Turbulent Sky
Tech Tips, Tricks and Solutions

by

Ran into a situation with a Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 7000 that also seems to plague the Wireless Laser Mouse 8000. When placing the Laser Mouse on its charging cradle, the LED on the top of the mouse slowly flashes green for a few seconds, as if it was successfully charging the NiMH battery inside, but then switches to rapidly flashing the LED red.

Taking the rechargeable battery out also results in the flashing red LED. So, the battery is clearly not being recharged. This is further corroborated by the short battery life.

Microsoft LaserMouse 7000 upside-down with open battery compartment

Microsoft LaserMouse 7000 upside-down with open battery compartment

I saw online that some people have found some sort of button underneath the battery and that it’s not being depressed. However, the mouse I was having problems with did not have such a button. There is a small hole under the battery, but no switch or button in the hole.

Upon further investigation, I noticed that the positive metal plate in the battery compartment of the mouse has two plastic rails holding it in place.

Battery removed showing the plastic rails at the positive conductor

Battery removed showing the plastic rails at the positive conductor

When putting the battery inside, the rails tend to press back against the top of the battery such that the battery’s tip doesn’t make good contact with the metal. Since the metal plate is tapered inward, it only makes reliable contact with the battery when the battery is pushed all the way down into the compartment.

Notice the short tip on the rechargeable battery and the rails pressing back against it

Notice the short tip on the rechargeable battery and the rails pressing back against it

As a result of this plastic getting in the way and preventing the battery from making contact with the positive conducting plate, of course it can’t recharge. It also explains why it only charges for a few seconds–just until the battery slips out of position and loses contact. However, the fix for this recharging problem is rather simple.

Fold the paper (left); place on top of battery (center); insert into mouse (right)

Fold the paper (left); place on top of battery (center); insert into mouse (right)

  1. Cut a small piece of paper a little shorter than the length of the battery and about twice as wide
  2. Fold the paper in half to achieve a thickness of two sheets of paper
  3. Place the battery into the battery compartment
  4. Put the paper on top of the battery
  5. Close the battery cover

The cover should go on snugly so that it firmly presses the battery into the compartment. That will enable the positive tip of the Laser Mouse’s battery to stay in contact with the positive conductor plate. If it doesn’t press firmly enough, add one more sheet that’s half the width of the first one (for a thickness of three sheets).

After applying this little fix, the problem mouse’s LED properly throbs green and charges up completely.

(Update: Added photos)

Post a comment

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Videospiel-Freaks » “Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 7000″- für Hobbybastler

368 Comments

  1. Ryan says:

    I have the MS 8000 series KB + Mouse – and this has been a problem for me for a number of months now. What I always used to do was swap the mouse battery with one from the Keyboard, while the old mouse battery would be charged up in the keyboard. But now recently I’m getting the red lights on the keyboard as well.

    Finally – can you take some photos to illustrate the above method? Thanks.

  2. Steve says:

    I had the same problem with my Laser 7000. It would appear to charge for a few seconds with the flashing green light, then change to a flashing red light. After reading the comments above I took a look at the battery contacts in relation to the battery itself. In my Laser 7000 I found that the supplied mouse battery’s positive terminal is noticeably shorter than a typical dry cell’s terminal. To resolve the issue I cut a small piece of metal and inserted it between the battery compartment’s contact strip and the battery’s positive terminal. Sure enough the mouse will now charge. Perhaps a better way to resolve this problem is to replace the battery with another rechargeable battery with a longer terminal.

  3. Peter Ridge says:

    Hi Ryan. Yeah, I meant to take photos but work has been very busy. I finally got some shots taken and will get them online soon.

  4. Peter Ridge says:

    That’s a good alternative, Steve, since regular batteries do have a longer positive terminal. Perhaps even cutting a short piece of a paperclip or some aluminum foil would do the trick. Just be careful that it doesn’t get away and end up shorting out something inside the mouse.

    I’ve seen comments from others online who tried replacing the included batteries but without success. Depends if you can find rechargeable batteries with a longer positive tip.

  5. Rob says:

    Perfect fix; worked exactly as described. Thanks for taking time to post this!

  6. Ella says:

    Wow!! Worked exactly as described, and saved me the hassle of taking the thing back to the shop for an exchange, which would just have had the same problem! Thank you!!

  7. I have also posted about this issue in the 8000 series mice. I’m not sure if your situation is specific to the 7000 series or if there was a hardware update, but there is definitely a switch in the 8000 series mouse I fixed. I might guess that they did an update to remove the completely superfluous sensor, but didn’t account for this additional problem in the revised design.

  8. Peter Ridge says:

    Thanks for stopping by Ngoc. I took another look and there’s a plastic band in the bottom of the battery compartment. Is this the “switch”? I couldn’t confirm it without opening the mouse but it does seem superfluous to have to detect the presence of the battery. If there’s no battery, the circuit is open and the charger won’t do anything anyway.

  9. Peter Ridge says:

    Ryan, photos are up.

  10. I don’t know about the 7000 series, but the 8000 series definitely had a metal band above the battery. That band was a switch used to detect the battery. It’s possible the band is plastic in the 7000 now or plastic across all models as an “improvement” or cost cutting measure. I use a Logitec mouse at home and have no such headaches though. :)

  11. Peter Ridge says:

    Ah, OK. I use a Logitech mouse too :)

  12. RottingOrange says:

    Bloody brilliant, exact problem with my 7000, what a cheapo Micro$oft product, lol. Only comment I have is the “thickness of two sheets of paper” won’t usually do it, folding it four or five times worked better for me. Thanks so much!

    :-)

  13. Michael says:

    Aah, just had to comment on this as it acctualy worked! This has been a problem with both my 7000 (work and home) and this solved it for both of them! MS piece of crap! =)

  14. Adam says:

    Really appreciate this tip. Worked like a charm.

  15. Peter Ridge says:

    Maybe a more green solution is to use some of the packaging or other superfluous paper that came with the mouse.

  16. Nil says:

    Merci!

    This solve my problem.

  17. Frustrated says:

    After weeks of futzing with this expensive wireless keyboard / mouse set, I was pissed! I even replaced the unit entirely to no avail.

    Thanks so much for taking the time and fixing something that clearly MS should have handled.

  18. Curtis says:

    Thank you. Really. You have saved me time, money and stress. Thanks for your post, it’s worth the time you took to put this up for all of us to use, and you’ve clearly helped to make our day better.

    Cheers

  19. Cdub says:

    Fantastic. Just got this mouse today and this saved me allot of agony. Instead of paper, I just cut a piece of thin cardboard from the packaging. Worked like a charm.

    Cheers

  20. Peter Ridge says:

    Hi Cdub. That’s a good use for the packaging!

  21. osxespresso says:

    same problem with my 7000, folded piece of paper fix worked perfectly! thanx!

  22. Melanie says:

    Thanks so much! You have provided a happy ending to a frustrating afternoon. :) I’ve never been so excited to see a throbbing green light.

  23. Peter Ridge says:

    Haha, good one, Melanie! Yes, green lights, whether solid, blinking or throbbing, are a happy sight.

  24. Melissa says:

    Worked for me! Thanks!!

  25. Q says:

    This worked on my 7000. Awesome, thanks!

  26. hans cornet says:

    sorr, but none of all works for my 7000. Stipid I I can’t get it to work. Even tried to buy a new battery, but that now, after a few days, refuses to charge as well.

  27. Peter Ridge says:

    Is it still a new mouse? Maybe you just got a faulty mouse or charger. If this fix doesn’t work and a new battery doesn’t work, you might try exchanging the mouse. If you have a friend with the same mouse, you might try his charging station.

  28. Wytze says:

    Hi Peter,
    Thanks for providing the solution to this problem.
    In my case: a 7000 series mouse, place it on the charging cradle, one (sometimes more) ‘slow’ green flashes, followed by ‘quick’ red flashing. Some other post suggested a malfunctioning ‘is there a battery inserted’ detection switch as cause. In my case the switch is a round piece of metal in the mouse battery compartment which is pushed slightly away when a battery is inserted. Suggested solution here was to make the battery slightly thicker. In my case this did not help. Note that the piece of folded paper on top of the battery would also result in this switch to function more reliable.
    In my case, the root cause Peter found – positive tip of battery is not long enough to make a reliable contact – allowed me to solve the problem.
    I noted that some AA cells have a lightly longer tip than others. I just inserted one with a longer tip: done! (didn’t find how to insert a picture, otherwise I could show you, but it is pretty obvious. The battery I had with the longer tip was in total also slightly longer than the one with a shorter tip)
    I wondered: why is the contact ‘good’ for using the mouse and ‘bad’ for charging? Perhaps this is due to today’s charging systems: They ‘pulse’ charging current into the battery and measure the battery’s response to determine if it is fully charged, defective, etc. This ‘pulsing’ makes the charger very susceptible to less-than-perfect battery contacts. Perhaps that could explain.
    In any case: still looking at a ‘slow’ flashing green led on the mouse: it is charging! Peter: thanks!
    Wytze

  29. Peter Ridge says:

    Hi Wytze. Yes, a shorter than normal tip does exacerbate the problem. The second and third photos in the post illustrate this–the plastic gets in the way. Steve, in comment #2, just inserted a piece of metal to fill the gap. You can probably stick a section of a paper clip, aluminum foil, or wire to improve the connection.

  30. dxntxn says:

    I read on another site that the battery supplied was too thin to make proper contact. I tried the paper and aluminum foil suggestions without success.

    It finally ocurred to me that if the battery was the problem, get a new battery. I put in a new rechargeable battery and it works wonderfully now.

    Good luck!

  31. Beatleg says:

    It works! Thank you very much

  32. Marilynn says:

    Thanks for the pictorial, so I could see and understand where to change and replace the battery. Truly appreciate your assistance!

  33. gerard says:

    awesome! thanks for the tip!!

  34. gerard says:

    nevermind, started doing the red thing again unfortunately.

  35. Greg says:

    FINALLY!

    Thanks for resolving this really annoying problem.

  36. Fred Saberhagen says:

    Thank you!

    I bought 50 of these suckers and so far all of them had this problem-until now.

  37. Peter Ridge says:

    Wow! 50 of them. That’s a lot of mice.

  38. Julie says:

    I had the same problem with my mouse. Im trying that little piece of paper trick, I just put back the mouse on the charger again. Its flashing green now (FINALLLY), Ill try in a few hours to see how it goes. But so far, this is the best option I had all day after consulting I dont know how many forums/troubleshooting boards.

    Thanks =DD

    /rawr

  39. followchrist says:

    Thanks you so much, it totally worked. I was about to take my mouse back because I would charge it over night and it would only last like 2 minutes before dying.

  40. followchrist says:

    Ok so mine went back to red as well, what I did was shave a bit of the plastic on the inside of the rails and then took a small flathead screwdriver an bent the + connecting blade in a bit to make better contact with the battery, its been a few minutes and it seems like its working.

