Sidewinder Strategic Commander problems

G

Guest

My list of problems just keeps growing and growing. I am trying to install
the controller onto my Vista system & have encountered several problems. The
latest problem is while attempting to install the software, the
"installshield" application stops working almost instantly when it appears to
be completeing installation ... then there are 2 choices I am given, one is
to close the program & the other is to check online for a solution. Needless
to say, the button for checking online yields no results . To address other
problems, previously I was able to install the CD up to the point where it
would check the connection of the device to the USB but didnt recognize it
(USB port is active the working & computer itself recognizes the device &
that it was 'installed' properly) & also at another time I received an error
message that 'critical system files are missing or corrupted' (to try to fix
this based on microsofts suggestion of installing it as an administrator
doesnt work either) . I am at my wits end w/this thing... Can anyone help?
 
M

Mike Hall - MS MVP Windows Shell/User

There has been no official support for this device for some while.. you may
have to call time on it.. there are other gaming devices out there that may
or may not get continued support..
 
G

Guest

Don't panic, just follow the instructions this post I made a couple of weeks
ago and all will work beautifully I promise. Since then I've also used it in
gothic3 and splinter cell double agent.

turbotoes


Well having spent most of the afternoon moping about it I actually got the
sidewinder to work, it’s quite simple.
Install the sidewinder software, at a certain point you will be asked if “
you really want to quit the setup program?†say yes.
Tootle off to the folder in which you installed the software and drag
“DEAMON14†into startup and you might as well get yourself a shortcut to the
program itself on the desktop while you are at it.
Now get yourself off to Device manager by your favourite route. Under the
heading “Human Interface Devices†you will see two ( maybe more) items. The
ones we are interested in are
Usb Human Interface Device, this equals your strategic commander
And
HID compliant device, this little fellow will become ms sw strat com hid
drivers
Two other devices will appear as we get the drivers installed, these are ms
virtual keyboard and ms virtual mouse, hoorah.
So to get the little devils working like you want, right click on the “Usb
Human Interface Device†choose “update driver software†then click “browse
my computer for the driver softwareâ€
Then click “ let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer†then
you will be given a list in that list will be “ Microsoft strategic
commander†click on that, followed by “next†around this point you will get
the usual warning that the driver is unsigned click on “install anyway†or
the equivalent there of!!
Rince and repeat for the HID compliant device and when you have done that
you will find that the virtual kb and mouse will have appeared, you should
not have to change their drivers. Windows will tell you that you need to
restart your computer (that has not changed) and when you reboot your strat
comm should work!!!
You will need to repeat this process if you change usb ports, I’ve tested
it in guild wars and nwn2 and all was fine.

turbotoes
 
G

Guest

Thank you so much.. I was finally able to get the program to install (that
was one of my biggest problems) and when it did, I followed your instructions
& now it works perfectly! :) Thanks again ... Racquel
 
G

Guest

Sorry I've been away. I have recently discovered that if you do not TURN OFF
user account control, you will not get the device listing for the virtual
mouse. I have no idea why only the v mouse if affected, but it is. tuun off
UAC and all should be well. I hope I am not to late to help!!!!!
 
G

Guest

PLEASE HELP TURBO.....

I did the above before turning off the User Account Control, so I went back
turned that off but nothing happened so I started uninstalling the HID
compliant game controllers and devices and now I'm stuck with it displaying
the Microsoft Strategic Commander under "Other Devices" with no HID options.
I have tried reinstalling the drivers, but still get an error and it comes
back the same way if I unplug and plug the controller back in, PLEASE HELP!!!!

Thanks.
 
G

Guest

Rotorhead said:
PLEASE HELP TURBO.....

I did the above before turning off the User Account Control, so I went back
turned that off but nothing happened so I started uninstalling the HID
compliant game controllers and devices and now I'm stuck with it displaying
the Microsoft Strategic Commander under "Other Devices" with no HID options.
I have tried reinstalling the drivers, but still get an error and it comes
back the same way if I unplug and plug the controller back in, PLEASE HELP!!!!

Thanks.

Rotorhead: uninstall the strat comm from “programs and featuresâ€, reboot and
start from scratch, following these instructions to the letter. If you then
get an error message, let me know what it is and I will try to help. I now
have four vista machines all a bit different and all have strat comms
attached and working. So i can’t see why yours should not work.

Okay, let’s start from the beginning.
Turn off user account control, and make sure your account has admin
privileges.
Stick disk in cd drive, find and run setup.exe
Follow instruction through, select region and all that stuff, accept the
agreement, and to keep it simple the default location. You will then see the
progress bar zip through installing the program files and then the profiles,
at this point the setup will rudely ask “if you are sure you want to exit
install ?†click yes.
Now for the plugging in. Before you do, open up device manager (control
panel, system, device manager) then click on the plus sign by â€human
interface devices†- just to see what is there-
Now plug in, you may or may not get a message about drivers being installed
at this point, but you should get two new devices under the HID heading,
1. HID-compliant device and
2. Usb human interface device.
Right click on HID-compliant device and choose “ update driverâ€
Then click “ browse my computer for driver software,
Then “let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computerâ€
In the next window you will have a choice of - HID-compliant device
Or - Microsoft SideWinder Strategic Commander HID drivers,
Click the MS SW drivers, then next. You should then get a message telling
you that “windows has successfully updated driver software†hoorah.
You should now have two new devices under HID
Microsoft SideWinder Strategic Commander HID drivers and
Microsoft SideWinder virtual keyboard (you may also have Microsoft
SideWinder virtual mouse, but not always?!)
Now repeat the driver update for the “Usb human interface device.â€
Once this is complete you may or -not- have to restart your pc. And then
your strat comm should work fine.
 
