Windows 7 - USB bluetooth dongle stopped working, Code 10 error

Hi,

I have been using a USB Bluetooth dongle (bought from dealExtreme) on a Sony Vaio laptop with Windows 7 home premium 64x installed. The dongle was working properly. All of a sudden, however, it stopped working.

I looked at Devices and printers and there is an exclamation mark on the Bluetooth device icon. It then tells me I have a code 10 error (device will not start). I diged deeper and some drivers seem to be missing, like blue tooth audio for instance. Windows recommended updating the driver so I let it do that, but it claims it did not find any driver suitable.

A reboot does not change anything. Using another USB port makes Windows try to reinstall the drivers for a "new device" and it fails. I'm at a loss.

Apart from Windows automatic update (and generic program updates like flash player), nothing new was installed on the computer. The USB ports themselves work well.

What's the next step?

Thanks.