Good Source for "Under-the-hood" XP Hardware Support

  • Thread starter Thread starter DBF
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DBF

Where can a person go to get really detailed XP hardware support?

I have an enormous amount of respect and appreciation for the many people
who contribute help and advice on this newsgroup, and many of the other
Microsoft newsgroups. I have been helped repeatedly by answers posted here.

However, I have submitted the same problem four times over the last couple
of months and no one has come up with an answer.
Quite frankly, my only frustration is that frequently those who do try to
help appear not to have read the entirety of my post. In one case, I saw the
exact same answer to my problem posted as an answer to someone else's. I
believe this is referred to as a "boilerplate". Unfortunately, it also
indicated that the person who posted it had not taken the time to read my
entire post.

Anyway, I wonder where I can find some really solid XP hardware technical
advice.
Thanks,
Dave

**************************************
Following is the contents of my original post:
I recently installed a WD hard drive which, as I understand it, should use
the XP drivers without any additional drivers added. The drive formatted
properly and shows up in Hardware Manager as expected, although it does tell
me that the drivers are not installed.
However, every time I boot the computer I receive the following error:

Cannot Install this Hardware
There was a problem installing this hardware:
WDC WD1600JB-00FUA0
An error occurred during the installation of the device
The specified service does not exist as an installed service.
Click Finish to close the wizard.

The problem is, I have no idea what service it is looking for.

A bit of background:
1) This also occurs whenever I plug in my USB digital camera; btw, it works
fine in spite of this error message.
2) My computer is less than 6 months old, P4 2.8 GHz, lotsa memory, etc etc.
WIN XP HOME, fully upgraded, updated and patched.
3) Not long after I received the computer I did go to Black Viper's site and
disabled many of his recommended services. I am an above average computer
user and felt pretty comfortable doing this. And when I first had the
problem with the digital camera I restored everything I had disabled back to
the XP default values and the problem still occurred.
4) I do have an Iomega USB zip drive which is the only other drive that I
added after getting the computer, but I added it before I did any of Black
Viper's tweaks.

Can anyone think of what possible service the computer would be looking for
in order to install native XP drivers, since that appears to be the problem?

Thanks,
Dave
 
Dave,

My best advice would be to reinstall WinXP, clean & fresh.

I've built my own systems for years, beta tested software, and "broke" my own system more times than I can count. Nothing works
better than a clean install. Now, on a whim I will flush the "C" drive, and reinstall WinXP. It's fun!

After you get it installed, all updates, and running smooth, image the drive. Then the next time you won't have as far to go. I
don't follow that advice myself, as by the time I do it again, I've got a new mobo or something! :)

Trying to "fix" it at this point will (and already has) take you more time than a clean install.

Oh, and I'm "assuming" that the drives have the jumpers installed correctly and are hooked up to a *known* good ribbon cable.

Good luck,

Steve
 
Reading the OP's problem indicates that he left out the
(assumed fact) that the WD drive is connected by USB, is
that correct.

The answer may depend on what mobo and BIOS you are using
and the quality of the connection. Check with WD and look
at the mobo / USB mfg'r site for any known issues.

Is your USB 1.1 or 2.0? Is it on the mobo or an add-in
card? Is the drive jumpered as master or slave and is it
already formatted?

Have you used Google to look for "external drive problems"
and "USB drive problems"?

Just thought, it could be Firewire, but your other issues
were USB..

That is all I have..




