Cannot Install USB, Firewire, or Mouse

[Mike Burmeister]

I am having a problem with Vista. Last time I shut my computer down, my
mouse worked fine. Now it is gone. I normally use a regular Dell USB
mouse. I tried a PS2 mouse that that isn't recognized at all. So, I
plugged the USB mouse back in. The computer recognized that I plugged
something but claimed it couldn't find a driver for it. I read that
Windows Update KB938371 but I am unable to uninstall it and a system
restore doesn't fix the problem.

As an additional note to this problem: for the past couple of days ANY
USB or firewire drive that I plug in (even ones that I have used before)
will not work. As with the mouse, the computer recognizes that I plugged
something in but it can't find a driver for it.

Anybody have a solution for this other than reinstalling Vista? Having
no mouse and no connection to a external hard drive is quite an
inconvenience. Even if I DID want to back my stuff up and reformat my
computer, I don't dare do that because I have nothing to back it up on
besides a bunch of DVD's.

 

[Kirk]

I read a PC Magazine story on my Yahoo start page just fresh from a couple
hours ago that says Windows Vista Update hosed up USB devices. I was having
issues with my Media Center remote control and USB battery backup. I thought
I was going mad untill I read that!

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2284304,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05079TX1K0000992

That's a link to the story on PC Mag's web site.

Kirk

 

[adrenalin]

Thanks! I guess that explains it all. Microsoft tried fixing Vista but
made it worse. It's very hard to do my job with it messed up this bad
though.... Hopefully they come out with a fix for it really fast!