Pet Hair and Computer Mice

[bustr]

If you have furry pets it's a good idea to not think your mouse is dead before you open it and make sure to clean out the build ups of pet hair and dander. Your scroll wheel is a perfict place to collect detris and hair. It will block the opticle receptor. You will know this because suddenly you cannot scroll in one direction or the other, intermittant scrolling or no scrolling at all. Bet those refurbished $12.95 Trackman Wheel mice at NewEgg were returned full of cat hair after a few months. Tweezers and a watch makers lint brush are your freind. My cats still think the marble on my Trackman is a puzzel toy for them.

I knew a programmer with long stringy hair and a very dusty apartment who had to open his Kingston Trackball every 6 months and clean it out. Just don't count your mouse out too soon...

[Jayhawk]

Even if you don't have a pet, regular maintenance of a mouse wheel will make a big difference.  I used paper towels, Q-tips, and rubbing alcohol.  Or you could just get an optical mouse, now it's just the occasional cleaning of the pads on the bottom.

[guncrasher]

Optical mouse will do the same but it is easier to clean

Semp

[Ghosth]

Door on the man cave and it became a cat free zone which truly does help on the hardware.

Still have to clean desktops every year, but mice don't seem to collect much.