| Dave,
|
| My best advice would be to reinstall WinXP, clean & fresh.
|
| I've built my own systems for years, beta tested software,
and "broke" my own system more times than I can count.
Nothing works
| better than a clean install. Now, on a whim I will flush
the "C" drive, and reinstall WinXP. It's fun!
|
| After you get it installed, all updates, and running
smooth, image the drive. Then the next time you won't have
as far to go. I
| don't follow that advice myself, as by the time I do it
again, I've got a new mobo or something! :)
|
| Trying to "fix" it at this point will (and already has)
take you more time than a clean install.
|
| Oh, and I'm "assuming" that the drives have the jumpers
installed correctly and are hooked up to a *known* good
ribbon cable.
|
| Good luck,
|
| Steve
|
| > Where can a person go to get really detailed XP hardware
support?
| >
| > I have an enormous amount of respect and appreciation
for the many people
| > who contribute help and advice on this newsgroup, and
many of the other
| > Microsoft newsgroups. I have been helped repeatedly by
answers posted here.
| >
| > However, I have submitted the same problem four times
over the last couple
| > of months and no one has come up with an answer.
| > Quite frankly, my only frustration is that frequently
those who do try to
| > help appear not to have read the entirety of my post. In
one case, I saw the
| > exact same answer to my problem posted as an answer to
someone else's. I
| > believe this is referred to as a "boilerplate".
Unfortunately, it also
| > indicated that the person who posted it had not taken
the time to read my
| > entire post.
| >
| > Anyway, I wonder where I can find some really solid XP
hardware technical
| > advice.
| > Thanks,
| > Dave
| >
| > **************************************
| > Following is the contents of my original post:
| > I recently installed a WD hard drive which, as I
understand it, should use
| > the XP drivers without any additional drivers added. The
drive formatted
| > properly and shows up in Hardware Manager as expected,
although it does tell
| > me that the drivers are not installed.
| > However, every time I boot the computer I receive the
following error:
| >
| > Cannot Install this Hardware
| > There was a problem installing this hardware:
| > WDC WD1600JB-00FUA0
| > An error occurred during the installation of the device
| > The specified service does not exist as an installed
service.
| > Click Finish to close the wizard.
| >
| > The problem is, I have no idea what service it is
looking for.
| >
| > A bit of background:
| > 1) This also occurs whenever I plug in my USB digital
camera; btw, it works
| > fine in spite of this error message.
| > 2) My computer is less than 6 months old, P4 2.8 GHz,
lotsa memory, etc etc.
| > WIN XP HOME, fully upgraded, updated and patched.
| > 3) Not long after I received the computer I did go to
Black Viper's site and
| > disabled many of his recommended services. I am an above
average computer
| > user and felt pretty comfortable doing this. And when I
first had the
| > problem with the digital camera I restored everything I
had disabled back to
| > the XP default values and the problem still occurred.
| > 4) I do have an Iomega USB zip drive which is the only
other drive that I
| > added after getting the computer, but I added it before
I did any of Black
| > Viper's tweaks.
| >
| > Can anyone think of what possible service the computer
would be looking for
| > in order to install native XP drivers, since that
appears to be the problem?
| >
| > Thanks,
| > Dave
| >
| >
| >
| >
| >
| >
|
|
 
No, sorry.
This is an EIDE drive, NOT USB.
That is why the problem appears to be so unusual.
What I meant to indicate is that the same problem occurred both when I
plugged in a USB camera several months ago, and when I put in a second hard
drive just the other day.
Incidentally, as I mentioned below, the camera worked just fine, and so does
the hard drive. Well, so far. I have partitioned it and already copied about
24GB of data onto it without any problem.

However, every time I reboot it shows the error message I mentioned, and in
the Hardware Manager only the PartMgr.sys driver is installed. The disk.sys
driver is NOT installed, which it is for the other drives.
Thus is the same problem which occurred with the USB camera. (I stopped
attaching the camera directly because my computer also has a card reader
slot that I use.)

There is surprisingly little documentation online when one searches for the
error message which I receive.
A few things that are close but not exactly my problem or my set-up.
That is why I am trying to find someone who has the in depth technical
knowledge to help me solve it,
Thanks,
Dave
 
Well, everything in my system works swimmingly except for this. Even the
hard drive works: I partitioned it and put 24GB of data onto it. (Nothing
important, btw. I'm not suicidal.) In fact, I bought this drive to image my
other hard drive.
But, when you say to do all this reinstall, etc. etc. and then I won't have
as far to go, I feel like you are making the assumption that the problem is
with the drive itself.
My suspicions, and what little I have found online about the problem, is
that something in the registry is telling the installation process to look
for the wrong driver.
PartMgr.sys installs just fine. disk.sys does not install.

