Weird Driver-related issue

mcgodx · Jul 6, 2008

I have been using Vista for about a month now and I like it a lot. I have a weird issue that just showed up on Thursday however. Whenever I turn it on, it asks me for the drivers for a number of peripheral devices. My mouse, keyboard, and a number of "unknown devices". Pretty much anything plugged in via USB or anything that normally doesn't need a driver to function. My external hard drive is also another one that comes up as well.

All these devices seem to function properly, when I tell it to remind me later, however when I say "do not ask me again" that device ceases to function.

I don't know what else to put so if you have any ideas or need any more info please let me know!

roy69 · Jul 7, 2008

go into control panel
select device manager
click continue
have you got any exclamation marks againts any devices. (you probably will have)
Try to post a screen shot.
It sound as if one device is failing or at least a driver for usb.

To fix this try a restore point to before it started to happen or reinstall the mobo drivers from disk.

mcgodx · Jul 7, 2008

There's the screen shot of my device manager.

By the way I don't have a floppy drive on my computer.

johngalt · Jul 7, 2008

OK, although you do not have a floppy drive physically connected to your system, your computer's BIOS is programmed to show a floppy drive - so that is why Windows is trying to load a driver for a device that does not exist.

The other one that is a problem is the eHome Infrared Transceiver - unplug that (the remote control receiver) and reboot and see if your problems magically disappear - that unit might be going bad / shorting out.

mcgodx · Jul 7, 2008

Okay I disabled floppy support on my motherboard and unplugged the ehome transceiver.

I got an error for my DVD-Burner (which is another thing it has been telling me about I forgot about that). Bear in mind it works flawlessly.
I got an error for "Microsoft Wireless Desktop Receiver 3.1A" (my mouse and keyboard... these two work perfectly as well. Even the media buttons)
I also got one for my external hard drive (connected via USB. I tried it via eSATA but there's an issue with my motherboard wanting to boot from it)
It then goes back to the "Microsoft Wireless Desktop Receiver 3.1A"
Then does it again with "Microsoft Wireless Desktop Receiver 3.1A"
Then it complains about "Generic External USB Device"
Then "Unknown Device"

Seems about like normal but less "Unknown Devices"

johngalt · Jul 7, 2008

More information is need - *what* error?

To be honest, it sounds like something is failing somewhere.

Look in Windows Update and see if there were any updates installed on that day - if so, uninstall them ***ONE BY ONE* and see if the errors go away (by one by one, I mean uninstall 1 and reboot and see if it goes away, and then reboot again a second time to verify if it has disappeared or not).

This could very well be a Patch Tuesday issue....

mcgodx · Jul 7, 2008

johngalt said:
More information is need - *what* error?

To be honest, it sounds like something is failing somewhere.

Look in Windows Update and see if there were any updates installed on that day - if so, uninstall them ***ONE BY ONE* and see if the errors go away (by one by one, I mean uninstall 1 and reboot and see if it goes away, and then reboot again a second time to verify if it has disappeared or not).

This could very well be a Patch Tuesday issue....

Sorry. It is just the Vista "New Hardware Detected" window where it also asks you to either supply drivers, ignore once, or ignore forever. Whenever I select ignore forever, that device stops working immediately. I had to get a new keyboard when that happened because I could no longer use it, or log in when I restarted the computer to see if it would work when I did that.

There were two updates I installed on the 2nd (Wednesday) with the title "Microsoft - Other Hardware - HID Non-User Input Data Filter". I'll try to uninstall both of those one at a time and see if that fixes it.

-EDIT-

Actually I think I was wrong... for some reason now that I go back to it the date is different now, showing the 5th rather than the 2nd, and it will not let me uninstall that update, as it does not show up in the "Installed Updates" portion of Programs and Features. Only stuff installed before 6/30/08 is showing up there, and I have not had this problem that long ago.

johngalt · Jul 7, 2008

HID filter? hmmm - and most of the devices you're running into problems with are HID devices as well....

That update needs to go.

Chappy · Jul 8, 2008

There have been reports of users who have that HID Filter update installed all of a sudden having issues with USB Hub Controllers and all USB devices. It seems that this patch that was made to fix a specific Screensaver playback issue when you have certain MS wireless mouse and keyboards, also causes issues with installed USB devices.
One post I read where the user used System Restore to go back 1 day before the Update installed fixed his problem. It seems there is no Uninstall for this update, so that may be the way to go.

mcgodx · Jul 8, 2008

That was a good tip I hoped it'd fix it and thought it would, but unfortunately it did not

johngalt · Jul 9, 2008

Did you try going back any further than 1 day?

mcgodx · Jul 9, 2008

Yeah I went back like 3 days past that. I think I am going to just reformat and then try it again eventually. I sorta want to put XP on here for gaming purposes as well since I got a copy for free through school.

johngalt · Jul 9, 2008

lol, OK then - Install XP first then you can partition and add Vista back if you want. It's easier that way as XP will deprecate Vista boot loader so you have to jump through hoops to fix it but Vista will actually enhance and replace XP's bootloader and recognize your XP install automatically.

