TheMLGladiator wrote on 2024-12-21, 14:45:

I've been testing some different hardware configurations for my Win9x system and I stumbled across a way to get better mouse mov […]
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I've been testing some different hardware configurations for my Win9x system and I stumbled across a way to get better mouse movement without needing to use any external programs like PS2Rate with drivers shipped with Win98 SE. This option also allows for mouse acceleration to be disabled.

WARNING: Follow at your own risk, these steps may not work with all mice.

Before starting, make sure you have the Windows 98 install CD available.

1. Go to Control Panel -> System -> Device Manager and expand the Mouse drop down
2. Go to the properties of your PS/2 mouse and go to Driver -> Update Driver
3. Click next and choose the option to display the list of drivers
4. Select 'show all hardware' and scroll down and select 'Logitech'
5. Scroll down to the bottom and select 'Other Logitech Mouse PS/2'
6. Click through the rest of the wizard, following the directions. The mouse won't be available to finish the wizard, so tab through it and restart

Once restarted, the mouse should be working. If not, your mouse is unfortunately not compatible with this guide and will need to be restored to the default drivers.
Mouse adjustments/disabling mouse acceleration

1. Go to Start Menu -> Run and type 'regedit' to get the the Registry Editor
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Logitech\MouseWare\CurrentVersion\WheelMouseIM\0000
3. Edit the 'Acceleration' entry from 'Low' to 'Off'
4. Change 'NumberOfButtons' to '3'
5. Close Registry and restart

There should be much smoother mouse movement (especially noticeable >60Hz) and no mouse acceleration in Windows. There doesn't seem to be mouse acceleration in DOS under Windows either.

Extra: These drivers seem to be based off of the Logitech MouseWare 8.x drivers, maybe those work as well?

It works perfectly, thank you!!!
I was also fighting with this problem, I almost thought it's some hardware limitation of P/S 2 connector on motherboard, but then I tried Win XP on the same MB and it worked smooth, USB mouse is also smooth even in Win 98, so it's obvious that it's some driver problem. It's weird that they didn't care in Win 98 time, I don't remember having such problems back in the day, but I remember than many mice had floppy with drivers, so it's possible that it was solved by installation of their specific drivers.

Have you tried MS IntelliPoint Mouse Software? I always used this back then and on my retro Builds and it adds much more Settings to mouse control Panel.

AncapDude wrote on 2026-05-09, 23:03:

Have you tried MS IntelliPoint Mouse Software? I always used this back then and on my retro Builds and it adds much more Settings to mouse control Panel.

Hi, I will look at it. I already tried even Compaq driver, but it looks like it all works the same as with Logitech driver, there is no difference. I tried full box of mice, the best working seems to be old optical genius mouse, but I don't like that shape, I am thinking about transplanting it into a better body from ball genius mouse. 😁 I have some later HP optical mouse for PS/2 but that mouse is really bad. It's sad that most of people threw good logitech optical PS/2 mice into garbage and I can't find them anymore, these mice were the best for retro purposes.
I could just use USB mouse, it works fine in Win 98, but I am using that PC even for DOS gaming, so it would be annoying to switch between 2 mice because I was not abble to make USB mouse work in DOS.

Pidalin_CZ wrote on 2026-05-09, 23:21:

Hi, I will look at it. I already tried even Compaq driver, but it looks like it all works the same as with Logitech driver, there is no difference. I tried full box of mice, the best working seems to be old optical genius mouse, but I don't like that shape, I am thinking about transplanting it into a better body from ball genius mouse. 😁 I have some later HP optical mouse for PS/2 but that mouse is really bad. It's sad that most of people threw good logitech optical PS/2 mice into garbage and I can't find them anymore, these mice were the best for retro purposes.
I could just use USB mouse, it works fine in Win 98, but I am using that PC even for DOS gaming, so it would be annoying to switch between 2 mice because I was not abble to make USB mouse work in DOS.

The Logitech and Compaq mouse driver options in device manager use the same driver so they operate identically. I think I've read somewhere that the drivers included with some Genius mice also increase the polling rate. I'm personally a huge fan of the USB Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical and the updated version; Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse. Both are very cheap and convert to PS/2 with a passive adapter.