Vista loses drivers

[Guest]

Why is it that Vista can't hang on to drivers that have been successfully
installed. I have an HP laser printer and an HP All-in-One. Both have Vista
drivers which have been installed and both work correctly...for a while.
Periodically, Vista says it needs to look for new drivers, then it can't find
the drivers, and I'm tied up for hours trying to get Vista to recognize one
printer or the other. Sometimes Vista (Ultimate) loses track of the USB
printer drivers and sometimes it is the Scanner driver. I had to buy all new
printers/scanner to work with Vista, and yet I have to spend hours keeping
them connected properly in Vista.

 

[Guest]

harmonp,

Some folks have had good luck resolving issues like you have by deleting the
INFCACHE.1 file, which can get corrupted with bad data and cause issues. The
file is located at C:\Windows\inf. There, scroll down to the INFCACHE.1 file
and right click it and select delete. To do this, you will likely have to
give yourself permission to delete it, because of Windows built-in security
you know. Just right click the file, select Properties and then click on the
security tab. Let us know whether this procedure does anything. Sometimes
it does and sometimes not.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your response. Last night before I turned off the computer, I
deleted the INFCACHE.1 file, and this morning when I turned the computer on,
both the laser printer and the all-in-one worked fine. I hope they continue
to work. I noticed that Windows did not re-create the INFCACHE.1 file. I
take it the file is not necessary.

 

[Guest]

harmonp,

Vista likely will recreate the file when it has a need for it, such as when
it doesn't know what to do with unrecognizable inf files.

 

[Guest]

freddy and all,

I installed a PNY OPTIMA Attache' 2 gig memory stick. My upgraded (Vista
Home to Vista Ultimate) Dell lost the connect.

I tried finding drivers on re-install in C:\Windows (and subfolders).

I found a reference to wpdfs.inf in the registry, but the only occurrence of
THAT that I find is a zero byte file, " Mstf_User_WpdFs....... " in
C:\$INPLACE.~TR\yada...yada..yada

I have deleted INFCACHE.1 file and get no recognition.

I assume I have a "lost driver." Anyone have any ideas? I can't get any
memory sticks to work in the machine.

Thanks for any assistence.

 

[Guest]

partenope,

Plug in the memory stick and look in Device Manager to see how it is
recognized there. Device Manager should show the device three times, as
follows:

1. Under Disk Drives
2. Under Portable Devices
3. Under Universal Serial Bus controllers as a USB Mass Storage Device

Note any indication of errors, such as a yellow bang (!), or any other
indication of a problem. In Device Manager, follow any any suggestions for
resolving any problem indicated. Post back on results.

 

[Guest]

In the meanwhile, I tried reformatting the stick. I got the "Open File /
Optimize Memory" option window briefly before the Windows found new hardware"
window opened.

Re-plugging it, I get []? Other devices
[]! USB 2.0 FD

( [] represents the icon, also in the tray, Found New Hardware)

Device status This device is not configured correctly (Code 1)

(No changes, nor links to the device under:

1. Under Disk Drives
2. Under Portable Devices
3. Under Universal Serial Bus controllers as a USB Mass Storage

Device)

Disk Drives and Portable Devices have:
USB HS-CF
USB HS-MS
USB HS-SD
USB HS-xD/SM
... USB Device (under Disk Drives)
and ... Card (under Devices, except the last, "USB
HS-xD/SM "

Universal Serial Bus controllers have
General Purpose USB Hub
M/S Internet Keyboard Pro Composite Device
2 Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controllers
5 Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controllers, and,
7 USB Root Hubs

No indications of problems besides the Other Devices - USB 2.0 FD.

 

[Guest]

Good morning partenope,

I'm having difficulty following your descriptions. For example, I don't
know what USB HF-CF or any of the other similar descriptions mean, such as
USB 2.0 FD, etc. In summary, it appears to me that Vista is recognizing the
drive, but is having a problem with the way it's configured, judging from the
Code 1 you have.

The Optimize Memory window you're getting is Windows trying to tell you that
you can use the drive as a ReadyBoost device. This is OK. You can choose to
use the drive in that manner or not. If you don't know about ReadyBoost, you
can use google to learn more. I'm using a 2 GB USB SanDisk as a ReadyBoost
device, and I've not had any problem with it, so I know that Vista can work
with these USB type flash drives.

