cursor occasionally jumps to monitor corner

[stacyphi]

While I'm moving my cursor (seemingly on the desktop or some software) it will occasionally jump to one of the corners of my monitor. Otherwise it seemingly is unaffected. I just have to drag it back.
I'm guessing it's something in my preferences but I don't know what. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Stacy
iMac 10.5.6

 

[Mal]

That's usually from the optical sensor in your mouse picking up a weird reading. Try using it on a different surface (mouse pad or just a notebook or something) and see if it continues to do so.

jW

 

[stacyphi]

Right now it's just sliding along a table. There is a crack on the table. I'll try to keep track of that.
Thanks for the advice.
Stacy

 

[MacBoobsPro]

If there is a crack where you move your mouse around it will most likely be that thats causing the problem. Try a mouse mat or something. Sometimes it might just be dust on the lens but in your case it sounds like the crack.

Its annoying when doing intricate work in Photoshop and your mouse decides to go walk about.

 

[stacyphi]

It apparently is not the crack in the table that is the cause of the cursor's occasional jumping. I'll try to keep track of when it exactly happens.

 

[bluedoggiant]

It apparently is not the crack in the table that is the cause of the cursor's occasional jumping. I'll try to keep track of when it exactly happens.

I have my mouse on a wood surface, I simply just too used to it. Dust picks up like crazy.

 

[Consultant]

Few things that should fix it

Clean mouse optical sensor
Get mouse pad (example gaming mouse pad www.xtracpads.com)
Get better mouse (logitech, etc.)

 

[kunze50]

The family mighty mouse in my household also has this problem. It jumps to the corner, like you explain, maybe once every couple of hours, noted sometimes when one side is lifted slightly on any surface, (used normally). They have had it for over a year and it has been that way since day 1 and is not enough of a hassle for them to purchase a new one. If the mouse is new, exchange it. I just thought I'd explain my experience with the problem..

 

[Makosuke]

Even if it's not the crack, I'd wager it's still the pattern of the grain on the table causing the sensor to think it's moved very far very quickly. Could also be just the reflectivity of the surface if it's a shiny table--I've seen that confuse optical mice.

In my experience, I've had surfaces that cause occasional skipping (usually something like a dark line, but just a pattern coincidence can do it), I've had surfaces that cause so many errors they're unusable (some fabrics), and I even had a mouse pad with some sort of oddly reflective grain that if you rotated it 90 degrees to the side it would cause lots of skipping, while if you used it "straight" it worked flawlessly.

Slap something unreflective and without any dramatic pattern on it down and see if it still happens--if not, it's the table. If so, maybe it's dirt or even a funky mouse.