[Speedbird1]

My mouse is very sluggish. I tried opening and cleaning but no help so I bought a new mouse. This mouse has no spinning ball but is an optical mouse from Impecca. It has a red light on the bottom, Model WM200. The problem is that it doesn't work! I tried connecting to different USB ports but to no avail. The cursor just stays still and doesn't move. What could be the problem? I had to re-attach the old mouse with the spinning ball. The PC is an older model, maybe from 2002. Are there PCs that cannot handle an optical mouse?

[greatgooglymugly]

What O/S are you using? Do you get the small dialog box on the taskbar telling you it found new hardware?Also go to device manager and see if it is listed. If it is, r-click go to properties and see if it says device working properly or if it says something else in the main body of the window.

[Speedbird1]

This is my first PC so I am not sure where the taskbar is and I don't know how to find the Device Manager to see if new hardware is listed. I thought that you could simply switch the mouse by connecting into the port I had no idea that I would have to make new settings. My OS is Windows XP 2002 edition.

[greatgooglymugly]

Was the computer off when you switched mice? If not, this would probably confuse it since you are going from one type to another, so shut down, disconnect old, put in new, reboot. Look for a little white box to pop up in the bottom R hand corner of the screen that says "New Hardware Detected' as the computer boots. . It will then switch to something like "Installing New Hardware", then "Finished". Be patient, you will not be able to use the mouse most likely until this is finished. Again, dont leave the old one in to try and control the computer while this is installing, it may cause the whole deal to fail. Just use the keyboard because it only takes about 10 seconds to install ( maybe up to a minute for slower computers. If for some reason something different happens, try to describe it the best you can, and let us know if a cd was shipped with the mouse or not. (Usually not needed except for more expensive/advanced mice)


P.S.>> The taskbar is that bar across the bottom of the screen that says start on the left side. On the far right, you have what is called the system tray, where certain background programs running are shown by icons you can right click on to change properties of those programs. Above this is where the install dialog box will appear.

[Speedbird1]

Thanks. But I'm confused. With the new mouse connected, the cursor is frozen so how can I do those tasks you suggest? I will follow your instructions but I must wait for my friend to make the connections and he won't be around for several days. He knows how to make the connections to the USB port but he knows as much about computers as I do. The new mouse came with no instructions. At the same time, we switched monitors, from an older CRT-type to an LCD screen with no problems. Yes, we shut-down the PC before switching the mouse but we never saw a pop-up saying new hardware detected; maybe we should have waited.

[ozziebeanie]

Shut down again, take the old mouse out, then put the new one in, (don't have both mouse's plugged in I am presuming the older one is a ps2) and boot up again and see if this works, the first time the computer recognises a new USB mouse it sometimes takes just a little longer on the first boot up for it to pick up and run with it.

After that it will be fine, if that is what the problem is.

When the computer boots up leave it for a bit and see what notifications come up, such as found new hardware and your hardware is now ready to use, just let it do its thing until it says the hardware is ready to use or words to that effect.

[Speedbird1]

Problem solved however no notifications ever appeared on the screen. I forgot to re-boot the PC after installing mouse but after re-booting, the new mouse started working fine. I wonder why no message ever appeared. I waited about 10 minutes. Thanks for your patience with a novice's problems.