So, I'm trying to rehabilitate a desktop that was state of the art in 2003 because, frankly, there really should be nothing wrong with this one except for the fact that it needed to be reformatted and updated. Also, I can't afford a new one.
It has successfully run Win 98 SE, Win 2000 and XP in it's lifetime. However, for compatibility reasons, I wanted to reinstall XP. Unfortunately my XP disc, which I have had for the last 5 years, is apparently irreparably damaged and won't read beyond 50% of the install. I freaked out for a bit, then found a friend to lend me a copy of Vista Ultimate (32 bit). Not my first choice, but better than nothing.
Then, I discovered, that I needed to get a PS/2 mouse in order to complete the install, since you need to be able to click "Agree to terms", and it wasn't reading my USB mouse (certainly due to lack of drivers). I scrambled to find one, was successful after about 8 phone calls, plugged it in. It worked just fine and I got Vista installed.
So I used that mouse for up until last night when it inexplicably stopped working. I did nothing that I can think of that would have messed it up. It was doesn't work. I have tried turning the computer off and on again with the mouse plugged in. Nothing. On top of that, the computer refuses to read my USB mouse as well. I have no clue why.
The USB mouse in question is a Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3000 (http://store.microsoft.com/microsoft/Wireless-Mobile-Mouse-3000-Black/product/AC8CD311) and is not even recognized by the computer as plugged in.
So I guess there are two questions, why on earth would a PS/2 mouse that was perfectly functional suddenly stop being recognized by the computer. Second, why would Vista not recognize a USB mouse? Doesn't Vista come with all the USB drivers one could need?
Anyone have any insight? I'm super frustrated. Thanks!
Microsoft Windows Vista