New USB Driver Problems
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From: apitman on 8 Jan 2008 16:36 I have a Gateway Tablet PC from a couple years ago. It has WinXP Tablet Edition and all service packs. I have automatic updates turned on. As a point of reference and to help others help me understand where to look to solve the issue I have to mention this first: On 6/6/2007 I upgraded my hard drive. I did this by using a hard drive imaging software. I basically just got a bigger drive. I don't think the copy is part of the problem. I mention this because if I plug in my old hard drive the problems I am about to describe DON'T HAPPEN. This means 2 things. 1. Whatever is causing the problem happened some time in the last 6 months. 2. If someone can point me in the right direction I should be able to look at my old configuration (by plugging in my old hard drive) and my new one. So here are the problems: First, I bought a Microsoft LifeCam VX-6000. A sticker on the cable says to install the drivers first. I did that. I then plug in the camera and it says new hardware found. I go through the wizard, but it can't find the drivers. I tell it to manually look at the CD folder where I know the drivers are and even then it can't find the drivers. I choose to manually choose the driver, pick Microsoft and then pick the VX-6000 drive that appears (see it is installed) and it says it is working. I get video, but no audio. I use the same procedure after plugging in my old hard drive and it installs automatically and works fine. I try another test with a Microsoft generic hub. When I plug that into my computer with my OLD hard drive installed it doesn't even bring up the wizard. It just automatically installs the correct driver and works fine. With my current drive I get the new hardware wizard and it says it can't find the driver. The second problem that I think is related is with the pen driver for the Tablet PC. If I reboot my computer and let windows come up the FinePoint pen doesn't work. The driver says it is working, but nothing happens. If I use the touch pad or a mouse or even just the keyboard to go to the device manager and disable and then enable the finepoint driver then the pen starts working fine. Again with the old hard drive from 6 months ago this problem does not occur. I am a software engineer and have many years experience with Windows, so anyone who want to chime in and give any technical things to try, please do. I am just not sure where to look. I suspect that the problem is somewhere in the plug and play stuff, but just don't know. I suppose I could just go back and copy my drive again from 6 months ago, but I really have installed a lot of stuff since then and can't remember it all and it would be a real pain. Please help if you can. Thanks you.
From: Invalid on 8 Jan 2008 19:15 In message <3AE4370A-2198-4634-A2F0-AF4F01DA397B(a)microsoft.com>, apitman <apitman(a)discussions.microsoft.com> writes >I have a Gateway Tablet PC from a couple years ago. It has WinXP Tablet >Edition and all service packs. I have automatic updates turned on. > >As a point of reference and to help others help me understand where to look >to solve the issue I have to mention this first: On 6/6/2007 I upgraded my >hard drive. I did this by using a hard drive imaging software. I basically >just got a bigger drive. I don't think the copy is part of the problem. I >mention this because if I plug in my old hard drive the problems I am about >to describe DON'T HAPPEN. This means 2 things. 1. Whatever is causing the >problem happened some time in the last 6 months. 2. If someone can point me >in the right direction I should be able to look at my old configuration (by >plugging in my old hard drive) and my new one. > >So here are the problems: > >First, I bought a Microsoft LifeCam VX-6000. A sticker on the cable says to >install the drivers first. I did that. I then plug in the camera and it says >new hardware found. I go through the wizard, but it can't find the drivers. I >tell it to manually look at the CD folder where I know the drivers are and >even then it can't find the drivers. I choose to manually choose the driver, >pick Microsoft and then pick the VX-6000 drive that appears (see it is >installed) and it says it is working. I get video, but no audio. I use the >same procedure after plugging in my old hard drive and it installs >automatically and works fine. > >I try another test with a Microsoft generic hub. When I plug that into my >computer with my OLD hard drive installed it doesn't even bring up the >wizard. It just automatically installs the correct driver and works fine. >With my current drive I get the new hardware wizard and it says it can't find >the driver. > >The second problem that I think is related is with the pen driver for the >Tablet PC. If I reboot my computer and let windows come up the FinePoint pen >doesn't work. The driver says it is working, but nothing happens. If I use >the touch pad or a mouse or even