Mouse and usb plug

When I went from Win 7 to Win 8 I lost my Bluetooth with both laptop and desktop.
I have a Dell wireless mouse and a usb plug in the back of the desktop.
The mouse worked fine for a long time but lately has been failing to open Word the first time I double click.

I have 2 questions;
if I lost BT how does the mouse communicate with the usb plug and

is there anything I can do mechanically to get them to communicate or the mouse to work as it did?

Thank you
Peter

What do you mean by lost Bluetooth? My laptop and desktop did not come with Bluetooth built in. However I can add a USB Bluetooth dongle to get that functionality. I use several Logitech wireless keyboards and Trackballs. The USB Unifying receiver does the Bluetooth part of it. If your USB receiver showed up as being a Bluetooth device but doesn't now, reinstall the drivers for it from the manufacturer. Also check or replace the batteries in the mouse.

Also check Devices and Printers, may have to 'pair' the Bluetooth devices which can be the mouse, keyboard, PDA, cellphone, tablet, etc.

Blutooth

I went to devices and printers and ran the trouble shooter. It said the BT may not have been functioning = fixed.
Now when I open Word docs it seems fine so thank you for that.

Regarding Bluetooth, I bought my pc with Win 7 , paid the 40$ and then went from 8 to 8.1 via the store.
The upgrade visor said I would lose Bluetooth when I upgraded and it seems I did on both the laptop and desktop.

I read a very long process that said I could but at the end it was in registry keys where I should not be at my level.

I agree I can get a dongle with a disc and regain Bluetooth but am I correct that I cannot get Bluetooth back that came with my pcs? If there is a somewhat reasonable way please let me know.

What is confusing me is my batteries are fine, the troubleshooter seemed to fix Bluetooth yet the advisor upgrading said I would lose BT. maybe I have it and do not know where to get it going.

I've only put Win8 on a resurrected Dell Inspiron 15 that once had Win7 but Win8 was a full version, not an upgrade. It has Bluetooth built-in but seems to have a problem maintaining a connection to a BT mouse, particularly the HP X4000b but I think it was the mouse, doesn't seem to have the same issue with the Microsoft models or a Targus. I have an HP and another Dell that the BT works fine on. I'm working now with a Win7 and a Win8 Desktop with the BT dongle in bringing my Palm Pilot TX back up, some issue with USB on 7 and 8.

Bluetooth

I tried to pair my phone and laptop after setting Bluetooth support services in services.msc to automatic.
The phone showed Dell 365 but when I tried to pair them it said there was a problem with the passkey.

I do not know if the phone detected the desktop's mouse or the laptop.

I guess the question remains, if the advisor said I would lose BT how am I able to have the mouse and usb connect without it and why is it trying to pair with the phone

I have been to the manufacturer but nothing there seems to be of help?

It really depends on your hardware manufacturer and if they bothered to rewrite the Bluetooth drivers for that particular model's Bluetooth hardware. Sometimes you can find a Windows 8 driver that is for a later model (from the same manufacturer) but the same Bluetooth hardware specs. The only other solution is the one that it appears you did and that is to add new hardware (dongle) that has Win 8 drivers.

As far as your USB, it's really the same type of problem, the manufacturer has to have released drivers for it's USB hardware that will work for Windows 8. It's more difficult than the BT because the USB is what it is. Your motherboard has that USB hardware and you have to find Windows 8 drivers for it. The older the system, the more difficult. Again you can try and find the next newer model of computer from the same manufacturer but one that has Windows 8 USB drivers. If the basic hardware is the same, it could work.

I did this on a 6 year old Fujitsu Stylistic when moving between XP and 7 and then again to 8. I had ST5032 and I loaded drivers for ST5100 series. Between XP and 7, everything works. Later, going to Windows 8, everything worked except the Intel video drivers and the system would only run with the generic Windows 8 driver.

Try this at your own risk, but worst-case basis, the USB still won't work and all you have to do is revert back to the original drivers.

If the physical hardware is there, it should only be a matter of finding the right Windows 8.1 compatible drivers.

EDIT: lol, it looks like I posted the cliffs notes version of what OldGuyGeek posted.

Bluetooth and usb

You did clear up some thinking as I did not now that the usb and the BT were separate as far as the mouse goes.

I have not yet gotten a dongle.

I did run the troubleshooter on the mouse and it seems to have fixed the problem so I am up and running w/o BT.

When I go to Dell and enter my service tag, Dell sees my pc a Win 7 that it came with and I don't know if I use the update utility for drivers etc. if it will work for the Win 8.1 I have now or the Win 7 it recognizes.

I am antsy about pulling that trigger when at the site.

I will search Dell again for BT drivers as I think that is what you are suggesting.

Have noticed on a few Notebooks that if the built-in Wi-Fi is turned off so is the Bluetooth.

Airplane Mode will turn both off. There is an option on the charms bar to just turn WIFI off. It's under networks.