  41. Peter Ridge says:

    Yeah, if the adding paper trick doesn’t work, then improving the contact with the positive terminal is the next step. You’re the first to shave the rails. Others have done it by sticking a piece of paper clip, wire or aluminum foil to fill the gap between the battery and the metal conductor in the mouse.

  42. Peter:

    Yeah, I had a bit of a budget windfall and thought I’d treat some of my 300 users. Plus the 7000 was on sale.

    Who knew it was going to turn into a make-work project?

    Still have 40 to go…

  43. Tiexin Guo says:

    Amazing!
    A lot thanks!

  44. Iona Meyer says:

    My hero! This mouse has been a royal pain since it was 3 months old. Thanks so much for the easy inexpensive fix!!

  45. Blizzardnz says:

    Holy crap. I doubted this. I thought it was so stupid. But hell it worked. I have been having problems for a couple of years now. first was the 7000 mouse. but I took it back to the shop and they couldnt fix it, so I asked for a replacement and I did not want the 7000 back so I asked for the new one at the time that cwas just released into the country. the 8000. it was all good but after about 6 months I started having the same problems. I thought to myself oh shit not again. Well thanks buddy youve solved it. But I’m hopeing it wasnt just a coincidence, coz I know it sometimes did charge. but time will tell. In the meantime Thank You.

  46. Peter Ridge says:

    Hi Blizzard. Glad it worked out. If it still doesn’t charge, then you’ll need to fill the gap between the positive tip of the battery and the positive conductor in the battery compartment. Just use a piece of foil, bare wire or paperclip.

  47. eric do says:

    Fantastic! Thank you for taking the time out for this… Luckily I don’t like to fiddle too much and immediately rush to the blog sites to find fixes, and 9 of 10 times someone has figured them out. Thanks again Peter!

  48. Cha says:

    Awesome fix. Been on some MS forums and most of the users were kinda in the “out of luck-send to MS” boat. This did it for me. Now the mouse charges great.

  49. Peter Ridge says:

    Thanks Cha. Feel free to link from those forums to this post so everyone can quickly get their mouse working.

  50. John Smith says:

    Worked perfectly. Solved my problem thanks bro

  51. Mike says:

    Thanks a lot! My mouse is alive again :-)

  52. Jenn says:

    Thank you for posting the solution! I bought this mouse for my husband, who is an avid gamer and has the messiest desk in town.. which makes for difficulty with wires on the desk. He didn’t seem to think the flashing red light while charging was a problem.. but I did. I’m an obsessive worrier.. it’s just what I do. So, I hopped on the ‘net and looked it up… and you were the first post I came to! I used the paper, and it’s been about thirty minutes and still steady throbbing green! Thank you!!! If this fix stops working, I will just spring for a new rechargeable battery; hopefully I won’t have to for a while though!

  53. Fredy says:

    Thank you SO MUCH for the tip … specially for the pictures that truly express thousands of words.
    Thanks again!

  54. Lucy says:

    WOW! Thank You!!!

  55. Cindy says:

    Thanks so much, this worked and took me less than 30 seconds to fix! Brilliant! :-)

  56. Peter Ridge says:

    You’re welcome, John, Mike, Jenn, Fredy, Lucy and Cindy. Glad to see that the fix is working well.

  57. Grant says:

    Good information thanks. Based on your advice I put a blob of solder on the positive terminal of the battery to extend its length, and this did the trick.

  58. Peter Ridge says:

    Solder blob on the battery tip. Good idea.

  59. Bezalel says:

    I just bought this mouse yesterday after I told myself that unlike their software, Microsoft knows its way with hardware. But when even after a full night of “charging” the mouse refused to work, I started worrying (and looking for a troubleshoot using keyboard only :p).
    So thanks a lot Peter for posting this excellent explanation and simple solution. So far it works for me :)

  60. Peter Ridge says:

    You’re welcome, Bezalel. I have a Logitech cordless mouse (don’t remember the model at the moment) at work and it began to intermittently fail to move the cursor. So, I applied this same fix to it and the mouse works fine now. Looks like loose batteries are pretty common in mice these days.

  61. Sophie says:

    Thank you very much!!

    I’ve got my 7000 for over a year and I’ve just basically abandoned it after it suddenly stopped working. I decided to take it out and try fix it, but some reason it wouldn’t charge. I appreciate this a lot! Thank you again.

  62. JaG says:

    After trying many of the suggestions above, I replaced the mouse. With the new cradle that came with the new mouse, both the new and old mouse charge properly.

    The problem was with the cradle that came with the first mouse.

    -JaG-

  63. JohnH says:

    Just found this site and followed the instructions with my Microsoft 7000 mouse. After some experimenting I can position the battery so that it makes good contact both ends. No need for folded paper (so far). Also turned off the mouse via switch underneath while charging . . though probably not necessary. Thanks! I had that sinking feeling I had bought a dud . .

  64. Charly Barnard says:

    Such a simple fix, but such a big help! I have the 8000 desktop that I recently purchased new on eBay, was having this issue and figured I had wasted my money. Low and behold, a simple peice of paper fixed my issue. Thank you so mcuh!

  65. Lee says:

    Wow, two keyboard & mouse combo’s returned to the store and this was the perfect solution. Thanks for saving me yet another futile trip.

  66. AkWingnut says:

    Hi there, the problem I have is that when I place the MS mouse on the charging pad it heats up. It gets very HOT, not sure why so now I just change out the rechargeable battery when it turns red. Also does anyone suffer from lack of connection? I mean when using the mouse it sometimes stops moving and just sits there? Thanks for any input regarding this matter.

  67. Peter Ridge says:

    Does the charging pad heat up or the mouse? Usually, too much current being drawn because of a short circuit is the cause. If the mouse is getting hot and you still get that with a different battery, there might be a short circuit in the mouse.

  68. AkWingnut says:

    The mouse gets HOT you can feel the heat through the top of the mouse and the bottom part is even hotter. So like I said I just keep changing the battery. I personally only use the Sanyo Eneloop, what about the part of it losing connection to the bluetooth doggle? Can you help with that?

  69. Peter Ridge says:

    That’s not good. I’d return the mouse if it’s relatively new. Otherwise, replace it. It should not get hot like that. The heat may also be related to the problem of the mouse not responding (overheating).

  70. Zaxler says:

    Battery is not charging. The NiMH rechargeable battery that I use is 1mm longer than a non-chargeable battery hence there should not be a bad contact issue at terminal +. Tried the paper method but doesn’t work. I suspect the 2 pins underneath the mouse do not actually contact the 2 recessed points in the charging cradle.

  71. Peter Ridge says:

    Zaxler, get a couple pieces of wire and try connecting those points between the mouse and the charging cradle. Then, you’ll know if it’s a bad connection. You’ll want to clean off the connections too either with a pencil eraser or fine sand paper (could be tricky getting to the ones on the mouse).

  72. Zaxler says:

    There is no charging indicator blinking so you never know if the battery is being charged…until a few hours later you turn the mouse on and see if the indicator light glows green. I turned the mouse power off doing the re-charge.

  73. Peter Ridge says:

    Also try cleaning all the contacts, inside the battery compartment, on the outside of the mouse and the charging pad. If they’re oxidized, charging won’t work.

  74. Zaxler says:

    All contacts look shiny and not oxidized. Can’t the charger bring a NiMH battery from dead to alive? Battery doesn’t even show the red glow after blinking red a while – been used only 2 weeks. Not really sure if battery or the charger is dead. Any thoughts?

  75. Peter Ridge says:

    Even shiny contacts can have oxidation on them. Did you already try connecting the mouse to the pad with wires to verify that it’s not a connection problem? Also, does the battery charge up if you use an external charger? If you’ve done all these things and it doesn’t work, return it for another one.

  76. primoz says:

    I bought it today(7000)and guess what. The same thing as for all of you. I need to fix batery. I solved it with the paper. Thanks for good and simple solution.

  77. Zaxler says:

    Question – do you have mouse power button on or off when you do the recharge on the cradle provided?

  78. Peter Ridge says:

    I’ve done it both ways and both positions recharge. The off switch is to save battery power when you’re not going to be using the mouse for a while (e.g., for a mouse that wil be sitting idle at the office over the weekend or if you’re going on vacation).

  79. John says:

    This was a great guide. Fixed my problem. Used 10sec to find it with google search. Many THanks

  80. Tom says:

    Thanks for the help.
    This solved the “not charging” problem with my microsoft wireless laser mouse 7000.

  81. Brandon says:

    Never have I been in a trance from watching a slow pulsing green light. Simply amazing. Thank you!

  82. Peter Ridge says:

    It is rather mesmerizing isn’t it? Happy mousing. :)

  83. d says:

    thank you

    and a big fu to ms…i never expected a rrod on a mouse…

  84. Padge says:

    Not a happy Bunny as was expecting another trip to Costco and wasting loads of time. Had the 4 second green and then the flamin flasin red, but the fixes have sorted it out. My solution was a paper combo with extending the (-) spring to put more pressure on the (+) connection. Shame M/s didnt test it!! Thanks chaps

  85. Peter Ridge says:

    Padge, another clever variation. Thanks for the feedback.

  86. Christopher Scott says:

    This fixed my problem – thanks!

  87. Scotty says:

    Excellent, quick post-it-note and all working, thanks for taking the time to post this.

  88. robert plain says:

    Perfect cut a piece of paper and rolled it around the battery. Problem solved. THANK-YOU

  89. Eric Belmont says:

    Amazing! Much praise to you! Fire Bill Gates and hire you to fix everything! Thanks again!

  90. Peter Ridge says:

    LOL! Thanks, Eric. Happy mousing.

  91. Roman says:

    Wow, thank you so much, I thought I would need to throw this away and buy a Logitech.

  92. Daniel says:

    Awesome fix. Was just surfing to find a new battery to replace the original with and came across this forum. Didn’t have a great deal of hope as I had been to another forum before which had said to ‘wiggle’ the battery (which worked for the first charge) Now the second time charging, wiggling didn’t work. The folded paper trick did!! Thanks so much! And to everyone else with equally brilliant ideas here, thank you as well, who knows they may come in handy down the line as well!
    Green means GO! Hopefully I’ll be makin’ many more mouse tracks now! Thanks guys and gals!

  93. Stiebolt says:

    Thanks for the help, it sure worked with the mouse.

    However, since today I’m experiencing red lights whilst charging my keyboard.

    I’ve tried the paper solution; didn’t work. So didn’t a set of other rechargables and a normal set of batteries.

    Anyone have a solution to this problem please?

  94. Peter Ridge says:

    Stiebolt, for the keyboard, try bending the spring contacts out a bit. They might not be pressing against the batteries enough to charge properly.

