Q&A: Mouse causing problems

Q On starting up my computer there was a message saying: ‘Mouse main program has encountered a problem and will have to close.’ After this everything seemed to work except the scroll wheel on the mouse. It is a Genius wireless model. Freshly charged batteries are installed and all seems well except this message, which is repeated on every start-up. Should I be worried?
Kevin Keeley

A You needn’t worry – the message doesn’t indicate any kind of major problem, although in these situations it’s always worth running a complete virus scan (having fully updated your anti-virus program first) just to be sure. In practice, though, it’s likely to be a simple problem with the software your mouse uses, which as you can see from the message, has crashed.

The reason the mouse still works is that all mice communicate with computers in a certain way, and no special software is required for basic universal features. When it comes to special buttons (such as the scroll wheel), additional software may be needed.

Try uninstalling the Genius mouse software – click Start, then Control Panel, then ‘Add or Remove Programs’. Locate the Genius mouse software in the list (it may take a while for the list to load) and click Remove, then follow the prompts and restart your computer at the end. You should notice the message has gone. Once that’s done, reinstall the software either from the CD that came with the mouse or by downloading it from the manufacturer’s website. The latter is preferable, because that will give you the latest version of the software, which may have fixed the problem.