# Mice won't work on my laptop



## Lotus Gramarye (Aug 11, 2012)

I've tried to use two mice with my laptop, a Kensington Mouse-in-a-box (it's a corded one) and a Logitech M325 wireless. When I plug them in, it installs the drivers and says the device is working, but they don't work. I've tried reinstalling them and plugging them into different usb ports, but no luck.

I have a Dell XPS L502X running Windows 7 64-bit .


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## Rits (Dec 29, 2011)

It might be possible that the usb port is gone bad.


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## Lotus Gramarye (Aug 11, 2012)

Rits said:


> It might be possible that the usb port is gone bad.


Other USB devices, such as flash drives and game controllers, work perfectly fine, though.


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## Jgill1992 (Aug 2, 2012)

That's really odd. Did you make sure they are on a good surface ? I thought my USB mouse went out one time. Turns out it just Didint like my mousepad


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

If you turn off your touch-pad by pressing Fn + F3 with the mouse connected what happens? Also, you might try reinstalling your touch-pad driver.


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## Lotus Gramarye (Aug 11, 2012)

Jgill1992 said:


> That's really odd. Did you make sure they are on a good surface ? I thought my USB mouse went out one time. Turns out it just Didint like my mousepad


No, the surface is fine. And nothing on the mouse will work, not even the buttons.



MPR said:


> If you turn off your touch-pad by pressing Fn + F3 with the mouse connected what happens? Also, you might try reinstalling your touch-pad driver.


Turning the touch pad off does nothing. How would I go about reinstalling the touch pad driver?


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

Perhaps you should back up a step and run the Dell Diagnostics to check your system. You can also go to the device manager (Start, then type in "devmgmt.msc") and expand the sections for your mouse and USB controller and look for error messages. If any errors are found go to the Dell site and download and install the appropriate driver/s. If you connect to the Dell site with your Dell computer it can automatically detect its make and model and direct you to the appropriate page.


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## Thendakor (Aug 12, 2012)

You've probably done this already, but have you synchronised the receiver and mouse? There should be a little button on both to get them to talk to each other.
Also check for an up to date driver on the website.


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## Lotus Gramarye (Aug 11, 2012)

The device manager does not show any errors.

And the Logitech m325 does not seem to have unique drivers. The logitech page has none and when plugging the receiver in it installs what I understand are general mouse drivers for windows (HID-compliant mouse).


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

Try the Dell online diagnostic scan to see if it sees anything.

Dell PC Diagnostics | Dell


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## Lotus Gramarye (Aug 11, 2012)

Even though the device manager says the mouse is connected, the dell diagnostic scan doesn't recognize it.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

You might try these FixIts. I'd use the option to manually select which detected problems to fix rather than letting the software try to fix them automatically.

Hardware devices are not working or are not detected in Windows

Diagnose and fix Windows USB problems automatically


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## Lotus Gramarye (Aug 11, 2012)

The top one detcted that an unknown device was installed and missing drivers. Looking back in the device manager, I did find it; it just wasn't under the mouse section. It was not able to fix this problem, however. I tried uninstalling the unknown device and the HID compliant mouse drivers, but now when I plug the receiver in it does not install anymore.

It also detected an error that a USB device was not being recognized, and that removing upper and lower filters for portable devices would fix that. I let it do that, and it didn't fix the problem either.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

That's a wireless mouse so are you sure the batteries are installed? You have to first start the setpoint software install (with the mouse not plugged in) and during that it will tell you to plug the mouse in.

Support + Downloads: Wireless Mouse M325 - Logitech


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## Lotus Gramarye (Aug 11, 2012)

I already had Setpoint installed but I reinstalled it just in case. After that was finished, I started it up and plugged the receiver in, and it's not doing anything. There does not seem to be any options for connecting, either.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

Uninstall it with the mouse unplugged and then reinstall it and plug the mouse in when the software install says to do so. Your sure the batteries are in the mouse, right?


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## Lotus Gramarye (Aug 11, 2012)

Did that. During the actual installation process there was no prompt to plug in the receiver. After installing I tried using the ConnectUtility.exe and when I plug in the receiever to any USB port the program does not seem to recognize it. Windows still makes the "boop" noise that shows that a USB device was connected, though. None of the Setpoint utilities that I tried recognized that the receiver was connected.

And I'm sure the batteries are fine.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

Is the mouse turned to the on position?

