I'm currently using an older Logitech dual analog gamepad for the PC and have not had problems until recently. It works fine for FFXI and for ZSNES when only one of those two are open. But lately, when both are open either:

1. The gamepad will control FFXI regardless of what window is in the forefront.

or

2. After disabling gamepad support for FFXI via FFXIConfig, the gamepad will work fine with ZSNES UNTIL I swap over the FFXI window for something. When I switch back to ZSNES, the gamepad will not do anything.

I can sometimes get it to work by unplugging it, waiting a few seconds, plugging it back in and verifying it's working via Control Panel -> Game Controllers. This is spotty at best though. When clicking on Control Panel -> Game Controllers -> Logitech Dual Action -> Properties, the controller either works fine or gives the error message: "Your game controller is not connected properly. Please verify it is plugged into your computer."

That's the same error message it gives if I check it after swapping into FFXI and back.

I'm pretty sure it's not a hardware problem, because like I said, the controller still works fine if only one of these programs is open.

Any ideas how to fix this?

EDIT: Windows Vista 32-bit if it makes any difference.