  95. brittany says:

    Thank you so much! It worked perfectly! Very much appreciated. :)

  96. Axel says:

    Great. Helped me too with my 7000. Axel

  97. Sotis says:

    Sure it works, but the problem is not exactly what you are saying. It makes no difference, but just to let you know, the problem is the plastic piece at the bottom of the battery compartment, laying vertically to the battery around the middle of its length. Under that piece of plastic there is a switch, known at the ‘battery present’ sensor. sometimes the battery sits slightly above the compartment bottom, thus not pushing down on the switch, the battery makes perfect contact to the compartment pins, so the mouse works, but without the switch pushed, the battery does not charge. your trick with the paper, pushes down on the battery, causing it to correctly push the sensor switch, thus resolving the problem :)

  98. Peter Ridge says:

    Hi Sotis. Thanks for the feedback. Do you have some photos of the circuit board for this mouse? I’m very curious to see the actual battery sensor switch and how much travel it has.

    It appears that some owners of this mouse have contact problems since the paper trick doesn’t work for everyone. Some have bent the compartment pins to restore proper charging operation.

  99. Gan says:

    Thank you very much it works!!!!
    3 weeks of thinking how to fix this problem, than wisit this site and salvation:] I’ve got Wireless Laser mouse 8000

  100. Stiebolt says:

    @Peter: bending the contactd didn’t work out either… :(

    When I connect the keyboard to the device it turns green twice and then a flickering red light appears.

    Anyone els had/has this similar problem?

  101. dazza says:

    Good spot!! I never thought of that. I fixed it by putting a think piece of plastic behind the contact to move it closer to the battery
    Thanks again

  102. Zaxler says:

    Actually how do you know the battery recharging is working? I put in a new rechargeable battery, did the paper trick, always rest the mouse on recharge when not in use, but there is no blinking light to confirm that the recharging is indeed working. Do I have to wait till the mouse blinks red then I know the recharging is not working at all?

  103. Peter Ridge says:

    For the keyboard, I don’t know. Haven’t tried one. For the mouse, the LED slowly transitions from off to green while it’s charging.

  104. Zaxler says:

    Slowly transitions?…. – within a few minutes after the mouse is placed on the cradle? Even for a brand new battery which should have been fully charged? I always feel that I won’t know if charging is doing until the battery is low on power which might be 2 weeks after use then I will know if the charger is good or bad.

  105. Peter Ridge says:

    Correct. For the 7000 mouse, as soon as I place it on the cradle, the LED transitions OFF->Green->OFF->Green… as if it was a breathing indicator. “It’s alive!” :)

  106. Camryn says:

    Thanks so much, what a pain!

  107. Zaxler says:

    Hey Peter – it transitions to Green even while the power switch at the bottom is turned off? Even if a brand new battery is used?

  108. Peter Ridge says:

    The switch on the bottom doesn’t prevent re-charging the batteries. Yes, the LED will still throb green with the switch turned off and then go solid green when charging is complete. As for new batteries, it depends if they’re pre-charged and how long they’ve been sitting in a store/warehouse. Rechargeable NiMH batteries still self-discharge over time.

  109. Zaxler says:

    Thanks Peter. My last-ditch attempt is to buy a new pack of NiMH battery and see if recharging works. Current battery is never used off a pack which I bought 1 year ago. I did the paper trick, stretched the connectors in the battery compartment, and sanded the 2 pins which sit on the cradle but still no signs of a recharge. If still it doesn’t work have to throw this 7000 mouse in the garbage bin. Without recharging normally a battery dies within 2 weeks.

  110. Rxp1970 says:

    Thanks for the tip…I have this problem on both of my Microsoft Wireless 8000 keyboards and mouses…after applying “fix”…things seem to be working and the flashing red light problem appears resolved…beautiful!!!!!

  111. phantazn says:

    I just bought this a few days ago and the charging issue had been bugging the crap outta me. The fix worked instantly, and the green light has been throbbing for the past hour now, charging the mouse the entire time. Thanks a bunch!

  112. Zaxler says:

    Hey folks…Rxp1970 and phantazn …
    could you share what your FIX is to get the charging work…

    I just wanna make sure I miss nothing out.

  113. Chris May says:

    I am amazed that this seems to have worked! Thanks!

  114. Ilya says:

    the fact is that you dont have to need to do this :S you expect Microsoft to get it right, the metal pin is too short, the plastic rails in front of the connector :S mite as well just build a mouse for them :P

  115. Kat says:

    I just had to comment to say that you are awesome for sharing this! I have been so frustrated with my mouse! I was about to go try to buy a new battery, but you saved me some time and money! Thanks again!

  116. Brian says:

    Thanks – needed a thin(ish) bit of card wrapped around the battery and now it is charging happily.

  117. Matt says:

    Thank you so much for writing this simple yet fantastic fix. I’ve been struggling with this for almost a year now, and I’m glad it finally charges.

  118. Bonita Chokalatti says:

    Microsoft really ought to hire you! This was driving me absolutely nuts! Thanks for your attention to detail!

  119. Jeremy says:

    I tried this method after having the same red light problems with my mouse. It worked at first but then I found that after a few days, it would go back to being problematic. So I tried rolling a piece of paper around the battery like someone else suggested and it worked…for awhile..and then it went back to being unchargeable. So I got fed up, took out the piece of paper and just let the battery in there un”modified”. And for some reason, now its charging fine without the pieces of paper…but god knows how long it will charge before it gives me more problems..Microsoft did a horrible job on this mouse. Considering taking it back for a refund

  120. Tom says:

    Wow it worked like a charm. I think it’s really dumb, not your fix, but the fact I have to do that in order to have a functional mouse. Thanks!

  121. Davey says:

    I saw the two plastic “guides” on either side of the positive terminal sticking out, and they looked like they were preventing the (short) positive tip of the supplied battery from reaching the terminal. I just took a utility knife and cut off the two plastic guides on either side of the positive terminal. The spring on the negative side now pushes the positive tip tight against the terminal. It’s charging great now.

  122. Bryan says:

    A big thanks for your help here. For me the paper with tin foil didn’t work, but the idea of a solder ball did. It’s charging beautifully right now and the battery is nice and snug! Thanks again!!! (My wife was going to kill me for buying a defective $70 mouse. Thank god I fixed it before she found out!)

  123. Neuromancer says:

    Wow. I have had the 7000 series setup for about a year now and finally decided to see if there was a fix for this.

    I tried the paper trick on top of the battery, and that did not work. But I saw you mentioned a “button” underneath the batery that some people have reported. In your first picture that metal band in the center of the pbattery compartment, it is only attached on one side (the “hidden” side) It should fall into a recessed notch when the battery is inserted. However at the opposite end of it, I noticed it does not line up with the “notch” underneath it, so it is not being fully depressed and probably triggering a button underneath. Putting the piece of paper on that, allowed the battery to depress it completely and now my mouse is charging up :) 15 minutes now and no red flashing light.

    Thanks!

  124. Philip says:

    thank you thank you thank you, i have returned my mouse twice a still had the charging issue, your solution worked like a charm i used a piece of cigarette package for a snug fit.

  125. sam says:

    thank you. this instruction works for me.

  126. Peter Ridge says:

    @Davey: Wow, that’s really going at the solution head on. Thanks for the update. Glad it worked so well.

  127. Peter Ridge says:

    @Neuromancer: Thanks for the additional info on that plastic band being part of the switch/button. I had suspected it but wasn’t sure without opening the mouse completely. From the various replies, it sounds like some people have the switch problem whereas others have the electrical contact problem.

  128. Ajaz M says:

    @ Peter. Hi, thanks for the fix. I have Desktop 8000. While this fixed the mouse issue, the Keyboard still keeps blinking red(less than 2 months old)Tried your method as well as replacing batteries, still no go.

  129. David Harrington says:

    Thanks,

    This has been driving me nuts.

    D.

  130. Peter Ridge says:

    @Ajaz: Hi, you’re the second person who has encountered this problem with the keyboard. What kind of batteries have you tried so far? Unfortunately, I don’t have one to test with but will see if anyone I know has one. If you have any more info, do let me know.

  131. DG says:

    For what i heard and it seems to work here, is that you have to recharge the battery more often. When it blinks red, just get it off and place it again (mostly when it was empty). When you’ve done this like 10 times its charges up.

    Recharge earlies to not get this problem.

  132. Peter Ridge says:

    @DG: Thanks for the info!
    @Ajaz: Give DG’s suggestion a try and let us know how it works for your case.

  133. Kevin Parkin says:

    Paper method didn’t work but inserting suitably-sized washers at the spring end of the battery compartment did.

    It seems that the extra pressure improves the contact.

    Both mouse and keyboard had red blinking light problem. Both now solved.

  134. Peter Ridge says:

    @Kevin: Lots of creativity brewing here :)

  135. Ajaz M says:

    @ Peter/DG
    The existing batteries just dont recharge through the Keyboard charger no matter what I do. I went and bought a regular NiMh Electrical Charger and 4 new NiMH 2000 batteries. The new batteries dont have the red LED blinking issue now when I insert and connect through the Keyboard Charger, probably because they are fully charged. I recharged the earlier batteries in the electric charger and they recharged and inserted them again. This time though they work, if I connect the charger, again after a few seconds the RED blinking LEDs are back.

  136. Dotternetta says:

    Thanks for the tip! I now know where to look.

  137. Mclusky says:

    Awesome! It actually worked, thank you so much!

  138. Elaine says:

    I wrapped the paper snuggly around the battery. Working now.
    Thanks.

  139. NeoN says:

    Thanks a lot, now I understand why it flashed red.
    Can anybody say, how long it should be charged?

  140. Tyler says:

    Thank you! Fixed my problem…

  141. Peter Ridge says:

    Depends how dead it is. Just let it charge until the throbbing green LED becomes a solid green one.

  142. Bryan says:

    Wow thanks for the tip it worked like a charm on my 7000!

  143. Ragnar says:

    Thanks a lot! Paper on top of the battery and a thin piece of metal between the + pole and contact sorted it out.

  144. Dimitri says:

    Hi all,

    I must have an issue with my battery as none of the solutions work. What battery do I need to buy to replace the current one?

  145. Peter Ridge says:

    It should say on the battery. Mine is a nickel metal-hydride (NiMH), size AAA.

  146. Dimitri says:

    Thanks Peter – So any rechargeable battery will do as long as it is the same kind as the one it came with originally?

  147. Peter Ridge says:

    @Dmitri: Yes, any one will do as long as it’s a AAA NiMH. Of course, higher mAh rating will last longer. Also, so-called “pre-charged” rechargeable batteries hold their charge longer.

  148. Henry Richards says:

    I lost the instructions for my Microsoft Laser Mouse 7000. How do I open it to replace the battery? This is not the rechargeable model.

    Thanks

    Henry Richards

  149. Peter Ridge says:

    I’ve never seen a Microsoft Laser Mouse 7000 that wasn’t rechargeable. If it’s got a battery in it, there should be a battery compartment door on the bottom of the mouse.

  150. Nic says:

    Another solution is to just break the little plastic rails off.

  151. thefatbob says:

    Hi,
    Mouse (7000) worked great for 6 months then started doing this. This fix did not work for me :(
    I will try to find a longer battery.
    Am I the only one that thinks that MS should have put a hole in the dock for the laser so that the mouse would still work while being charged. I love the feel of the mouse, but come on, it has to work.

