Sidewinder Joystick and WinXP

[ZK-LGD]

Howdy,

Has anyone got an idea how to get WinXP to recognise a Sidewinder Joystick?

The rig was purchased after MS discontinued support of the Sidewinder; and, whilst I can load the drivers (off a Win98 disk), and they show up in the Game Controller panel, after a reboot, the drivers just disappear.

TIA.

[Zöltuger]

my precision pro joystick is plug and play, no problems there (i have the USB adapter)
i found this, maybe it will help?

Support for legacy SideWinder game port controllers are built into Windows 2000 and Windows XP. To install a SideWinder game port device on Windows 2000 or Windows XP, follow the steps below for your Windows version: Windows 2000 Connect your SideWinder game controller to the game port or USB port in your computer. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. Double-click Gaming Options. Click Add. In the Game Controllers box, click Microsoft SideWinder (Auto Detect), and then click OK. Windows XP Connect your SideWinder game controller to the game port or USB port in your computer. Click Start, and then click Control Panel. Double-click Game Controllers. Click Add. In the Game Controllers box, click Microsoft SideWinder (Auto Detect), and then click OK.

[ZK-LGD]

Howdy Zöltuger,

Many thanks. Issue resolved by simply dumping the Win98 drivers and using the correct USB port to plug the stick into. Also important was remembering to load the appropriate (if somewhat out-of-date) profile (FS2000). Loads up fine every time now.

(BTW: this was for She Who Must Be Obeyed's benefit; she wanted to play Crimson Skies and couldn't because of the aforementioned problem. Ah, the hassels of a 3 computer household. )