Now that i have the usb drivers corrected i think i will now take on the
mouse driver. When i look in the device manager the mouse port indicates that
it is working properly. However, when i plug an external mouse (one that i've
previously used with it) into the laptop prior to starting the pointer goes
wild and begins opening programs. Prior to me changing out the hard drive
this mouse worked perfectly fine with the computer. The twist is that if i
plug the mouse in after startup it works fine. Another thing to make this
strange is that i've tried two other mouses and one works ok when plugged
into the computer prior to startup. So two out of the three are squirly. Can
i remove the original drivers, plug the mouse in and reboot then install the
drivers that came with the mouse? Or should i just plug the mouse in after
startup?

Thanks in advance
Richard