[RESOLVED] Flickering mouse pointer

My mouse pointer has been given me problem.

It flickers wildly and even more importantly, after start-up the mouse (an optical one) does not respond at all. I have to shut down and restart several times to get the mouse to respond.

Even after that, the flickering continues.

What is wrong and what must I do?

Good place to start is trying a different mouse to help determin where the problem lies.

Are the batteries NEW?

And try uninstalling and reinstalling the mouse drivers. Check for updated ones if you are not using the default Windows ones.