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Problem: Mouse automatically clicking things I hover over! :S

C

Callum

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 20, 2009
42
0
If I hover my mouse over a link in Safari, it will start opening multiple tabs of that link without me clicking it until I hover off it. It also opens programs if I hover over it for about a second. This started happening this morning. It was fine last night. I didn't download any updates in that time, and didn't change any system preferences. I tried restarting my system. This happens with both my wireless mouse and the trackpad, so I figured it's a software issue.

Could it be a virus? What Mac program checks for/ gets rid of viruses?

Please help! :S
-Callum
 
angelwatt

angelwatt

Moderator emeritus
Aug 16, 2005
7,852
9
USA
Well, it's not a virus as none exist. A trojan wouldn't do this kind of thing. Have you restarted your machine lately? Also run software updates.
 
C

Callum

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 20, 2009
42
0
Ok, so if it's not a virus, what is it? I shutdown my computer for a couple of hours, then when I turned it on again, it was working fine, but now it's started doing it again. :(
 
I

iVoid

macrumors 65816
Jan 9, 2007
1,145
190
Is your wireless mouse connected when it happens with the trackpad.

One of the devices (or electronics along the way) is telling the computer that the mouse button is pressed.

First thing is to see if it happens without the wireless mouse connected (pull the battery to make sure it's not connected). If it does, I's suspect something wrong with the trackpad buttons. Even if you use the mouse to position the cursor, if the trackpad tells the OS that a mouse button is pressed, it'll click.

Even if it doesn't seem to show dragging behavoir (as if the button was pressed), I've seen weird button behaviors similar to yours. Unless you've got a funky extension installed (such as a driver for the wireless mouse), it's most likely a hardwareissue.
 
mysterytramp

mysterytramp

macrumors 65816
Jul 17, 2008
1,334
4
Maryland
iVoid said:
First thing is to see if it happens without the wireless mouse connected (pull the battery to make sure it's not connected). If it does, I's suspect something wrong with the trackpad buttons. ...
Click to expand...

Or it could be a dying battery in the wireless mouse. I've had flaky mouse actions that disappear after replacing the battery. Mouse manufacturers overestimate, I believe, how long a AA will last inside a mouse.

mt
 
S

scissorband

macrumors member
Jan 16, 2010
88
0
Wow, I was about to post the same thread. I started noticing this when I put my mouse over my bookmarks in Firefox and it would automatically click on it when I didn't want it to. What kind of mouse do you have?
 
C

Callum

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 20, 2009
42
0
Good news!

It stopped doing the auto-clicking, but then it started doing other weird things, such as the cursor not appearing as a hand when hovered over a link. I took your advice of changing the batteries in my wireless mouse, and walah! No more problems!

Thank you very much for the advice. I was very worried that my Mac was sick :p
 
F

FOXJE79

macrumors newbie
Oct 10, 2013
1
0
Arrow flashes between finger and arrow

I am having a similar problem, except I do not use an external mouse. I own a 2008 Macbook. It is now affecting my ability to click on drop-down menus on web pages. Is this my hardware malfunctioning, or a software issue?:confused:
 
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