Erratic mouse on Macbook
 

My wife got a Mac book about 6 months ago and while she likes it, it has developed an erratic mouse. The mouse moves on it's own or doesn't move when you move your finger on the track pad. We have been to the "Genius" bar once and they thought they had it corrected but started as soon as we got home. The genius recommended doing option, command R + P on start up and that would reset something. That doesn't do squat right now. She has to restart multiple times a day to correct the problem but it's only a temporary fix. I will take it back to the genius bar in a few days but we are 2 hours from an Apple store so it's not a convenient trip.

I've done some searches and it could be related to power source but I have tried to run it on battery alone and we have the same problem. I've cleaned the track pad and that doesn't correct the problem so now I'm looking for some Apple experts outside the store. The genius bar didn't get the job done.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Should I download a virus program? I really don't want to do that and the store indicated it was not a virus problem.

Thanks

Have you tried re-installing the OS (boot your DVD while holding down the C key), or updating to the latest OS?

command option p r is clearing parameter ram. It's useful. PRam keeps track of stuff like date and time. Sometimes you need to keep holding it till the machine reboots 3 or 4 times to clear everything.

Do you have an extra external hard drive around that you can install the OS on and boot from there? Or just boot from the CD and see if the problem persists.

If the problem goes away under either scenario it' s corrupt OS.

If not could be firmware or hardware. See if there is a firmware update and apply it.

if not it's under warranty. I'd insist they send it in for service. You'll lose it for 10 days but you might be able to force them into giving you a loaner from an open box return in the back.

It's not a virus, don't waste your time with that.

Long shot but you could try creating another user account and see if it persists under a different login. If problem goes away I'd suspect a third party app may be causing conflict.

Good luck

Someone just has to say it.

Get a windows computer. :)

Thanks guys, I'll be working on it tonight and try a few things. Appreciate the assistance.

If you can't figure it out you may want to head over to the following site and post your question in the appropriate forum...it is chalk full of very helpful Mac gearheads:

Notebooks - MacRumors Forums

Well, the problem persisted no matter what I tried so it was back to the store yesterday afternoon just following the Jobs Memorial shutdown. They gladly replaced the track pad under warranty and it appears the problem is solved. The store was packed and there was a line out the door for folks picking up iphone 4S's. Took about 10 minutes and we were out the door.

This was all happening as AAPL was gong into the shytter and dropping 22+ pts for the day.

My wife is happy again, all is right in the world.

Thanks for the guidance.

Glad it worked out. I've found Apple service to be excellent.