So…you just got your brand new Macbook Pro, 17 inch, and a brand new Magic Mouse, and you think “Gee, this the best of the best, brand new stuff, of course it will work great, right?” But then you take it home, turn everything on, and although the mouse works, the cursor is skipping all around. You’ll go click on something and somehow you click on something 2-3 inches past it. Or you’re moving the mouse around and suddenly the cursor jumps to the right side, left side, top, or bottom. Annoying, eh?

You go online searching for a solution, and you see that tons of other people have the same problem, but you hate scrolling through 10 pages on a forum looking for someone who doesn’t just have the same problem, but actually knows how to fix it.

That’s what I went through. It appears I found a solution, and the good news is that it’s easy. The bad news is that it might not work for you. It worked for me, but I was feeling kind of lucky today, so maybe I’m just special. If you’re feeling lucky too, try it out and let me know if it works for you too.

So how do  you fix this skipping, jumping, and general tra-la-la attitude of Magic Mouse?

Resetting your Mac’s PRAM and NVRAM

That’s right. Show Magic Mouse who’s boss. You can either read the instructions on resetting PRAM and NVRAM on Apple’s site, or just follow the instructions below:

Resetting PRAM and NVRAM

1. Shut down the computer.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.

Your computer’s PRAM and the NVRAM are reset to the default values. The clock settings may be reset to a default date on some models.

This is what I did, and so far, so good. It also seems to have gotten rid of a problem I had with my monitor flickering, and Magic Mouse certainly seems to be behaving better. I don’t know if it’s just temporary and when I turn my back he’ll be back to his mischief, but if regresses I’ll give him what-for.

One thing: There’s nothing to tell you that your PRAM and NVRAM have been reset, or if there is, then I must not have done it right. At some point the computer just kept starting up, and I thought “Hmm, did I do it?” All I know is that Magic Mouse is behaving as he never has since I got the computer, although I’ve restarted many times before, so I assume I followed the instructions correctly.