How to remove all traces of an Iomega Zip drive from XP?

[Antonio Rodriguez]

Need a little help here.

I used to have a Iomega 100 Zip drive on my PC in order to exchange data
between university PC's and the one I have at home. However I decided to get
a second HD which I needed quite badly and to replace the Zip disks with
some USB flash memory devices (like the pen drives). However I'm getting all
sorts of problems using them. The system may recognize them for a minute or
two and then it won't anymore. It hangs any windows I have open where I've
been dealing with it (either Explorer, the Device manager, a properties
page, etc). If I remove the drive everything works perfectly again.

Now, the drive is fine. It works without problems in Safe Mode, but I need
it working under a standard startup. I believe the reason for the problem is
that old Zip drive I used to have. Within safe more, the drive is simply a
"Removable Drive". Within my user account (owner), it displays the icon that
Windows uses when a file has no association and it says Zip 100.

To try to remedy this I uninstalled the Iomega Active Disk program. I then
went into the registry and removed all the Iomega entries. I also manually
deleted some files that remained in the hard disk after having uninstalled
the Iomega tools. Even though I've done all this, the Control Panel still
has a category for Iomega that has nothing in it when I click on it. Just
opens up a window with some buttons and options but they're all blank. The
USB drive remains being recognized as a Zip 100 as well. I really don't have
many more ideas on how to handle this problem except that I'm considering to
just reinstall Windows but I don't find that to be too appealing, especially
due to the whole activation process. The last time I called to reactivate it
the operator wasn't very nice with me because I had activated it 2 times
previously - hey, can't help it. I'm of the school of thought that Windows
needs a reinstall every so often. But if I could fix this mess without
reinstalling I'll be extremely happy.

--
------
Antonio Rodríguez
Graphic Designer

"Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live."
--- Henry Van Dyke

 

[Donald McDaniel]

Need a little help here.

I used to have a Iomega 100 Zip drive on my PC in order to exchange
data between university PC's and the one I have at home. However I
decided to get a second HD which I needed quite badly and to replace
the Zip disks with some USB flash memory devices (like the pen
drives). However I'm getting all sorts of problems using them. The
system may recognize them for a minute or two and then it won't
anymore. It hangs any windows I have open where I've been dealing
with it (either Explorer, the Device manager, a properties page,
etc). If I remove the drive everything works perfectly again.

Now, the drive is fine. It works without problems in Safe Mode, but I
need it working under a standard startup. I believe the reason for
the problem is that old Zip drive I used to have. Within safe more,
the drive is simply a "Removable Drive". Within my user account
(owner), it displays the icon that Windows uses when a file has no
association and it says Zip 100.

To try to remedy this I uninstalled the Iomega Active Disk program. I
then went into the registry and removed all the Iomega entries. I
also manually deleted some files that remained in the hard disk after
having uninstalled the Iomega tools. Even though I've done all this,
the Control Panel still has a category for Iomega that has nothing in
it when I click on it. Just opens up a window with some buttons and
options but they're all blank. The USB drive remains being recognized
as a Zip 100 as well. I really don't have many more ideas on how to
handle this problem except that I'm considering to just reinstall
Windows but I don't find that to be too appealing, especially due to
the whole activation process. The last time I called to reactivate it
the operator wasn't very nice with me because I had activated it 2
times previously - hey, can't help it. I'm of the school of thought
that Windows needs a reinstall every so often. But if I could fix
this mess without reinstalling I'll be extremely happy.

Why did you activate XP via phone? In most instances, XP will activate via
the Internet with no problems whatsoever. As as example, I have made
several changes to my hardware(even changing the motherboard/cpu) and have
reinstalled XP many times, and have yet to have to activate via phone.

 

[Donald McDaniel]

Well, when I've tried to activate it via internet it tells me that it
can't because that activation is already used or something along
those lines so I end up having to call and activate by phone. I was
only able to activate it via internet the first time; it's never
wanted on the 2 other times I've had to reinstall.

It sounds like either
1) Your copy of XP is used and and the original owner activated it
or
2) You have installed XP on two or more machines, then activated each
installation (illegally, I might add).
or
3) You have activated XP on one machine, then installed it on a second
machine, and activated it on that machine via phone after receiveing an
error that it is already activated on another machine.

"2)" Above will almost always give you an error that your CD key has already
been activated on another machine.
"3)" above will give you the same error. If you removed it from the first
machine, you were well within the EULA terms. If you didn't, well, no
wonder you got the error.

Perhaps you should read your EULA to find out what your License entitles you
to:
Click on "Start|Run" and enter the command "winver", then click on the
hyperlink labeled "End User License Agreement" on the window which comes up.

 

[Antonio Rodriguez]

Why did you activate XP via phone? In most instances, XP will activate via
the Internet with no problems whatsoever. As as example, I have made
several changes to my hardware(even changing the motherboard/cpu) and have
reinstalled XP many times, and have yet to have to activate via phone.

Well, when I've tried to activate it via internet it tells me that it can't
because that activation is already used or something along those lines so I
end up having to call and activate by phone. I was only able to activate it
via internet the first time; it's never wanted on the 2 other times I've had
to reinstall.

 

[Antonio Rodriguez]

It sounds like either

1) Your copy of XP is used and and the original owner activated it
or
2) You have installed XP on two or more machines, then activated each
installation (illegally, I might add).
or
3) You have activated XP on one machine, then installed it on a second
machine, and activated it on that machine via phone after receiveing an
error that it is already activated on another machine.

"2)" Above will almost always give you an error that your CD key has already
been activated on another machine.
"3)" above will give you the same error. If you removed it from the first
machine, you were well within the EULA terms. If you didn't, well, no
wonder you got the error.

Perhaps you should read your EULA to find out what your License entitles you
to:
Click on "Start|Run" and enter the command "winver", then click on the
hyperlink labeled "End User License Agreement" on the window which comes

up.

You're assuming a lot. I own my copy of XP, it's the only I have running.
This is my only PC and the only PC that's ever had it installed. Unless some
guy out there got lucky and through some miraculous feat managed to guess my
exact Certificate of Authenticity code there is no other box in existence
running this license. It was not a used copy and it worked perfectly 100%
fine the first time I activated it. Only changes I've done to my PC have
been a video card upgrade and adding an extra hard disk, both of which are
hardly comparable to the motherboard and CPU change you mention you did.
It's just that it refuses to reactivate via internet for me, I don't know
why.

 

[Crusty \(-: Old B@stard :-\)]

If someone else, anywhere in the world, takes a wild-ass-guess and uses your
key, when you go to register you will have problems. Keys are stolen. People
get software installed on their computers (Trojans - Virus etc) that can
steal this information.

Your key may, in fact, be in use already!

 

[Crusty \(-: Old B@stard :-\)]

You are probably OK. I know of one person (friend) who brought a brand new
Retail copy of Windows XP Home (from a nationally known retail electronics
chain). He went to activate and couldn't. It was already activated.

 

[Antonio Rodriguez]

Well that's fine and dandy. The whole thought of it is not pleasing at all
but... I just want to get these USB drives working :/. They work fine in
Safe mode so it's some driver or service running in the background that's
messing things up, and everything seems to point to that old Zip drive I no
longer have installed...

Btw, doesn't this get checked? The first time I activated my copy of Windows
I also registered it. Now that I think about it not once have I been asked
about that registration information when I've had to activate by phone...