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
    2013-11-13T08:14:18+00:00

    Yes, confusing, but I am running everything up to date.... Like I said, it's problem in usbhid windows drivers.

    To see yourself, run this program http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Miscellaneous/Mouse-Rate-Checker.shtml

    And write how high does it go for you with your mouse(notice: your mouse has to be a more capable mouse than 5$ mouse ie. gaming mouse like Logitech G5 or similar, or better, because it can do 500-1000Hz pooling rate)

    You can check also with http://sourceforge.net/projects/mouserate/

    Post your results.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-11-13T10:56:43+00:00

    Yes, it is a problem, but **KB 2908279** is a fix for it, as long as at least one of the fixed games is running at the time. Or you add the game or the mouse rate checker to registry as described in the MS article.

    I haven't tried with a USB mouse, or high performance mouse.

    My testing is with Windows 8.1 running in a virtual machine having a PS/2 mouse.

    Mouse Rate Checker reports max ~62 Hz, even if I play 1000 Hz input into the virtual machine from the host.

    dimr.exe / dx_mouse_timer_dialog.exe however, reports the full 1000 Hz:

    http://andrewblock.net/2008/10/27/improve-mouse-responseaccuracy-by-changing-the-usb-polling-rate/

    If any game or program triggers the KB 2908279 fix, then Mouse Rate Checker reports the correct full polling rate (which is working as MS designed the fix).

    One way to get the MS fix triggered is to run my MouseMovementRecorder:

    Version 1.12 @ https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B_PnkMGDlD5ncWhlUjRvX3VtN28&export=download

    ... MouseMovementRecorder Version 1.12 triggers the MS KB 2908279 fix, without having to add anything to the registry.

    With ANY program triggering the fix, Mouse Rate Checker will then start reporting the full polling rate.

    With ANY program triggering the fix, games will then start using the full polling rate.

    (The fix when triggered applies to all running programs, not just to the game or program that triggered the fix.)

    (And of course, programs that use Raw Input or DirectInput run OK without the fix anyway.)

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-11-13T11:57:05+00:00

    Exactly, you can also add any background process to the registry so the fix gets triggered at startup (I added explorer.exe), and any game/program will report the correct rate.

    So basically everything is fixed now

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-11-13T13:09:50+00:00

    I will try that fix with moserate.exe which doesn't use DirectInput like MouseMovementRecorder and will post results. Here is a youtube tutorial for MouseMovementRecorder http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QJTSuRQwCg

    The problem is that MouseMovementRecorder shows 1000Hz(in video posted 500Hz) before and after the fix so like I said there is no problem when games are using DirectInput or RawInput which they don't most of the time, they use OS dependent mouse input and that is limited to 167Hz-200Hz  pooling rate. Mouserate.exe doesn't use DirectInput and if the fix on this program will show a 1000Hz input http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Miscellaneous/Mouse-Rate-Checker.shtml from my mouse instead of 167Hz I will post it here and mark this case closed!

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