    Has anybody broken the little plastic rails off

  152. Peter Ridge says:

    @thefatbob: It would be cool if the mouse could work while in its dock. As for breaking off the plastic rails, someone left a comment saying that it worked.

  153. Unfortunately the solution didn’t work for me (it would give one green pulse and then go back to flashing red). I found that Energiser Rechargables 900mAh works fine though with no need for paper, cutting the plastic or extra metal.

  154. Peter Ridge says:

    @Anthony: Thanks for the feedback on a replacement battery.

  155. thefatbob says:

    Yeah Nic said that it would be a solution but. It sounds like a suggestion, not a comment that he did actually break them off. Anyways I put in a duracell rechargeable battery (with a white top, it’s supposed to be an eneloop rebadge) and everything is good and flashing green.

    Thanks for the blog

  156. Peter Ridge says:

    @ thefatbob: Ah, yes. You are correct. Nic didn’t say he actually removed them. I’d think the metal tab would come loose if you did.

  157. Marvin says:

    I’ve had this problem for a long time already with my MS 8000 wireless laser mouse. Does your ideas with the pictures also apply to my MS 8000? I haven’t had any luck with any of the suggested ideas short of replacing the battery. I.m going to try to find a new battery tomorrow, and if that doesn’t fix it… ??

  158. Marvin says:

    Hi Peter,
    Did you mean to say AA batteries instead of AAA on posts 145 & 147? Because mine just has one “AA” battery.

  159. Peter Ridge says:

    @Marvin: Others have indicated that the various fixes mentioned here worked for the 8000 as well as the 7000. The 7000 version of the mouse has a AAA size battery (you can see it indicated in the third photo of the post: NiMH-AAA). A quick Google search indicates that the 8000 uses a AA instead.

  160. Marvin says:

    Thanks, I should have noticed that. Also I haven’t actualy tried the paper clip trick yet either. I’m amazed at the amount of replies that are so specifically on the same problem. Surely these threads will get through to the MS team!

  161. Larry says:

    Thanks, I tried a slightly different solution, I wound tape around the battery (made the battery slightly thicker, and now it is charging away. The switch in this mouse is of the curved metal? type, I don’t know where the sensor is actually located, but when the paper didn’t work….

  162. Marvin says:

    Hi Larry,
    What model and production date is on the back of your mouse?

  163. Alex says:

    The weird thing I had was that my 8000 charged just fine from my desktop, but not from my laptop (new Vaio). I thought it was a problem with the laptop USB port. The paper trick fixed this – now it charges from the laptop too. Thank you!

  164. YtouchPro2 says:

    Thanks for the fix to this problem. I had to do the paper AND small piece of metal on the positive terminal to get it to work properly. Threw out a good 7000 mouse to get this one as the same thing has happened!!.
    Thanks again.

  165. James says:

    I have had the same problem since I bought the mouse and nothing I have tried has ever worked. The mouse simply will not charge a battery anymore. At first it was intermittent but now it fails to charge every time. I finally gave up trying to fix it and just bought a separate charger that I use. But it sucks that Microsoft has not addressed this issue and that I paid extra for a product that has an obvious design flaw.

  166. steve yard says:

    Thanks for the fix. Worked great for me and my 7000 Wireless mouse. Can’t believe MS doesn’t test their stuff before it goes out the door. :/

  167. Don says:

    Re the individual who used the paperboard from the packaging… Maybe MS should print some instructions on the packaging itself… dashed-line cut-out with instructions how to “complete” the mouse!

  168. Narayan Kanoor says:

    Peter, excellent diagnosis, and work around. I also think a penny or a small metal disc at the neg. end will also push the battery towards the contact. Another solution is to glue a small strip of sponge on the battery cover. I also found that taking the battery out and reseating it will sometimes fix the problem. Anyway, thanks for posting the pictures and providing a solution. There is nothing in the documentation to even suggest what this flashing red LED means.

  169. Charlie says:

    The green light throbs and glows brightly indicating the long awaited recharging has successfuly begun. I continue to stare at the lime green beauty in complete amazement. Away with you nasty red blinker! Forever banished (I hope) from my desktop. ;) Thanks Peter!

  170. Zoey says:

    Thanks~ It really worked!
    You are amazing!
    I can’t believed that MS didn’t test this product before the sell it! It works good in the beginning then it got bad.

  171. Rany says:

    Thank you for taking the time to post this. It helped fix my issue !!

  172. Kyle Sutton says:

    I just inherited my MSWM 7000 from my boss (probably because is stopped charging for him). Your insight took care of the problem. Now I can mock him openly for not using Google in a proficient manner.

    Small victories make the war seem winable.

    Thanks

  173. Bob Lib says:

    I agree with Neuromancer on November 24th. I bent my positive contact so that the fit to the battery was bolt tight and it still wouldn’t charge. I noticed the curved piece of metal behind the battery that clicks like a switch when I pressed it with the a paperclip. So I jammed a wad of paper on the curved metal so that the battery would depress it when replaced. That finally did the trick for me. I think the roll of paper is the right solution butit fixes a different problem.

  174. john says:

    How random is this whole problem, wtf is up with micrsoft.

    anyway did as suggested and it worked! and i did as one user suggested and used some of the paper from the destructions! double result!

  175. Mike DaR says:

    I just p/up the key/mice and feel like i’m going to bust if this battery doen’t charge. Its been in the cradle for 3 hours and still does’nt show green. have i been set up? can I use a regular battery? Holla bac!

  176. Peter Ridge says:

    @Mike: If they’re new, let them charge up overnight before you panic.

  177. Peter says:

    Thank you all. It took 6 thicknesses of my yellow legal pad but it is charging fine.

  178. Mike DaR says:

    I did let it charge overnight and it did not charge. I tried the folded sheet wrap, but will double tonight…think it will help?

  179. Mike DaR says:

    It Charged; but only lasted for a minute! (I Can’t WiIN!). I went on E-Bay and purchased some duracell pre-charged rechageable batteries and I hope tat will solve my problem. I believe my Rechrg Bat that came with the product may be to old to get back in shape so in the future I will probable not purchase a MS Key and Mouse. I want to thank all for the supoer great advice and education! Thanks again!

  180. Mike DaR says:

    4give my gramatical errors!

  181. Mike DaR says:

    Corrected: It Charged; but only lasted for a minute! (I Can’t Win!). I went on E-Bay and purchased some Duracell pre-charged rechargeable batteries and I hope that will solve my problem. I believe my Rechargeable Bat that came with the product may be too old to get back in shape so in the future I will probably not purchase a MS Key and Mouse. I want to thank all for the super great advice and education! Thanks again!

  182. Peter Ridge says:

    @Mike: A new battery was just what I was going to suggest. Hope that takes care of it for you!

  183. Jakob H. Christensen says:

    A great guide, but it did not do the trick for me and my wireless 8000 mouse.

    I did as Bob Lib suggest, and pinched the the bend piece of metal together, with a pair of scissors (you gotta make use of what you can find in your office ;o) and it did the trick for me.

    Peter Ridge: Could this perhaps be added to your fix?

  184. meiii says:

    Wow, Thank you. This worked. My mouse actually charged over night and it worked without saying low battery after 5mins of usage.

    I have a MS Laser Mouse 7000.

  185. Peter Ridge says:

    @Jakob: Glad Bob’s fix worked for you. The list of solutions continues to grow. I may need to summarize them either as an update to this post or in a new one.

  186. Andrew says:

    Thanks so much this worked perfectly!! Great pics & description.

  187. Steve says:

    I’d like to clear a few things up and summarize some details…

    1) The mouse (and keyboard) are not made by Microsoft. They buy it from a third party.

    2) The battery installed in the mouse IS NOT a standard-sized AAA battery. It is ever so slightly smaller in diameter which I believe is the majority of the problem. And as many have noticed, the positive tip IS shorter. I am inclined to say that the mouse was built around a normal AAA battery and someone – either the OEM manufacture or whomever packages the mice – decided to use a cheap battery which doesn’t measure-up to the AAA standard (in size).

    3) If you decide to replace the battery, do not just buy a “rechargeable” battery as you might get a NiCad battery. As others have said, get a NiMH battery.

    4) There is not really such a thing as a “pre-charged” battery. When batteries are manufactured, they are made up of chemicals which naturally create the voltage and current that a battery provides. From that point, they can be discharged, changing the states of the chemical. When recharged, the chemicals return to the state (composition) that they were in when manufactured. All rechargeable batteries are produced “fully charged” but the charge begins to “decay” (lose charge without a load) as soon as they are assembled. Some batteries, like NiCad’s, are worse than others. NiMH, which are better than NiCad, still lose their charge and will probably be dead when you get them. Li-ion (Lithium-ion) batteries keep the charge the best.

    5) I have disassembled the 7000 mouse and the band under the battery is not a switch. I believe it is a spring designed to hold the battery tightly in place, against the cover, and also cause it to pop up when the cover is removed – to make it easy to get out. Since there are problems with the battery being properly seated deep enough in the compartment, this spring – along with the smaller-than-normal battery – make the problem worse. If you use one of the methods to push the battery down, farther into the compartment, you might want to push the band down gently to bend it. If it rests below the lip of the slot then it won’t interfere. I don’t suggest you do this unless you use something to push the battery down (paper, etc.)

    6) Be aware that in normal operation, the battery is held in a position (upside-down) that just lends itself to not being deep enough in the compartment. This is exacerbated if you lift the mouse up and tap it down – or if you get pissed enough to give it a good rap on the mouse pad. Note, this may also FIX the problem, temporarily, because the loose battery will bounce and probably make better contact – for a while.

    7) You might want to consider a more permanent (and possibly less destructive) solution to the problem if your problem is a “connection” one. I have taken a piece of the stuff you put on the bottoms of items you set on fine furniture to prevent scratches. It is made of felt and has double-faced tape on one side. They also come in pre-cut “dots” that are perfect. Put some on the inside of the cover, at the end that goes over the positive end of the battery. Also, if you have the means, one of the best solutions is applying a small amount of solder to the positive tip. This is really the fix that overcomes the real problem of the battery not being the proper size/dimension.

    Now, something I’ve always wondered… As strange as it sounds, shouldn’t the plural of mouse, when it is a computer device, be mouses?

  188. Peter Ridge says:

    @Steve: Thanks for the additional info and your findings after taking apart the mouse.

  189. David Canales says:

    I got a even easier fix to this. grab a knife or a flat screwdriver and stretch out the spring on the negative side so there can be more pressure against the positive side when the battery is inserted. mouse should be charging fine after that

  190. Duncan Lamont says:

    I can’t believe the MS 7000 mouse is still sold when it is clear this is an ongoing design fault. I have spent the last day so frustrated that this brand new mouse wouldn’t charge despite 3 changes of rechargeable battery. I was about to give up and use standard alkaline batteries when I found this solution. I too, was so surprised when it worked. Thank you.

