I have no idea with regards to FMS,
but from the point of view of your PC recognizing the joystick, if you are running XP then go to 'Start->Control Panel->Game controllers'.
A window will pop-up and it will list installed game controllers and there status.
If the Sidwainder isn't on the list then select 'Add' near the bottom of the window and go through the list to ' Microsoft SideWinder [Auto detect]' then click 'OK'. hopefully this should put it on the list and you have it done.
you should be able to restart your computer and it will still be on the list and work from then on.
If you are using earlier windows then the process is similar but I can't remember the exact steps
Hope this helps