[Learnatic]

My neighbour's daughters ( I think) have deleted all mouse drivers etc from her putey.
I downloaded updated Mouse drivers from Microsoft but this didn't give any life to the mouse.
I have trouble using tab/arrow keys to navigate to look at the Device properties.
I spent a few hours with the XP Home edition disk she has but couldn't get it to load any mouse drivers etc.
There is no Mice and Pointers in the device manager to "Roll Back" to.
Any help would be appreciated.
(But might unfortunately boost my name as the "Expert" of the street just because I know to ask questions...)..

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Hi and welcome to Geeks to Go. Have you tried booting into safe mode? You could try a system restore selecting a restore point prior to the event. Press press F8 as the system boots up.

To start the computer in safe mode
You should print these instructions before continuing. They will not be available after you shut your computer down in step 2.
Click Start, click Shut Down, and then, in the drop-down list, click Shut down.
In the Shut Down Windows dialog box, click Restart, and then click OK.
When you see the message Please select the operating system to start, press F8.
Use the arrow keys to highlight the appropriate safe mode option, and then press ENTER.
If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, choose the installation that you need to access using the arrow keys, and then press ENTER.
Notes

In safe mode, you have access to only basic files and drivers (mouse, monitor, keyboard, mass storage, base video, default system services, and no network connections). You can choose the Safe Mode with Networking option, which loads all of the above files and drivers and the essential services and drivers to start networking, or you can choose the Safe Mode with Command Prompt option, which is exactly the same as safe mode except that a command prompt is started instead of the graphical user interface. You can also choose Last Known Good Configuration, which starts your computer using the registry information that was saved at the last shutdown.
Safe mode helps you diagnose problems. If a symptom does not reappear when you start in safe mode, you can eliminate the default settings and minimum device drivers as possible causes. If a newly added device or a changed driver is causing problems, you can use safe mode to remove the device or reverse the change.
There are circumstances where safe mode will not be able to help you, such as when Windows system files that are required to start the system are corrupted or damaged. In this case, the Recovery Console may help you.
NUM LOCK must be off before the arrow keys on the numeric keypad will function.

[austin_o]

Hi and welcome to Geeks to Go. Have you tried booting into safe mode? You could try a system restore selecting a restore point prior to the event. Press press F8 as the system boots up.

To start the computer in safe mode
You should print these instructions before continuing. They will not be available after you shut your computer down in step 2.
Click Start, click Shut Down, and then, in the drop-down list, click Shut down.
In the Shut Down Windows dialog box, click Restart, and then click OK.
When you see the message Please select the operating system to start, press F8.
Use the arrow keys to highlight the appropriate safe mode option, and then press ENTER.
If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, choose the installation that you need to access using the arrow keys, and then press ENTER.
Notes

In safe mode, you have access to only basic files and drivers (mouse, monitor, keyboard, mass storage, base video, default system services, and no network connections). You can choose the Safe Mode with Networking option, which loads all of the above files and drivers and the essential services and drivers to start networking, or you can choose the Safe Mode with Command Prompt option, which is exactly the same as safe mode except that a command prompt is started instead of the graphical user interface. You can also choose Last Known Good Configuration, which starts your computer using the registry information that was saved at the last shutdown.
Safe mode helps you diagnose problems. If a symptom does not reappear when you start in safe mode, you can eliminate the default settings and minimum device drivers as possible causes. If a newly added device or a changed driver is causing problems, you can use safe mode to remove the device or reverse the change.
There are circumstances where safe mode will not be able to help you, such as when Windows system files that are required to start the system are corrupted or damaged. In this case, the Recovery Console may help you.
NUM LOCK must be off before the arrow keys on the numeric keypad will function.

[Learnatic]

hanks Austin,
Just got back form holiday and the young lass has purchsed a new mouse and everting's hunky=dorey !! I am still puzzleous though as to where all the drivers etc went. The mouse'd disappeared in the Devices list and I couldn't get it to roll back, even in SAFE mode.
All's well that ends well though and thanks for your time.