I've been told that you should not plug in a mouse after the computer has
booted up. This is the first time i was told why. But, what are my options if
i want to use an external mouse instead of the button on the laptop? On this
older toshiba the button is located in the center of the keyboard and is
difficult to control. Sometimes after using it for long periods the mouse
begins to wonder. So i would like to use an external mouse control.

Again what do you think my options are?

Thanks

"glee" wrote:

Sounds like a port problem. You should NOT be able to plug in a PS/2 mouse while
the computer is already on and Windows is running, and have it work. The lightning
strike may have damaged the PS/2 connector circuitry on the motherboard.
Inserting a PS/2 mouse (or a keyboard) into the port while the computer is on can
damage the port or burn it out totally.

(Top-posting with sig at end of quoted message, to make J.P. happier. eg)

"Rich newtech" wrote in message
...
It's a ps/2 scrolling mouse. I use to use the mouse with this computer before
the hard drive crashed and i replaced it. Since then i cannot plug it in
prior to startup. This computer is my brother's and he told me that it
crashed during a lightning storm and never ran again. When i got it back the
hard drive was broken (noisy and did not boot up) so i replaced the hard
drive and since then i cannot have the mouse plugged into it prior to start
up. But it works fine if i plug it in after start up. So for some reason it
has a problem loading it during start up. Again the twist is, if i tried
several different mice and this was the only one that made the computer
squirly (during start up) than i would determine that it is the mouse. But,
because two out of the three mice that i tried, two of them made it squirly I
am thinking that something with the drive or the port is the problem.

What do you think?

Thanks

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote:

In message , Rich
newtech writes:
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

Unless it has unusual functions, you shouldn't need a driver - assuming
it's a PS/2 mouse, anyway (those must be plugged in before windows
starts).

I'm not sure about USB mice. (If it's one that can be USB or PS/2, and
you have a suitable adapter, try it with the adapter. [Not all will work
with such an adapter.])

If it's a serial mouse - really old - it can be plugged in after Windows
has started, at least at the point where Windows says it can't find a
mouse. (Again, no driver should be needed.)

--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+
http://dts-l.net/
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