ultimate: USB device (remote control) not recognized..

hi,

I have this remote control running on Ultimate:
http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Vista-...34927&sr =1-4

it has been working fine for almost a year with hardly any problems..
but now all of a sudden it won't work at all... I go to device manager
and uninstall the driver, then unplug the remote receiver, restart the
machine, plug the receiver into USB port again, and get alert saying
"installing device.." but after all that, the remote control still won't
work..
(and last time I restarted the machine I got alert, "USB device not
recognized...."

so mainly I need to know a way of trouble-shooting this so I can
determine if the problem is caused by Vista or by the remote itself
(before I go out and spend about $50 on a new remote..)


thank you..