Game Controller Properties not working right.

When I go to Start-Control Panels-Game Controllers-
Gravis Xterminator Gamepad (Game Port)-Properties, the
Properties window opens and then rapidly closes a
fraction of a second later. I already have the latest
Windows XP Drivers for my Gravis gamepad and the Device
Manager Properties says that it's working properly.

I've uninstalled and reinstalled the Gravis software
three times and the problem seems to go away. But it
returns. There's no listing in neither the FAQ from
Gravis or Microsoft about this. I've spoken to the Tech
Support people from Microsoft, and they basicly
instructed me to uninstall and reinstall the software.

Does anyone know how to finally fix this problem.

What I have is:

OS: Windows XP Professional (Administrator Level)
(formerly Windows 98SE)
Motherboard: Asus TUSL2-C (Socket 370 with Intel 815EP
Chipset)
Processor: Intel Pentium III 1.2Mhz
RAM: 512MB SDRAM
Video Card: MSI MS-Starforce GEForce4 Ti 4200 w/AGP8X
(NVIDIA GEForce4 Ti 4200 128MB w/AGP8X) (Driver Version
6.14.01.4345)
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 (Driver
Version 5.12.1.283)
Game Controller: Gravis Xterminator Digital Gamepad
Speakers: Creative Inspire 6.1 6600 (120W System Power)
HDD: 1 Master WDC WD600BB and 1 Slave Quantium Fireball
lct10 15GB
DirectX Version: 9.0a
Page File Size: 1GB