I get the above tone played through my speakers quite frequently and for no apparent reason. I can't pin it down to any particular action, state of the computer or software.

The sound is 'windows hardware insert' followed by 'windows hardware removal' (as named in the windows media directory) which must be a clue.

When this happens the mouse pointer freezes, then after the tone finishes it unfreezes (thaws?)

It doesn't happen during startup or POST.

Needless to say I am not inserting or removing hardware when this happens.

The only usb device constantly connected is the mouse,



Can anyone help, Please!

David

Follow directions in this MS article, see if that helps: Advanced troubleshooting tips for general USB problems in Windows XP

If not, try this:

• Shutdown and unplug all USB devices.
• Boot to BIOS Setup and load defaults (F5 or F9 usually).
• Boot XP and create a new Environment variable called devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices and set it's value to 1 as follows:
  • Right click on My Computer and select Properties
  • Click on the Advanced tab
  • Click on the Environmental Variables button
  • Click the New button under the User variables for xxxxx" area.
  • Set the Variable name as: devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices
  • Set the Variable value to: 1
  • Click OK as needed to close all the windows you opened.
• Open Device Manager (Control Panel, System, Hardware tab, Device Manager)
• Click on View then Show hidden devices.
• Scroll down to USB and click on the plus to expand it.
• Uninstall them one at a time. DO NOT uninstall your mouse if you are using a USB mouse.
• Shutdown and reboot, let XP rediscover everything and load necessary drivers. This can take a few minutes, be patient.

Now see what happens.

I followed the advanced troubleshooting tips. I uninstalled all the usb (foolishly including the mouse!

When they reinstall they all seem to show drivers that haven't passed the windows logo testing to verify compatability with xp. I have ignored this and carried on (as you do). The fault was still there.

I have now installed a different mouse complete with a driver disk and so far have had no problem.

Is it still worth doing your environmental variable thing to get the original and preferred mouse working?

I wouldn't bother. If you have a working mouse stay with it. If the problem reoccurs then it's time to work on it some more.