External mouse for Dell inspiron 1420

[badtommy]

I purchase a Dell Inspiron 1420 laptop a few months ago with a Targus AMU02US plug and play retractable external mouse. It worked fine for several weeks and then abruptly stopped (the mousepad continues to have no problems). The mouse battery is strong, and the USB port has no problem with other devices such as a flash drive. I tried a new logitech laptop mouse - still nothing. Both mice work fine on my desktop computer, so they aren't the problem. The only thing I can conclude is that it is a Vista software/settings issue. I'm running Windows Vista Ultimate on an Intel duo core 32-bit system. Does anybody have any ideas? I'm completely stumped.

 

[KurrentEweser]

Try uninstalling all mouse software, then go to the device manager and uninstall all mouse and USB drivers. With nothing connected to any USB port let Windows redetect the USB ports. Reinstall the touchpad driver. Before plugging in any mouse or wireless mouse dongle, install the software for the mouse you'll be using. While the mouse software is running plug in the mouse/dongle. Windows should now detect the mouse and either prompt for a driver or install the driver.