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Utility to improve mouse accuracy

Is there a utility that will slow down the mouse pointer when the feature is activated, such as by holding down the ctrl key? I want to make it easier at times to click on a very small object, such as a column divider, that is only one pixel wide. If I could hold down the ctrl key and have the mouse pointer move much slower per motion of the mouse, that would be perfect. It doesn't have to be the ctrl key -- just any way to indicate the mouse should move slower.

bbao

are you talking about operations under Windows? if so, it seems what you are looking for can be done by Ease of Access Center (Accessibility Options for early versions) in Windows' Control Panel.

see below for the details.

http://www.nhs.uk/accessibilityhelp/Using-your-keyboard-to-control-the-mouse-in-Win-7.html

jkurant

ASKER

Yes, I should have mentioned this would be for Windows 7. I don't want to have to put a lot of keystrokes to move the mouse. Instead, what I want is to be able to slow down the mouse pointer by a factor of about 8 when I hold down something - such as the Ctrl key. but it could be anything that works, such as the middle mouse button, both mouse buttons, the shift key, etc.

Isn't everyone annoyed now and then when trying to click a one-pixel wide divider? Or some other tiny thing? It would be so nice if the mouse would just slow way down when you hold down Ctrl so you can hit those spots very easily.

I never learned C or I might be able to write a program to implement this idea.

jkurant

ASKER

I wonder how much effort it would take someone with the right skills to write a utility to do this? Maybe I could hire a teenager somewhere on the planet using e-lance?

It wouldn't even need a user-interface. Just make holding down the ctrl key slow down the mouse pointer by a factor of 8, meaning that the user still moves the mouse pointer by moving the mouse, but the pointer moves more slowly.

bbao

>Maybe I could hire a teenager somewhere on the planet using e-lance?

you didn't notice the following description from the page given above?

"Press ‘ Alt ’ + ‘ W ’ or click to select the option to alter these settings, by using the Ctrl key to speed up and Shift to slow down the mouse pointer."

jkurant

ASKER

@bbao: I did not see that, but when I went into the control panel and found the options you showed me, I tied them, but they did nothing at all. I checked the box to enable mouse keys and clicked Apply, but the mouse did not move faster or slower with Ctrl or Shift. I tried all kinds of options, including the checkbox for whether mousekeys should work with num-lock on. Although you solution should have been a good one, it just doesn't work. I tried every speed.

bbao

> it seems what you are looking for can be done by Ease of Access Center (Accessibility Options forearly versions) in Windows' Control Panel.

wondering if you have first enabled it under Ease of Access Center? not Control Panel's Mouse section...

jkurant

ASKER

Yes, I tried both the Ease of Access Center and the mouse config in control panel. On the mouse control panel applet it tells me that "No Microsoft USB Mouse Detected" so the whole page is disabled. The speed settings on the pointer options tab does work, though, but not the mousekeys settings.

bbao

it's a shame that i can't test it before posting more details as i am outside on mobile at the moment.

will try on my W7 and let you know once i am available on the PC.

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bbao

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jkurant

ASKER

Get Mouse Speed Switcher from www.gphotoshow.com. It has almost the functionality I wanted. Rather than being able to hold down just Ctrl or Shift to change the mouse speed, I can define hot-keys that will set it to fast or slow. Good enough.

bbao

good on you and thanks for the points.