Hardware/Driver List?

Question

Hello, I have a Dell Dimension 4550 that is running Windows XP Pro, SP2.  I have recently tried to install two new pieces of external hardware, via USB.  One was a Western Digital external HDD, and the other is an external DVD burner.   Neither one of the two devices were properly installed.  They would be recognized as 'External Storage Devices', but Windows XP could not find a driver to install.   I've spoken up and down with tech support for the devices.  I've tried the two devices on several different computers, with different outcomes.  I had them successfully work on a Dell Windows 2000 Server, a HP Windows XP Home Edition PC, and on two Macs, one running OS 9 and the other running OS 10.   I read somewhere that the USB Hub devices might have the wrong driver installed, and it suggested to uninstall the devices, via the Device Manager, and then reboot and let Windows XP reinstall the devices with XP drivers.  Well, I tried this, only to have Windows XP not find any drivers.   These devices are 'Plug & Play', but they're not being installed.   I went to the 'Add New Hardware' wizard, and tried to manually find the device.  Using the part of the dialog box that displays manufacturers on the left, and devices on the right, I'm not sure what this would be called :P.  Anyway, when I got to that part of the wizard, it said 'Windows cannot find any drivers for your device', but I had selected to show all devices and their drivers, so I could install anything I wanted, even if it wasn't connected to the computer.   I'm not sure what would cause XP to not find any drivers.  Does anyone know what I can do to fix this issue?  If you need anymore information, please let me know and I'll get what I can.

Jon_omni · Answer

They are supposed to be plug and play. Windows XP is already supposed to have the driver required to run the device. I've already searched for XP drivers on the websites.

There is something wrong with Windows XP, because while using the 'Add New Hardware' wizard, Windows doesn't show any drivers for anything. Normally you would have a list with a lot of different manufacturers (ie. Microsoft, Dell, HP, etc.), and then when you clicked one of these manufacturers you would get a list of device drivers installed on your computer.

Windows cannot even find a driver for the USB root hubs installed on my motherboard. Windows XP should have them installed, but it doesn't for some reason.

volcano11 · Answer

Please provide the exact make and model of the devices you trying to install. Steve

volcano11 · Answer

I repeat.  This is not how plug and play works with USB devices.  Install the drivers first, the plug in the device. Steve

volcano11 · Answer

For USB devices you normally need to install the drivers before you ever plug in the device. You will have to go to the manufacturers web site to download the drivers for each of these devices. The run the installation software, then plug the devices into the USB ports.

Steve

Jon_omni · Answer

Then why does it plug and play in every other machine I've tried it in?

There aren't drivers for it to install. The drivers are supposed to be installed by Windows XP...

Message Edited by Jon_omni on 08-22-2005 04:35 PM

volcano11 · Answer

Did you install the chipset drivers for the motherboard. The chipset drivers shoul always be the first drivers installed. Without the chipset drivers, Windows will not be able to recognize or install drivers for any devices integrated on the motherboard, like the USB controllers, network adapter, and in some cases integrated video and audio cards.

Steve

Jon_omni · Answer

I don't remember the model # for the Western Digital HDD, we used it for a client and have already sent the drive back to the client.   The DVD burner is made by Pacific Digital.  I could not locate a model number anywhere on the drive.   It's not just those devices though.  Apparently Windows doesn't recognize any device drivers. That seems to be the problem. I tried to use the 'Add New Hardware' wizard, and selected the option to choose from a list of devices. I chose to view a list of all devices, and I got to the step where you are supposed to choose a manufacturer and then choose a device by that manufacturer, well, when I got to that step there weren't any manufacturers listed. Windows just said 'Cannot find a device driver'.   I hope this helps.  I currently have the DVD burner installed on another one of our Dimension 4550's, and it worked via plug and play...No installation required by me at all. Message Edited by Jon_omni on 08-22-2005 05:04 PM

Jon_omni · Answer

Indeed I have. I've also searched high and low for a USB driver, found some, pointed the Add Hardware wizard directly to the folder with the drivers, and it still couldn't locate anything.

I truely am stumped. Short of reformatting. Which I'm not prepared to do yet, this is a business computer, and has a lot of important files for our clients, reformatting would be a last resort, as I would need to do backups of all the important stuff.

volcano11 · Answer

Well, I hate to tell you this, but a business computer should be backed up daily unless you want to risk losing your business. Sorry I couldn't be of more help. All I can say is that USB drivers are usually installed by software - not throught Device Manager or the Hardware Installation wizard. Good luck.

Steve

Jon_omni · Answer

Yes, I know.

Usually, if its plug and play, Windows doesn't prompt the user for anything. It just pops a little balloon up saying that it found a new device, then it tells you what the device was, then all is done.

Does anyone else have any other suggestions?

dg27 · Answer

When I installed my USB external hard drive I found that I had to try different USB ports until it worked properly. But I did NOT use 'Add New Hardware.' It's supposed to be plug & play and just took a little coaxing before it would play nicely with my other drives...

Jon_omni · Answer

Yeah, I have tried all of the ports, and it will not install properly. The only reason I've made mention of the "Add New Hardware" wizard, is because once Windows doesn't find a driver, it prompts you to install the device via this wizard. I also made notice that Windows doesn't seem to have drivers for any piece of hardware.

Thank you Steve for trying to help me as best as you could. I appreciate the time, effort, and insight.

Are there any other suggestions?

RoHe · Answer

You might try deleting the USB ports and reinstalling them. Disconnect all USB devices. Then go to device manager and expand the list under USB. Right click each item listed under USB and select uninstall. Go down the list until they're all deleted. Close device manager and reboot. XP should reinstall the ports. See if that fixes it.

I've seen reports lately that some USB HDs are not being properly detected by XP if disk caching is turned on and causing delayed write failures. So if you're seeing that, turn off disk caching to resolve the problem.

Ron

Jon_omni · Answer

I've tried that already, and right now, I am USBless.  Windows XP did not reinstall my USB hubs, so now I can't use anything USB.

RoHe · Answer

You might be able to do a System Restore to recover the deleted ports. If that doesn't work (and maybe even if it does), run a system file check:

Click start>run
Type in: sfc /scannow
(space between sfc and /)
Click OK

sfc will check all XP files and replace any that are corrupted or missing. It may ask for your XP CD. See if that reinstalls the ports.

If not, you may need to do a Repair Reinstall, which is not the same as a full installation so you shouldn't lose any of your personal files, but back them up to CD just to be safe.

Ron

Windows General

Hardware/Driver List?

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