Latest XP update

  • Thread starter Thread starter Borrox
  • Start date Start date
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Borrox

Hi
Last night the automatic update informed me (more like constantly beeped and
flashed messages) that updates had been downloaded and needed the computer
to be switched off and re-booted.
Before turning the computer off I ran a full virus scan with Norton. When I
turned my computer on this morning, the computer was making a chiming sound
at me. I discovered that one of the ports on the USB hub (see my previous
post) was not working and so my scnner was not working. So, I moved the
scanner to another port. Still not working. The scanner fails on every port.
Could this latest update have caused a problem with the scanner and/or the
USB hub?
The scanner an Epson Perfection 1670 has had the software uninstalled and
reinstalled but still fails to work.
Any help greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Nig
 
Hi
Last night the automatic update informed me (more like constantly beeped and
flashed messages) that updates had been downloaded and needed the computer
to be switched off and re-booted.
Before turning the computer off I ran a full virus scan with Norton. When I
turned my computer on this morning, the computer was making a chiming sound
at me. I discovered that one of the ports on the USB hub (see my previous
post) was not working and so my scnner was not working. So, I moved the
scanner to another port. Still not working. The scanner fails on every port.
Could this latest update have caused a problem with the scanner and/or the
USB hub?
Click to expand...

Try plugging another device into the hub, but it seems
fairly clear it interfered with the scanner (driver?) as
scanner didn't work on another hub port... but do try
scanner on another non-hub port.

Does it (scanner) show up ok in Device Manager?
When it doesn't work, what is the exact evidence of this?

The scanner an Epson Perfection 1670 has had the software uninstalled and
reinstalled but still fails to work.
Any help greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...


Does Epson have a newer driver available?

You might try to determine which updates were installed, for
example maybe one or more of these,
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/Browse.aspx?DisplayLang=en&nr=20&categoryid=7&sortCriteria=date
and they may be in your Windows (winnt on win2k) folder
named something like "$NtUninstallKB912919$" though you can
just do a file/folder search for the number in the items
linked above, for example the graphics rendering (WMF)
vulnerability update for WinXP is
Security Update for Windows XP (KB912919)
so you'd do the file search for 912919, which (if that
update is installed) would reveal a folder similar to the
example I gave above and an inner folder with something like
"SPUNINST", in which a file like spuninst.exe would be ran
to uninstall it. OR, look in add-remove programs.

The idea being that if a newer Epson driver isn't available
or doesn't help, you would uninstall a few of those new
updates, reboot & retry the scanner. If it still fails then
uninstall more of (these newly installed ones) or if it
works, selectively reinstall them from windowsupdate.com
tilll you find the offender. Offhand, I'd try the one i
mentioned above, first.

Unless you feel this is a hardware fault (seems not to be),
then you might get the most comprehensive troubleshooting of
Windows, windows updates from a Microsoft oriented windows
newsgroup.
 
Does Epson have a newer driver available?

You might try to determine which updates were installed, for
example maybe one or more of these,
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/Browse.aspx?DisplayLang=en&nr=20&categoryid=7&sortCriteria=date
and they may be in your Windows (winnt on win2k) folder
named something like "$NtUninstallKB912919$" though you can
just do a file/folder search for the number in the items
linked above, for example the graphics rendering (WMF)
vulnerability update for WinXP is
Security Update for Windows XP (KB912919)
so you'd do the file search for 912919, which (if that
update is installed) would reveal a folder similar to the
example I gave above and an inner folder with something like
"SPUNINST", in which a file like spuninst.exe would be ran
to uninstall it. OR, look in add-remove programs.

The idea being that if a newer Epson driver isn't available
or doesn't help, you would uninstall a few of those new
updates, reboot & retry the scanner. If it still fails then
uninstall more of (these newly installed ones) or if it
works, selectively reinstall them from windowsupdate.com
tilll you find the offender. Offhand, I'd try the one i
mentioned above, first.

Unless you feel this is a hardware fault (seems not to be),
then you might get the most comprehensive troubleshooting of
Windows, windows updates from a Microsoft oriented windows
newsgroup.
Click to expand...
Hi Kony
In reply to both.
My original thoughts were to buy another onboard USB card to go alongside
the existing one to increase the number of USB's and so get rid of the hub.
I tried different things; I swapped the connections (USB) from port to port
and each time showed up as the same port on the hub as not working. I
plugged the scanner directly into the computer and it failed to work when I
tried to scan something, in fact the user interface did not appear. So I
uninstalled and reinstalled the driver (Scanner) with no effect.
I then went out and purchased a newer scanner (Epson Perfection 3640) a
newer version of the 1670. This works fine.
This is the weird thing, I plugged it into the port on the hub that was not
working. Now, everything seems to be happy, working and not telling me that
the hardware has failed and/or the hardware (USB2) would work better and
quicker if it was not connected via the hub.
My idea was that if the new scanner failed to work or be recognised then I
would have to start looking at the last few Windows updates. I remember when
I got XP SP2 it almost wrecked my computer and after using Norton GoBack the
computer was fine. I have since re-downloaded and reinstalled SP2 with no
side effects.
Anyway, all seems OK now but I may still contemplate fitting a second USB
card and do away with the hub and then buy a couple of USB extensions minus
ones that blink on and off with activity.
Once again thanks for the help and advice. I have no idea what or why it
happened.
Many thanks
Nig
 
Borrox said:
Hi
Last night the automatic update informed me (more like constantly
beeped and flashed messages) that updates had been downloaded and
needed the computer to be switched off and re-booted. Before turning
the computer off I ran a full virus scan with Norton. When I turned
my computer on this morning, the computer was making a chiming sound
at me. I discovered that one of the ports on the USB hub (see my
previous post) was not working and so my scnner was not working. So,
I moved the scanner to another port. Still not working. The scanner
fails on every port. Could this latest update have caused a problem
with the scanner and/or the USB hub? The scanner an Epson Perfection
1670 has had the software uninstalled and reinstalled but still fails
to work. Any help greatly appreciated. Many thanks Nig
Click to expand...

If you are suspicious of the Windows Updates you can try uninstalling
the last few updates from Add/Remove programs applet. On my home
installation of XP I also have System Restore function enabled and it
clearly shows the last update I did for the .wmf security update. You
may be able to restore to a previous state to determine if that was the
culprit.

I have always been leery of USB hubs and have had experiences where the
hub has failed to show any devices hooked up to it. The only way to
make it work was to unplug the hub from the motherboard and plug it
back in. You may try hooking up the scanner directly to the
motherboard to make sure.
 
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