  191. Chris Elliott says:

    Hi All. tried all of the above but they did not work. But what did work for me was to clean the battery terminals and the mouse contact points with a alcohol based cleaner. I then used the tip of a sharp knife to clean (scuff – for want of a better word) all 4 contact points again. What i did notice is the negative terminal (bottom) on the battery became very bright.
    This has done the trick. As i have discharged the battery 4 times this week and it has charged each time.
    My reasoning is. The battery may have built up a “film” on the terminal, either as it was made or as it has sat in the box waiting for me to buy it.

  192. Tuucan says:

    wow dude thx to you i am not going to break the damn mouse down (:
    Thx for spending time and solving hundreds problem (:

  193. Unu says:

    Thanks a lot! Worked perfectly for me, too.

  194. Tika says:

    Peter, thank you so much for posting this and getting all the miffed MS mousers to pipe up. I own two of these 7000′s and only one of them has given me the red light headaches. I was ready to try and replace what I thought was a ‘dud’ battery, however upon trying the ‘paper trick’ have been rewarded with the pleasant green glow instead of the angry red one.
    I don’t usually post to forums but since I found it so helpful I figured it was time to break my silence and chime in.
    Good on ya mate!

  195. Peter Ridge says:

    @Tika: Thanks for leaving a comment. Glad it did the trick for your ‘dud’ mouse. :)

  196. Dan Ramble says:

    Thanks for the step by step!I’ve had this problem for a year! I used to just think it was luck that would charge it.

    Cheers

  197. Petre says:

    The metal band underneath the battery is not a switch at all, it’s a heat sensor which allows the charging mechanism inside the battery to turn off so it doesn’t overcharge. With quick chargers when the battery is fully charged its temperature increases. I believe that during normal charge it constantly regulates the temperature by turning on and off the charging mechanism. The problem I’m having with my 8000 mouse is that no matter what kind of battery I put in (fully charged or fully drained) I get the flashing red problem. It happens before the battery even gets hot enough to activate the sensor. I have cleaned all the contacts on the mouse and charger, and the battery has good connection inside the compartment. I believe that most of the problems that people are having are caused by the heat sensor attached to the metal band being defective.

  198. Bob Saget says:

    I ******* l0v3 you man your fix was ******* awesome. you're the best.

  199. Andrew says:

    Thanks for the tip. This has bugged me for ages, just added the paper and it works fine now! cheers.

  200. Tobias says:

    I tried all the suggested fixes:

    cleaned the connectors
    put alu foil on the small tip to increase connectivity
    folded paper even 4 times to get real pressure on

    but to no avail.
    This mouse won’t work and even had to get the correct driver from microsoft’s site as the CD delivered with the mouse doesn’t work with Win7.

    Guess I have no choice then to bring the mouse back to the store and grab me a Logitech like I have at home.

    Thanks for the tips nonetheless.

  201. ehjay says:

    Fu#**’n Genius. Beautiful way to Macgyver the mouse. Thank you!

  202. Thanks for the tips so far, my Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 has given me trouble for 18 months. My fix in the end was to wedge a paper clip between the nipple of the battery and its contact inside the mouse, the battery didnt seem long enough to get a good contact, this work so i retrofitted the battery so the paper clip is stuck to the side of the battery and runs over the top of the battery nipple, tricky to put back in the compartment and had to fiddle a bit before i caould get the cover to fit flush but this is now charging properly for the first time in ages and i thought it was the contacts on the base!
    Thanks for your pointers guys, couldnt have done it without a few clues first!

    :-)

  203. JR says:

    Thank you worked perfectly first time and my mouse is charging for the first time! Only bought this today and have saved me the effort taking it back.

  204. Ross says:

    Just bought a new MS wireless mouse 7000,charged it,did not work, no flashing light,retailer could not work it either, replaced it no problem,new mouse flashing red and green,but did not work,at all, tried the paper system,now flashing green light and presto it works,Thankyou

  205. Lee evans says:

    Thank you very much for this sorted my 7000 out a treat

    Lee

  206. Sue Loh says:

    Thanks for helping me fix my mouse problems!

  207. D says:

    Hey dude, managed to fix my work mouse thanks to your guide. Thanks a lot, appreciate the guide and time you took to write it.

    Peace.

  208. Dottie says:

    Wow; this totally worked! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I got the keyboard/mouse set last week & have been trying to get the mouse to work to no avail. I have also been on microsoft’s website trying to find out what the problem was-again to no avail. Finally after googling a number of times, I ran across your solution. A+++++++++ Thanks so much for sharing! The web & you Rock!

  209. Peter Ridge says:

    Thanks, Dottie. What words/phrases were you googling before you found this blog post?

  210. pc says:

    thanks

  211. Colin says:

    Hey, I just took a knife and cut the two plastic guards and now it works great!

  212. Paulie says:

    I’ve tried all of the solutions mentioned here including some of my own, and none of them, I mean none of them worked! Tried the paper, broke the plastic rails off, bent the positive side connection more forward, stretched the negative spring side til it popped off and almost took my eye out (oddly enough, I laid the loose spring back in, put the battery back in, removed the battery just to see, and now the spring is locked back in place somehow!). Anyway, I also took the cradle apart and couldn’t see any problems there. I then decided to do more searching, and I came across a reviewer on Newegg that said the problem is with a faulty hidden switch. I’m like, where the hell is this thing??? I took the battery out and looked again. Sure enough, I found it! To locate it, remove your battery of course. Now, right in the center there is a plastic “switch” that runs vertical across the width of the battery chamber. Don’t know why I never noticed it before, it’s completely visible! Anyway, I pressed softly on it with a pen tip, and it seems to move in and out and I could even hear a slight click! Switch located! The suggestion by the Newegg reviewer was to fold paper and put it UNDER the battery. Well, I didn’t get that far because after playing around with pushing the pen tip against the switch, I guess I pushed a little too much and the switch got stuck inward. I was like, oh great! I put the battery back in and decided to try charging it, and now it’s working perfectly! I don’t recommend pushing the switch in til it gets stuck, but you might want to try the folded paper method, at least directly over the switch and then pop the battery back in and see if that solves the problem for you.

  213. Peter Ridge says:

    Hi Paulie. Thank you, your post was helpful. Don’t worry, it was not removed. I just hadn’t reviewed it yet. All new commentors’ submissions go into a moderator queue for review before appearing on the site (there’s a little note below the comment entry box).

  214. Paulie says:

    Hi Peter! I know, I realized that after my hasty second message. Somehow after I posted the second time, I was able to see my original message and it said it was awaiting confirmation. I was like, OOPS! and couldn’t find a way to delete it. If you want you can delete the messages after 212. By the way, you asked someone above how they found this thread through Google, so I thought I’d let you know how I found it. I searched “wireless laser mouse 7000 flashing red” and this came up in the #1 spot! Sorry again for my hasty reply and thanks for not hacking my head off for my rude re-post!

    Best regards,
    Paul

  215. Peter Ridge says:

    @Paulie: Hey, no problem. If you have fixes for other things, let me know. I can post about them as well, with proper attribution, of course.

  216. Steve Bailey says:

    I too tried the piece of paper under the battery holder. While it worked initially, it wasn’t long before the dreaded red light returned. I gave it to an engineer at our company who dismantled the mouse to find the purpose of the supposed “switch”. It turns out that there is no switch on ours at least. We have a metal spring clip supporting the battery to which is attached a brown flexible circuit board strip. This contains a thermistor which measures how how hot the battery is getting during the charging process. To avoid overheating and potential battery explosion, the charging circuit is turned off when the detected battery temperature is too high. When batteries have low internal resistance (i.e when they need replacing), they heat up much more during the charging process. Therefore you should not try and charge a damaged battery. By placing paper or plastic strip between the battery and the spring metal cradle, you are insulating the temperature sensor from the battery. THIS COULD LEAD TO OVERCHARGING AND EXPLOSION SO DO NOT DO IT. Instead, simply replace the NiMh battery with a fully charged unit and your red light woes should disappear.

  217. Peter Ridge says:

    Thanks for the info, Steve.

    I just want to reiterate that Steve’s warning above is regarding putting anything under the battery. If your flashing red LED is due to a poor battery connection, then the paper-on-top solution (between the battery and battery cover) is worth a try and will not interfere with the thermal safety mechanism under the battery.

  218. Steve Bailey says:

    Good point Peter.

    Steve

  219. Mike says:

    Same problem kept my Logitech MX700 from charging….needed a slightly different fix, but I never would have known where to start looking w/o this page. Thanks so much to the author….

  220. Peter Ridge says:

    @Mike: Thanks. So what was the fix for your Logitech MX700? Someone else may run into the same thing.

  221. Tips says:

    Wow! that really worked for me :). Thank you so much.

  222. Matt says:

    For me, I found the paper trick only works with the mouse power switch in the “on” position otherwise it will blink red when “off’.

  223. Shawn says:

    My battery appears to be charging indicated by the pulsing green light, but the mouse will not work.
    If I replace the rechargable battery with a normal Eveready battery it works fine. Really frustrating because it defeats the purpose of purchasing a rechargeable mouse.
    Any ideas?

  224. Peter Ridge says:

    If the pulsing never stops, then the rechargeable batteries probably need replacing. If the LED goes solid green, yet the mouse doesn’t work, try the batteries in another device to see if they’re any good. After 200-500 charge cycles, rechargeable batteries tend to no longer hold much of a charge.

  225. Paulie says:

    *UPDATE* I do agree with a previous poster when he said that if the battery level gets too low, this will also cause the light to flash red when charging. Then you have to keep releasing it from the cradle and placing it back down several times in order for the battery to get a little bit of a charge before it takes over and is able to charge fully on its own without fault. Depending on your usage, I think placing the mouse on the charging cradle about every two weeks will help prevent the battery from being discharged far beyond the point where you will have these charging problems. There really doesn’t seem to be a “perfect fix” for this problem, as some of the suggestions worked for some users, and others didn’t, so maybe this is the only issue standing in the way. Try it and see if it works for you.

  226. Anand says:

    This article is so VERY much appreciated. Bought my MS Wireless Laser Mouse just two weeks ago. Same problem (flashing red lights) as described started this week. Was very frustrated and tried to download the MS manual for this mouse but THEY DON’T HAVE IT. They just have the technical details. What a dumb thing for them to do!!! I paid $80 + tax for this, you’d think something so expensive would be design-flawless no?

    Anyhow, thanks very much for this post. Was thinking I needed to RMA the mouse but your advice and diagnosis was bang on. Kudos and gracia to you Mr.!!!

  227. karl says:

    Thanks for posting this! It worked on my 7000, too!

  228. karl says:

    I found another way to fix it. Use a tiny, flathead screwdriver and with the battery removed, gently bend the positive contact tab in the mouse toward the battery tip. It wasn’t even a noticable bend, I just flexed it a few times.

    Then I popped the battery back in and it charges like it should. Hope that helps!

  229. Peter Ridge says:

    Good one, Karl!

  230. Gal says:

    Just a thought but I don’t think the tab at the bottom is the problem. When you put a normal battery in the mouse not even fully pressed down the mouse still works. Perhaps it is more of a connection problem as others have been saying. No luck with mine yet but still working on it.

