Does MS retire drivers for old hardware from Windows Update??

[Homer J. Simpson]

Hi all,

I have an ancient HP Scanjet 4p SCSI scanner, that XP identifies as a
C1130A. After a clean OS install, Windows Update has always shown a driver
available for it, so I've never saved a copy of the driver installer.
Actually, I've never been able to save, locally, the setup program for any
driver offered by Windows Update, but that's another story for another time.

In any case, I've recently had to rebuild that system and, as expected, the
device showed up as "Other devices/HP C1130A SCSI Processor Device" in
Device Manager. If I tell it to fetch the driver from Windows Update (as
I've done in the past), it now claims it can't find it ("the hardware was
not installed because the wizard cannot find the necessary software").

The part that gets me is that over the years, this particular system has
gone through a number of full reinstalls, and every single, I've never had
to download/run a separate program to install the drivers for this
particular scanner--I've always just let it go to Windows Update, find the
driver automatically, install it, and that was it.

So back to my subject line--has MS been known to silently retire drivers for
old hardware, even though they're working perfectly fine??

The part-time conspiracy theorist in me suspects that MS might have done a
code review during some security push, found some flaw, and then decided the
hardware is so old that it wasn't worth fixing and thus they just removed
it...

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Homer J. Simpson" <[email protected]>

| Hi all,
|
| I have an ancient HP Scanjet 4p SCSI scanner, that XP identifies as a
| C1130A. After a clean OS install, Windows Update has always shown a driver
| available for it, so I've never saved a copy of the driver installer.
| Actually, I've never been able to save, locally, the setup program for any
| driver offered by Windows Update, but that's another story for another time.
|
| In any case, I've recently had to rebuild that system and, as expected, the
| device showed up as "Other devices/HP C1130A SCSI Processor Device" in
| Device Manager. If I tell it to fetch the driver from Windows Update (as
| I've done in the past), it now claims it can't find it ("the hardware was
| not installed because the wizard cannot find the necessary software").
|
| The part that gets me is that over the years, this particular system has
| gone through a number of full reinstalls, and every single, I've never had
| to download/run a separate program to install the drivers for this
| particular scanner--I've always just let it go to Windows Update, find the
| driver automatically, install it, and that was it.
|
| So back to my subject line--has MS been known to silently retire drivers for
| old hardware, even though they're working perfectly fine??
|
| The part-time conspiracy theorist in me suspects that MS might have done a
| code review during some security push, found some flaw, and then decided the
| hardware is so old that it wasn't worth fixing and thus they just removed
| it...
|

The *best* advice is to not get hardware drivers through Windows Update.
Get them directly from the manufacturer or vendor.

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

I have an ancient HP Scanjet 4p SCSI scanner, that XP identifies as a
C1130A. After a clean OS install, Windows Update has always shown a driver
available for it, so I've never saved a copy of the driver installer.

BAD idea.

If you remember only ONE thing about drivers, DO NOT GET THEM FROM
WINDOWS UPDATE.... get them directly from the manufacturer's site.

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

I have an ancient HP Scanjet 4p SCSI scanner, that XP identifies as a

BAD idea.

If you remember only ONE thing about drivers, DO NOT GET THEM FROM
WINDOWS UPDATE.... get them directly from the manufacturer's site.

Here's the thing: The HP site says that my particular scanner isn't
"officially" supported on XP (by them), and it actually recommends just
using XP's built-in generic WIA driver. HP itself has never produced an XP
driver for it.

Now I'm confused though...if there's a generic driver for it built into XP,
what has it been getting from Windows Update all these years?

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Homer J. Simpson" <[email protected]>


|
| Here's the thing: The HP site says that my particular scanner isn't
| "officially" supported on XP (by them), and it actually recommends just
| using XP's built-in generic WIA driver. HP itself has never produced an XP
| driver for it.
|
| Now I'm confused though...if there's a generic driver for it built into XP,
| what has it been getting from Windows Update all these years?
|

You said it was a SCSI scanner. SCSI scanners need no drivers and use the stock WinXP WIA
interface for TWAIN.

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

| Here's the thing: The HP site says that my particular scanner isn't

| "officially" supported on XP (by them), and it actually recommends just
| using XP's built-in generic WIA driver. HP itself has never produced an
XP
| driver for it.
|
| Now I'm confused though...if there's a generic driver for it built into
XP,
| what has it been getting from Windows Update all these years?
|

You said it was a SCSI scanner. SCSI scanners need no drivers and use the
stock WinXP WIA
interface for TWAIN.

That's it exactly. I don't know why all of a sudden it doesn't what to do
with the scanner...Windows Update or not.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Homer J. Simpson" <[email protected]>


|
| That's it exactly. I don't know why all of a sudden it doesn't what to do
| with the scanner...Windows Update or not.
|

Does it, HP ScanJet 3p, show in Device Manager ?

Are there other SCSI devices on the SCSI bus ?

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

| That's it exactly. I don't know why all of a sudden it doesn't what to

do
| with the scanner...Windows Update or not.
|

Does it, HP ScanJet 3p, show in Device Manager ?

It shows up in Device Manager, under Other Devices (with a question mark
icon) as "HP C1130A SCSI Processor Device". This is the same string
displayed during POST by the SCSI card, just before the OS loads. The
scanner is actually a ScanJet 4p.

Are there other SCSI devices on the SCSI bus ?

No, it's the only device hooked up to the card. The card itself is an
Adaptec AHA-2940 (PCI).

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Homer J. Simpson" <[email protected]>

|>> That's it exactly. I don't know why all of a sudden it doesn't what to|>> with the scanner...Windows Update or not.
|>>|
| It shows up in Device Manager, under Other Devices (with a question mark
| icon) as "HP C1130A SCSI Processor Device". This is the same string
| displayed during POST by the SCSI card, just before the OS loads. The
| scanner is actually a ScanJet 4p.
||
| No, it's the only device hooked up to the card. The card itself is an
| Adaptec AHA-2940 (PCI).
|

Delete the device from Device Manager and then reboot.

If it is the only device it should be terminated. Is it ?

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

Chalk one up to utter stupidity. I'm almost embarassed to admit the real
problem.




Hint: Different OS. That's all I'm saying...