The data is invalid

[strokedriver]

Trying to help friend whose PC is running WinXP Home SP3, fully
updated.

The Found New Hardware wizard cannot install any new devices, USB
devices, PCI cards, CD ROM drives etc. Each time it appears to
recognise the device, goes through the set up process, then finishes
with "Installation failed" "The data is invalid".
Often the devices appear in Device Manager with yellow mark

If I connect the same devices to my PC, also WinXP SP3, they are
installed normally

On her PC, I have followed the remedies Microsoft suggest in KB810882
and KB841567 but nothing changed. Also run chdsk /r. Problem remains
unresolved.

Can anyone suggest other remedies, other than a clean reinstall?

Thanks
Chris

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Trying to help friend whose PC is running WinXP Home SP3, fully
updated.

The Found New Hardware wizard cannot install any new devices, USB
devices, PCI cards, CD ROM drives etc. Each time it appears to
recognise the device, goes through the set up process, then finishes
with "Installation failed" "The data is invalid".
Often the devices appear in Device Manager with yellow mark

If I connect the same devices to my PC, also WinXP SP3, they are
installed normally

On her PC, I have followed the remedies Microsoft suggest in
KB810882 and KB841567 but nothing changed. Also run chdsk /r.
Problem remains unresolved.

Can anyone suggest other remedies, other than a clean reinstall?

Repair installation...

First - backup the system.
Really. Copy stuff off it anyone is afraid of losing. Favorites/bookmarks,
email, contacts, documents, pictures, etc...

Then...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341
and/or
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Know that you *may* (most likely) have to activate your license of Windows
XP after the repair installation. Worst case - you may have to activate via
telephone.

You should also verify that Windows Updates are working properly *and* are
current. Sometimes a repair installation can cause hiccups - especially if
your Windows XP installation CD is not the same service pack level as your
installed Windows XP system. You may (most likely will) have to install the
latest service pack and possibly most (if not all) of the post-service pack
updates over. Also - if you have IE7 (or later) installed - that will
likely be broken and you will have to install IE7 (or later) again in order
to get it working (Windows XP came with IE6 - therefore the repair install
will put it back on.)

If your windows updates are not working...

Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemRoot%\system32\net stop wuauserv
--> Click OK.

Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemRoot%\system32\regsvr32 %SystemRoot%\system32\wups2.dll
--> Click OK.

Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemRoot%\system32\net start wuauserv
--> Click OK.

Download the latest version of the Windows Update agent from here (x86):
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=91237
.... and save it to the root of your C:\ drive. After saving it to the root
of the C:\ drive, do the following:

Close all Internet Explorer Windows and other applications.

Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemDrive%\windowsupdateagent30-x86.exe /WUFORCE
--> Click OK.

(If asked, select "Run.) --> Click on NEXT --> Select "I agree" and click on
NEXT --> When it finishes installing, click on "Finish"...

Reboot.

Log on as an user with administrative rights and open Internet Explorer and
visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and select to do a CUSTOM scan...
(Every time you are about to click on something while at these web pages -
first press and hold down the CTRL key while you click on it. You can
release the CTRL key after clicking each time.)

Once the scan is done, select just ONE of the high priority updates
(deselect any others) and install it.

Reboot again.

Come back - let us know if that worked.

If it did work - try it again - selecting no more than 3-5 at a time. The
Optional Software updates are generally safe - although I recommend against
the Windows Search one. I would completely avoid the Optional Hardware
updates.

Did I mention backups?
Worth mentioning again...

BACKUPS FIRST!

 

[super-mike]

I have had the same issue have a look at -

Here is a link to a handy little tool. Save it to the desktop.

http://www.usbman.com/WebDrivers/Intel USB System Check/USBREADY.EXE

Using Intel USB System Check
After the download has completed, browse to the file usbready.exe and
double-click it. A Welcome to Intel USB System Check message will appear on
the screen.
Click Yes . The Intel USB System Check program will check the computer
system for USB compatibility.

