Question : Problem: Trouble-shooting a branded PC

Hi! I have been learning to fix a PC and I could say that I am 'ok' with a clone PC. But recently a friend ask me to help to fix his mouse problem.

The PC is a branded PC by Dell. And the problem is the PC either does not recognize the mouse or its not detected by it. I ask him what have he done lately, and he tell me everythings was ok before Defragmenting the PC.

I have try to trouble-shoot the PC with the original manufacturer CDROM, but I got in some error when trying it. Now I would like to know whats the differences between a clone and a branded PC in hardware and software. I heard that for some branded PC they have something(hardware or software) specially built-in. And how do I use their manafacturer CDROM?

I am thinking of reinstalling Windows, as I have tried it with a working mouse and still the PC does not detect the mouse. So probably its the software is causing the problem here. But if its a clone Pc then it wouldn't be a problem for me, but I am just not sure for a branded PC.

Please advice. Yeah, by the way, the PC OS is Windows 98SE and its using a USB mouse.

Thank you,

Answer : Problem: Trouble-shooting a branded PC

Check in start/controlpanel/system/devicemanager to see if the mouse is listed as installed. If it is not installed go into start/controlpane/addhardware and let the system first of all detect whether it has identified any newly attached hardware. If it finds the mouse as newly attached just follow the install wizard's instructions and install it using the manufactuer's disk or using the driver it finds on the system.