Device Manager Blank-URGENT!

[Sarah]

I installed a PCI card for a firewire cable and also installed the software
disk containing the drivers. It would not recognize the new device and now,
my Device Manager is blank, sound is not working, etc. Any ideas? Thank you!

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Use System Restore to restore back before the installation. Are you using a
Vista driver?

 

[Sarah]

Will system restore allow me to restore to condition just before i installed
the card? Or will I have to restore to factory condition? I bought the
card, calbe and software on ebay and the item description said it was
compatible with Vista. I didn't receive any error messages while I was
installing the stuff, and afterwards it said that installation was
successful. But when I went to plug my camera into the firewire cable, my PC
wouldn't recognize that there was another device attached. Then I looked in
my device manager to see if the new drivers were there, and everything was
gone. Thanks again for your help!

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

System Restore affects system files and settings that have changed since the
restore point was set. It never affects the user's data files.

 

[PvdG42]

Will system restore allow me to restore to condition just before i
installed
the card? Or will I have to restore to factory condition? I bought the
card, calbe and software on ebay and the item description said it was
compatible with Vista. I didn't receive any error messages while I was
installing the stuff, and afterwards it said that installation was
successful. But when I went to plug my camera into the firewire cable, my
PC
wouldn't recognize that there was another device attached. Then I looked
in
my device manager to see if the new drivers were there, and everything was
gone. Thanks again for your help!

Had you not mentioned eBay, I would have suggested that you simply return
the product (but, that's not so simple with eBay, is it?).
Not knowing any of the details about the card you purchased, I'd suggest
that you visit the manufacturer's web site and obtain the latest Vista
drivers available. Often, the CD that comes with a given product has
obsolete drivers/software on it.
If, after visiting the manufacturer's web site, you discover that what you
purchased is not supported in Vista, you can then pursue a refund from the
eBay seller based on misrepresentation.

 

[Sarah]

I tried to run the system restore, but it was unsuccessful. the error
message said that it could not create a shadow copy due to other internal
error. now what do i do? besides strangling the jerk who sold me this
crap?!? btw i did try to locate the manufacturer of the product but i wasn't
able to. the package is very generic. the only thing i did find a
manufacturer for was the video editing software that came with the package,
which is Ulead Video Studio. Other than that, no luck. Thank you all for
your help.

 

[Jas184]

You could try and and remove the card and then boot from your Vista DVD,
repair options and try to a system restore from there