memory card reader causing mouse to freeze even after clean OS install?

[njitgrad]

Prior to wiping my system drive last night I was having an issue where my wireless optical Microsoft mouse would freeze but my wireless Microsoft keyboard was still functioning even though they communicate through the same receiver. The only work around was to unplug the receiver from the USB port and plug it back in.

So I decided to wipe my system drive and reinstall Windows 7 64-bit Home Edition. After doing so I installed all of the Windows updates, my SATA card driver (which controls 4 non-system drives), my monitor driver, my EVGA 8800GS monitor driver, Avast, and SuperAntiSypware. As basic of an installation as possible. I was about to reinstall my apps today one by one when I got the dreaded freeze again.

Then I thought back to when this problem started occurring...about a month ago. Which happens to coincide with the time I had to replace my malfunctioning internal USB memory card reader with a brand new Rosewill RCR-IC001 Internal Card Reader. The card reader connects to a USB port on my EVGA motherboard and did not come with any driver.

Could the card reader be the source of the problem??? How can I find out one way or another? I just realized that I did not install any EVGA chipset drivers during my clean install. Could this be another problem?

 

[njitgrad]

I'm going to try that as a temporary measure. But I am constantly making use of my card reader for SD and CF cards so losing that capability will not be something that I will take lightly. I never had an issue with my old card reader but it appears that Sony stopped manufacturing them which is why I got the Rosewill. The Sony lasted me about 4 years or so.