XP not always detecting wireless mouse on startup

[Eric]

I recently purchased a new dell 2400 with xp pro.

I have a Microsoft wireless mouse and keyboard.

On boot, the keyboard is always working, but the mouse seems to be
detected only about 25-50% of the time. If it's not detected, then the
mouse driver does not load and the mouse does not move the mouse
cursor.

If I then go into Control panel/Mouse, I see that the mouse driver
wasn't loaded. Then I'll reboot and suddenly the mouse is detected and
the driver is loaded. Sometimes it loads, sometimes it doesn't.

The mouse batteries are fresh, and the mouse is never more then one
foot from the wireless receiver. If I plug a USB mouse into the XP
box, it works fine. If I plug a PS2 mouse into the XP box, it works
fine.

The wireless mouse/keyboard are hooked up to a KVM two port switch so
I can switch back and forth between the XP box and a 2003 Server box.
The 2003 Server box never has any problems detecting the mouse.

I switched the KVM cables back and forth between the two boxes, with
the same results, so the cables/connectors appear to be working.

Any suggestions on how I can force the mouse driver to always load on
XP?

Thanks,
Eric

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

I recently purchased a new dell 2400 with xp pro.

I have a Microsoft wireless mouse and keyboard.

On boot, the keyboard is always working, but the mouse seems to be
detected only about 25-50% of the time.

Eric,

how about having it repaired or exchanged? Still on warranty?

Hans-Georg

 

[Eric]

Eric,

how about having it repaired or exchanged? Still on warranty?

Hans-Georg

I could do that, but I'd rather find out why it works intermittently
with XP and works all the time with 2003? If it never worked with XP
and/or 2003 then I would definitely consider exchanging.

I was hoping someone could tell me why XP loses the mouse driver
sometimes on startup.

Eric

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

I could do that, but I'd rather find out why it works intermittently
with XP and works all the time with 2003? If it never worked with XP
and/or 2003 then I would definitely consider exchanging.

I was hoping someone could tell me why XP loses the mouse driver
sometimes on startup.

Eric,

it is typical for most computer errors that they do not always
occur everywhere. Otherwise the manufacturers would have them
repaired much sooner.

I can only say that this is an unusual defect. I see many
computers, and all of them detect their mice without any
problems. For this to fail is neither typical for Windows XP,
nor for Microsoft mice.

Software problems of this kind are usually solved by
uninstalling the driver, then reinstalling the latest version of
the driver. If it's a USB device, the USB driver is another
potential, though not very likely, culprit.

Hardware problems are, of course, solved by swapping the
defective hardware. This can be the mouse, the base station, the
cable between computer and base station, or the port into which
the cable is plugged.

Wireless mice introduce an additional problem area---the radio
connection. It could be spoiled by other similar mice in the
vicinity or by other nearby transmitters. This is not overly
likely though.

Hans-Georg

 

[Eric]

Understood.

I'm new to XP so I'll have to figure out the best way to remove the
current mouse driver. I've downloaded and installed the latest
Intellipoint, but I still may not be using the correct driver on
startup.

Question - Does XP have a config.sys file I can use to manually
(force) the correct mouse driver to load.

Eric

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

Understood.

I'm new to XP so I'll have to figure out the best way to remove the
current mouse driver. I've downloaded and installed the latest
Intellipoint, but I still may not be using the correct driver on
startup.

Question - Does XP have a config.sys file I can use to manually
(force) the correct mouse driver to load.

Eric,

you can remove the driver in Device Manager. Right-click on My
Computer, click on Properties, Hardware, Device Manager.

Then reboot. The computer will automatically detect the presence
of the mouse and will ask you where to get the driver from.

Hans-Georg