At this point, I'd suggest you contact the manufacturer's tech support, if
they have one, to determine what they say about the configuration of the
drive. I don't know what configuration the drive should have. Did the drive
come with any instructions about that? You may also try using google to see
whether you can find any information about that issue. Likely others have
posted about this on the Internet, if they have had a problem.

Also, peruse the manufacturer's website for any information on what the
story is about this drive. Did the drive come with any pre installed
software? If it did, that can cause a conflict with Vista, as it's likely
not compatible with Vista. I'm just not familiar with this device. You can
also try viewing the drive in Vista's Disk Management utility: Right click
Computer (formerly My Computer), select Manage and then select Disk
Management. The drive should show up there and perhaps it will display some
indication on the status of the drive and thus give you a clue as to what is
wrong with it.

I think my flash drive is formatted in FAT 32, and Vista has no problem with
that. In Disk Management, you may try formatting the drive in FAT 32 to see
whether that solves the problem. Just some suggetions. Post back on the
results you get.
--
freddy

In the meanwhile, I tried reformatting the stick. I got the "Open File /
Optimize Memory" option window briefly before the Windows found new hardware"
window opened.

Re-plugging it, I get []? Other devices
[]! USB 2.0 FD

( [] represents the icon, also in the tray, Found New Hardware)

Device status This device is not configured correctly (Code 1)

(No changes, nor links to the device under:

1. Under Disk Drives
2. Under Portable Devices
3. Under Universal Serial Bus controllers as a USB Mass Storage

Device)

Disk Drives and Portable Devices have:
USB HS-CF
USB HS-MS
USB HS-SD
USB HS-xD/SM
... USB Device (under Disk Drives)
and ... Card (under Devices, except the last, "USB
HS-xD/SM "

Universal Serial Bus controllers have
General Purpose USB Hub
M/S Internet Keyboard Pro Composite Device
2 Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controllers
5 Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controllers, and,
7 USB Root Hubs

No indications of problems besides the Other Devices - USB 2.0 FD.

 

[Guest]

Ok.. "magical" thinking here. I'm struggling at the edge of my knowledge,
and I'm hoping that you're close to omniscient.

I'll explain with details embedded, below.

Good morning partenope,

I'm having difficulty following your descriptions. For example, I don't
know what USB HF-CF or any of the other similar descriptions mean,

Those are the built-in Dell 13-in-1 card reader: Compact Flask, SD card,
and, I assume, whatever other memory cards.

such as USB 2.0 FD, etc.

That is the PNY Optima Attache 2 GB memory stick in question. The one I
bought because my other memory sticks weren't being recognized, and it was
labled "Vista Ready."

In summary, it appears to me that Vista is recognizing the
drive, but is having a problem with the way it's configured, judging from the
Code 1 you have.

The Optimize Memory window you're getting

I should point out that I only got it once (or maybe twice) but I didn't act
on it fast enough to get the computer to use it for that session. (more
info below)

is Windows trying to tell you that
you can use the drive as a ReadyBoost device. This is OK. You can choose to
use the drive in that manner or not. If you don't know about ReadyBoost, you
can use google to learn more. I'm using a 2 GB USB SanDisk as a ReadyBoost
device, and I've not had any problem with it, so I know that Vista can work
with these USB type flash drives.

Yes. Excellent idea. After I started researching the web for my problem,
I initially thought that may be the ONLY use for it. I have 2 Gig of
onboard memory (and slots for 2 gig more, and I've had a dozen apps open in
their own windows in addition to all the background items running, so I
assume that I'm good for now in the memory department.

At this point, I'd suggest you contact the manufacturer's tech support, if
they have one, to determine what they say about the configuration of the
drive. I don't know what configuration the drive should have. Did the drive
come with any instructions about that? You may also try using google to see
whether you can find any information about that issue. Likely others have
posted about this on the Internet, if they have had a problem.

