[FlamingCobra]

Wireless Mouse's batteries went dead. No more AA batteries in house. Found some old mouse that used some kind of purple connector, but PC doesn't have port for it. Then found USB wired mouse. Sort of works. Can move pointer and scroll, but click don't work. Had to use TAB to even get here.

Don't feel like going to town just to get batteries.

Can't figure out  what setting will fix this when went to Control Panel -> Mouse Properties.

Old mouse used dumb MS intellipoint or something. Help?

[The E]

Sounds like your USB mouse has dead buttons. Solution: Go to town. Get new batteries.

[FlamingCobra]

Actually I figured it out. This isn't a Microsoft Mouse. It's a dell mouse.

I end-tasked Intellipoint and the USB one started working. Intellipoint was overriding the other mouse.

Microsoft should tell users these things.

==TOPIC CLOSED==

[headdie]

the lesson here that I learned with my first wireless mouse is always have a wired mouse near by in case the batteries run out.

[pecenipicek]

the lesson here that I learned with my first wireless mouse is always have a wired mouse near by in case the batteries run out.

or, dont use a wireless mouse if you can avoid it anyhow.

[FlamingCobra]

Well, technically, I could have used a screwdriver to disassemble the battery pack from my Wii Remote recharge station and used the AA batteries from it, but I'm too lazy.

so now my question is, why were PS/2 ports phased out?

[headdie]

Well, technically, I could have used a screwdriver to disassemble the battery pack from my Wii Remote recharge station and use the batteries from it, but I'm too lazy.

np use the USB port's chief advantage and hot swap the mice when the batteries go flat

[LHN91]

Well, technically, I could have used a screwdriver to disassemble the battery pack from my Wii Remote recharge station and used the AA batteries from it, but I'm too lazy.

so now my question is, why were PS/2 ports phased out?

They haven't completely phased them out, but they went the "it's compatible with everything so why have multiple standards supported" route. They started phasing out PS/2 ports on laptops around the time dual core processors came around IIRC, and Macs have used USB keyboards and mice pretty much exclusively since around 1999. Manufacturers stopped bothering to make new PS/2 keyboards, and by extension motherboard manufacturers started stopping to bother to put them on their boards. Some still have them, some have combo ports that support one mouse or one keyboard, but they're getting less common.

[FlamingCobra]

Yeah but manufacturers aren't bothering to put more USB ports on their motherboards either. So we're becoming more limited in the peripherals we can attach.

Oh, and FYI, The E, gas has gone up 6¢ in the past 2 days. It would be ridiculous to go all the way to town for one item.

[jr2]

Yeah, well, you can chain up to 127 devices through a series of USB hubs.  Yeah that gets messy, but I've got a few hubs, two for my laptop, one for my desktop.  They are invaluable, just be sure they are powered and come with an AC adapter (otherwise you may end up with a hub and devices that won't turn on due to the very limited power coming through the USB hub from your motherboard).

Bonus, IIRC you can use powered USB hubs when the computer is off or the hub is disconnected from the computer, you can still use it to charge / power USB devices.

Yes I know manufacturers should put more ports on.  In the meantime....

[LHN91]

Yeah but manufacturers aren't bothering to put more USB ports on their motherboards either. So we're becoming more limited in the peripherals we can attach.

Oh, and FYI, The E, gas has gone up 6¢ in the past 2 days. It would be ridiculous to go all the way to town for one item.

Actually, the last couple systems I've built that didn't have PS/2 ports had something like 8 or 10 USB ports on the back, instead of the 4 my current box (which still has PS/2 ports) has on the back. Actually, they even put two USB ports in the location where there would usually be PS/2 ports. So I would argue that they are adding more USB ports in place of the PS/2.

EDIT:  Just checked: neither one of those were high-end boards, one Gigabyte with 8 USB ports, and (I remembered incorrectly) one Biostar with just 4. So at least some manufacturers are adding more USB ports.

[The E]

Oh, and FYI, The E, gas has gone up 6¢ in the past 2 days. It would be ridiculous to go all the way to town for one item.

That's what bikes are for.

(I'm a decadent socialist european. I am 31 years old, and do not have a driver's license, or have a desire or need to get one anytime soon. I use bikes, buses, and trains to get around.)

[LHN91]

Oh, and FYI, The E, gas has gone up 6¢ in the past 2 days. It would be ridiculous to go all the way to town for one item.

That's what bikes are for.

(I'm a decadent socialist european. I am 31 years old, and do not have a driver's license, or have a desire or need to get one anytime soon. I use bikes, buses, and trains to get around.)

Bikes work if you're not, like I used to be, a 15 minute DRIVE from the nearest (5000 person) town with absolutely no transit. It was about an hour and 15 minutes each way to town by bike.

[Mongoose]

That's what bikes are for.

(I'm a decadent socialist european. I am 31 years old, and do not have a driver's license, or have a desire or need to get one anytime soon. I use bikes, buses, and trains to get around.)

Welcome to America, where public transportation outside of cities is near-nonexistent and you have to drive to go anywhere!

[deathfun]

I've got a wireless mouse that doesn't require batteries

*waits for someone to guess how this is possible*

[Dragon]

Internal battery with a charger? I've seen that done, IIRC on some higher end Logitech mice.
Anyway, I'm not using a wireless mouse because they sometimes have response problems and don't respond as quickly as wired mice. Not to mention you have to either swap batteries or charge it, which would be a problem for me. I have a G500 and I'm happy with it, and I can't really imagine working with a different mouse (except for similarly shaped G2 or G5) for long.

[Hellstryker]

Wires for life.

[haloboy100]

I will always take the greatest effort to avoid using wireless devices for that very reason.

[Nuke]

recharge your old alkaline batteries!

[KyadCK]

So I would argue that they are adding more USB ports in place of the PS/2.

Which sucks.    PS/2 has n-key rollover, USB does not. Try moving in 3D space with just 2 keys, then use a PS/2 keyboard and get another dimension of movement. See if you can go back to 2 keys easily.

Thankfully, my 990FXA-UD3 has a PS/2 port despite being the newest chipset. And I have an old PS/2 Logitech keyboard. It may not matter to typists, but if I want to go down, strafe left, move back, look up and look right at the same time, I need either a $100+ USB gaming keyboard... or a $10 PS/2 keyboard.