Does XP detect serial Mouse?

[Sher]

I reformatted my harddrive and now have no mouse. I've
installed the correct XP compatable drivers from the
manufacturer but still no mouse.

I think it's not detecting it on the serial port. How do
I work around this and get it to look for the mouse on the
serial port on boot up?

Thanks
Sher

 

[Jetro]

Sher,

Do yourself a favor and buy PS/2 or USB mouse, otherwise answer to yourself
the follow:
Is the mouse connected properly? Did the mouse exist during setup? Was it
something else connected to the serial ports during setup? Does the COM
port(s) exist in Device Manager? Does the mouse work in DOS?

 

[Nathan McNulty]

Does the mouse work in DOS??? There should be no mouse in DOS unless you
are using DOS 6.22 or someother variant. Anyways, serial mice have
problems with Windows XP. You will have to manually install the drivers
and probably in compatibility mode since most serial mice drivers are
not updated for XP (as they are a really old mouse). I would also
suggest that you look into buying a simple USB mouse. Also, I would
highly suggest looking at the optical USB mice. Microsoft and Logitech
make very good ones

Nathan McNulty

 

[Guest]

Fallen on hard times right now but let me try to ask this
question more precisely.

I reformatted my harddrive and now my mouse doesn't work.
I have Windows XP Home and did have the same before the
reformat. The mouse worked fine before I reformatted.

The mouse is functional on other computers.

It's a Logitech trackball mouse with a PS/2 connecter into
an adapter connected to a serial port in my computer.

I have installed the proper XP driver for the mouse from
Logitech.

I have only a serial port and no PS/2 port.

The mouse is not being detected at the serial port but I
do get the message that it's detected "at an unknown port"
and is non-functional.

I don't know if the mouse works in Dos (it's been 15 years
since I worked in Dos and I didn't have a mouse, so I
don't know how to use one in Dos.

I think this is the question (and the wording is hard to
convey) -
It's either, How do I direct my mouse to be on the serial
port so the computer finds it there at startup - or - How
do I get the computer to detect the mouse at the serial
port at startup.

I'm sorry if I've been confusing, it's hard to find the
answer when you don't know how to ask the question. I do
appreciate your input.

Thanks
Sher

 

[Sher]

Can't buy new, don't have the luxery right now.

How do I manually install the driver in compatibility
mode?

In case you need more info see the answer to Jetro
I tried to put in more details.

Sher

 

[Jetro]

Nathan,
Would you agree that "DOS 6.22 or some other variant" covers almost any DOS
version? ;-) When was the first commercial mouse introduced, in 1982? It was
the year of MS-DOS 1.1.

 

[Nathan McNulty]

But that would be DOS the OS, not the DOS we have today (which is really
an underlying component of an OS). I have never had a mouse pointer
when booting from a Windows 98 Bootdisk or booting into DOS. I agree
that if you actually install DOS, it will have a mouse, but who installs
that these days?

Nathan McNulty

 

[Star Fleet Admiral Q]

That's because you never loaded the device driver in the config.sys
file. MS-DOS, whether it be version 1.0 or 7.0/7.1 (found under
98/ME) can have mouse capability at the DOS prompt, provided the
correct drivers are installed, the same is true for CD drives,
joysticks, etc. P.S. DOS is DOS, there is not difference between DOS
the OS and DOS we have (what you call an underlying component of the
OS) - it is an OS - (operating system). And who installs DOS these
days, anyone who installs a Win9x OS, as DOS is the OS, and Windows is
just a graphical interface running on top of the OS. NT OS's on the
otherhand, are totally different, no DOS as you know it, and Windows
is the OS and contains a DOS emulation module (cmd.exe) that runs on
top of Windows the OS to allow backup compatibility and a command
line.

 

[Star Fleet Admiral Q]

In "device manager" - does the comm port show up and is it functional?
It would be found under the "Ports (COM & LPT)" tree and labeled
"Communications Port (COM1)" or "Communication Port (COM2)" etc. You
may need drivers for the Comm port it self, since you have a vintage
PC without any PS2 ports - WinXP may not have native drivers to
support it.

 

[Nathan McNulty]

All I can do is smile I have never had to use DOS except to do
common tasks such as FDISK and FORMAT. That is about it, so apparently
there is a lot more to DOS that I realized. I did know that the 9x core
was built on DOS, an 9x was just the GUI, however, I did not realize it
was similar to DOS 6.22 and below. I have access to all of those
versions of DOS, but I have never installed them. May be time to pull
out the DOS/Win9x DVD

Nathan McNulty

 

[Jetro]

Sher,
Did you reinstall using Quick Restore CD or regular OEM/retail Windows CD?
If the latter, can you recall whether the mouse worked or not? Did you
install SP1?
According to the Logitech site, "MouseWare does not support any serial
pointing devices. A Logitech mouse connected to the serial port will
function with native drivers, but it will not be displayed in the MouseWare
control center and you will not be able to program the buttons."

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Some PS/2 mice are sold for $20.00 US.

Can't buy new, don't have the luxery right now.

How do I manually install the driver in compatibility
mode?

In case you need more info see the answer to Jetro
I tried to put in more details.

Sher

 

[Jetro]

When I'm saying "DOS" I mean what I'm saying; the Windows Command Prompt is
not the DOS by no means. Custom-made DOS boot diskette or bootable CD is the
powerful deadly weapon of any wise and handy techie/engineer yet "today" and
"these days".

 

[Nathan McNulty]

Even less than that. You can get a MS Optical USB mouse for less than
that. I paid $9.99 for one of mine.

Nathan McNulty

 

[Nathan McNulty]

Yeah, you are totally right. I know Also, I just tried installing
XP SP2 RC2 (clean install) on a 200 MHz computer with a MS serial mouse
and had absolutely no problems. No need to install drivers or anything.
Seems weird that it won't work in this case.

Nathan McNulty

 

[Jetro]

You got MS mouse but Sher is using the Logitech model.

 

[Nathan McNulty]

You have a good point again Of course MS is going to support their
own mice I still think that she should scan for new hardware and see
if it pulls it up. The only other explanation is that the serial COM
port is conflicting with something else (maybe a modem?).

Nathan McNulty

 

[Jetro]

I believe this cool PS/2 mouse might conflict with anything in that AT box.