The Mouse (continued...)

Care & Maintenance
The most used and abused cord on your computer is the mouse cord. It's dragged, pulled, yanked and twisted everyday with normal use. Try to provide the cord free movement as much as possible and allow a little slack at all times.

The mousepad itself can make a difference in the amount of gunk that builds up on the inside rollers. The pad with the porous cloth surface will hold all kinds of dust, grime, dead skin and moisture that tends to transfer to the rollers via the rubber ball. Get a pad that has a harder, plastic type surface. It won't get loaded up with as much crap and it's a lot easier to clean, just wipe it with a damp cloth.

If your mouse cursor seems to jump or jerk across the screen, or actually stops as though its hit a wall and doesn't seem to want to move properly, it's probably dirty. This is caused by the buildup of gunk on the rollers that was mentioned earlier. The word gunk is a highly technical computer term that refers to the grime, dust, dead skin and debris that transfers onto the mouse rollers and can build up to the point where it touches the plastic edge of the mouse and actually stops the roller from turning. This is what makes the cursor on your screen stop dead in its tracks. While this can be very frustrating, it's an easy problem to solve. To clean these rollers:

• Close out of Windows and shut the computer off.
• Disconnect the mouse and turn it upside down. You'll notice a faceplate around the ball. Remove the faceplate. It may twist a quarter turn or it may click forward (usually, there's arrows to indicate).
• Carefully turn it over and remove the ball. Don't try to see if the ball bounces! When it hits the floor, it will put it out of round and ruin it. And in case you're still wondering, they don't bounce too well at all.
• You can clean the ball with luke warm water and a lint free cloth. Don't use alcohol or cleaners on it.
• If you look inside the cavity left by the ball, you'll see the rollers. You'll also be able to see any buildup (gunk) on the rollers. Dab the buildup with a little isopropol alcohol and then gently remove the buildup with a toothpick or a small flathead screwdriver. Be careful not to scratch the rollers.
• When everything is completely dry, you can reassemble the mouse, plug it in and turn on your computer. There'll be a noticeable improvement.

As for the outside of the mouse itself, you can clean it with a damp cloth.