Not sure if anyone else has had this problem, but I have a GE 97986 Optical Mouse (rev 2, PS2, not cordless) and it seems to have a slight tracking issue. The mouse pointer moves all over the place on it's own, no matter what surface I put it on. It seems to not move as much on a non opaque surface, but it still has a mind of it's own. I'm wondering if there is an internal pot adjustment that can be made to properly calibrate the tracking, or if it's just a craptacular mouse, and not tunable. I don't want to start messing with pots if they have nothing to do with the tracking calibration. I have the manufacturers driver set up properly on my system, so I know it's not driver related. My roomate has the same mouse and the same problem. It's a minor annoyance, but still, an annoyance none the less. If anyone has a fix to this, please let me know. Thanks!
It may just be some lint or dust on the lense...when the lint shifts, the mouse thinks the surface below it is moving. I know the old logitech optical mice had this trouble a lot. As for the driver, this might be the issue. The mouse should not need a driver...so you might try removing the driver and using the standard driver that comes with windows/Linux.
This is how I know when I'm getting too much cat hair on my mouse pad. After I clean off the pad, a good blast of compressed air on the laser usually takes care of the mouse. Dick