Tommy, by 'mixer' can I guess you mean the 122 Audio Interface? Just want that nailed down you see!
I had a S/H 122 for a bit, was not impressed, mic amps low gain and not particularly quiet. The AI is no longer current and the new Tascam products get some good rep'.
The fail to run on the laptop could be due to low USB power delivery. The 122 can only be bus powered. You could try it on a powered USB hub but AIs often do not like hubs for other reasons. You can also buy a 'Two A plugs to one B plug' USB cable (sold for outboard optical drives) this doubles the power capability of the USB source.
Final thought. The USB port on the laptop, not USB THREE is it? I did not know for AGES that one of the ports on this HP lappy was 3.0! The 122, being an OLD AI (!) might not work on 3.0...SHOULD be backwards compatibly but, di-da?? (Ooo! Jusfort, I bet the 122 is actually USB 1.1?)
Dave.