USB optical mouse (wired) no driver - windows 10

Hi,

had this laptop setup and a wired optical mouse running for about three years. auto upgraded to windows 10 a few months ago (not exactly sure when). never had a problem.... until this morning.

turned on laptop this morning and mouse not working.

plugged in another mouse......no go.

plugged mouses into another laptop.... all good.... hmmm

note - when I plug in the mouse I hear the "ding ding" sound. and when I unplug I hear the "ding dong" sound - also the mouse icon appears and disappears from the "device manager" page.

so..

1. went into "device manager" and click on "USB Optical Mouse" and it says "driver not installed"
2. so i click "update driver".....then "automatic driver search".... response is "Windows unable to install driver" "windows could not find driver"
3. so I uninstall driver and restart... no go
4. try another install....same result as line 2 above
5. so then I run the devices "troubleshooter" and get "USB mouse doesn't have a driver''.... der
6. click on that... and get "trouble shooting couldn't identify the problem".. wtf

7.  I also tried a Windows “Basic Optical Mouse” driver (mouse & keyboard Centre 3.2) After I downloaded it and run it I get error “the requested operation requires elevation”  WTF………

so, after 5 hours of **** around on a sunny sunday I still have no mouse driver.... any suggestions?