I think that I know what your problem is.  It could very well be
your mouse.  My mouse is on COM1, and that is the default port for the
PICSTART board.  If you mouse driver is loaded when you are running the
picstart, it may not find it.  Use COM2 and the /2 switch to get the program
to use COM2
                                        -Christopher Parker
                                        E.R.T.W.