"data is invalid" on driver install, USB devices

[Paul W. Jones]

Windows XP SP1 + Windows Update + 810509 (KB822603)
Intel 82801AA USB Universal Host Controller
NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller (USB 2.0 add-in)

I get a failure in trying to update/install the driver
for a USB card reader:

Hardware Update Wizard

Cannot install this Hardware

There is a problem installing this hardware

USB Mass Storage Device

An error occurred during the installation of the device.

The data is invalid.

_____

It had correctly figured out that the Winter 1.3 is the
correct driver. It gets the same message, whether using
the Intel USB 1.0 or Nec USB 2.0 ports.

I am also seeing similar error messages when trying to re-
install or configure my camera, a Nikon E5700, except
that the error says:

....
There was a problem installing this hardware:

Digital Still Camera

An error occurred during the installation of the device.

The data is invalid

________________________

So, the common error is the "The data is invalid" error
message.

Both of these devices work fine on other PCs, so it is
not a device or cable problem. I had not been able to
get the USB 2.0 (NEC) card going, until I had the done
the ptpreg -l work-around mentioned here and pointing to
the MS web site. (big thanks there) The camera was
working fine on this same computer, until there was a
hard-disk crash, and I had to go to back-level copies and
re-install everything. The CF card reader is new, not
having worked on this system, but the Camera is older,
and worked on the same port at one time.

I'm guessing that I have the registry somehow screwed up,
that I'm picking up the wrong drivers, or perhaps
something related, but I really haven't figured out what
is going wrong. I do go through and regedt32 the
registry to enable full controll on the PCI and USB
sections, as best as I could figure out. That made no
difference. Same errors. Tried cleaning up the registry
with Norton WinDoctor, plus on Ontrack registry fixer,
but that made no difference.

Any suggestions on how to trace down the USB failures,
that are causing the "The data is invalid" error? Are
there logs somewhere or can I turn on tracing mode and
get a meaningful message of some sort? (Like: What data
is invalid?, which .INF did WinXP pick, etc.)

 

[Paul W. Jones]

A bit of additional information. It appears that the
registry values set for the USB storage device on a
working system differe quite a bit from the nonworking
system. I made sure the permissions allow writing of the
Enum and USB areas in the registry for the control set,
but the values do not seem to reflect (at all) the values
on the working system.

 

[Jay Brunswick]

The original problem message I saw when attempting to install a USB to
Serial device:
Cannot install hardware.
An error occurred during the installation of the device.
Access is Denied.

When attempting to re-install the device a second time, the error
message was:
Cannot install hardware.
An error occurred during the installation of the device.
The Data is invalid.
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article – 810882 addresses this message at
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;810882 but
this did NOT fix this particular problem.

Suspected cause:
----------------------------
I suspect this problem can occur when a device with the same ClassGuid
was previously installed on the computer with an owner who was later
removed, or the "full computer name" was later changed after the
device was installed (i.e. via Ghost, or other duplication scheme).
When another device is later installed but the owner of the previous
one is no longer valid, this error ("Access is Denied" or "The Data is
invalid") occurs when the system attempts to read the previous keys
(0000, 0001, etc.) in that section (i.e.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4D36E978-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}).

Solution:
----------------------------
This has occurred to me when I also noticed that a registry value in
Windows XP could not be deleted when attempting to install a USB to
serial driver.

When in REGEDIT the message "Error while opening key" would show when
attempting to view the registry value and "Error while deleting key"
when attempting to delete the key. Registry cleaners will not work.

Fix (Windows XP):
------------------------------
You will need admin privileges
------------------------------
1) Open the .INF file of the device you are attempting to install,
highlight and copy (CTRL-C) the ID between the brackets {} in the line
which reads:
ClassGuid={4D36E978-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Note that your ID will be different than the
"4D36E978-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318" in this example.
2) Run REGEDIT and search for the ClassGuid copied (in this example,
we search for "4D36E978-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318")
3)Select the 0000, 0001, 0002, etc folders until you find one that
indicates "Error while opening key"
4) Right-Click and select permissions - you may receive and error
indicating "You do not have permission to view the current permission
settings for 0000, but you can make permission changes". Select Ok.
5) Select Advanced button
6) Select Owner tab - you may notice that the "current owner of this
item" indicates "Unable to display current owner" . This is the crux
of the problem.
7) In the "Change owner to" box, select "administrator" or your admin
user name
8) Select Apply, then Ok
9) In the security tab, select Add button. Select the Computer from
the Locations button and enter "Administrators" in the "Enter the
object names to select", then Ok button (NOTE: your can also enter
"everyone" but it lowers security of these settings)
10) Highligh "Administrators" and select the "Full Control" and "Read"
selections in the "Allow" column.
11) Again in the security tab, select Add button. Select the Computer
from the Locations button and enter "Users" in the "Enter the object
names to select", then Ok button.
12) Highligh "Users" and select the only "Read" selections in the
"Allow" column.
13) Select Apply then Ok again.
You will now see the entries under the 000X entry you just modified.
14) Repeat steps 3 to 13 for each 000X entry. No need to modify
permissions if you can already read them.

Restart the computer and install your device. If you still have
problems, try booting safe mode (F8 at boot), uninstall the drivers
with the problem using Device Manager, and repeat the steps above.