Evelyn from Rapid City, SD writes:
I know you and the gang are really busy but I need HELP! I have a wonderful wireless mouse. Of course it has a tiny, small adapter that fits into a USB Port. I have done this and about every twenty to forty minutes you have to pull the tiny driver out of USB port and it does not matter whether it is directly in the tower or if it is attached by USB hub. Once it is pulled you sit for a minute or two and then replug it in. Now what am I doing wrong with this wireless mouse?It is driving me insane!
The wireless mouse is a nifty invention that helps reduce clutter and makes it easy to switch between computers, but unfortunately they do occasionally exhibit problems such as this one where a computer will continuously fail to recognize the device.
If this problem is occurring in multiple USB ports, then the issue is likely with the mouse itself and you should get a replacement, but it is still possible the problem is happening with either your software or hardware setup.
In these cases, you’ll need to run through some troubleshooting to track down the specific cause. As with most problems of this nature, to get started open up your Start menu and navigate to the Control Panel window, then click the “System and Security” link at the top of the list.
To get to the proper menu for your USB ports you’ll need to navigate to the “Hardware and Sound” tab at the left side of the window.
Underneath the “Devices and Printers” heading at the right side of the window, click the link labeled “Device Manager.”
Scroll down to the bottom of the list of hardware devices and expand the entry labeled “Universal Serial Bus Controllers.” Right-click the first entry labeled “USB Root Hub” and select “Uninstall.” Repeat this process with all the other USB Root Hub entries, and then restart your computer (you may need to use keyboard commands to shut down the computer if you only have USB mice).
Your operating system will automatically reinstall all the USB ports when the computer boots back up. With the ports freshly installed, the mouse’s wireless receiver should now work properly.
If it continues to drop the connection however, there’s another possible cause for the problem. Return to the Device Manager screen and right-click the first USB Root Hub entry, then select “Properties.”
Navigate to the “Power Management” tab and remove the check mark from the box labeled “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.” This will prevent your operating system from turning off the USB port intermittently. Click “OK” and then repeat the process for each other USB Root Hub entry.
Should the problem continue to occur, you’ve essentially ruled out the USB ports and the issue must instead lie on the software end. To fix this problem, you can either download a more recent version of the driver software from the manufacturer’s website, or you may be able to find it at the Microsoft hardware driver page here.
Simply download the latest driver for your specific mouse in the list and then restart your computer.
~ Ty Arthur