Chappy · Jul 10, 2008

Ahh...too bad.
I really thought that the restore may fix you up as it sounded exactly like what you're seeing, but...oh well.
There's just too many different types of possible configurations to make 1 simple fix for things these days, and that's why reinstallation is sometimes a good thing. I hardly EVER recommend folks to reinstall, I just HATE to do that so quickly like I see other folks recommend. It's like...(Poster) - "I can't do such-n-such for almost 5 minutes now" and someone comes back with "Reformat & reinstall" reply...Gee, let's not give up too fast eh.

But then again, in some cases it's just easier to do it and get it over with I guess.
This issue makes me think that something in the Hardware monitoring system has gone wacky and it doesn't keep a record of installed devices properly.

How about if you boot to Safe Mode and uninstall your USB hubs and then reinstall your MoBo drivers if you have that disk. It could be a faulty controller driver causing it.

roy69 · Jul 10, 2008

Don`t kill vista just yet :sarc:

. Last effort to save VISTA.

Disconnect all usb devices.
Use a ps2 keyboard and mouse.
Look in your bios to see if usb legacy support is enabled.
Look indevice manager for legacy / hidden devices. http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/163016-ghost-devices-drivers.html
Uninstall usb controllers / devices.
Reboot into safe mode.
Reinstall the motherboard cd.
Reset into normal mode.

The computer may find a couple of devices that are usb but no drivers are present.
It will install the software.

Hopefully :shock:

problem sorted.

johngalt · Jul 10, 2008

Honestly, if you have the time and effort, and want to install XP anyway, I think you should go ahead and format and then install XP followed by Vista.

My personal opinion is that, though I normally reserve OS reinstalls as a last ditch effort, as mentioned above, in this case I think you'll be happier if you do so - it could be any of a number of problems, including malware that has creeped onto your system, failing hardware, etc.

Make a backup of all your files, including the C:\users dir (there are hidden folders there in your user profile that will have a lot of settings for many apps that will make life a lot easier when you install them again).

If you do it right, then after the backup, reboot with your XP disc, and when installing, make sure to delete the current partition - you'll be asked to confirm it - then select create a partition, but don't select *all* of the space , only select a part of it (around half available is a good starting point if you want only XP and Vista running, and you can adjust either way (more or less) depending upon which OS you'll be using more often and which OS will have the larger amount of files...then install XP, and then after you finish setting up XP, go back and install Vista in the other unused portion (not over XP).

HTH

mcgodx · Jul 10, 2008

Sorry about the late reply. I already installed XP. I will be installing Vista tonight or tomorrow in a dual boot (and maybe Linux on top of that at some point... we'll see).

I've been frustrated with my computer lately as the TV tuner I purchased (a PCI unit) does not work with >4GB of RAM and since I have 8GB that is an obvious problem. It is supposedly fixed with a beta driver, but that only worked for Vista. I think I'll just be returning that and maybe looking for another one. I would just write off using my TV tuner in XP but it stops the computer from booting lol.

I decided since my computer is pretty fast it would be easier to just move my files in to an external hard drive and reformat it. Thanks for all the tips, I'm pretty sure that uninstalling the USB hubs and reinstalling them would work, but I wanted XP as well, for gaming purposes, and I figured I might as well, while Vista is acting up anyways.

johngalt · Jul 10, 2008

Ummm, you'll be best off installing Vista last. For much the same reasons I stated above.

For more info on dual and triple booting, you should visit APC - tech news, reviews, how to and computer help. Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, Linux, Mac, dual-boot tutorials

mcgodx · Jul 10, 2008

johngalt said:
Ummm, you'll be best off installing Vista last. For much the same reasons I stated above.

For more info on dual and triple booting, you should visit APC - tech news, reviews, how to and computer help. Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, Linux, Mac, dual-boot tutorials

Really I am used to the days where Linux was best installed after XP so I guess Microsoft has come a long way.

johngalt · Jul 10, 2008

Well, it's not that it is 'best' - it is that the Vista bootloader is sensitive to anything other than itself messing with it - and I mean anything. To get to a point where you can fix the bootloader takes ages, as it wants to automatically scan and try to fix any errors it encounters on its own, sometimes successfully, and other times not....

Weird Driver-related issue

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