G

Guest

Turbo....

YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!

I thought I was going to have to throw my Strat Comm out the window, it
would have been a sad day as I love this thing!!!! You should get paid for
all the help you've provided in this forumn.

THANKS AGAIN!!!
Bryan
 
G

Guest

Rotorhead said:
Turbo....

YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!

I thought I was going to have to throw my Strat Comm out the window, it
would have been a sad day as I love this thing!!!! You should get paid for
all the help you've provided in this forumn.

THANKS AGAIN!!!
Bryan

ERR. actually I'm a girly, but glad to help!!!!
 
G

Guest

I just wanted to say how glad I was to find out there were others out there
who still used the Strategic Commander and had gotten it to work in Vista! I
followed the instructions and it worked like a charm! I really like my SC
for more than just gaming (I use it in CAD drawing as well as Photoshop).
Contrary to what the MVP stated, there really is no viable substitute out
there at this time. The other solutions just don't have nearly the
functionality. Thanks again, Turbotoes!
 
G

Guest

Help me... =\ I tried to do all the steps, but it didn't work here.
Windows Ultimate X64, I disabled the UAC, did al the steps, but in the
Device Manager, I couldn't find the driver for Strategic Commander, only for
other stuff.
"Select the device driver that you wish to install for this hardware:"
"USB Human Interface Device" and if I uncheck the box: "Show compatible
driver"
A lot of another drivers will appear, but not Strategic Commander.
In my Device Manager, I found
+Humand Interface Device
|_4: Humand Interface Device USB
|_3: HID-compliant consumer control device
|_2: HID-compliant device
Any help ??
 
G

Guest

Lucas said:
Help me... =\ I tried to do all the steps, but it didn't work here.
Windows Ultimate X64, I disabled the UAC, did al the steps, but in the
Device Manager, I couldn't find the driver for Strategic Commander, only for
other stuff.
"Select the device driver that you wish to install for this hardware:"
"USB Human Interface Device" and if I uncheck the box: "Show compatible
driver"
A lot of another drivers will appear, but not Strategic Commander.
In my Device Manager, I found
+Humand Interface Device
|_4: Humand Interface Device USB
|_3: HID-compliant consumer control device
|_2: HID-compliant device
Any help ??

I have the same result, even under the microsoft category there is no
Sidewinder Strategic Commander device driver.
I did the procedure several times now but I just cannot get to see the right
device driver.
 
G

Guest

I have the same result, even under the microsoft category there is no
Sidewinder Strategic Commander device driver.
I did the procedure several times now but I just cannot get to see the right
device driver.

Yep... I did it several times too... no good results...
And I tried a lot of other procedures, like other USBs, or forcing to use
some microsoft driver, but no success...
 
F

Flinty

hmm.. really handy listing, thanks, however I hit upon a snag when following
the instructions.

When I install the driver it seems to install fine and doesn't ask about
exiting the install. Then when I go to the device manager I get the HID
devices listed but when I try to install new drivers the Strategic Commander
drivers don't come up as an option for either of the HID selections.

If i try to start up the software after installing the driver it comes up
with the following error:

"Critical system files are missing or corrupted"

and stops the thing from running.

Does your method only work on the 32 bit version of Vista? I am running the
64 bit version. Any further assistance would be greatly appreciated.

regards, Graeme
 
D

D1STuRB3D

Turbotoes.......i love you i love you i love you......I would be lost with
out my strat comm.... after much tweaking i got it to work ....and it's all
because of you.......did i say i love you? well i do ....ALOT.......

I had a bit of a scare :p after turing off UAC......i lost my call off duty
4 profile (thats 55 lvls and 3 golden guns :p) but i got it back hehe
few...... and yes i use my strat com for FPS.... and it rocks...... lucky i
got 5 when i found out MS stopped making them coss they take a beating(on my
2nd now).......anyhow MANY THANKS.....
 
C

Cyberjudas

I have been searching for your files but cant find the download anywhere
please post or pm so i can try this awesome software. All the links give me a
404 error. Thanks
 
C

Cyberjudas

Could anyone please make a new download or send me the file. The link is gone
above. Thanks in advance
 
C

Cyberjudas

Still looking for this software as the links above are gone. If anyone has
this software could you please post it or i will give you my msn messenger or
email.
 
N

Nonny

cyberjudas said:
Sorry for the double post.
Apparentely other forums have linked to this one and appear to make it
their own.

You've got it bass-ackwards: the forum you are playing in has linked
to the rest of the world and is leeching all its posts from other
places.

Look at all the posts from those knows as "guests". Every one of
those posts has been leeched from outside the forum.
 

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