How old is the tablet? (Wacom Intuos2 tablet)
Did you try to contact their support?
http://us.wacom.com/en/support
Before making a lot of changes, you should have tried the following:
A. Boot in to safe mode and see if the problems shows.
B. Try the device on another computer for one hour.
There is the possibility that you need different drivers. Maybe not latest or best, just different. The newest drive may have a esoteric bug. To find out you either do a lot of testing or you get information from their sport people. Wacom is an important maker of input devices and they should give customers needed support.
Have you recently reviewed the documentation?
http://101.wacom.com/productsupport/manual/Intuos2UsersManual.pdf
EDIT: Strong radiation files can make the tablet stop working. Do you have Bluetooth or Wi-Fi devices within two meters of the ttablet?
I don't, unless you count the computer's built-in WiFi. I actually accidentally figured out about potential signal interference once when I had my tablet too close to another, larger Wacom tablet -- I was worried that it was the cable, until I moved far enough away from the secondary tablet and everything suddenly started working. (At which point, I did some testing and figured out -- yeah, the bigger tablet was something I had to keep out of range if I wanted everything to function.)
My particular laptop doesn't have Bluetooth, either. (Which is a shame, because the biggest problem people report with this computer is generally the sound system -- which is quiet and sort of tinny. And Bluetooth speakers are very convenient, but alas! It is not to be.)
The Wacom manual is pretty cool, but (given when the product came out) rather out of date. Pages 48 & 96 are the closest it comes to talking about actual connectivity problems, but it's for... when Windows XP was new? (I used to use a Graphire, and the guides were ANCIENT. I patched them as much as I could, until even fan-made patches petered out because people apparently just weren't using them in conjunction with shiny new systems.)
Because of how long I held onto my (ancient) Graphire, I am aware at least that the Wacom support can be pretty awesome -- but I'm not sure if it's actually the Wacom's fault? (I'd feel better about using the contact info on page 113, otherwise.) Pages 114 & 121 have some of the tests I'd already known about -- which is to say, it mentions checking to be sure that the light is on. (And it isn't. The USB port isn't even powering it.)
The new driver didn't cause problems with my old laptop, either. (Unfortunately, that computer is... cranky, and not fun to work on. The tablet will function, but very little else.) I've had to swap out drivers to older versions before (see: "weird person who used Graphire tablet for far, far too long") but in this case, everything functions -- except for when it stops.
Trying it on another computer for an hour? I've done that, but honestly, I'd rather use this laptop, provided I can fix the issue. (My old laptop has a problem with overheating and dying horribly. Other computers are desktop PCs, which are currently configured for maximum comfort of their main users, which means I'd have to fiddle with the chair and the desk and the angle of the keyboard enough that restarting this computer indefinitely starts to look like the better option.)
Also, the tablet is old. I have more than one (same generation, obviously) Intuos2 tablets, and it appears to not be tablet-specific. (I checked.)
I'll boot in safe mode and check it out, next, I guess? And if that doesn't pan out, I'll give up and try contacting Wacom, maybe.
Thanks for your time and advice; I appreciate it.