Computer systems with full USB support
If the computer system has everything required for USB to function
correctly, a “This system has full USB support†message window will be
displayed. This message window has green squares with the word "YES" in them.

Computer systems without full USB support
If the computer system does not have everything required for USB to function
correctly, a “This system currently does not have full USB support†message
window will be displayed. This message window has red squares with the word
"NO" in them.
Click Details, and then read the following summaries that are displayed:
System Software Support
System Hardware Support
USB Driver Support

http://www.usbman.com/winxpusbguide.htm


USB Device Stops Working or Won't Resume

WinXP by Default turns off USB Root Hubs to Conserve Power causing some
devices not to resume correctly after Windows resumes from sleep, hibernation
or computer inactivity.

In the Device Manager, Universal Serial Bus Controllers, USB Root Hub, Power
Management. Uncheck the Allow the computer to turn off this device to save
power. Uncheck all boxes on all root hubs.

Resart the PC.

http://www.usbman.com/WebDrivers/


When I plug in my USB drive, I am told the drive is not formatted. How can I
recover my data?

Google "USB Recovery and take your pick."

and

http://www.observatory.org.nz/usbwebcam.html

DATA IS INVALID USB Driver Installation Error.

UPDATE 2! (Wednesday 18th May, 2005)

Robert Freeman informs us that in order for Menno's solution (see below) to
work after installing
Service Pack 2, the file SP2.CAB must be temporarily renamed, in addition to
renaming SP1.CAB.

If you haven't previously installed SP1 then you only have to rename
SP2.CAB, as SP1.CAB won't
exist. Thanks for the info, Robert.



UPDATE! (Saturday 10th April, 2004)

Menno van Bennekom has kindly supplied another solution for those who have
already installed
Service Pack 1 and don't wish to reinstall the entire operating system:

1) Navigate to C:\WINDOWS\DRIVER CACHE\i386\

2) Rename SP1.CAB to (say) SP1.BACKUP

3) Reboot

4) Install the (USB) drivers (should work now)

5) Rename SP1.BACKUP to SP1.CAB

6) Reboot


and

If you get an error message which says DATA IS INVALID when attempting to
install,
say, a USB webcam on Windows XP, try the following:


1) Install Microsoft Windows XP (but NOT SP1a)

2) Install your device's drivers

3) Install SP1a (your device will now no longer function)

4) Start RegEdit and drill down to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\ENUM\USB

5) Find the key for your device (Vid_whatever), right click on it, select
PERMISSIONS, then ALLOW

6) Close RegEdit and reinstall your device


This will NOT work if you haven't first installed the drivers under Windows
XP without SP1(a)!
Attempting to do so after SP1 has been installed will prevent the driver
setup routine from
creating the necessary registry keys, and therefore you won't be able to
modify them.

Just setting PERMISSIONS/ALLOW for the whole tree under SP1(a) won't enable
you to
install the drivers correctly. Trust us...like millions of others we've
tried and failed.

The only way to get the device driver's keys merged into the registry
correctly is to do so
before SP1(a) is installed. Once SP1(a) is installed you can then change the
permissions.

Obviously reinstalling the entire operating system just to get Grandma's
webcam working
is a hellish waste of time so an alternative might be the following:

If you can install the device on somebody else's non-SP1(a) PC then export
the registry keys
to your own SP1(a)-installed PC's registry, you might then be able to
successfully modify your
registry entries and reinstall the device's drivers. NOTE: We have not tried
this yet.

USB Invalid data
I have also suffered all new USB devices getting the data is invalid message
after plugging in a new USB device, like a mouse, memory stick or my new
mobile phone.

The software was installed off the disk supplied for the mobile phone.

Using control pannel and system hardware managers, I got told that the
device was not installed correctly.

Using RegEdit I found the USB device

e.g.[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB\Vid_05e3&Pid_0660]


I found that the permissions did not allow any user to do annything.

I enabled permissions for all users, and my USB now works.

I also enabled permissions for the parents and pushed down to the siblings.

I do not really know what I should have enabled.

I do not know what caused the permissions to be corupted.