USB Driver Installation (XP)

  1. Plug the mw3 hardware (black box) into a USB port on your computer. This will launch the Windows Found New Hardware Wizard.
  2. Select the ‘No, not this time’ option and continue.
  3. Select ‘Search for the best driver in these locations’ and browse to the downloaded MW3_USB directory. Click ‘Next’ to continue.
  4.  If a warning box appears saying that the software has not passed Windows Logo testing, click ‘Continue Anyway’.
  5. Windows should then display a message indicating that the installation was successful. Click ‘Finish’.
  6. The computer will now indicate that it has found new hardware again (USB Serial Port) and present the Found New Hardware Wizard once more. Repeat steps 3 to 7.

Troubleshooting

There is a test which can be useful for troubleshooting in the future:

Go to Settings>Control Panel>System and select the Hardware tab. Then select the Device Manager tab and you will be presented with a list of hardware devices. Expand the ‘Ports (COM & LPT)’ by clicking on the + sign to its left. Whenever the MW3 box is plugged in and operational, it will be listed here, for example ‘mindwalker (COM3)’ indicating that it has been assigned COM Port 3.

Known Problems

 A problem can arise with Windows XP due to the fact that the Plug ‘n’ Play feature can think it has detected a serial port pointing device (Serial Ballpoint) and load that driver instead. This results in the cursor flitting about the screen when the MW3 is plugged in.

The remedy is to disable the mistaken device driver. Unplug the MW3 to regain control of the cursor. From the Start menu go to Settings>Control Panel>System, select Hardware tab and then the Device Manager tab. Click on the + sign to the left of ‘Mice and other pointing devices’. If ‘Serial Ballpoint’ appears in the list, right click it and select Properties, then check the ‘Disable in this hardware profile’ box. After this the MW3 USB driver should install correctly.

There have been a few occasions, particularly on laptops, when the MW3 has been assigned a COM port already used by another device, for example an in-built modem. The Device Manager shows that the mindwalker is present (it is listed under Ports) but the application software does not detect it. The COM port number should be increased by going to the Device Manager, right click on mindwalker and select Properties, then Port Settings, then Advanced. A drop down list of COM Port numbers is then available, and a different one can be selected.

Should you wish to uninstall the mindwalker USB driver at any time, this can be done with the Control Panel Add or Remove programs facility. The driver will be listed under the following name:

FTDI USB-to-Serial Converter Drivers