Manufacturer says it's Vista compliant, that I should call M/S tech support.
Google finds several references to XP problems. Possible solutions,
delete INFCASH.1 (did that), reformat flash drive (did that), finally, there
was a Windows Vista Magazine registry tweak (
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\EMDMgmt\_??_USBSTOR#Disk&Ven_PNY&Prod_USB_2.0_FD&Rev_2048#AA00000000001978&0#{53f56307-b6bf-11d0-94f2-00a0c91efb8b}USB20FD_3160073302
in my case.

"Change Device Status to 2, ReadSpeadKBs and WriteSpeed KBs to 1000."

A few readers had success with that. At first I found no such entry, just
now I did -- but no success.

Also, peruse the manufacturer's website for any information on what the
story is about this drive. Did the drive come with any pre installed
software? If it did, that can cause a conflict with Vista, as it's likely
not compatible with Vista. I'm just not familiar with this device. You can
also try viewing the drive in Vista's Disk Management utility: Right click
Computer (formerly My Computer), select Manage and then select Disk
Management. The drive should show up there and perhaps it will display some
indication on the status of the drive and thus give you a clue as to what is
wrong with it.

It did show up there one time, when I clicked on "open file." I managed to
copy a few files to it, and assumed (hoped) that the problem had magically
gone away (perhaps because I was now using a Vista ready device and Vista had
"figured it out." But, it went back to "New Hardware Found" and eventually
"Device Driver software was not successfully installed" after finding nothing
on my hard drive, in Windows Update, or "on the web" (where ever Vista looks).

I think my flash drive is formatted in FAT 32, and Vista has no problem with
that. In Disk Management, you may try formatting the drive in FAT 32 to see
whether that solves the problem.

I found mine as FAT 32 on my XP computer, and reformatted it there. The
Volume Name wasn't accepted as "USB 2.0 FD" (spaces and period), so I
changed it a bit. Vista still recognizes USB 2.0 FD under other devices. I
don't get to the point where I can read the volume name.

Just some suggetions. Post back on the results you get.
--

Thanks! I really appreciate your tackling this (and, so far, am enjoying
the challenge, myself).

I still suspect there may be an answer in this near mythical "wpdfs.inf" --
but I only find it a couple places in my registry (in connection with the PNY
flash drive), and allusion to it in my temp file, and a asian site (with
mostly, I believe, Asian characters) on Google. Nothing from Search all of
M/S.

 

[Guest]

partenope,

Well, I can say that you should not need any drivers for this device, other
than those that Vista automatically assigns to the device. So, you should
stop thinking along the lines of there could be a driver you need to
download. The only exception would be if somehow your motherboard and its
chipsets and chipset drivers don't support USB 2.0. I have no idea what type
system you have, so it's up to you to know about this point.

Try connecting the drive to different USB ports. Some motherboards have
separate ports for USB 1.0/1.1 and USB 2.0, usually those boards that are not
of current manufacture. In addition, reformat the drive in Vista, in case
The WinXP format is somehow different from that of Vista and could be causing
a problem. It's not necessary to change the name of the volume from that of
the default. You can make the change later if that's important to you.

Don't focus on USB items in Device Manager that are not causing a problem.
Only focus on how Device Manager handles the problem device. Adding comments
about other devices have no bearing on the problem and only cause confusion.

I don't see how any registry entries could have anything to do with your
problem. I think the registry hack you're talking about has to do with using
a USB flash drive that Vista doesn't recognize as ReadyBoost capable. The
hack causes Vista to use it for ReadyBoost. Your problem is to get Vista to
accept the device in any form. So, forget registry hacks for this problem.

For just your problem device, Device Manager should recognize it in the
three place as I indicated in my previous post. Check on how Device Manager
shows this drive in those three places (forget all the other USB items). I'm
almost out of ideas. The only other step I could recommend is to do some USB
troubleshooting steps that you have not done, but I can post those later
after you have followed up on what we've discussed here.

 

[Guest]

Freddy:

i am the administrator and i am logged in as the administrator. when i try
to delete this file, it tells me i do not have permission. any ideas?