  231. Francisco says:

    For me, this tutorial has worked perfectly. I would like to thank for it, really helped!

  232. Mike says:

    The simplest solution to this the 7000 series. is to simply trim off some of the plastic out coat near the terminal end. did it, works like a charm!

  233. Zach says:

    I tried the paper trick and it didn’t work for me. My mouse will blink green for a little while longer with the paper inside, but then goes back to a flashing red LED.

    I’m not exactly sure what you mean with the tin foil, do you just take a small piece and put it between the positive tip and metal plate? I haven’t tried this yet because I’m afraid of shorting out the mouse.

    Any help is appreciated!

  234. Peter Ridge says:

    If the problem is that the positive battery terminal is too short, then yes you put the foil between the positive tip and the metal plate.

  235. Tanny says:

    thanks tonne………..that worked for me

  236. Scott Rossetti says:

    I just fixed two of my 8000 laser mice (mouses?). It was a two step process

    1/ Shave off a little of the case around the positive (pointy) end of the battery to effectively extend the knob onto the matching contact in the mouse

    2/ Run sticky tape laterally around the battery at the positive end to force the metallic switch in the mouse down a little further. I ran the tape around about 6 times.

    I suspect that the batteries Microsoft used when setting up these mice were a slightly larger diameter with a longer protruding positive terminal

  237. Thamim Karim says:

    Nice one! Fixed my problem and saved me alot of hassle. Thanks!

  238. Tudor Ciobanu says:

    Thank you very much for the tip, my mouse works now perfect!

  239. Brian Ball says:

    Brilliant! I was like, “no way, really…?” and you were like “bam! here’s what you need” and I was like “sweet!” … hahaha sorry for the valley girl rant but seriously, THANK YOU! Now on to the economy…

  240. Peter Ridge says:

    Valley talk? Gag me with a spoon! You’re welcome, Brian. Happy mousing.

  241. Allen says:

    Has replacing the stock short terminal green battery with a different rechargable battery been considered? I know, I know, more $$, but I regularly buy NIMH regargables from Harbor Freight for under $10 per 4 pack. For roughly $2 I can get a sing AAA battery with a longer terminal, same charging capacity, and not have to worry about the work around. Was there anything special about the battery that came with the mouse?

  242. Peter Ridge says:

    Yes, Steve (comment #2) mentioned replacing the battery with one that has a longer (normal?) positive tip. However, there are multiple problems that ended up being expressed in the comments, with associated solutions. Guess I should update my original blog post with a summary of the various issues and their fixes.

  243. Ken says:

    It’s amazing how something so simple can fix a problem that’s affecting so many people. Thank you a bunch for this!

  244. Phydeux says:

    Here’s a secondary fix. Mine had problems with the posts contacting the charger. Turned out there’s very little “spring” in the metal holding the prongs up in the charger. My fix is to peel back just enough of the rubber feet on the charger to expose the 4 screws, open it up, and put either a thin bit of soft foam or paper under the prongs. I used a section of a handy coin roll. Put it back together and the paper provides more than enough lift to keep the prongs in contact.

  245. Bud Aaron says:

    Yesterday I got a refurbished (Geeks) Microsoft Wireless Laser 7000 keyboard and mouse. I followed instructions here because I was getting a flashing red light on my mouse. I decided to insert a regular AAA battery and it worked. My son went out and bought me a new battery. Worked like a charm. Green blinking light on the charger – let it charge for an hour and I’m good to go.

  246. FRANCISCO JAVIER SALAZAR says:

    Increible. Muchas gracias.

  247. Will says:

    Thank you so much, this worked like a charm.

  248. Chas says:

    Thanks for that tip, it worked for me.

  249. cjtk says:

    thx for this tip. It´s works phantastic and solves my problems with rechargeable the battery from the mouse. Shame on Microsoft for this error.

  250. Chris says:

    Thank you very much. The fix worked perfectly.

  251. Blumfeld says:

    Seriously, I love you! ALmsot got so freustrated with my mouse that I bought a new one, but this help saved me! You’re a hero!

  252. rodney o. jackson says:

    GUARANTEED PERMANENT REPAIR—red blinking light

    i am an electronic engineer with many years experience. i opened up a microsoft laser wireless mouse 7000, and diagnosed this problem (actually there are 4 distinct problems all going on at once). #1)where the positive battery contact is connected to the circuit board, they forgot to solder the connection!!! #2)where the negative battery contact is connected to the circuit board, they forgot to solder the connection!!! #3)the long silver piece of metal that hangs out across the battery, should be soldered (at 2 places) where it attaches to the circuit board (very important, since this is the main culprit). #4)where the positive terminal of the battery touches the positive contact of the mouse, there are 2 small pieces of black plastic (one on each side of the positive battery contact in the mouse), break them both out, and throw them away (they are too thick, and prevent the positive terminal of the battery from making good contact) (these are in the battery compartment, don’t confuse these with the 2 pieces of black plastic on the battery cover).

    NOTES: A)to open the case, remove the 4 feet (pads), then remove the 3 screws underneath the feet, and pry the base from the mouse with a knife or screwdriver.

    B)because you removed the 2 black pieces of plastic, use care when closing the battery cover

    if you apply this repair, you’ll never have the problem again—–if you use the “paper fix” the problem will show up again at some point in the future.

    if you need help, or details on how or why these repairs work, feel free to contact me at rojackson@prodigy.net

  253. Justin says:

    Thank you so much for this fix. Worked perfectly!

  254. Lester says:

    Thanks very much for this information.

    Wishing you a Merry Christmas.

  255. Paul Peters says:

    This seems to work for my 7000 model mouse.

    Thank you very much.

    Happy new year from the Netherlands.

    P2

  256. Jonathan says:

    Worked perfectly. fixed my 700 series mouse. Mine was a combination of original battery being too law and improper contact. I inserted paper and was still getting flashing red. changed to a different rechargable battery that was a bit more charged and BAM. Charger is working now.

  257. Etienne says:

    Worked for me with extending the spring additionally to the piece of paper

  258. Peter Ridge says:

    @Jonathan: If your battery discharged too far and won’t charge back up in the mouse, try partially charging the battery with one of the inexpensive battery chargers. Then, put it back into the mouse. When a battery is too low, the battery sensor thinks there’s no battery installed and won’t try to charge it.

  259. Phill says:

    I’ve been struggling with this for about 6 months now trying to figure it out. Your solution worked perfect. Thanks!

  260. Justin says:

    Just bought the Laser Mouse 8000. Your solution worked perfectly. Thanks a lot!

  261. joe says:

    I’ve tried the paper, I’ve tried the using aluminum foil. The mouse is turned off. All I get is a blinking red light never a green one. At least will someone tell me what the red flashing light means? Is it charging, or is it a “Danger, danger, Will Robinson”?

  262. Peter Ridge says:

    @Joe: Flashing red means that it is not charging. The most common causes (and solutions) are that the battery is not detected (solutions: add paper to battery, add foil to or bend metal contacts, trim plastic on positive contact), it’s been overly discharged (solution: partially charge with a regular AAA charger) or it’s dead (solution: replace with a new NiMH AAA battery).

    Try charging your battery in a regular NiMH AAA charger. If it charges up fine, then the battery is good and you can try it in the mouse again. If a regular charger doesn’t work, then get a new battery.

    Edit: Missed an A. It should be AAA, not AA. Fixed.

  263. Joe says:

    @ Peter: Thank you for your help. Done the paper thing, and the foil thing, doesnt’t work. The new NiMH AAA works fine but still won’t charge, just blinks. So as I replace my battery each time I will continue to curse Mircosoft for yet another defective product and curse myself being gullible for buying.

  264. Donna says:

    I had to add more paper than just two folded – about 5 layers then it worked. Such a simple remedy! Thanks so much for posting this! :)

  265. Jeremey says:

    I have been fooling around with this new mouse that I got all morning. I was about to stuff it back in the box and take it back until I came across this little miracle post! Thanks for being smarter that the folks at Microsoft who design these things!

  266. Peter Ridge says:

    @Donna: Wow, that’s quite a bit of paper. Thanks for the feedback.

    @Jeremey: Glad it helped. Waiting in the return line is no fun.

  267. Andrew says:

    Just bought this mouse. I had the same problem it not charging. The paper worked great! Thanks very much! You saved me $30 :)

    One question, how often should i turn off the mouse? Every night after computer use, when I shut down my computer?

  268. Peter Ridge says:

    @Andrew: If it’s just overnight or over the weekend, I would just leave it on. It should be fine. If you’re not going to use it for many days, then shut it off and unplug the charger.

  269. Andrew says:

    I should not turn it off on the switch on the bottom every night? Isn’t the laser still on if it’s still on?

  270. Kevin says:

    How do you know if the mouse is charging? I bought a new duracell rechargeable and now it flashes green (3 flashes. Pause. 3 Flashes. Pause) but then it flashes red.

  271. Peter Ridge says:

    @Andrew: Wireless mice will switch to a low-power state after a period of inactivity. Of course, it’ll still consume a little power, but not as much as when it’s completely awake. For maximum battery conservation, of course, you can just turn it off.

  272. Peter Ridge says:

    @Kevin: A throbbing green light means it’s charging. If it flashes red, it’s not charging and will require one of the many fixes listed here.

  273. Locke says:

    Awesome solution! I was skeptic, but desparate. It worked like a charm. Thanks Peter!

  274. thepand says:

    Thank you so much for posting this, I just got this mouse today and was upset that it wasn’t charging. This fixed it immediately. I cannot believe the amazon reviews did not have anything about this. i am going to post a review there now. thank you!

  275. Luke Edwards says:

    I’ve had so many customers over the years with the same problem. The rechargeable battery that came with their mouse will no longer recharge. This seems to affect all different brands not just the 7000/8000 Microsoft Models. I’m in agreeance with the above posters that this is a problem with the battery post actually being shorter than the original battery and is not making a good enough connection to charge. Also Ive noticed the rechargeable batteries that come with these kinds of mice have a very low milliamp hour rating. Many name brand rechargeable’s have a much higher rating and it’s also possible that the charging circuit is not designed for such a high rating. The very simple solution I’ve found is to purchase a lot (Try and get a single battery first to check for length) of super cheap generic rechargeable batteries from China. Or go find and buy some cheap outdoor led path lights. These almost always have a single or if your lucky double AAA or AA battery that fits perfectly! I’ve picked them up at Walmart, Home Depot, Menards, Low’s, and even found them at Staples for as low as $1.50 a piece. Hope this helps a few people out.

  276. Tom says:

    THANK YOU SO MUCH! I just got this mouse a few weeks ago and i thought i was going to have to take it back because it couldn’t hold a charge. Thanks for finding out the problem and informing all of us about it, and posting it.

  277. Chet says:

    Worked perfectly…….Thanks so much for posting this solution. Mouse was about to go in the trash………

  278. Araminta says:

    Worked perfectly. I was about to trash the mouse. Thanks a ton! ♥

  279. cchase says:

    Turning the mouse off didn’t work for me at all. In fact it was worse than the paper trick, because with the paper trick it would charge for a few minutes and then start flashing red. By turning it off, it started flashing red immediately.

