Okay, I have the solution to this problem.
Great assistance from the Australian supplier for Arturia.
Along the way I tried a few things which didn't help me, but they may help someone else:
In windows, there are a maximum of ten MIDI device slots in the registry. There is a good tool from KORG for managing this as swapping devices between ports and no longer used devices can use up these slots:
http://www.korg.com/service/downloadinfo.asp?DID=1232 and another similar tool here:
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/usbdeview.htmlthey can be used to free up unused slots in the registry. with the KORG tool ensure you uncheck 'Delete Korg MIDI Devices only' after clicking 'options' in the MIDI slot list window where by default non-KORG devices cannot be selected.
Also, this is all probably a Microsoft issue. Refer to this knowledge base article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933262On one machine I tested, vista had every available update installed, but did not have service pack 1. Check step 3 for a manual SP1 install.
AS A LAST RESORT there is a hotfix, a replacement USB Audio driver.
This is what fixed it for me, but try everything else first.
And that's the end of my story..