Sorry for light posting, but I've got a lot of stuff to do around here, and I've been fighting with my computer all day trying to get a new mouse to work. Why can't I just plug in an optical mouse and get it to work properly out of the box? I tried a Logitech last night, and it wouldn't work at all (I'm guessing because it's a combo USB/PS-2 that I was running into a PS-2 port on my KVM switch). I went out and bought a cheap one from BTC. It sort of works, but I had to install some software to get it to work properly, and when I did, it kept popping up this stupid control panel over the cursor from some program called KeyMeistro every couple seconds, which I had to manually close each time, so it was really impossible to use.

Back to Frys to try something else. Sigh...

Odd. My previous mouse was a Logitech USB mouse plugged via adapter to a PS-2 port, and it worked so well that when my wife gave me my current wireless optical mouse I left the Logitech plugged in as a backup (batteries don't last long on wireless opticals, I'm finding out).

Of course, my OS is Windows 2000, whereas IIRC you use another OS. Maybe the Logitech USB-to-PS-2 connection is Windows compliant but not standards compliant, if you know what I mean.

No, I'm running Windows 2000 (at least on the machine that's giving me fits). As I said, perhaps going through the KVM switch is bolluxing things up, though it shouldn't, at least in theory.

I should add, I knew there was a good reason not to get a wireless optical (or a wireless keyboard). I hadn't thought about the battery issue, but's sufficient to keep me tethered, because the wires don't bother me all that much.

A KVM has to emulate some mouse functions. There is more than a little "magic" involved, and can give different results from different KVMs, firmware updates, OSes, and mice combinations. My impression is that most KVMs don't do a very good job of mouse emulation because of cost constraints.

Nah I would say that at one point Rand hooked all this stuff up and it all worked no problem. I've worked with switches that all of a sudden started to , freak out, and wouldn't let the mouse work but the keyboard still worked. Unplug the switche from all the computers it is attached to. Then if it has its own independant power source unplug it as well and leave it unplugged for at least 30 seconds, several minutes would be better. Even better yet, while you have the switch unplugged take your mouse and keyboard and plug it directly into your computer. You shouldn't need to install any mouse drivers under windows 2000 so lets get rid of any unnecessary or corrupted drivers. Trying going into device manager by right clicking the my computer icon, left click the hardware tab, left click the device manager button, left click the plus sign next to the mice and other pointing devices listing, click one time to highlight your mouse driver(s) and hit the delete key on your keyboard, and say yes to delete the driver. Close out of all the windows and then shutdown the computer and power it off completely. Hook back up your switch and plug your mouse back through the switch and power the computer back up. Let windows detect and reinstall the appropriate driver and the mouse should start working. If it doesn't work then, you might have a bad port somewhere or your BIOS settings may have changed or became corrupt. You could always trying flashing the CMOS by removing the jumper on your computer's mainboard. That is if you feel lucky, well do you punk? :P

sorry thats probably confusing in some parts but I typed that while I trying to watch the Dallas Stars blow it against Colorado

From personal experience, some KVMs and some mice just don't do well together. Especially newer fancy mice with extra scroll functions used on older KVMs, but not exclusively. A computer sends commands to the mouse and expects it to respond properly and promptly. A KVM has to handle that if that isn't the "active" computer. Definitely, your chances are better if you stick with a simple mouse and don't load any extra drivers, but it is best to do a Google Groups search before buying any KVM. Look for mouse issues, OS issues, etc.

I've hada lot of luck with my IBM "Navigator" optical ergo-mouse. It's a 2-button with scroll wheel and thumb button (technically 3+wheel, or 4, depending on the guy writing the specs). With the Mouse Suite installed, it behaves erratically in some programs, so I uninstalled it and run it with standard drivers. Not sure how it will work with a KVM, however, since it has both a scroll button and a thumb button, but it's been rock-solid and very comfortable for me (as a right-handed mouser).

I think some of the newer mouses are now including a "side-scroll" feature on the wheel, and this will likely cause a lot more headaches in the early going WRT compatibility than other mouses, but I haven't tried them out yet.

I know a few other people with the IBM Navigator and they all love theirs, too. IIRC, ~US$30 at major computer/electronics stores. Just a thought.