    I did figure out a solution for mine though. This may not apply to all the mice with this problem though.

    When I looked at the included battery, I noticed that it was very long and the metal pole that forms the + end of the battery was very short. This caused it to not make a good contact with the metal plate in the mouse at the + end. I compared it with some other AAA batteries. You can see a picture here:

    http://imgur.com/a/BSINP

    I replaced the included battery with another rechargeable AAA battery I had with a longer + pole. This seems to have worked. Now the + end makes good contact with the metal plate and spring, and charges with no issue.

  280. Peter Ridge says:

    @cchase: Yes, the included battery does have a short tip. Thanks for the photo comparison between the variety of batteries you found.

  281. Simon Watson says:

    Perfect fix; worked exactly as described. Thanks for taking time to post…i was going to throw the mouse as i thought i was faulty thanks again

  282. Ace says:

    I love you. So far so good.

  283. Witek Zdunkovy says:

    Thanks, you saved my life, working perfectly

  284. Baron says:

    You are my hero!!!! Worked perfectly! Thank you!!!!!!

  285. Kia says:

    It works!!! I did not know what was going on I was about to buy I new battery until I came across this post. Thanks.

  286. kam says:

    I have the same charging problem but i switched my battery and using a 1.2V 750mAh NiMH. would that cause any problems since the original battery is 1.2V 1000mAh??
    the mouse wheel seems to work so does the buttons but the laser is off, i don’t know whats going on with it. any ideas?

  287. Peter Ridge says:

    @Simon, Ace, Witek, Baron, Kia: Glad it did the trick. Thanks for the kind comments.

    @kam: A lower mAh battery won’t cause any problems. It’ll just need to be recharged more often since it’s a lower capacity battery (25% less than the one you had before). Is that a new battery? If so, be sure to charge it overnight to make sure it’s completely full. If the laser still doesn’t work, you might temporarily try a new alkaline battery (but don’t charge attempt to charge it!) in the mouse to see if it will work.

  288. kam says:

    @Peter Hey i tried a new battery, same case. the mouse wheel and the buttons are working but not the laser.

  289. Peter Ridge says:

    @kam: If possible, try it on another computer to verify that the cursor doesn’t move, just in case it’s a software problem, before replacing the mouse.

  290. pubpuck says:

    brilliant! I own 3 of the 7000s, and I had this problem with 2 of them. I even went out and bought really awesome batteries because I thought the battery was the problem. Who knew, all I had to do was go McGywver on it?

  291. Peter Ridge says:

    @pubpuck: Yes! Gotta go MacGyver on everything. :-)

  292. angelo says:

    These mice are real bastards. Some thing so simple as placing a folded section of paper to keep it from wiggling around. If I didn’t need the mouse that much I would have dumped it in the trash! I really miss my first wireless mouse, was logotech and was so awesome they had to stop production cause it lasted too long and had no problems so they can’t make additional money off it. I accidentally plugged in the wrong power cord and fried my charging base.

  293. kyle says:

    Thank you 1000 times !!! this worked !!!! Had this thing 3 years without it working correctly and now IT DOES !!

  294. James says:

    Almost a year later and you’re still helping people out.

    My 8000 series mouse started doing the same thing. I wrapped a piece of duck tape around my battery (just a single layer and it’s the perfect width) and it worked great.

    Not the same solution, but I wouldn’t have thought of it without your help.

    Thank you.

  295. Mauricio(Chile) says:

    Wow, the tip is amazing… i was using non-rechargable batteries, but now with the paper, my problem is solved.

    THAKS!

  296. Coolie says:

    Wow! Great fix, sir.

    I do admit, however, that it took me a good amount of tinkering to get it to work properly. After the paper trick, I was STILL getting a flashing red, just as if the AAA NiMH battery I just bought (10 bucks for 4, ow) were filled with pudding.

    I was about to go on a baby punching rampage (my office is across the street from a daycare/nursery) but I decided to finagle with it some more. I took a staple, folded it up and stuck it nicely under the plastic ridges. That, combined with a different battery in my pack of 4, also with the paper buff seemed to fix it.

    My 7000 mouse is now glowing green, I’m happy, and the babies are safe…. for now.

  297. Peter Ridge says:

    @Coolie: Wow, that was quite an operation. Glad it worked out.

  298. Gonzalo Zúñiga says:

    When i connected the green battery and putedd the mouse intheri candle after y bought it, the mouse led was blinking red… I solve it charging the green baterry for at least 1 minute with another battery charger!. Now i can charge the battery in the original candle liko nothing was happenden before. :)

  299. Peter Ridge says:

    @Gonzalo: It sounds like your battery was too dead to be recharged by the smart charger in the mouse. When the voltage drops too low, the battery looks like it’s bad or not connected. Another battery charger (that’s not smart) is the only way to get it going again.

  300. Husain says:

    You are a genius! The paper trick fixed the problem!

  301. ian says:

    great article, great tip. MS support site is hopeless on his.

    i can’t tell you how much wasted time I’ve had on this – and mouse was really expensive! Such a fundamental flaw MS should do a product recall. This issue has been soooo much trouble its not worth it. Very very wary of anything with the microsoft name on it now. I’m already 50% apple, so with Mac price parity getting nearer my next kit is going in that direction!

    anyways, thanks again for the great article!

  302. Rich says:

    I found the paper trick works for while, then I’m back to square one.

    What I’ve done this time is remove the rather thick plastic sheathing on the end of the battery with a craft knife, therefore making the +ve end that little bit longer. :) Seems to be working once again.

  303. Rich says:

    Bin that idea, it doesn’t work either. lol

  304. Jay says:

    Folded up a post-it note, seems to have worked great! Simplest tricks are the best tricks, thanks for the post.

  305. Volker says:

    Hi,
    I’ve got two 8000 ones and after half a year the paper trick worked. But now they are flashing red again while charging.
    What else can I do? Are there any ideas beside the paper trick? I don’t want to search for another mouse because they are perfect for my hands,

    Best regards from Germany
    Volker

  306. Peter Ridge says:

    @Volker: If you recharge the batteries often, they may need to be replaced, although half a year is a bit soon. Rechargeable batteries typically last 300-500 cycles (full-discharge, recharge). If you have another battery available, give it a try. Some owners have put foil, wire, etc. on the positive end of the battery to improve contact with the positive terminal in the mouse.

  307. Peter Ridge says:

    @Jay: Thanks. I share your enthusiasm for simple solutions. :)

  308. Dotternetta says:

    I think the charging problem is: the battery is lazy, after 10 x retry it starts loading. It always makes contact, otherwise the mouse wouldn’t work. Foam, better contact, paper etc. didn’t help me. I think I will change the battery to another brand.

  309. Volker says:

    Hi Peter,
    thanks for you tip!
    Today I changed the batteries in my two 8000 mice and they both stated to change without the well known red light!
    I took tow Sanyo Eneloops. I think it is worth it!

    Greetings from Germany
    Volker

  310. TTTony says:

    I took a “bird beak” small pair of pliers and carefully stretched the spring on the negative side in the battery compartment and that did the trick. The operative word here is carefully, because you do not want to prise it out of the circuit board.

  311. SR says:

    Hi,

    I have the same problem with my mouse:

    - it won’t charge with it’s own battery
    - it doesn’t work with a new charged battery either

    When I first bought it, it used to blink green and then turn red, and while using it I would move it and see a big delay on the screen.

    It doesn’t seem to have the bad contact problem (the battery sticks in the place just fine) so I have no idea what the problem might be.

    Any help?

  312. Peter Ridge says:

    @SR: What do you mean by, “it doesn’t work with a new charged battery either”? The mouse doesn’t move the cursor properly or it doesn’t re-charge?

  313. SR says:

    @Peter Ridge:

    I mean that even inserting a new and fully charged battery the mouse won’t work.

  314. Peter Ridge says:

    @SR: Double-check that the power switch on the mouse is turned on. Try cleaning the metal contacts in the battery compartment. If that doesn’t fix it, there’s a chance that the mouse is dead. Does the red light on the bottom of the mouse turn on at all? It should be full brightness when the mouse is close to a surface and dim to about half brightness when lifted completely off.

  315. SR says:

    @Peter Ridge:

    Nope, still not working, no light, nothing. I will try taking it to the store and getting a new one. Thanks for the help anyways Peter! I appreciate it.

  316. Robert Barnard says:

    Thank you for the tip. I have the Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 7000 (Sold by: GSI Inc., bought through Amazon.com for $19.99). Yeah, it’s a nice mouse.

    But it was doing exactly what yours was, rapid red flashing LED. I did as you suggested. Didn’t work. So I applied a thin slice of metal to bridge the cathode to the connector. Still didn’t work.

    I finally found another rechargeable AAA battery (stole from our TV remote) and tried it. The LED would slowly flash green. However, in the time it’s taken to write this comment it has given me the rapid red flash. Both times I reseated the mouse in the charge. It now sits with a solid green light.

    Hope this indicates it’s ready be as solid as my Ubuntu installation.

    Thanks again for the tip!

  317. Peter Shuttleworth says:

    Fantastic! this has been annoying me for some time now, I almost bought a separate battery charger. The number of batteries I have gone through is unbelievable especially after playing COD and Battlefield!

    Thank you for a simple fix :D

  318. Koham says:

    @Peter Ridge, Tried your method but unfortunately it did not work on my Laser 7000. Not sure what else to try.

  319. Ken says:

    You are a genius… thank you so much for this fix.

  320. Peter Ridge says:

    @Koham: Did you try some of the other suggestions in the comments? If you’ve had the mouse for a while, the batteries might simply need to be replaced.

  321. KeithW says:

    Thanks for the info. I had previously tried the piece of paper clip fix at teh positive terminal, which worked for a while. I tried your paper fiz, and it worked for a few minutes then quit.

    So I then bent the positive terminal out at the top. This has the effect of both making a stronger contact and forcing the battery deeper in teh compartment. After cleaning all contacts with a pencil eraser, re-inserting the battery and adding about 5 thicknesses of a post it notes above the battery, it workes like a champ and has now charged.

    THANKS to you and %^$#^%$#%^ to Microsfot.

  322. Paulie says:

    After a year of frustration, I have finally confirmed (at least for me) that the problem with the flashing red light while trying to charge the mouse has to do with the battery level being too low. If you wait until you get the message popping up saying that your battery level is too low, you will most likely get the red flashing light when trying to charge it. If you throw it on the cradle every two weeks and BEFORE you receive the low battery warning, you should be perfectly fine! I think the reason these other “fixes” seem to work is because through trial and error you are placing the mouse on and off the charging cradle, and in the process you are slowly giving some power back to the battery; enough to have it take the charge on its own without error. Yesterday, I forgot to put the mouse on the charger before receiving the low battery warning, and I kept getting the flashing red light. I took the battery out and charged it for about 10 minutes in a separate battery charger, then put it back in the mouse and put it back on the charging cradle, and the charging light stayed flashing green until fully charged. So I think that’s what the real problem is here everyone. Try charging your mouse BEFORE receiving the battery critically low message and I will bet it works for you. I use my computer about 10-12 hours a day and my charge can get me through about 18 days before I get the battery low message, so I try to put it on the charging cradle exactly every two weeks and it works perfectly every time. Please try this for yourself and see if it works.

