If you’re using a mouse with a scroll wheel, you may have noticed that the window under the mouse scrolls when you move the wheel. This is because Windows 7, XP, and Vista use a different scrolling mechanism than earlier versions of Windows. To scroll the window under the mouse in Windows 7, XP, and Vista:

  1. Click on the Start button and then click on Control Panel.
  2. Under System and Security, click on Mouse.
  3. Under Mouse Properties, click on the Pointer Options tab.
  4. In the Scrolling section, select one of the following options: If your mouse has a wheel that can be turned to scroll windows up or down (or both), select “With Wheel.” If your mouse doesn’t have a wheel that can be turned to scroll windows up or down (or both), select “Without Wheel.” If your computer has multiple monitors attached, select “On Multiple Monitors.” Otherwise, leave this setting at its default value of “Single Monitor.”
  5. Click on OK to close Mouse Properties window. ..

Reader Kevin wrote in with a great utility called KatMouse that solves this problem.

There’s only one little irritation with this utility: It changes your middle mouse button click to minimize the current window, which breaks middle-click in Firefox. No problem, we can turn that functionality off in the settings.

To reconfigure this just choose the Wheel Button tab and then change the drop-down to None of the buttons, or at least anything other than the Wheel button.

Once you make this minor adjustment, it’s perfect. Note that you can also remove the icon from the tray by using the General tab.

Download KatMouse