Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Macbook Pro problem

Jul 5, 2012 11:03PM PDT

My computer is acting up. After a short while, the mouse stops working with email text etc and highlights the page content on its own. The track pad and buttons as well hardly work and you have to pound on the track pad to get it to perform. Everyone tells me that it's obsolete, ancient etc.-it's working fine otherwise. Is it worth working on? Thanks

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Is this a cost benefit analysis?
Jul 5, 2012 11:33PM PDT

It sounds like a hardware issue. Since I can use an external mouse, why would I repair a track pad?

Pounding on a track pad sounds like a very bad idea. That could cause more wear and tear.
Bob

- Collapse -
Sounds to me like
Jul 6, 2012 12:52AM PDT

Sounds to me like you've got a bad battery that is starting to swell and put upward pressure on the trackpad. Try taking the battery out and see if the symptoms go away. If it does, and/or the battery looks visibly swollen, DO NOT put it back into the laptop! If you do, you run an ever increasing risk of the thing EXPLODING on you at any given moment. So unless hot battery acid in your lap is your idea of a party, if you ever see a swollen battery in a laptop (Mac or PC) TAKE IT OUT IMMEDIATELY! On top of eventually exploding, it will also eventually cause permanent damage to the case, so while some people seem willing to take their chances on a lap full of hot battery acid, the idea of any cosmetic damage to their unit will snap them to attention.

- Collapse -
Macbook Pro Problem
Aug 3, 2012 1:47PM PDT

Exactly right-I had noticed the battery case distortion a few weeks ago and didn't make the connection. For some reason, the problems have subsided a bit in the last week or two. Anyway, I finally read your thread today and have the battery out now and computer works fine. I also realize now that the computer case was pretty hot at times in the past months and I had chalked it up to the heat wave! Any suggestions on a new battery source? Thanks for the answer, snakestretcher