Updated XP Pro now firewire drive not coming up

[Mike]

We build roughly two custom computers each month with external firewire
drives. With our last build of two, the firewire drives show up correctly
until we perform updates on XP Pro. After the updates, no more external
drive. We have gone through the list of potential issues on this site, but
nothing anyone has posted has resolved the problem. Any chance there were
some new updates in the last month that are causing firewire issues, and if
so does anyone have any clue as to how to resolve them? At this point we are
considering imaging a working machine from a couple of months ago and then
prohibiting additional Windows updates to keep the firewire working. Thanks.

 

[Sister Mary]

We build roughly two custom computers each month with external firewire
drives. With our last build of two, the firewire drives show up correctly
until we perform updates on XP Pro. After the updates, no more external
drive. We have gone through the list of potential issues on this site,
but
nothing anyone has posted has resolved the problem. Any chance there were
some new updates in the last month that are causing firewire issues, and
if
so does anyone have any clue as to how to resolve them? At this point we
are
considering imaging a working machine from a couple of months ago and then
prohibiting additional Windows updates to keep the firewire working.
Thanks.

You build PC's?
So in add/remove programs it will list all installed MS updates,
it is quite simple to discern what updates correllate to
time/date firewire card(s) malfunctioned.
With each MS update will be the KB article number,
You can either remove the updates,
Or use the article number to check here:
http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=&spid=global
You just type the KB article number in the advanced search,
the results will tell you what the update/hotfix/patch is for, and
any known issues.
Or, you could identify the make of PCI firewire card and then
visit their site and download the latest drivers for it, and also
check thats site FAQ for known issues with Windows updates.

I have to add if I knew the name of your custom build PC's
I would not recommend them to anyone seeing as there is
the risk that windows critical updates maybe disabled!

 

[Mike]

No need to worry as these PCs are not available to consumers. They have very
specific functions that up until now were working great. I'll take a shot at
going through the list to see if I can figure out at which point the firewire
stopped working. Once/if I find it I'll post back and hopefully spare
someone else this pain. Thanks.

 

[Sister Mary]

No need to worry as these PCs are not available to consumers. They have
very
specific functions that up until now were working great. I'll take a shot
at
going through the list to see if I can figure out at which point the
firewire
stopped working. Once/if I find it I'll post back and hopefully spare
someone else this pain. Thanks.

OK, let us know what results you get, but don't disable updates or that
will result in serious instability.