Ext HD triggers new device, Won't install

[GettingOld]

I have had recent problems installing external hd's on Vista 64. I have
run into problems with USB2.0 as well as eSATA. The drive will appear
under the device manager under "disk drives". But it triggers the new
harware wizard, which can't load a driver, which leads to an unknown device
being listed. Even when the unknown device is listed the drive still
appears under "disk drives".

The drive will appear under disk manager, but
it is unaccesable. You can remove the partition but can not change the
drive letters or format or create a new partition through the wizard. The
wizard will go through the motions and then the Drive manager has a message
asking to refresh or
restart the console which has no effect.

The drive works fine under XP. Xp recognizes the drive and loads it right
up. I had the same exact problem with the usb drive. I went through all
of the usbstor files solutions and deleted the infcache file and finally got
the usb drive working. No such luck with the eSATA drive. I have tried
to point the wizard to the windows32\drivers folder with no luck. I have
tried to update the driver manually through the properties dialog box and it
starts to update and then says an error occured and the drivers could not be
loaded. What is the problem with Vista64. If XP does such a great job
recognizing the drive why the problems with Vista.

I will addd that I have a dual boot machine XP/Vista64, so it is not a
hardware problem with the computer.

Any advice?

 

[eL_sTiKo]

I have had recent problems installing external hd's onVista64. I have
run into problems with USB2.0 as well as eSATA. The drive will appear
under the device manager under "disk drives". But it triggers thenew
harware wizard, which can't load a driver, which leads to anunknown device
being listed. Even when theunknown deviceis listed the drive still
appears under "disk drives".

The drive will appear under disk manager, but
it is unaccesable. You can remove thepartitionbut can not change the
drive letters or format or create anewpartitionthrough the wizard. The
wizard will go through the motions and then the Drive manager has a message
asking to refresh or
restart the console which has no effect.

The drive works fine under XP. Xp recognizes the drive and loads it right
up. I had the same exact problem with the usb drive. I went through all
of the usbstor files solutions and deleted the infcache file and finally got
the usb drive working. No such luck with the eSATA drive. I have tried
to point the wizard to the windows32\drivers folder with no luck. I have
tried to update the driver manually through the properties dialog box and it
starts to update and then says an error occured and the drivers could not be
loaded. What is the problem with Vista64. If XP does such a great job
recognizing the drive why the problems withVista.

I will addd that I have a dual boot machine XP/Vista64, so it is not a
hardware problem with the computer.

Any advice?

I have the same problem. It happens whenever i create a new partition
on my second hdd (sata). Vista thinks the new partition is an "unknown
device" and will only let me use it if I choose the "ask me about
drivers later" option. If I choose to search for drivers, or say
"don't ask me", it disables the partition, removing the assigned drive
letter, etc. So I'm currently clicking "ask me later" twice each time
I log on (once for each partition).

did you find a solution?

 

[GettingOld]

when the unknown device error pops up, install the driver manually. I
can't remember if the driver location was in windows32 folder or the
driverstore folder. But the driver it needs is there, but you have to point
the hardware applet to right folder. If you can't get it to load let me
know and I will try and find my notes on the problem.

oldguy

 

[GettingOld]

The folder for the driver to correct the unknown device is windows\winsxs.
Do a manual install with this directory as the driver location.

Also there may be anoter problem if you continue to get the unmkown driver.
in that case you will need to delete the infcache.1 file in the windows\inf
folder and restart the stystem. The infcache can become corrupt and
deleting the file will cause vista to rebuild it on boot up.

 

[el stiko]

Thanks, I will try the windows\winsxs folder and let you know how I go.

I had already tried deleting infcache.1 several times but each time I log
in, it regenerates and prompts me to install drivers for each partition.

The funniest part is that these are new partitions on a HDD which I have
been using since before I installed Vista. It seems that deleting the
existing partitions and creating/formatting new ones triggered the "unknown
device" dialogue. The drivers for the sata controller and the HDD itself are
installed and up-to-date but the PARTITION itself is the "unkown device". If
the windows\winsxs method doesn't work, it will render one of the partitions
unusable until I delete and reformat it.

The worst part is that the formatting constantly fails half-way through due
to the "could not complete the operation because the disk management console
view is not up-to-date. Please refresh/restart/reboot, etc" message. None of
the three options (refresh, restart disk management or reboot windows) do
anything to alleviate the problem. It means I am unable to assign different
drive letters to these partitions, or any unassigned USB devices, either.

Thanks again, I'll check back with an update tonight.

 

[el Stiko]

strangely fixed it by telling device manager to scan for hardware
changes...it then told me it couldn't install either instance of "generic
storage" and the drives mysteriously STAYED VISIBLE. No more prompts for
drivers! Lucky me! Yay!

 

[el Stiko]

ON REBOOT, THE DRIVE HAS VANISHED AGAIN.

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD

SORRY FOR THE CAPS

DARNIT

 

[Rick Mamo]

Similar problem here...I removed a 3rd IDE drive to initiate My personalized
nightmare (my external USB hd enclosure stopped working, vanished from
explorer (along with the drive I removed),and showed in disk management but
when i tried to manipulate that drive...i got same error about updating the
console view...I tried removing hard drives, usb devices, etc...all to no
avail....
I then tried it on another vista 64 PC..and 1 second later there was a happy
beep and a sad face!!! I also cannot delete the infcache file but was able to
manualy update drive in devman and pointed to the c:\windows\winsux (oops
typo) folder and it corrected my problem so far....rebooting...cya's and
thanks fer yer posts they helped me!

 

[el Stiko]

installed the "generic volume" driver from windows\winsxs and it's fine now.
Thanks!

Now Ijust need to get letters assinged to my usb and phone again...it still
says "view not up-to-date" in devman...