 

[Guest]

queen,

Even the Administrator sometimes has to give himself permission to do
something in Vista. You do this by right clicking the file and selecting
Properties and then clicking on the Security tab. Under that tab, you can
give permissions. Vista works this way when you don't own the file. You own
the file when you created it. If Windows created it, then you don't own it,
but you can gain access because you're the Administrator. This procedure
makes Vista more secure.

 

[Guest]

hello freddy:

thanx for the input. i did exactly as you stated here. unfortunately, even
after deleting the file and rebooting, my problem still exists. i knew that
that may have been the case when you said it may, or may not work; but i
wanted to try anyway. for some reason, vista simply does not want me to use
my external USB hard drive. i'm ready to start kicking some a-- and taking
OS names later!

also, i just wanted to say that i think you are simply the best at answering
questions here. i never see you try to put people down or act as if you know
everything. you do a good job. your help is much appreciated.

now, if some of these dumb ass MVPs took a hint from you, they'd realize
that they didn't know everything, and they would stop arguing with people
over peanuts! some of those damn microsoft MVPs (most valuable poodles) kill
me!

 

[Guest]

queen,

For some reason unknown to me, Vista gives a certain number (no clue as to
how many) of people a lot of trouble in recognizing USB devices. At the same
time, most people (don't have a clue as to how many) likely don't have a
problem with this. I'm running five USB devices (scanner, flash drive, USB
floppy, Zip drive, and printer), and Vista recognized all of them with no
issues. I suspect my experience is likely the norm, but I can see from my
vantage point here that there is a problem in this area.

I suspect the problem is exasperated by the fact that there is such a wide
array of different motherboards and chipsets, along with related USB devices,
with a never ending variation in the quality control applied in assuring that
all this multitude of hardware complies with the various USB standards that
have been in use since its inception.

Now, can you imagine all that variation in hardware coming together and
connecting to Vista? It's just got to cause problems, and it does! That's
my take on the issue, and to what extent Vista has the bugs, rather than the
hardware, is anyone's guess. I'm sure there is plenty of blame to go around.
But it's really hard to tell.

Anyway, sorry to bend your ear, but thanks for the kind words. In regards
to your external USB hard drive, don't give up. Peruse this and other forums
and I'm sure you'll manage to connect it eventually. I recall one poster who
had a similar issue but managed to get it running by connecting it to a
powered USB hub. You never know. Other people couldn't get Vista to
recognize an external USB hub. Go figure.

 

[Guest]

freddy:

you didn't bend my ear, and i agree. but the reason why i say the problem
is on the part of Vista is because i have other devices connected via USB and
i do not have any problems with them at all. i know of other people who have
the same issue that i have, and they come to me for an answer because of my
technical knowledge. but as you can see, i just can't get this thing to
work, no matter the many measures i have tried. hopefully, this will work
itself out -- sooner rather than later.

i'm trying to figure out why i do not see "MVP" next to your name?
microsoft needs to take the title away from some of these losers, as they do
nothing but insult people all day. never thought i'd find that here.

 

[Alyce Barry]

I'm so relieved to find a description of this problem I've been having for months. In my case the dialogue says "Windows needs to install driver software for your USB CF Reader." I'm on Vista.

I tried deleting the INFCACHE.1 file, and as you predicted, I have to give myself permission to do so. When I click the Security tab, I don't know what to do next. Can you either tell me how, or tell me where to find out? Thanks so much.

Why is it that Vista can't hang on to drivers that have been successfully
installed. I have an HP laser printer and an HP All-in-One. Both have Vista
drivers which have been installed and both work correctly...for a while.
Periodically, Vista says it needs to look for new drivers, then it can't find
the drivers, and I'm tied up for hours trying to get Vista to recognize one
printer or the other. Sometimes Vista (Ultimate) loses track of the USB
printer drivers and sometimes it is the Scanner driver. I had to buy all new
printers/scanner to work with Vista, and yet I have to spend hours keeping
them connected properly in Vista.