just the keyboard to go to the device >manager and disable and then enable the finepoint driver then the pen starts >working fine. Again with the old hard drive from 6 months ago this problem >does not occur. > >I am a software engineer and have many years experience with Windows, so >anyone who want to chime in and give any technical things to try, please do. >I am just not sure where to look. > >I suspect that the problem is somewhere in the plug and play stuff, but just >don't know. I suppose I could just go back and copy my drive again from 6 >months ago, but I really have installed a lot of stuff since then and can't >remember it all and it would be a real pain. > >Please help if you can. Thanks you. I am not an expert - so use this at your ow risk - or someone who is an expert may come along and help!!! It sounds as if something in the Registry that stores the USB identifiers is screwed up. As I (very roughly) understand it Windows records in the registry every different USB device ever attached to the machine, keeping track by means of vendor identifiers/serial numbers. http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms894085.aspx http://www.forensicswiki.org/index.php?title=USB_History_Viewing may give you some clues as to what is going on. When a device it thinks it knows about is attached it uses the data in the registry to load the relevant drivers etc. If the registry entry for a device gets screwed up, Windows may load screwed up drivers, or simply fail to load anything. Your symptoms suggest that the USB list has a bad entry in it somewhere ( at least one), and the USB "discovery" mechanism is just failing when it hits the bad entries. The wizard firing up with new devices is probably a symptom of this, and the Wizard can't get past the bad entry either. The Finepoint pen is probably a USB device so the symptoms fit. There is a utility (USBDEview) that may be of some help, it will let you "uninstall" USB devices. They should then do a clean install the next time you plug them in. http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html I would start with the VX-6000. The caveat - I have never used the utility, I fixed my similar problem (mine was a screwed up driver) the hard way by finding and deleting the problem registry keys. Microsoft have a utility called UVCView that will allow you to see what they think is actually attached but USBDEview shows the registry (I think!). Try comparing what USBDEview sees with the old and new disks isnatlled. The problem is probably in the differences. I hope this rambling helps. -- Peter R Cook
From: Beverly Howard [Ms-MVP/MobileDev] on 9 Jan 2008 11:48 >> I did this by using a hard drive imaging software. << This is essentially reinstalling the os to a different drive and a number of posts here point to tablet os install problems... any chance of getting the original restore CD's? Beverly Howard [MS MVP-Mobile Devices]
From: apitman on 9 Jan 2008 12:08 I could do an original restore, but I would like to explore all other options first. I did NOT have this problem right after doing the copy. The only reason I mentioned the copy at all is to point at 2 things. 1. It is not the computer itself because same hardware / drivers give different results depending old driver versus new drive. 2. I have the old working image incase someone can point me to looking somewhere specific to compare. The other person who responded has some great ideas. I will try those. Tony "Beverly Howard [Ms-MVP/MobileDev]" wrote: > >> I did this by using a hard drive imaging software. << > > This is essentially reinstalling the os to a different drive and a > number of posts here point to tablet os install problems... any chance > of getting the original restore CD's? > > Beverly Howard [MS MVP-Mobile Devices] > >
From: apitman on 9 Jan 2008 19:10
So I used the tool that you recommended (cool, thanks) and removed all of the drivers that are not installed on the drive that works. This did not make any difference. I did discover a little more about the pen not working issue. If I start windows and then move the pen around while windows is waiting at the log in screen the pen works for a while and then quits working while the hard drive is cranking along (meaning it is still loading stuff as windows starts). If I log in quickly and then keep moving the pen around while the hard drive is still going the desktop shows up along with the task bar and everything, but soon quits working. I tried pulling up task manager and watching for a tash to appear at the moment that the pen quits working, but the hard drive is cranking so much that task manager never appears before the pen quits. Is there any software that can be automatically loaded upon start at the very beginning that will show what things are being started while the desktop is visible? Something like the list of drivers that are loading that you see when you start in safe mode? If there is then I could watch what is loaded right as the