Setting up or installing a joystick or gamepad

Before a joystick or gamepad will work with your computer, you must install the software for it, usually located on an installation CD. If you've lost the software installation CD, check the manufacturer's website for the software. Most manufacturer's allow you to download the latest drivers for game controllers. Check out our listing of input device manufacturers, including game controller manufacturers, for links to the company's website to download the software.

Setup joystick or gamepad and installing software

Every joystick and gamepad should come with the software used to install on your operating system.

1. Connect the joystick or gamepad to an available USB port on the computer using the USB cable connected to the joystick or gamepad.
2. Insert the CD that was included with the joystick or gamepad into the computer's CD or DVD drive. If the CD does not automatically start the install program, open My Computer, double-click on the CD or DVD drive, and then double-click the Setup.exe or Install.exe file. If you downloaded the drivers, run the downloaded setup file.
3. Follow the installation wizard to install your joystick or gamepad and its associated software.

Testing the joystick or gamepad

After the joystick or gamepad has been installed in Windows, open the joystick or gamepad software to customize the buttons. Then you can test it through the Set up USB game controllers utility in Windows. To open the Set up USB game controllers utility in Windows, follow the steps below.

1. Click Start or open the Window Start Screen.
2. In the Run or Search text field or at the Windows Start Screen, type "game controller" and click the Set up USB game controllers option.
3. Click the name of the joystick or gamepad you want to test and click the Properties button or link.

Note: You may need to perform additional configuration steps to set up your joystick or gamepad to work with games on your computer. Check the settings in game and look for a configuration menu or option for configuring the game controller.