Equipment: macbook pro; leopard (up to date); apple wireless mouse +/- touchpad

Problem: operation of both the mouse and the touch pad has become intermittent... suddenly, not gradually. Even when the cursor can be moved, clicking doesn't work (on touchpad, this goes for the thumb panel, too).

Tried: replacing batteries in wireless mouse with AA instead of rechargeables (although those have always worked before); turned off wireless and removed batteries to eliminate cross interference with touchpad. Shutdown and rebooted countless times.

Thanks for helping, especially to all those who might know the fix.
jmcp

Solution: This machine, and its battery, are from summer 2007, and the battery was failing and warping. The warped case was pressing against the track pad and mouse button. The problem was immediately recognized by the wizards on 5th Ave in NYC and replacing the battery solved the problem.

Thanks to all those who at read the post. I will be back with perhaps more tractable problems, I am sure.

Thanks for posting the solution.
Another thing to add to my problem solutions folder.