Steering Wheel woes on XP

Ok, I have a slightly older version of sidewinder central (v4) and I am having heaps of trouble with my Microsoft force feedback steering wheel. When I go into the calibrate bit it seems to think it is settingup a joystick or summat. I can steer left and right ok but I seem to be having trouble with the pedals. The brake especially.
It seems to setup alright but when I go into a game like Colin Mccrae 2 the brake pedal comes up as Axis 5??? It also seems to be stuck partly on. As soon as I try to race it shoots off in reverse (without touching a thing!) also the menus are a pain as they are constantly scrolling because of the brake. I find, however, that half-pressing the throttle pedal cancels this out. All this also happens with Insane.
I tried my mates USB fitted wheel and NO PROBLEM! It works perfectly, including the sidewinder setup screen where you can test the wheel.
Microsoft (bless their lil hearts!) have stated that they are no longer supporting gameport devices on XP. I also tried a gameport-USB adaptor that came with my joystick to no avail.

How do I get my wheel (or at least the pedals) to work with XP??? HELP!

It would appear that it is seing the pedals as another joystick and that would explain why the midpoint on the throttle is zero acceleration. I suspect you'll find the same with the brake. see if there is any way to change the settings for the pedals so that the zero point is at one end (ie pedal up).

I think part of the problem is that, usually, the throttle and brake are the same axis I.E. Axis 1. But for some reason it is separating them into Axis 1 for throttle and Axis 5 for brake. I want to try and get them back onto the same axis if possible.