Bluetooth mouse stops responding on short idles on Windows 7 and Macbook Pro

Question

I have a Microsoft Notebook Mouse 5000 and I've paired it with my Macbook Pro (Late 2007) running Windows 7 x64. The trouble is, whenever the mouse is idle for more than a few seconds, whenever I move it again, it takes it 1-2 seconds to wake up, which is very annoying.

Answer 1

I was getting the same problem with the Apple Wireless Keyboard. It turns out, Windows is putting the bluetooth adapter to sleep. You can get around this by unchecking the "Power Management->Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" option in "Device Manager" for the "Apple Built-in Bluetooth" device.

Answer 2

Taking a clue from this, I realized the problem is not in the mouse, but rather in the system. So I've changed from the Apple Bluetooth Adapter driver (installed by BootCamp -- my version is 3.2) to the Generic Bluetooth Adapter driver and now the idle wakeup delay is minimal, barely noticeable.

To do this:

1. Open the Device Manager (Start | search for "Device Manager")
2. Expand "Bluetooth Radios"
3. Double-click the "Apple Bluetooth Adapter"
4. Chose the Driver tab
5. Click Update Driver
6. Select "Browse my computer for driver software"
7. Select "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
8. Select the "Generic Bluetooth Adapter"
9. Click OK and wait while it installs. It might take a little time, but in the end, all of your Bluetooth devices should be available.