CompTIA A_ Certification All-In-One Exam Guide, Seventh Edition - Michael Meyers [309]
Mice
Have you ever tried to use Windows without a mouse? It’s not fun, but it can be done. All techs eventually learn the Windows navigation hot keys for those times when mice fail, but all in all we do love our mice. Like keyboards, Windows comes with excellent drivers for all standard mice; the exception you’re likely to encounter is the more advanced mice that come with extra buttons. Conveniently, the built-in Windows drivers consider a mouse’s scroll wheel to be standard equipment and will support it.
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NOTE Everything in this section works equally well for trackballs.
You can adjust your mouse settings through the Mouse Control Panel applet. Figure 18-23 shows the Windows 2000 version. Be aware that the Mouse Properties window in Windows 2000 uses a different layout than that of Windows Vista (Figure 18-24) or Windows XP (which are almost identical).
Figure 18-23 Windows 2000 Mouse Control Panel applet
Figure 18-24 Windows Vista Mouse Control Panel applet
All of the settings you need for adjusting your mouse can be found in the Mouse Properties window. In particular, make sure to adjust the mouse speed, double-click speed, and acceleration to fit your preferences. Mouse speed and double-click speed are obvious, but mouse acceleration needs a bit of explaining as it has changed from Windows 2000 to Windows XP and Windows Vista. Originally, mouse acceleration referred to a feature that caused the mouse speed to increase when the mouse moved a relatively large distance across the screen. The Windows 2000 Mouse Properties window included a Motion tab where you could set the mouse speed and acceleration. Windows XP and Vista dropped the Motion tab in favor of an Enhance pointer precision checkbox on the Pointer Options tab (Figure 18-25). Enhance pointer precision is a much more advanced form of automatic acceleration. Although it works well, it can cause erratic mouse movements in some applications.
Currently, two types of mouse technologies dominate the market: ball mice and optical mice. Ball mice use a small round ball, while optical mice use LED’s or lasers and a camera to track their movements and thus move the mouse pointer across the screen. The problem with ball mice is that the ball inside the mouse picks up dirt over time and deposits the dirt on internal rollers that contact the ball. Dirt builds up to the point that the mouse stops responding smoothly. If you are struggling with your mouse to point at objects on your screen, you need to clean the mouse. Few mice manufacturers still make ball mice, as they tend to require far more maintenance than optical mice.
To access the internals of a ball mouse, turn it over and remove the protective cover over the mouse ball. The process of removing the cover varies, but it usually involves rotating the collar that surrounds the ball until the collar pops out (Figure 18-26). Be careful—without the collar, the mouse ball will drop out the instant you turn the mouse upright.
Figure 18-25 Enhance pointer precision checkbox on the Pointer Options tab
Figure 18-26 Removing the collar on a ball mouse
Use any nonmetallic tool to scrape the dirt from the roller without scratching or gouging the device. Although you could use a commercial “mouse cleaning kit,” I find that a fingernail or a pencil eraser cleans the rollers quite nicely and at much less expense (Figure 18-27). Clean a ball mouse in this way at least every two or three months.
Figure 18-27 Cleaning the rollers on a ball mouse
Optical mice require little maintenance and almost never need cleaning, as the optics that make them work are never in contact with the grimy outside world. On the rare occasion where an optical mouse begins to act erratically, try using a cloth or damp cotton swab to clean out any bits of dirt that may be blocking the optics (Figure 18-28).
Figure 18-28 Cleaning an optical mouse
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