Hi

 

On my INSPIRON 4100 (WIN XP) Mar 02 Model, when I connect a USB external optical mouse (Logitech: Wheel Mouse) I have encountered a range of problems:

 

Previously:  Mouse (& Touchpad) worked ok but after a while (typically 10-15 minutes) the mouse pointer took off on its own and would not come back under control (normally flies to top right or bottom left of screen) sometimes it would come back under control and other times not requiring a re-boot).

 

Now:  Mouse and touchpad work ok for a while (20-30 mins) and then the USB mouse just stops working altogether.  I sometimes get an error message, " Installed driver incompatible with Control Panel Extension " this may not be the exact wording.

 

I have tried:

Installing a new Logitech driver

Using the the SYNAPTICS Mouse Control Panel settings to re-configure, but it very inconveniently does not have an option to select the external mouse only by disabling the touchpad -there are no settings I have found that assist me.

looking for a new DELL Pointing Device Driver.  The Dell site does not give me this option, I presume because I have added an external mouse to the shipped configuration of this laptop

 

My options now seem to be:

Find a driver that will not conflict with the SYNAPTICS software -not sure how long this might take!

Changing the BIOS setting from "Touchpad /PS2" to "PS/2"

Unistalling the SYNAPTICS software or disabling the Touchpad completely - I do not wish to do either of these as although I dislike the Touchpad I do sometimes need it -especially when my USB Mouse 'autodisables'

 

Any advice gratefully receivd.

 

Thanks