mouse input than in previous releases of Windows.
  2. Mouse movement is not to scale even after acceleration is turned off – If you have turned off acceleration to make the distance on the screen match the distance you move the mouse, that may not work correctly anymore.
  3. Measured mouse Polling Rate has a lower reporting frequency than expected – If you have a gaming mouse that has a high frequency, when you test it, you may find it is reporting a lower frequency than you expect. Note: if you previously encountered issues with measuring the polling rate you will need to follow the instructions in **KB 2908279** to ensure that, not only the patch is installed, but also the app used to measure the polling rate has an appropriate registry entry to enable the fix for that specific executable.

We have also included workarounds here for the following issues:

  1. Mouse may not be able to reach all areas of the game window – This may occur with games that do not use DirectX, when run in window mode. See **KB 2907016** for the workaround.
  2. Can’t left-click with an integrated pointing device immediately after pressing a key – This is a setting for touchpads, like those used on laptops, to make typing easier. You can work around this by changing the mouse delay to zero, but this may make typing more difficult. For instructions to change the setting, see **KB 2907018**.

Some users have also reported success in older games and apps by turning on compatibility mode. To try that:

  1. Right-click the game’s icon.
  2. Select Properties.
  3. Select the Compatibility tab.
  4. Select the version of Windows for which you want to run the game in compatibility mode.
  5. If you want to apply the settings for that program to all accounts on the PC, click Change settings for all users. You might be asked for an administrator password or to confirm your choice.
  6. When you're done, tap click OK.

When we have more information from our investigations, we will update this post. Thank you very much for your patience.

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-12-09T21:32:29+00:00

    Game: EverQuest 2

    > "Rundll32 apphelp.dll,ShimFlushCache"

    Yes, this should display nothing at all.

    You only need to run this command once, after every time you manually edit the AppCompatFlags\Layers registry.

    You can test if the Microsoft fix is being applied to EverQuest2 (that is, test if you have made the correct registry changes.)

    Follow these instructions:

    See if we can see the affects of the KB 2908279 fix using MouseMovementRecorder.exe.

    • Get the latest version of MouseMovementRecorder.exe (version 1.12) from my MarkC fix ZIP file \[link\]
    • Open that ZIP file, and inside it is MouseMovementRecorder_1.12_20131113x.zip, open that also
    • Unzip MouseMovementRecorder.exe to a folder
    • Go to that folder in File Explorer
    • Right-click MouseMovementRecorder.exe, and click "Create a shortcut"
    • Right-click the shortcut, and click "Rename"
    • Arrow-key-right and edit the "Shortcut" to "No Fix". (Press Enter key)
    • Right-click the shortcut, and click Properties
    • Click into the "Target" field, and right-arrow key or End key to the end add to the end:

    (space)-NoCompatLayer

    (By "(space)", I mean a single space character, press the space-bar ... don't type the full word "space" or any brackets...)

    OK, so now you have the original MouseMovementRecorder.exe and a new "MouseMovementRecorder No Fix"

    Exit EverQuest2, and try the versions of MouseMovementRecorder one at a time.

    With MouseMovementRecorder.exe running, you should notice that it is able to display mostly black.

    With "MouseMovementRecorder No Fix" running you should see much red and green (ONLY that running, don't also have the EXE running and don't also have EverQuest2 running).

    If you see what I said you should see, then try this:

    • Run "MouseMovementRecorder No Fix", and see red and green.
    • Then keep "MouseMovementRecorder No Fix" running and run EverQuest2.
    • Switch back to "MouseMovementRecorder No Fix", using the taskbar, or Alt+Tab or whatever (keep EverQuest2 running in the background).
    • Move the mouse.
    • Do you see mostly black when moving the mouse while "MouseMovementRecorder No Fix" is active?

    (Mouse movement while EverQuest2 is active will show red and green, that is expected and normal : We want to see what happens when "MouseMovementRecorder No Fix" is active, and EverQuest2 is running but is not-active, but just in the background, on the taskbar...)

    If "MouseMovementRecorder No Fix" shows much red and green when EverQuest2 is NOT running, but shows mostly black when EverQuest2 is running on the taskbar (but is not active), then you have applied the manual registry edit for the MS fix correctly.

    Rather than use MouseMovementRecorder.exe to test, you should also be able to use MouseRateChecker to test:

    http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Miscellaneous/Mouse-Rate-Checker.shtml

    If MouseRateChecker shows a Hz values lower than what your actual mouse polling rate is when EverQuest2 is NOT running, but shows your actual mouse polling rate when EverQuest2 IS running, then you have applied the manual registry edit for the MS fix correctly.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-12-08T19:29:22+00:00

    Game: EverQuest 2

    Just finished downloading and installing "All supported x64-based versions of Windows 8.1" I then changed the registry and added the layers as it said to. Which then left me to open up the admin command window in which I typed " Rundll32 apphelp.dll,ShimFlushCache " but it did nothing except drop down to the next line once I hit enter. I restarted the computer. Logged in the game I play the most EverQuest 2 to find that this update did not fix it for me.

    My mouse pointer does not stutter, but what it does do is, if I am clicking around say in the top left of the screen, my mouse pointer will poof and pop up in the middle of the screen. The other issue I am having in EverQuest 2 is, while I am running around and clicking or just standing around clicking, the camera view will whip it around and I will be looking at the bottom of my feet or belly of my mount.

    Don't know if this is the proper area to be posting this. But I did not see anything else.

    Thank You!

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-12-01T08:03:41+00:00

    Goto device manager, then mice and other pointing devices, Uninstall the driver of mouse then scan for hardware changes, restart windows.

    Hope this works fine.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-11-28T13:26:15+00:00

    download the mouse lag hotfix provided from microsoft

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