Unable to Install Devices: The Parameter is Incorrect

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Guest

I am hoping that someone can help me get to the bottom of this oddly arising
error that is crippling my Vista laptop. I migrated to Vista last month with
a fresh install and everything was very smooth. I noticed almost zero
incompatibilities, with the exception of one ‘Unknown Device’ in my Device
Manager that I couldn’t put a finger on since all of the things I utilized
daily worked properly.

Anyways, last weekend I went to connect my Creative Zen Micro to transfer
some music files and the system correctly recognized the device and began
installing the drivers. After a few minutes of trying though, the program
crashed out and said that;

“Windows has found drivers for your device but they could not be installedâ€

“Could not install drivers for MTP deviceâ€

“The parameter is incorrectâ€.

So I was frustrated and searched around to try and find help for this issue
but it didn’t appear that anyone else experienced similar problems with their
Zen’s and Vista.

At the time though, I assumed my USB ports were all working correctly since
I had used my SanDisk flashdrive and WD external HDD with no problems
whatsoever. But I hadn’t used them since I had tried the MP3 player, and
wouldn’t you know that when I plugged in my flashdrive yesterday, it acted as
if it needed to install drivers (which it shouldn’t have) and then crashed
out on the install giving me the same message as the MP3 player;

“The parameter is incorrectâ€

Now, this device worked fine a week ago and gave me no trouble ever, nor did
my external HDD. So I thought maybe some of the USB drivers became corrupt so
I went into Safe Mode, removed all USB related items and restarted expecting
me system to re-detect and configure all the USB controllers. Well it
detected them, but unfortunately now I cannot install any device at all. I
keep getting that same message, “The parameter is incorrect†but
unfortunately that message gives me absolutely no other information as to
what the parameter is, or why it is giving the system grief.

There is no other information passed back to me. I am very frustrated with
this whole deal because I have not been able to track down any related items
anywhere online. I did not make any hardware or software configuration
changes that would have seemingly lead to this type of behavior. And, as I
said the two other devices were working correctly with Vista until I tried
connecting the Zen Micro MP3 player.

My machine has Vista Ultimate on it installed from a clean base, and, on two
other partitions I have the beginnings of Linux system that I am building
from source, but again, this should have no bearing on my Vista partition
since I haven’t even installed a boot manager yet for Linux. I have a feeling
that this is some type of permissions issue, but none of my permission
policies should have changed since the time when I originally used those
devices. I’m really hoping someone can offer me some help. I greatly
appreciate your time.
 
prodonjs,

This sounds serious, but try checking a Vista report for specific errors and
corrective measures to take: Click on Start (icon) and select All Programs.
Then, select Maintenance > Problem Reports and Solutions. When that report
opens, select from among the Tasks on the left margin and elsewhere. Peruse
the report and look for any specific information about what caused your
problem (or other problems while you're at it). If you get some insight from
the report, take the corrective action suggested in the report. Just
something to try, since Vista logs errors and hopefully it will in this case.
Let us know whether any of this is useful. We like to know, too. Post back
if this doesn't help, and we'll try something else.
 
Freddy,

Thanks for the suggestion but I was checking through those reports yesterday
and nothing detailed came out. It actually doesn't appear to be a fault,
because I don't have the option to debug it or send the error report to MS.
In browsing the posts, I'm seeing what looks like similar issues related to
this error message, but nothing applicable yet. I'm at work now but once I
get home and get a chance to play around with things I will post back. Thanks.
 
prodonjs,

OK, thanks for the clarification. Someone my post something better than
what I have, but you may be compelled to consider reinstalling your operating
system. It sounds to me as though you have a complicated situation that
resembles a bucket of worms. lol

If you can, try downloading all available Vista updates from the Microsoft
update site. Who knows, that move could fix things, keeping fingers crossed.
Try that before reinstalling anything. Good luck. Sorry I can't offer more.
 
Well the plot has definitely thickened. Last night I attempted to perform a
System Restore but I couldn’t go back as far as I would have liked. I
actually had problems with that as it hung when I tried to do it from regular
mode, it would only work when I went into Safe Mode and ran System Restore.
So I did all that and now at least my USB controllers are correctly installed
in the Device Manager, but still nothing works. In fact, no USB device will
work in any of my three ports other than my wireless mouse, and it only works
in one port, the port I have always used it in. Any other device I try gives
me that dreaded “Parameter is Incorrect†error with no further explanation.

What I think I am going to have to do is re-install Vista. I really would
rather just reinstall overtop of the current platform so I don’t lose all of
my programs and everything, but I highly doubt that’ll be possible

It’ll probably just be a better idea to start from scratch with a fresh
install. I would just restore from a backup on my external HDD, but of course
it’s USB and that’s a no go since it won’t be recognized anywhere. I don’t
have my Vista DVD on me at the moment, it’s back at home and I’m at my
temporary residence where I work during the week, so prior to Friday, does
anyone have any other suggestions that could let me salvage the system?
 
Well the plot has definitely thickened. Last night I attempted to perform a
System Restore but I couldn't go back as far as I would have liked. I
actually had problems with that as it hung when I tried to do it from regular
mode, it would only work when I went into Safe Mode and ran System Restore.
So I did all that and now at least myUSBcontrollers are correctly installed
in theDeviceManager, but still nothing works. In fact, noUSBdevicewill
work in any of my three ports other than my wireless mouse, and it only works
in one port, the port I have always used it in. Any otherdeviceI try gives
me that dreaded "Parameter is Incorrect" error with no further explanation.

What I think I am going to have to do is re-install Vista. I really would
rather just reinstall overtop of the current platform so I don't lose all of
my programs and everything, but I highly doubt that'll be possible

It'll probably just be a better idea to start from scratch with a fresh
install. I would just restore from a backup on my external HDD, but of course
it'sUSBand that's a no go since it won't berecognizedanywhere. I don't
have my Vista DVD on me at the moment, it's back at home and I'm at my
temporary residence where I work during the week, so prior to Friday, does
anyone have any other suggestions that could let me salvage the system?















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Have you tried this yet? http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925528
 
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