This article discusses troubleshooting the Microsoft Mouse and Microsoft-
compatible mice in Microsoft Windows and Windows for Workgroups. This
article has the following two sections:
- Load the MS-DOS Mouse driver to enable the use of a mouse in
MS-DOS-based applications.
If you are having problems using the mouse in MS-DOS-based
applications under Windows, make sure the mouse functions in your
MS-DOS-based application before starting Windows. If it does not,
then the mouse probably won't function in an MS-DOS-based application
running inside of Windows. Consult your mouse manufacturer for
assistance configuring the mouse so it will run in MS-DOS-based
applications outside of Windows.
If you are using a Microsoft mouse, you can test this by running
MOUSE.COM and then running an application that uses the mouse such as
the MS-DOS 5.0 Edit program or MS-DOS Shell.
Version 8.2 of the mouse driver should be used if you are using a
Microsoft Mouse. This driver comes with Windows 3.1. If you do not
have the correct MOUSE.COM or MOUSE.SYS file on your hard disk drive,
expand MOUSE.SY_ and MOUSE.CO_ from the Windows disks to the hard
disk drive as MOUSE.SYS and MOUSE.COM. For more information about
expanding files, refer to page 61 of the "Getting Started with Microsoft
Windows" manual for version 3.1.
- Make sure the correct Windows mouse driver was installed.
To determine if the correct mouse driver was installed during Setup,
exit Windows, change to the C:\WINDOWS directory and type "setup"
(without the quotation marks) at the MS-DOS command prompt. If "No
mouse or other pointing device" or an incorrect mouse is selected,
select the "Microsoft, or IBM PS/2" option.
Some "Microsoft-compatible" mice are more compatible with the Mouse
Systems driver or another mouse driver listed in Setup. It may be
necessary to try other mouse driver selections. Some "compatible"
mice may come with a driver disk that contains both Windows and MS-
DOS mouse drivers. These should be tried in place of the Microsoft
drivers.
NOTE: The MS-DOS- and Windows-level driver may need to be from the
same vendor (that is, use both the Microsoft drivers or both the
vendor-supplied drivers). Microsoft MS-DOS drivers are only licensed
for use with the Microsoft Mouse and only guaranteed to work with the
Microsoft Mouse.
- Look for multiple MOUSE.DRV files.
Search the drive for multiple MOUSE.DRV files. If you find multiple
mouse driver files, rename them to something else, except for the one
in the Windows SYSTEM directory. To search for multiple mouse
files, choose Search from the File Manager File menu, or type the
following command at the MS-DOS root directory command prompt:
dir mouse.drv /s
You can also check for other mouse-related files by typing:
dir mouse.* /s
NOTE: This DIR command only works if you have MS-DOS version 5.0 or
later.
- The MOUSE.DRV file located in the Windows SYSTEM subdirectory may be
corrupted or damaged. Rename the file and then expand MOUSE.DR_ from
the original Windows disks to the Windows SYSTEM subdirectory by typing
the following at the MS-DOS command prompt and pressing ENTER after
each line:
ren c:\windows\system\mouse.drv mouse.old
expand a:\mouse.dr_ c:\windows\system\mouse.drv
Make sure the file is the correct size and date. The mouse driver
supplied with Windows 3.1 is:
MOUSE.DRV 10672 03-10-92 3:10a
- Make sure the correct mouse driver entry is in the SYSTEM.INI file.
For the Microsoft Mouse, the following line should be in the [boot]
section of the SYSTEM.INI file:
mouse.drv=mouse.drv
No additional path to MOUSE.DRV should be indicated in this line.
- Clean boot the system without loading an MS-DOS mouse driver.
For more information about this procedure, query on the following
words in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
what and clean and boot and windows and tsr
- Check the communications port (COM), I/O address, and interrupt (IRQ)
being used by the mouse. Consider the following:
- You cannot use a mouse on COM3 or COM4.
- All hardware devices need a dedicated I/O or base address.
- The mouse should not share an interrupt (IRO setting) with
another installed peripheral device.
If there is a conflict, make the appropriate changes to the hardware
settings and then retest the problem in Windows.
Standard IRQ and I/O information for the Microsoft Mouse:
Device IRQ I/O
---------------------------------------
COM1 4 03F8h
COM2 3 02F8h
PS/2 port 12 060h
Microsoft Bus Card 2,3,4,5 23Ch-23Fh or 238h-23Bh
To test this hardware information, use the Microsoft Diagnostics
utility (MSD) after loading an MS-DOS level mouse driver, or use the
MS-DOS DEBUG command. For more information on using Debug, query on
the following words in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
debug and serial and mouse and prompt and displayed
- Choosing a different port to test the mouse.
The Windows mouse driver searches in the following order:
InPort, Bus, PS/2, COM2, COM1
If a mouse is on COM1 and one of these other ports exists and is
incorrectly identified as having a mouse connected, the port may
trick the Windows mouse driver into thinking the mouse is located on
the wrong port. If the mouse is on a PS/2-style port, you may
want to try it on COM1 or COM2. If on COM2, then try COM1.
- Some third-party applications replace the Windows mouse, keyboard, or
communications drivers. The normal values in the SYSTEM.INI file for
these drivers are:
[boot]
mouse.drv=mouse.drv
comm.drv=comm.drv
keyboard.drv=keyboard.drv
[386enh]
mouse=*vmd
Check the size and dates of the MOUSE.DRV, COMM.DRV, and KEYBOARD.DRV
drivers to make sure they are the correct drivers. The following
versions of these driver are supplied with Windows 3.1:
COMM.DRV 9280 03-10-92 3:10a
KEYBOARD.DRV 7568 03-10-92 3:10a
MOUSE.DRV 10672 03-10-92 3:10a
If necessary, expand these files from the original disks.
- Check the MOUSE.INI settings:
- Make sure there is only one MOUSE.INI file and that it is located
in the Windows directory or where the MOUSE= environment
variable is pointing. To search for multiple MOUSE.INI files,
choose Search from the File menu in File Manager, or issue the
following command from the MS-DOS root directory command prompt:
dir mouse.ini /s
NOTE: This DIR command only works if you have MS-DOS 5.0.
- Make sure the MouseType= line in the [mouse] section of the
MOUSE.INI file is pointing to the correct port for your mouse:
Line Description
-------------------------------------------------------
Serial1 For the mouse on COM1
Serial2 For the mouse on COM2
PS2 For the mouse on a PS/2-style mouse port
Bus If you are using an earlier bus card
InPort1 If you are using an InPort card:
- Jumper 3 set to primary
InPort2 If you are using an InPort card:
- Jumper 3 set to secondary
The Bus setting is for the earlier Microsoft Bus mouse; the InPort
setting is for the later Microsoft InPort mouse.
- Try running in standard mode. If the problem only occurs in 386
enhanced mode, try starting Windows with the /D:X parameter
(WIN /D:X). If the mouse works, add the following line to the
[386Enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI file:
EmmExclude=A000-EFFF
If this solves the problem, you should continue to troubleshoot in
this area, either forcing the mouse driver to load low, or
determining where there is an address conflict.
- Try using the standard video drivers that ship with Windows
(either EGA or VGA).
- If you are having trouble using a mouse from a third-party vendor
that supplied its own mouse driver for Windows, if possible, try
another brand of mouse that uses a driver supplied by Windows. If
this mouse works in Windows on your machine, contact the
manufacturer of the non-functional mouse for technical support.
"Microsoft Windows Resource Kit" guide for version 3.1, pages 13, 14,
18, 26, and 398