pen quits and maybe catch it. "Invalid" wrote: > In message <3AE4370A-2198-4634-A2F0-AF4F01DA397B(a)microsoft.com>, apitman > <apitman(a)discussions.microsoft.com> writes > >I have a Gateway Tablet PC from a couple years ago. It has WinXP Tablet > >Edition and all service packs. I have automatic updates turned on. > > > >As a point of reference and to help others help me understand where to look > >to solve the issue I have to mention this first: On 6/6/2007 I upgraded my > >hard drive. I did this by using a hard drive imaging software. I basically > >just got a bigger drive. I don't think the copy is part of the problem. I > >mention this because if I plug in my old hard drive the problems I am about > >to describe DON'T HAPPEN. This means 2 things. 1. Whatever is causing the > >problem happened some time in the last 6 months. 2. If someone can point me > >in the right direction I should be able to look at my old configuration (by > >plugging in my old hard drive) and my new one. > > > >So here are the problems: > > > >First, I bought a Microsoft LifeCam VX-6000. A sticker on the cable says to > >install the drivers first. I did that. I then plug in the camera and it says > >new hardware found. I go through the wizard, but it can't find the drivers. I > >tell it to manually look at the CD folder where I know the drivers are and > >even then it can't find the drivers. I choose to manually choose the driver, > >pick Microsoft and then pick the VX-6000 drive that appears (see it is > >installed) and it says it is working. I get video, but no audio. I use the > >same procedure after plugging in my old hard drive and it installs > >automatically and works fine. > > > >I try another test with a Microsoft generic hub. When I plug that into my > >computer with my OLD hard drive installed it doesn't even bring up the > >wizard. It just automatically installs the correct driver and works fine. > >With my current drive I get the new hardware wizard and it says it can't find > >the driver. > > > >The second problem that I think is related is with the pen driver for the > >Tablet PC. If I reboot my computer and let windows come up the FinePoint pen > >doesn't work. The driver says it is working, but nothing happens. If I use > >the touch pad or a mouse or even just the keyboard to go to the device > >manager and disable and then enable the finepoint driver then the pen starts > >working fine. Again with the old hard drive from 6 months ago this problem > >does not occur. > > > >I am a software engineer and have many years experience with Windows, so > >anyone who want to chime in and give any technical things to try, please do. > >I am just not sure where to look. > > > >I suspect that the problem is somewhere in the plug and play stuff, but just > >don't know. I suppose I could just go back and copy my drive again from 6 > >months ago, but I really have installed a lot of stuff since then and can't > >remember it all and it would be a real pain. > > > >Please help if you can. Thanks you. > > I am not an expert - so use this at your ow risk - or someone who is an > expert may come along and help!!! > > It sounds as if something in the Registry that stores the USB > identifiers is screwed up. > > As I (very roughly) understand it Windows records in the registry every > different USB device ever attached to the machine, keeping track by > means of vendor identifiers/serial numbers. > > http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms894085.aspx > http://www.forensicswiki.org/index.php?title=USB_History_Viewing > > may give you some clues as to what is going on. > > When a device it thinks it knows about is attached it uses the data in > the registry to load the relevant drivers etc. If the registry entry for > a device gets screwed up, Windows may load screwed up drivers, or simply > fail to load anything. Your symptoms suggest that the USB list has a bad > entry in it somewhere ( at least one), and the USB "discovery" mechanism > is just failing when it hits the bad entries. The wizard firing up with > new devices is probably a symptom of this, and the Wizard can't get past > the bad entry either. > > The Finepoint pen is probably a USB device so the symptoms fit. > > There is a utility (USBDEview) that may be of some help, it will let you > "uninstall" USB devices. They should then do a clean install the next > time you plug them in. > > http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html > > I would start with the VX-6000. The caveat - I have never used the > utility, I fixed my similar problem (mine was a screwed up driver) the > hard way by finding and deleting the problem registry keys. > > Microsoft have a utility called UVCView that will allow you to see what > they think is actually attached but USBDEview shows the registry (I > think!). Try comparing what USBDEview sees with the old and new disks > isnatlled. The problem is probably in the differences. > > I hope this rambling helps. > -- > Peter R Cook > |