Logitech USB joystick problem

I've got an (old, I know) Logitech Wingman Extreme, which worked for a good long while. It ends in a gameport connector, but came with a simple gameport-to-USB connector (nothing more than a female gameport on one end and a USB port on the other; no circuitry or anything like the generic connectors), which I used. I'm running Win2k.

At some point, it stopped working, and began giving me the 'Your gameport or gameport drivers are not properly configured. ...' error. The only thing I can think of that may have affected it is the soundcard I got from a buddy, and then removed after I realized that my motherboard's integrated sound sounded better.

The card was an SB Live! (has problems with crackling when multiple applications that can use audio are open, which is almost all the time with me ), and the motherboard's an ECS K7S5A (and the whole computer is similarly outdated).

The soundcard did have a joystick port, and I tried plugging it back in and just connecting the joystick that way. It did indeed get rid of the error, but it still didn't recognize the Wingman (whether plugged into the card or into the USB port), or even a generic 2-axis 2-button joystick I've got lying around. So I pulled it again.

I'm going to go see if the computer downstairs recognizes this joystick, so I can be sure it's not, in fact, the joystick itself. >.>