Seanieo said:
Can anyone - honestly - say they can help me with this problem.
I am trying to install a USB-IDE enclosure on my Win XP Home SP2
PC. It recognizes USB-IDE Device, then install USB Mass Storage
Device, then CRASHES with a driver installation error. I have
removed all USB Hubs and Controllers as suggested - no luck, I
have read about using pre XP2 version of USBSTOR.SYS and
VOLSNAP.SYS but can not get them to try them.
Is Microsoft aware of a problem with the OS that is causing this
to fail with either a HDD using USB2 - IDE or even an external
CD/DVD enclosure using USB - same error.
If any moderator at Microsoft can say it won't work i will stop
wasting my time (6 hours to date).
What happened to the good old days of manual driver installation?
can this be done?
I only want an honest answer as it is very infuriating.
Also has any one come across this problem when using P&P OS and
ACPI? if so then perhaps that to needs investigating
Shenan said:
I have several older and newer external storage devices I use on
several dozen machines at any given time (Windows XP SP2 machines
and a few Windows 2003..) Those drives are USB/Firewire devices
and range in ages from less than 6 months to more than 4 years.
None of them require drivers in Windows XP. I have not had any
problem getting them to work (other than hardware issues) in
Windows XP. I will say the older ones have an issue on occassion
starting up.. But unhooking the USB cable and reconnecting them
to any of the machines (some who have not been reinstalled since
RTM XP was installed on them and all the upgrades in-between)
usually fixes that. Firewire or USB seems pretty stable once the
drive whirs up and is recognized.
My suggestion(s)..
1) Download and update your motherboard System BIOS. Do this per
the manufacturer's instructions and do it carefully.
2) Download and install your latest chipset (motherboard) drivers
and/or the latest drivers for the external USB card you may have.
3) If neither of those fixes your issue - go and purchase some
cheapo ($30-$60) USB/Firewire combo PCI card and install it in
your system.. See if that fixes it. All this could be bum
hardware.
I doubt your PnP or Power Settings have anything to do with this..
You mention "Dell" later in the thread..
What make/model do you have and have you gone through their
online support (drivers) and updated all of them?
I would do all of them since it is a Dell.. Be careful doing the
BIOS (if you are prone to losing power, don't even start it at
that location)
update - but otherwise - the drivers directly from Dell are
okay.. If you have an Nvidia or ATI video card - those are the
only ones I would leave out - get those from the manufacturer.
I share in your pain. I have successfully installed many usb mass
storage devices on my laptop, all with the built-in XP drivers.
Now, I cannot install any new usb mass storage devices but I can
still use all of the ones I have installed previously. The
installation proceeds through all the steps but fails in the end
with a message saying that the data is invalid. Not sure what
triggered my computer to not install any new devices but here are
some of the things I have tried, to no avail I might add:
1. Selecting devices manually from the "list" in the installation
wizard.
2. Using another driver from an installed and working USB device.
(System just ignores the fact that I was trying to using another
driver and proceeds to use what it sees fit)
3. Using SFC.exe to check the validity and versions of my dll
files.
4. Calling manufacturers of the devices I wish to install and of
course the have no idea because it should "just work."
It looks like this might be becoming an epidemic amongst windows
users. Hopefully there will be a resolution to it soon.
Yes and the more we use devices on USB ports - cameras, sd cards,
ipods etc you would think Microsoft would deal with the problem
instead of usual go back to vendor, reinstall chipset, update BIOS
- we do all that , we search forums, and only POST when we are
stumped, we post to the 'experts' and get no where, I hope Windows
Vista resolves this or has enough development of USB been done and
we all go along the 'Wireless Route" 802.11a-802.11g then 802.11z
etc
You are speaking of an OS that is far beyond its prime, in my opinion. Look
at the progression.. Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000 (I refuse to count
Windows ME. *grin*) and Windows XP in 2001. 3, 2, 2, 1.8ish.. And then.. So
FAR.. 5+ years? Yes - Windows XP is a dying breed. The concentration of
Microsoft is on Vista.
As far as the USB thing being an epidemic - I am not seeing it. Thousands
of computers, 10's of thousands of users and none of them complaining about
the large number of devices they plug into any of those computers - with
their limited user only rights even.
Yes - I have seen the complaints here. Yes - I have Googled, WebFerreted
and looked in many different other ways for your problem and found similar
issues (some closer than others - many not even the same.) Sometimes there
has been no solution beyond a reinstall - and I cannot say even that worked
in all cases. Epidemic - nah. Problem - yeah.
Many of the reported problems are just old chipset (USB chipsets) trying to
work with newer hardware and the older chipsets don't have new drivers and
are not compatible with the new hardware - a choice of the USB chipset
manufacturer - not Microsoft. Many times a new USB/Firewire card install
fixed everything.
Remember - the 'experts' here only know what you tell them about your
system. You only mentioned it was a Dell in another response and you still
have not told anyone a model. You never mentioned (before now) updating the
BIOS, updating chipset drivers, etc. One cannot assume on a help newsgroup
much of anything - for if we assumed you already did all that - well, we
would have to assume you already knew your answer because you had googled
for it and just asked the question to see if anyone else would guess what
the solution ended up being. *grin*
I will ask again and see if we cannot get further into this problem (for you
and others) and even suggest something more extreme (since you have
acknowledged yourself as a competent computer user):
- What is the model of your Dell computer?
- What level is your BIOS at? (A##)
- Have you set your BIOS to defaults (after documenting the current
settings?)
- Which chipset driver version do you have?
- Are you attempting to use the internal USB ports - or have you installed
an USB card?
- What make/model/chipset is the external USB drive device?
A suggestion (on the extreme end) would be for you to backup your system in
its entirety using an imaging application. Verify the image is good. Then
do a clean installation of Windows XP with SP2 (better if it is integrated
into the installation media - but not necessary - I only suggest you stay
off the Internet (or any connection to the Internet) until SP2 is
installed.) Make sure that you have NONE of the external devices (printer,
external USB/firewire drives/flash memory, etc) connected during the
install.
Once you have the machine reinstalled (Windows XP with Service Pack 2) -
plug in the device giving you trouble from before. Does it work? (Not
rhetorical actually - if it does work then the question comes to "what was
screwed up on your old system that is not screwed up now?)
You can restore your Windows XP installation from before and be back where
you were (three to six hours of effort total) or you can continue your fresh
install with the knowledge you have lost no files because you have the image
backup.