Windows detects USB GPS as Serial Ballpoint - please suggest permanent modification to prevent any serial mouse detection

You're right, this does NOT seem device specific - I'm experiencing a similar problem on a different system!

Upon the bootup, my system opens the COM port for 'actual' serial communication with other MPU-based devices.

However the system sometimes pops up a COM port error message, and I see this 'microsoft serial ballpoint' from my device manager - I did tried to disable it, but it comes back.

What I found so far is, if I force to transmit '0000' to the COM port while it is booting up, the Windows will detect this 'microsoft serial ballpoint'. Haven't found any way to prevent this though..

I also tried playing with 'EWF' options which did not help.

Have you discevered any fixes that works from your experience?

You are right in thinking that "tricking" Windows into thinking a serial ball point mouse is there & then disabling it seems to work pretty well.

We belive that USB Serial ports from DIGI (see DIGI.COM) have a patch that is specific to their devices work - however, we have had intermittant problems with these devices going into some sort of "sleep state", which causes problems as well.

We are switching people away from using serial devices to using Serial / Ethernet converters, and so far aside from being needlessly expensive and wasting time & effort it seems to work well so far.  This is clearly a Microsoft bug, which they have been trying to ignore for a long time.

Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. (this new laptop had to be purchased Xmas 2010 after burglars stole my excellent and well liked Advent/Gerrycom Blockbuster 2.8GHz Pentium 4 machine) 

Friday the 13th January 2012 my cursor went crazy jumping around all over the screen.  Menu panes were flashing on and off and jumping about so I thought some hacker had written a Friday the 13th virus.  Nope its the GPS being seen as a Serial Ballpoint Mouse.  Curiously this bug only kicked-in after last nights Windows Updates! 

This bug has allegedly been around for well over FIVE YEARS.  Quite frankly this is just not acceptable.  Microsoft NEEDS to issue a patch as soon as possible as otherwise I'm going back to XP.  Several years ago I bought a laptop running Vista.  It was a piece of junk that impersonated a fan heater.  I took it back as soon as the store opened and I did get my money back but it required some tough talking.  As there was no Wordprocessor included I tried installing Lotus Smartsuite.  This almost ran as the welcome pane appeared but a line of red  type showed saying that a line of code was missing.  That's almost like having to buy a new car because a thief has stolen the steering wheel.

Folks- I don't know if there is a windows bug on this or not... Certainly lasting this long it would seem to be more complex.  Here's a little bit of how USB works which may help...

When you plug a new USB device into a PC with windows, there is a standard enumeration process that is supposed to happen (a standard defined by USB.org, not by MS.)   There are several 'universal' device profiles, that windows can install if the detected device fits that profile (an example- you plug in a USB memory stick, and windows recognizes it and installs the universal mass storage USB Driver... and your device works.)

If there is a bug, it would seem to be in how these GPS devices are responding to the enumeration commands from the USB master (the PC) or in how windows is reading the response from the device.  So, yes, it could be a windows bug, or it could be a device bug...  although an issue arising from a windows update is certainly suspicious!

Now, part 2:  I don't know, but suspect there is no standard GPS USB profile (most if not all of these gadgets are probably unique as to their functionality,) thus the supplier of the GPS device would typically supply an install disk with their proprietary USB device driver.  I did not see any mention of anyone installing these...

Au contraire - this is a MICROSOFT problem - not a general USB problem.

I have been dealing with this problem for a long time - NSIL Mike, I hope you will not take these remarks as offensive, since your remarks have some useful insight in them...

First, this problem occurs on ordinary, on board serial ports.  If you attach many different models of Weigh Scales which communicate via RS232, the computer MAY determine that this is a mouse.  This has been a problem since Windows 2000, but prior to Vista, Microsoft released a patch called "ComDisable" which cause the Operating System (Windows), not to detect the device as a Mouse.

Secondly, with respect to USB specifications - Microsoft is major player at the USB organization - they would have provided and approved the specs for determining that a device is a mouse.

Third - and this relates to point one - GPS, weigh scales and a number of other serial devices are mistaken by the OS as specific types of mice (Ballpoint mice, early model MS Mice) - NOT ORDINARY MICE!  Also, the weigh scales that we work with do not communicate bi-directionally - they just send data to the PC.

Fourth:  The outputs from serial weigh scales considerably PRE-DATE Microsoft Mouse outputs!