M325 mouse not working or frequently loses connection - Logitech FAQ


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

I didn't see if you have tried this, but do you have access to another computer on which to test the functionality of your mice, especially the wireless one? Can you borrow a working wired USB mouse to test your system with?

Did the Fixit's information refer you to a specific driver that you can download and install from your computer manufacturer's website? The Fixits won't don't automatically correct everything; however, they do usually present information that points to where the problem lies, which you can use to find the appropriate software on the system manufacturer's site.

I've had several Dell laptops and can recall that some models had problems with conflicts between mouse drivers and touchpad drivers. Have you tried reinstalling the touchpad driver yet?

Note: the Dell driver's site seems to be down at the moment but the computer should have come with a setup disk with the drivers on it.


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## Lotus Gramarye (Aug 11, 2012)

MPR said:


> I didn't see if you have tried this, but do you have access to another computer on which to test the functionality of your mice, especially the wireless one? Can you borrow a working wired USB mouse to test your system with?
> 
> Did the Fixit's information refer you to a specific driver that you can download and install from your computer manufacturer's website? The Fixits won't don't automatically correct everything; however, they do usually present information that points to where the problem lies, which you can use to find the appropriate software on the system manufacturer's site.
> 
> I've had several Dell laptops and can recall that some models had problems with conflicts between mouse drivers and touchpad drivers. Have you tried reinstalling the touchpad driver yet?


Oops, I forgot to mention that, yeah, the mouse works fine on my desktop computer (as does a corded mouse that also does not work on my laptop).

I have not yet tried reinstalling the touchpad driver. I guess I'll try that.


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## Lotus Gramarye (Aug 11, 2012)

Reinstalling the touch pad drivers did not help.

According to the fixit, the only related problem it found is that "Hardware changes might not have been detected." It was not able to provide me with a fix, however, and just linked me to a page for general solutions to the problems.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

Lotus Gramarye said:


> "Hardware changes might not have been detected."


I do love it when a FixIt informs us that, yes, we do have a problem, which we knew or we wouldn't be using the application in the first place.

Some laptops actually have switch or key combination that can be used to turn the mouse off and on but I did not see any reference to this when looking at the manual for your system, you might check though.

Go to Control Panel and uninstall the software for any and all mice you see there (if you have more than one program installed they may be conflicting). Also, go to device manager (Start > devmgmt.msc) and uninstall any and all mouse drivers you see. Completely turn off your computer (don't sleep it), attach the _wired _mouse and turn the computer back on to see if Windows will detect the mouse and load a mouse driver. If it doesn't plug the mouse into a different USB port and try again.


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## Lotus Gramarye (Aug 11, 2012)

How do I uninstall mouse software in the control panel?

Would I want to uninstall the touch pad driver as well?

Also, I have no idea if this means anything, but if I plug the wireless mouse receiver into two of my USB ports, then drivers (HID compliant mouse) do not show up in the device manager. If I plug it into the third port I have, it does show up.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

You may or may not have mouse software installed depending on whether you installed a full application or just a driver. If you go to Control Panel > View by Category you should See Programs and right below it Uninstall a program. Look through the list to see if you see an application associated with your wireless mouse brand (there may be one too for a Microsoft or Logisys, etc. mouse if you installed software for a higher-end wired mouse but a basic mouse probably won't have an application installed for it). If you see Synaptics Touchpad software leave it be and if uncertain don't uninstall anything.

Then, go to device manager (devmgmt.msc) and uninstall the mouse driver but not the touchpad driver. Note the USB port that is giving you a driver message is the one to leave your mouse plugged into it. Reboot your computer and let Windows reinstall the mouse driver. Do this with the wired mouse as it is simpler. Does this give you a functional mouse? If so, and the other ports do not then you have a port issue.

Did you see anything about a key combination to turn off your touchpad and turn on your mouse in your manual? If so, and you don't get a working mouse by just rebooting and having the driver install try the function key combo to see if it will now give you a working mouse.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

Have you contacted Dell to see what they suggest?


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## Lotus Gramarye (Aug 11, 2012)

Tried what you said last, MPR. It did not help.

I guess I should try to contact Dell.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

Contacting Dell is a good idea as we have run through most of the standard things to check. The only thing I can think of that you might do, short of a repair install of Windows, is to run device manager and check the entries under USB controllers manually in case you could see an error reported that the Fixit didn't detect.

There is also a handy little program called USBDview that allows you to see the status of all of your USB devices at once. It might assist you or others in isolating the problem.

View any installed/connected USB device on your system

If you find a solution please post it here as I'm sure others have had similar problems.


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