I am a very willing tinkerer. I tweak my system all the time and I am not
reluctant to reinstall XP if I absolutely have to, I am not yet ready to go
through the pain of reinstalling XP and all my software and then all the
hours of downloading updates and patches (dial-up modem on very old phone
lines; I live in the middle of nowhere; no DSL or cable; wireless or
satellite too expensive.)
I honestly don't consider my system broken at this time. In fact, if the
dialog box didn't come up I would never know there was a problem, since the
drive (and the camera before it) works just fine.
I like to solve problems by finding out why things are happening, and so far
I have found no one that can tell me why the problem is happening.
Anyway, thanks for your input.
Dave

Steve Colburn said:
Dave,

My best advice would be to reinstall WinXP, clean & fresh.

I've built my own systems for years, beta tested software, and "broke" my
Click to expand...
own system more times than I can count. Nothing works
better than a clean install. Now, on a whim I will flush the "C" drive,
Click to expand...
and reinstall WinXP. It's fun!
After you get it installed, all updates, and running smooth, image the
Click to expand...
drive. Then the next time you won't have as far to go. I
don't follow that advice myself, as by the time I do it again, I've got a new mobo or something! :)

Trying to "fix" it at this point will (and already has) take you more time than a clean install.

Oh, and I'm "assuming" that the drives have the jumpers installed
Click to expand...
correctly and are hooked up to a *known* good ribbon cable.
 
Also, I noted recently that I have two complete sets of listings for my IDE
ATA controllers in Hardware Manager; IE - two listed controllers, two sets
of primary channels, and two sets of secondary channels. However,when I go
into the registry, there is less information listed for the second set than
for the first. I wonder if they are conflicting.
Can I delete them in Hardware Manager and let XP re-install them and see
what happens.
I know this worked in WIN98 on my old computer.
Will that work in XP?
Thanks,
Dave
 
Look, I'm no super expert, but two sets of devices sounds
incorrect to me. I would delete the second set of
devices and see what happens. I had a similar problem
with USB devices and I deleted ALL USB devices and they
reinstalled themselves perfectly. I'd back up stuff
first, though! By the way, who is the manufacturer of
your system and did you try their tech support? I
know...stupid question!

I understand your frustration with getting the right
people to first see your post, then understand, and be
able to provide correct information. I've had a problem
for more than a week and it was just solved today by
someone who finally "saw the light"! I have a great deal
of respect for people who are willing to help out for
free! Anyway, patients pays off! I have found in the
past that a misleading subject line can often deter from
finding an answer to a problem. I have reposted things
with different subject names and received answers to
questions that had been lingering for days!

Anyway, Good Luck!

amajamar
 
Amajamar,
Thanks for your comments.
You don't know how much I appreciate them.
And you are right about the subject lines. I think part of it is just dumb
luck, as well: hoping that the right person with the right answer will show
up and read your post before it gets scrolled down too far for anyone to
bother with.
Anyway, thanks again.

Dave
 
If you have two sets of the same hardware showing in device manager then you
should remove them both before rebooting. Before you do this I would make a
backup of the registry at the very least. You say you are a tinkerer and I
think this is the heart of your problem. You have obviously broken something
and now can't fix it. Usually if it is two sets of the same piece of
hardware showing in device manager deleting both entries and rebooting
allows Windows to find and reinstall the drivers. As you do tinker with your
system you should always have a good backup regime as sometimes a fix can't
always be found and restoring a backup is the only solution apart from
reformating and reinstalling.

In the past I have found a lot of so called optimisation programs do more
harm than good and only specific optimisations should ever be used and only
then when you have a proper backup of your system. I'm not trying to knock
you, as like a previous poster I build my own computers and repair them when
they break. Years ago I caused more problems than I could mention mostly by
using software that was supposed to optimise my computer and I learned the
hard way.

Hope this is some help.

Midnight
 
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