MS Wireless Optical Desktop and XP

Hi guys,
Having some dramas with the MS Wireless Optical Desktop (aka Keybaord v1 and Mouse v2) and XP.
However, before I start abusing MS, I have a feeling that my room might be at fault.
I only received the WOD yesterday, and had dramas from the moment I plugged it in. I rang the vendor who told me to ring MS. I rang MS, who asked me if I was able to try it out on another machine. As luck would have it, I was able to try it on my son's PC (in another room) and it worked fine.
So, what I'm wondering is, what kinds of things will interfere with the wireless (RF) technology?
The things that are sitting on my desk at the moment are:

Audio components:
1 x NAD cassette deck
1 x NAD power amp (2x120W RMS)
1 x Tascam DAT machine
1 x M-Audio Delta 1010 sound card breakout box
1x Behringer MX2004A mixing desk

Computer components:
1x 19" LCD monitor
1x Lexmark multifunction centre

Communications:
1x telephone

Hanging off the wall behind the desk:
1x pair of Tannoy Reveal (passive) speakers


So, am I expecting too much? Is there too much gear here? I'm afriad of the answer, given that the WOD worked ok in my son's room.
Keen to hear everyone's thoughts.

Amplifiers interfere with all kinds of things. I would try moving that farther away from the desk if possible.

Yeah, I tried a shortcut to that idea, which was to run the USB cord (which runs to the receiver) around the other side fo the desk, so that it was as far from the audio gear as I could possibly get it.
Even placing the mouse next to the receiver didn't help though, even when both were 4 feet away from the audio components.
Is this enough clearance, or does the amp need to be even further away?

Oh, and heinouskyle, great quote from Dr Suess! :)

That's got to be my favorite quote of all time.

I don't know for sure how far away it needs to be. You might also try to use some kind of shielding, some kind of metal barrier between the reciever and the amplifier. My two CRT's were interfereing with each other, and I put a cookie sheet between them to stop the interference. That worked quite well.

Well, after a couple of days playing with this, it appears that there is just too much electromagnetic interference in the room. I tried placing the receiver, the keyboard and the mouse on the floor 6 feet away from all the other gear, and they still wouldn't work.
Back in my son's room, on his old box running Win98SE, it all worked like a dream.
Oh well, EBay, here I come....
Thanks all!

Does it work on your system with all that stuff unplugged?

Does 'switched off' count the same as 'unplugged'? :)
'Cause I did switch them all off, but the problem was still there. And no, I can't remove any of the gear! :) It's a home studio.

I would guess that turned off would be the same, and if it doesn't work in this case, then I don't think those items are your problem.

Obviously up to you if you want to try it, but I'd be curious if the mouse works on your computer, but in the room where the other computer was that it worked on.

Sorry zENGER, I don't fully understand your question.
Do you mean "did the mouse work, while the keyboard didn't?"
No, neither device worked reliably. When I first booted up, both worked for about 30 seconds, but then both ceased to respond, forcing me to hit the reset button on my PC.
On my son's Win98SE box, both devices continued to work for hours (which would tend to suggest that weren't planning on failing at all!).

Right, what I mean is... take your computer into your sons room and hook it up in there. See if it works there. You were suspicious of the location being a problem and this will eliminate that as the culprit. Or, bring his machine into your office and try his in there.

Right! Now I'm with you.
Yeah, that's a good thought. I'll try that tonight when I get home.

God damn, has it really been a week already?
My apologies guys.... work has just been so full on, and the podcasting thing is taking off in a major way....
Anyway, I finally got around to bringing my son's pc into my room, and what do you know?
His machine works fine with the wireless keyboard and mouse!
So, that says that it's something to do with my machine.
How bizarre is that? Here I am running XP + SP2 and it won't work. Go figure.
Keen to hear your thoughts.

Is it a USB connection to the receiver? If it is try it on a different port and try another USB device on the ports to see if they work properly.

just a thought

:)

Mmmm, interesting thought.
Will give it go.... hopefully within the next 6 hours! :)

Well, dip me in honey and throw me to the lesbians!
Whaddya know.... a change of USB port seems to have resolved it. I'm on the wireless keybaord and mouse now, and it seems to be fine.
Thanks guys.

....except it hasn't improved my typing skills. :)

Hi, thanks for the feedback. I had a similar problem with a USB modem a couple of years back. The USB ports don't seem to have the same tight tolerances as the others?

Just a little anecdote that might help anyone else looking at this thread in the future, who does not have another computer close to hand.

A friend called me a couple of weeks back:

"Johnno, my mouse isn't working"..............

"Check the receiver is firmly plugged in at the back, and move the mouse right up to the receiver" "

"It still doesn't work"

"OK turn the mouse over, flip the little lid and replace the batteries "

" Oh! it works now"

:rolleyes: :D

No worries!

You're not going to believe this, but after 2 days of working perfectly, it suddenly decided to give me grief again!
So, here I am on the wired keybaord and mouse again.
....
I'm even beyond swearing now. :(
I've given up. My 4 year old son now has a lovely new wireless keyboard and mouse, while I'm tacking away on his old generic beige masterpieces.
Unbelieveable.