Adding Bluetooth Devices in Windows 7

The process of adding Bluetooth devices in Windows 7 is very different from adding them in Windows Vista and windows xp. In this article, I will walk you through the process of adding a Bluetooth device in Windows 7 as well as give you some "gotchas" to watch out for so that the process runs smoothly.

Recently, I bought a new ASUS laptop that included a rebate for a free Bluetooth mouse and Windows 7. I enjoyed using the laptop for a couple of months before Windows 7 was released and these items arrived. In that time, I had used a small laptop USB mouse that works pretty well. Honestly, I may never have bought the Bluetooth mouse if it was not free. Still, I was interested in it enough to spend some significant time making it work. Perhaps it was the challenge of something new, that the mouse looked sleek and cool, or that I just was stubborn enough to make sure I got my free mouse working. No matter as, in the end, I got it working and am thankful that I did as this Bluetooth mouse is cool in every way and I would never go back to the old USB mouse.

Adding a Bluetooth Mouse to Windows 7, step by step

Go to Control Panel of Windows 7,from there the water gets a little murky. instead, what you need to do is to click on View Devices and Printers under Hardware and Sound.

Next, before you click Add a device (shown in Figure 2) you should first do a few things:

1. Make sure that, if you have a laptop, wireless is enabled on the laptop. Bluetooth is wireless and, typically, when you disable all wireless that includes not but also Bluetooth.
2. Make sure that any proprietary software you have that controls power or wireless has Bluetooth enabled .
3. Turn on the power on the mouse and press the Connect button.

Now, you can click Add a Device and you should see something like the graphic.

Select the device you want to add and click Next.

The device drivers will be loaded and you should see the window

At this point, your mouse should be working. You can use it to click Close and you will be taken back to the Devices and Printers window where you can see your device.

Ideally, adding Bluetooth devices should be that easy but there are some to look out for.

To make sure that it goes as easily as I demonstrated above, look out for these potential pitfalls:

1. Make sure that your laptop or PC actually has Bluetooth. You can not assume that it has it.
2. Make sure that your Bluetooth is ON. Your laptop might have a switch that enables or disables wireless.
3. Make sure that any proprietary software you have that controls power or wireless has Bluetooth enabled. On my Sony Vaio, I have a proprietary software application installed (from Sony) called Smart Wi Connection Utility that enables and disables various types of wireless connections, including Bluetooth. I ran into an issue where Bluetooth was disabled here and I had to track down this utility to enable it.
4. Make sure that your Bluetooth device is powered on and make sure that it has some kind of LED indicating that it has power. While it may be obvious, that also means that your device has batteries that have a charge (fresh batteries are preferred).
5. You may have to press the Connect button on the Bluetooth device to get it talking to the Bluetooth adaptor on the PC or laptop.
6. Make sure that the drive for your Bluetooth device is successfully installed.