I just got a laptop. I connected an old mouse to it and it was working fine, without downloading anything from the original cd. then i was having a problem with an error message and had to do a system restore and revert to the previous good configuration. Now the mouse won't work and the computer prompts me to look for the driver and insert the original cd. I tried downloading the driver for this particular mouse "Microsoft Optical Mouse by Starck" but it still doesn't seem to work. Any suggestions?

I forgot to mention I no longer have the original cd. thanks

Should be able to update from microsoft using update service. Dunno why it isn't on the XP cd either, should be. Worse comes to worse soft32 says they have it. "Best Practices", Event viewer, host file, perfmon, antivirus, anti-spyware, Live CD's, backups, are in my top 10

Your mouse is plug & play, there is no need to install a driver for it. Do you have a problem with any of your other USB devices? Jabbering Idiots: Everywhere You Look!

Actually now that you mention it, yes. I just tried to plug in my ipod but the same message popped up and it didn't show up in itunes. i guess it's something to do with all the usb's? How do i fix that?

If you are unable to use any USB device & those ports are enabled in the BIOS ... you might want to verify this is an OS issue. How about creating a new user ID & after logging in under the new user ID, check your ports by plugging in a couple of devices to see if the devices are detected. Jabbering Idiots: Everywhere You Look!

I would just go ahead and do a repair install of your operating system. Sounds like there are some courrupt OS files. I actually had this exact same problem with a computer yesterday and did a repair install and it fixed the problem.