Whenever my son starts his computer, a message appears that no mouse is attached. I have attached the mouse to another computer, and the mouse works. I also attached the mouse from my computer, and it does not work. It seems the fault is not with the mouse itself, but with the computer. The machine is running Windows 98 SE.

If the mouse is connected to the computer using a PS/2 port (a round looking port) the problem is most likely because the PS/2 port (or PS/2 mouse support) has been disabled in the system BIOS. Only proceed with this procedure if you are confident in navigating the system BIOS, since making any incorrect configuration changes can cause severe problems. You may wish to write down the original values of any settings you intend to change, in case they need to be changed back. Should you wish to proceed, restart the computer and during the POST (power-on self-test), when all the system check messages appear during boot up, a message should appear like ‘Press DEL to enter setup’. When this message appears, press the nominated key (in this example: DEL) to open the BIOS setup. In the setup, look through the various configuration screens for any settings relating to the PS/2 port, such as ‘Enable PS/2 Mouse Support’. Make sure any such settings are correctly configured. Once you are finished, save the changes and quit the setup.

If the mouse is connected to the computer by USB, go into the system BIOS setup (following the instructions previously given) and ensure any settings relating to USB Mouse Support are enabled. Should all the settings be correctly configured, there is an article on Microsoft Knowledge Base (support.microsoft.com/kb/206002) which deals with USB keyboard and mouse issues. To complete this procedure, you will need to attach a PS/2 mouse to the computer, so you have mouse functionality. However, I do not recommend you complete this procedure if you have a USB keyboard connected to the computer, as the procedure may cause you to lose access to the USB keyboard.

Should the problem continue, it could be related to the USB port on the computer. Try connecting the USB mouse to another free USB port to check whether the problem persists. If the problem stops, the USB port seems to be faulty. In this case, there is little you can do apart from not using that particular port. However, should the mouse not work in the other USB port, we need to determine whether the entire USB controller is faulty. Plug another USB device into one of the USB ports, and check whether Windows recognises the device. If the device is not recognised, the problem is apparently with the USB controller. Go into the ‘Control Panel’ and open the ‘System’ control panel. In the window that appears, click the ‘Device Manager’ tab. Expand ‘Universal serial bus controller’ and make sure all the devices are enabled. If not, right-click on the disabled device and click ‘Enable’. Then, try connecting the device to the USB port again. Obviously, you will also need a PS/2 mouse to complete these procedures. Should the device be recognised, the problem is something with the mouse hardware. In this case, contact me again for further advice.