Windows 7 Massive input lag issues with Microsoft Sidewinder X4 keyboard

Hello, I recently installed Windows 7 x64 for Christmas as an upgrade from Windows Vista and while playing a game I noticed that I was frequently losing control and having massively delayed inputs from my Sidewinder x4
I thought it was the game at first, but when I got out of the game, it kept happening.

I could type an entire sentence, and it will only type at ~1 letter a second. This will happen regardless of application or system load and it's very frustrating. I have no idea what the trigger is, but I can literally watch my sentences unfold in front of me. I never had this issue with Vista, so I'm wondering if it's driver based. It's really ruining my experience, please help me.