  323. Peter Ridge says:

    @Paulie: Yes, if a rechargeable battery’s voltage drops too low, intelligent battery chargers will refuse to recharge it. Putting the battery into a “dumb” charger to raise its voltage is the way to fix the problem. I’ve encountered this issue with high-end standalone battery chargers too.

  324. Ignacio Carrillo says:

    It worked! Thanks a lot mate, you’ve save me from buying a new mouse, and this one was very expensive (more than it should). Cheers!

  325. Wally says:

    I was ready to pitch my model 7000 out of frustration and did a last minute search and by luck found this site. Folded paper fix worked like a charm. Saved my mouse from the trash collector!

  326. another happy e-reader says:

    Thank you so much for this tip that works !

    This mouse has been so disappointing since I’ve bought it, because of this problem (and I have changed the battery).

    BTW, I’ve had logitech MX700 mouses at work and home, and I still have a logitech MX 1000 and they have had problems to charge as well, because of design misconceptions.

    So, this is not specific to microsoft to build wrong products.

  327. DebMinty says:

    I’ve been fighting with my 7000 mouse for a year or so now. Not charging. Couldn’t get any answers from Microsoft or any of the geniuses in my family. Tech-sperts told me I needed to replace the high-power batteries. High power = high cost. Still no joy. Just lighter in the wallet. So I’ve been using a non-specific battery recharger and swapping over batteries as needed. I’m SO glad to find this site and answers. I love my mousie, I just hate flashing red lights :)

  328. DebMinty says:

    PS Can anyone tell me what that little white button is just to the left of the battery compartment?

  329. Peter Ridge says:

    @DebMinty: If your mouse no longer communicates with the computer, hitting the little white button on the underside of the mouse forces it to resync with the base receiver.

  330. hopeless mouse user says:

    wow thanks a lot.. It really works for me too.. Thank you so much for this tip :)

  331. Dotternetta says:

    I agree with Paulie: The problem is the battery, it gets lazy during the years. I changed it to another one and it starts blinking right away. All the other tricks didn’t work for me. Now draining the new battery and looking if it will charge.

  332. Ian says:

    Hey there from Germany!

    Thanks a lot for the information. I bought my Wireless Home Entertainment Desktop one year ago and through it right away in a box, because of the mouse-not-charging-problem. Now I can finally enjoy it :)

    Thank you so much!

  333. Karl says:

    Hi, Now I have a problem with the scroll wheel. it works when it wants,

    grrrr, it’s really stressfull when you are used to it

  334. lejeune marc says:

    what is the best amperage to use for the battery ?

  335. Peter Ridge says:

    @lejeune: If you’re referring to the mAh, that indicates the capacity of the battery. The higher the value, the more charge the battery can hold. If you want to recharge the mouse less frequently, get the highest mAh rating that you can find.

  336. Peter Ridge says:

    @Karl: I had mouse where the rubber around the perimeter of the wheel came loose and, as a result, wouldn’t scroll reliably. Is yours doing the same?

  337. febox says:

    I’m just writing to thank you (directly from Brazil), it worked perfectly.

  338. DealerForTheCIA says:

    It…it worked. It WORKED! Wow. I cannot believe it’s that simple. After all the stuff Microsoft told me to try, cleaning contact points, buying new batteries, when all I needed was a PostIt note and some scissors. Thanks stranger!

  339. Dan says:

    Love the simple common sense. Way to go!

  340. Karl says:

    @Peter
    yes, that’s what’s happening. First I thought it was some electronic failure as the scroll only worked sometimes (what a stress!!!) , now the rubber is loose and some kind of “mashed” rubber starts to come out, and I found that if you clean that it starts to work again. I’m trying to figure out how to open it (the mouse) right now. I’ll tell you something in case I found a viable solution to do inside.

  341. Karl says:

    no, I cannot find a way to open it, but for me it seems that the rubber is touching something inside. I fear that once the rubber breaks, no more wheel scroll…

  342. Alex says:

    Worked for me, thanks!

  343. Karl says:

    sone, the rubber is gone… still working though

  344. Peter Ridge says:

    @Karl: At that point, it may be easier to get a new mouse. Otherwise, if you find a way to get it open, you could find a rubber O-ring to fit onto the wheel.

  345. Matthew says:

    This is pure genius. Thanks a ton…couldn’t figure out what was up with the flashing red light.

  346. Becky says:

    Woohoo! I had been searching for moths for a replacment charger for this mouse with no luck, who would have thought a simple piece of paper would fix it!
    Microsoft…you suck! Peter…you rule!

  347. Yasen says:

    Great solution, mate! I used crepe tape and it works like a Charm! Thanks a bunch!

  348. Peter Ridge says:

    @Becky: Thanks! Glad to hear it did the trick for you. Happy mousing!

  349. Peter Ridge says:

    @Yasen: Crepe tape is a great idea. Thanks for sharing!

  350. Mike Tilley says:

    Just fixed two of these (8000 series) by wrapping the sticky strip from a post-it note round the battery.

    Note: on the 8000 you have to position the note carefully so that it helps to depress the curved metal spring (battery present sensor) under the middle of the battery. If you place the note too far back towards the -ve end of the battery, it will hit the plastic shelf that the -ve end sits on – this will prevent the battery from depressing the sensor, which will fail to correct the problem.

    Thanks for the solution!

  351. Saliman says:

    Works great! Thank you very very much!

  352. Chris Elliott says:

    my post 191
    i have had the same problem, again tried most of the above solutions but to no avail. what worked this time was i removed the battery and exchanged it with a rechargable battery out of my house phone for 10 days. that allowed the original battery to go through a few good charging cycles. swopped them back all is now back to normal.

  353. Cheryl says:

    WoW! Thanks so much for this information. The paper trick worked for me. :)

  354. Ken says:

    For the wireless laser mouse 8000, the metal band inside the battery compartment is not the problem, nor is the terminal length. the positive terminal firmly connects to the battery terminal without anything blocking it. The metal clip that pushes down with the battery has a thermal sensor behind it that senses when the battery gets too hot.

    I have discovered that with the 8000 mouse, the problem doesn’t lie in the mouse itself, but in the charging cradel. try elevating the front of the mouse a 1/4″ and magically it will start charging again! think corrosion builds up on the terminals between the cradel and mouse, or they just dont push down enough to make firm contact in its natural position.

  355. Peter Ridge says:

    @Ken: That’s a new twist. Thanks for the feedback. Different people encounter different issues, so it’s great to have new potential solutions to try.

  356. Mike Goggin says:

    Thanks for the tip. Mine had this problem out of the box. After trimming the extra wrapping from around the positive lead and implementing the paper trick, I finally got rid of that stupid blinking light.

  357. Crystal says:

    Why is this not working for me? I started with three times thick post-its and i’m up to 5 thick and its still giving me the red blinking light of death :(

  358. Saliman says:

    Another reason for this issue is rust that gets on the two charger metal plates that come into touch with the mouse. I used a cotton stick to clean them and voila its working again!

  359. Peter Ridge says:

    @Crystal: The metal contacts inside the battery compartment, in the bottom of the mouse or the charging station, might need cleaning or the battery could need replacing.

  360. Jim Jones says:

    Hi – excellent diagnosis and rectfication on that type of mouse. I have a Microsoft Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 7000. It is slightly different to the one described in this thread, but there is not a discussion/thread specific to the issue I have.
    The Keyboard and Mouse are paired to a USB dongle. They use regular AAA batteries.
    I can click the reset button underneath the mouse, the green light on top comes on for a few seconds and then fades off. This is how it should be.
    The mouse is not working. The receiving USB stick has a tiny led that flickers when either the keyboard or mouse is operated. It’s a tiny light and you have to look carefully to see it.
    It flickers for the keyboard but not for the mouse anymore.
    I have tried all the trouble shooter guide steps and everything MS recommends: Put the stick in other USB sockets, reinstall, etc.
    Nothing. The mouse throbs the green light when it moves, which I’m pretty sure it didn’t do before hand.
    So, good batteries, good keyboard, non-functioning mouse.
    Thanks.

  361. Peter Ridge says:

    @Jim: Hmm. I don’t have one of these, but it does sound like the problem is with the mouse. Do you know anyone else with the same keyboard and mouse combo? If so, you can try pairing your mouse with their USB dongle and vice versa to determine if the problem is the mouse or the dongle.

  362. Calvin says:

    Interesting thread I had the same trouble with a 7000 years ago. I contacted Microsoft about it and they sent me a new set and did not ask for the old one to be returned. I now have 2 working for the price of one, every now and then I win.

  363. Patrick says:

    nothing works for mine. I bought this one because I broke my ms 6000, wich had two non rechargeable batteries and it was lasting mor than a year! My solution for the 7000 is to use rechargeable batteries in a universal charger and throw the 7000 craddle in the garbage!

  364. techboy says:

    Problem:
    ——–
    Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 8000 with flashing red LED.

    Reason:
    ——-
    The problem is caused by the Rechargeable battery provided by Microsoft. It`s slightly longer than normal rechargeable ones and pushes the +voltage plate, forcing it to loose contact with the PCB.

    Solution:
    ———
    Replace the battery with other rechargeable one (make sure its no more than 1000mAh and it will be charged normally).
    I used Duracell Rechargeable 1000mAh battery, works like a charm.

    I prefer to use different battery and not to modified the mice, because the battery may loose the contact with the pads when it’s in charging process.
    Ni-MH batteries doesn’t like to be charged partly, they need full charge and full discharge. The logic inside the Mice is engineered to stop the charging process when it needs (Full Charged) and to start it when the battery voltage is not lower than 0.9V (Full Discharged). Otherwise they suffer from memory effect and they loses the charge holding abilities.

    Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 8000 LED status / states:
    ———————————————————
    Red Solid: Internal PCB or Logic error.
    Red Flashing: Alert state – No battery detected, mice working on USB cable charge lead.
    Green Flashing: Charging state – Battery charging / Working on USB cable charge lead.
    Green Solid: Normal State – Battery full charged / operating on Battery.

    Kind Regards

    Gyunay Anach
    IT-Solve Technician

  365. Gen says:

    Dood :3 you’re just awesome for this!! Thanks a lot!

  366. josh says:

    had this problem for a while, then finally google’d a solution and found your site. not surprisingly MSFT doesn’t have this level of support on their site. added the paper and it appear to be now charging. thanks!

Post Comment

Please note: Comments are moderated by an Admin and may not be publicly visible right away.


Creative Commons License This work by Peter Ridge is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Turbulent Sky Theme by Peter Ridge, based on BlueMod Theme by FrederikM.de