Sidewinder - strange problem

[kloggy]

I am currently trying to sort out a problem with my Sidewinder FF Steering Wheel under XP. I know there has been a lot of discussion on this issue over the months/years since XP was released but I have had no luck in finding someone with a similar problem or solution.

In a nutshell, I have a USB MS Forcefeedback Wheel with the Sidewinder v4 software on XP Pro. All is well for the Admin account but users get the following message. I am guessing that they need some extra privileges on
either some files or a part of the registry which I am happy to grant if I only knew what they needed to be able to write too.

In Control Panel, Game Controllers, if a user click properties they get amessage box with the title

Sidewinder Game Controller Software 4.0

And the message

There was an internal error that may be due to low system resources. Please close this program as well as any other open programs and try again. If the problem persists your computer may be missing necessary components of this
program. Please reinstall the software.

Clicking OK closes the game controllers.

I also have a USB Sidewinder Precision Pro joystick and two MS USB Game Pads which all work fine. I have tried the wheel with all the other game devices unplugged and in different USB sockets but to no avail.

I hope someone can help and thanks for your time.

Please respond also to klogg AT hotmail DOT com

Thanks again.

 

[Graham]

Best thing you can do is take it back to the shop and
dont buy anything with the Microsoft logo on it again,
once MS has your money thay dont care if it works or not.

-----Original Message-----
I am currently trying to sort out a problem with my

Sidewinder FF Steering Wheel under XP. I know there has
been a lot of discussion on this issue over the
months/years since XP was released but I have had no luck
in finding someone with a similar problem or solution.

In a nutshell, I have a USB MS Forcefeedback Wheel with

the Sidewinder v4 software on XP Pro. All is well for the
Admin account but users get the following message. I am
guessing that they need some extra privileges on

either some files or a part of the registry which I am

happy to grant if I only knew what they needed to be able
to write too.

In Control Panel, Game Controllers, if a user click

properties they get amessage box with the title

Sidewinder Game Controller Software 4.0

And the message

There was an internal error that may be due to low

system resources. Please close this program as well as
any other open programs and try again. If the problem
persists your computer may be missing necessary
components of this

program. Please reinstall the software.

Clicking OK closes the game controllers.

I also have a USB Sidewinder Precision Pro joystick and

two MS USB Game Pads which all work fine. I have tried
the wheel with all the other game devices unplugged and
in different USB sockets but to no avail.

 

[Chris H.]

I care whether it works or not, and I don't even work for Microsoft. Isn't
that good enough? Mine works fine on several desktops here, which is why I
posted the previous information. What does not work is trying to install
the 3.x drivers for a game port device. As far as support is concerned, a
couple years back the motor for FF burned out and I called the replacement
center. They sent an entire, new controller to me. No charge.

 

[Joshua Smith [MSFT]]

The 4.0 software was written at a time when the average home user was
running Windows 98, which has no concept of User Privleges. Since then
Microsoft consumer OS's have moved to NT which does. The problem described
by Kloggy below is a limitation due to the different OS behaviors.
Unfortunatly the only solution is to run the software as a member of the
Administrators group.