On Friday, June 29, 2007 6:42 PM fkirsche wrote:
harmonp,

Some folks have had good luck resolving issues like you have by deleting the
INFCACHE.1 file, which can get corrupted with bad data and cause issues. The
file is located at C:\Windows\inf. There, scroll down to the INFCACHE.1 file
and right click it and select delete. To do this, you will likely have to
give yourself permission to delete it, because of Windows built-in security
you know. Just right click the file, select Properties and then click on the
security tab. Let us know whether this procedure does anything. Sometimes
it does and sometimes not.
--
freddy


"harmonp" wrote:

On Sunday, July 01, 2007 1:38 AM partenop wrote:
In the meanwhile, I tried reformatting the stick. I got the "Open File /
Optimize Memory" option window briefly before the Windows found new hardware"
window opened.

Re-plugging it, I get []? Other devices
[]! USB 2.0 FD

( [] represents the icon, also in the tray, Found New Hardware)

Device status This device is not configured correctly (Code 1)

(No changes, nor links to the device under:
1. Under Disk Drives
2. Under Portable Devices
3. Under Universal Serial Bus controllers as a USB Mass Storage
Device)

Disk Drives and Portable Devices have:
USB HS-CF
USB HS-MS
USB HS-SD
USB HS-xD/SM
... USB Device (under Disk Drives)
and ... Card (under Devices, except the last, "USB
HS-xD/SM "

Universal Serial Bus controllers have
General Purpose USB Hub
M/S Internet Keyboard Pro Composite Device
2 Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controllers
5 Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controllers, and,
7 USB Root Hubs

No indications of problems besides the Other Devices - USB 2.0 FD.


"freddy" wrote:

 

[Alyce Barry]

This solution -- deleting INFCACHE.1 -- worked for me, at least for a while. In my case, the error read that my USB CF reader required a driver.

Later in the same day, however, the problem
reoccurred -- the same error message showed up on booting up -- so I deleted INFCACHE.1 once again, and I found I needed once again to give myself permission.

So I'm wondering if there's something different I need to do to make this solution permanent. On the security screen in Properties, there were 2 choices -- System and my user name. I chose the latter. Next time I'll take a look at System to what that looks like, but it seems unlikely.

Do you have any further thoughts on this? Thank you.

Why is it that Vista can't hang on to drivers that have been successfully
installed. I have an HP laser printer and an HP All-in-One. Both have Vista
drivers which have been installed and both work correctly...for a while.
Periodically, Vista says it needs to look for new drivers, then it can't find
the drivers, and I'm tied up for hours trying to get Vista to recognize one
printer or the other. Sometimes Vista (Ultimate) loses track of the USB
printer drivers and sometimes it is the Scanner driver. I had to buy all new
printers/scanner to work with Vista, and yet I have to spend hours keeping
them connected properly in Vista.

On Friday, June 29, 2007 6:42 PM fkirsche wrote:
harmonp,

Some folks have had good luck resolving issues like you have by deleting the
INFCACHE.1 file, which can get corrupted with bad data and cause issues. The
file is located at C:\Windows\inf. There, scroll down to the INFCACHE.1 file
and right click it and select delete. To do this, you will likely have to
give yourself permission to delete it, because of Windows built-in security
you know. Just right click the file, select Properties and then click on the
security tab. Let us know whether this procedure does anything. Sometimes
it does and sometimes not.
--
freddy


"harmonp" wrote:

On Sunday, July 01, 2007 1:38 AM partenop wrote:
In the meanwhile, I tried reformatting the stick. I got the "Open File /
Optimize Memory" option window briefly before the Windows found new hardware"
window opened.

Re-plugging it, I get []? Other devices
[]! USB 2.0 FD

( [] represents the icon, also in the tray, Found New Hardware)

Device status This device is not configured correctly (Code 1)

(No changes, nor links to the device under:
1. Under Disk Drives
2. Under Portable Devices
3. Under Universal Serial Bus controllers as a USB Mass Storage
Device)

Disk Drives and Portable Devices have:
USB HS-CF
USB HS-MS
USB HS-SD
USB HS-xD/SM
... USB Device (under Disk Drives)
and ... Card (under Devices, except the last, "USB
HS-xD/SM "

Universal Serial Bus controllers have
General Purpose USB Hub
M/S Internet Keyboard Pro Composite Device
2 Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controllers
5 Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controllers, and,
7 USB Root Hubs

No indications of problems besides the Other Devices - USB 2.0 FD.


"freddy" wrote: