On Saturday, 13 January 2018 21:59:49 UTC, Mary-Jane Rottencrotch wrote:
On 2018-01-13 13:29, wrote:

Yea, I know computer mice are cheap, but I need a PS/2 connector and
want a ball mouse. I dont like the infared mice, and can not use a USB
mouse on my Windows 98 computer.

Does it not have USB ports? Disregarding the utter ridiculousness of
still using Windows 98 in 2018, it supports USB just fine (since Windows
95 OSR 2.1, around 1997 - 21 years ago nearly).

98 usb support is not ideal, though it works adequately with nusb3.1 installed.
The point is that USB mice are not readable by 98 era machines until the OS has booted and loaded the USB driver. P/S2 & D9 mice are superior in this respect.


So, until I can get one from ebay, is there any temporary fix? (The
other mouse functions work fine).


Well what sort of switch is it? The crystal ball is a bit cloudy on this
one.

Yes, either open the switch and clean the contacts or replace it. And always have a spare mouse, they never last forever.
FWIW with ball mice, the earlier D9 ones generally work much better IME.


NT