Windows 7 - 2 USB mice one not recognized at boot

I use 2 usb mice, a logitech and a gearhead. When I boot my computer with both plugged in only one of them is able to work. if I unplug and unplug the one that doesn't work it will start working and I can use both. How can I get them to both work on startup?

Hello jphl Welcome to the Seven Forums!

The first question would be which one does and which one doesn't? Have you tried unplugging the one that does to boot with only the one that doesn't?

If you start the system up and find that the one that doesn't still doesn't forcing you to shutdown then it is from requiring a PS/2 type adapter. Otherwise it would be Windows automatically defaulting to one mouse alone. Later at the desktop the second mouse is seen as a new device being added onto the system and works.

either one works when it is by itself. I haven't tested if there is a way to get the gearhead recognized on boot and the logitech not but so far the logitech is active and the gearhead is not. I forgot to mention they are both wireless mice and they used to work fine together but then I reinstalled windows 7 quite a while back and they stopped working together at boot. will check to see if I can get the gearhead recognized and the logitech ignored when I get home in less than an hour. I'm at McDonald's right now with family for breakfast

You may try opening Divices and Printers from the Start menu to see if both are listed there, one with the error icon. Right click it and run Trouble shooter.

it sees them both fine and windows says the drivers are up to date but the driver program my mobo manufacturer directs us too says one of them is out of date but it doesn't give any info on the correct driver and I'd have to pay to get it.

Drivers are free, if one is offered for sale it may be just a scam to get some of your money.
You can check these steps to see if any are helpful. USB Driver - General Fix for Problems

I'd say! Scamatorium by OEM! There's also a few programs out that are also free you can use to keep things updated. The one most recommended is the Secunia Personal Software Inspector and another free open source program is the DriverPack Solution

Since the two mice are wireless you will need to go back over the steps you initially took prior to the 7 reinstall to find out what got the two working together at boot. Besides having the right drivers you have to get Windows to install them and make them active at start up indicating how they were first installed and detected originally would be where to look.

Two things come to mind, which are you could solve this with a switchover USB hub (the type made for connecting a laptop to another systems USB peripherals at the push of a button on the hub) and that such a solution would avoid the possibility of 2.4Ghz RF interference between the two devices.

Here's an example of one such piece of kit:- Gembird USB 2.0 Switching Hub

You might need a male to male USB cable to get the switch to do what you'd like it to, but I'd imagine it's feasible enough. Throwing the switch would force Windows to adapt to the desired device within moments.

If the GearHead mouse had been corded I would have suggested plugging that one in with a PS/2 adapter and leave the Logitech via USB. While the RF can't be ruled out but removing the usb end from the ports to plug into a hub can easily make matters worse. Some devices will only work directly from a port.

I've recently abandoned a Logitech Wireless Mouse as there were such lag problems with it in Windows Seven it became more of a pain than anything else. However it was no worse when connected to any one of the eight downstream powered USB hubs in my monitors than directly into a motherboard port, hence my suggestion.