Microsoft Working on Mouse Fix for Windows 8.1

Microsoft has finally acknowledged the mouse lag issue experienced in some PC games after customers upgrade to Windows 8.1. Reports of the problems began to surface immediately after the update was released last month, affecting titles such as Deus Ex: Human Revolution, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, Metro 2033 and several Call of Duty games. The lag, it seems, possibly stems from a change in handling DPI for multiple monitors.

"We want to thank our gaming community for the detailed feedback many of you have provided on these issues," said Microsoft forum monitor Raman R. "While we don't have a date yet for the release of a fix, we are working to get these issues resolved as quickly as possible. The 'mouse lag' issue is actually several different issues that could vary based on the game, input methods used, etc."

According to the post, the mouse "jitters" experienced when moving through the game stems from the way Windows 8.1 checks the device's status. Mouse movement is also reportedly not to scale, meaning the distance on the screen doesn't match the distance you move the mouse, even after acceleration is turned off. Measured mouse Polling Rate also has a lower reporting frequency than expected.

"If you have a gaming mouse that has a high frequency, when you test it, you may find it is reporting a lower frequency than you expect. For these situations, check the game settings. If the game supports raw input from the mouse, enabling it may solve the issue," he said.

Raman added that additional information will be added to his post once Microsoft gathers more data from its investigations. Meanwhile, here are a few workarounds pulled straight from the post:

(1) Mouse may not be able to reach all areas of the game window.
This may occur with games that do not use DirectX, when run in window mode. You can work around this by disabling DPI Scaling:

a.     Right-click the game's icon.
b.     Select Properties.
c.     Select the Compatibility tab.
d.     Check the box next to Disable display scaling on high DPI settings.

(2) Can't left-click with an integrated pointing device immediately after pressing a key.
This is a setting for touchpads, like those used on laptops, to make typing easier. You can work around this by changing the mouse delay to zero, but this may make typing more difficult. To change the setting:

a.     Swipe in from the right to bring up the charms, and choose Settings.
b.     Select Change PC Settings.
c.     Click Mouse & Touchpad.
d.     In the drop down to help prevent the cursor from accidentally moving while you type, change the delay before clicks work, select No Delay.   

(3) Some users have also reported success in older games and apps by turning on compatibility mode.
To try that:

a.     Right-click the game's icon.
b.     Select Properties.
c.     Select the Compatibility tab.
d.     Select the version of Windows for which you want to run the game in compatibility mode.
e.     If you want to apply the settings for that program to all accounts on the PC, click Change settings for all users. You might be asked for an                 administrator password or to confirm your choice.
f.      When you're done, tap click OK.

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