Vista - hardware installation problems

I'm having problems installing any hardware which use USB ports to my pc. I
have tried installing my printer (cannon pixma ip4200) using the vista
drivers recommended by cannon. Every time I get to the point where I attach
the printer to the USB port, vista looks for the drivers (which are installed
correctly) but can't find them! I know the drivers are intalled correctly
because I can see them where they are installed. However, the printer works
as a network printer which is attached to my other pc which has XP
installed. I have tried attaching other devices (card reader, IDE HD adapter,
USB hub etc) to my USB ports and I'm now having problems with all of them.
When I attach a device, Vista looks for drivers for the device (even if it
doesn't need one) and comes up with the same message (vista cannot find
drivers for this device). I've tried a system restore to a point as far back
as possible to resolve this problem....as I had no problems previously...but
no luck. I know my printer works as I have tried using it with a pc using
vista at work. I'm sure this is a windows problem and not the USB ports as
they work perfectly well for items I installed a while back. I don't want to
do a complete windows re-install!! Can anyone help please?

johnny,

Some folks have had good fortune in resolving such problems by deleting the
INFCACHE.1 file. It's located at C:\Windows\inf (scroll down to the file).
It's OK to delete the file even when it has nothing to do with the problem.

Windows puts inf files in that cache when it has hardware to install but has
information about that hardware that it doesn't know what to do with
(layman's explanation). Inf stands for information, which Windows needs to
know how to install the hardware properly. With that file removed, Windows
will find the correct inf file and install the hardware, we hope. Post back
on whether that suggestion works.
--
freddy


"johnny m" wrote:

> I'm having problems installing any hardware which use USB ports to my pc. I
> have tried installing my printer (cannon pixma ip4200) using the vista
> drivers recommended by cannon. Every time I get to the point where I attach
> the printer to the USB port, vista looks for the drivers (which are installed
> correctly) but can't find them! I know the drivers are intalled correctly
> because I can see them where they are installed. However, the printer works
> as a network printer which is attached to my other pc which has XP
> installed. I have tried attaching other devices (card reader, IDE HD adapter,
> USB hub etc) to my USB ports and I'm now having problems with all of them.
> When I attach a device, Vista looks for drivers for the device (even if it
> doesn't need one) and comes up with the same message (vista cannot find
> drivers for this device). I've tried a system restore to a point as far back
> as possible to resolve this problem....as I had no problems previously...but
> no luck. I know my printer works as I have tried using it with a pc using
> vista at work. I'm sure this is a windows problem and not the USB ports as
> they work perfectly well for items I installed a while back. I don't want to
> do a complete windows re-install!! Can anyone help please?

Thank you Freddy.....that has solved all my problems!!! My printer is now
working with my vista pc....and I can also use my card reader etc which
didn't install previously! Thanks again for your help....you have solved what
was becoming a very frustrating problem!!



"freddy" wrote:

> johnny,
>
> Some folks have had good fortune in resolving such problems by deleting the
> INFCACHE.1 file. It's located at C:\Windows\inf (scroll down to the file).
> It's OK to delete the file even when it has nothing to do with the problem.
>
> Windows puts inf files in that cache when it has hardware to install but has
> information about that hardware that it doesn't know what to do with
> (layman's explanation). Inf stands for information, which Windows needs to
> know how to install the hardware properly. With that file removed, Windows
> will find the correct inf file and install the hardware, we hope. Post back
> on whether that suggestion works.
> --
> freddy
>
>
> "johnny m" wrote:
>
> > I'm having problems installing any hardware which use USB ports to my pc. I
> > have tried installing my printer (cannon pixma ip4200) using the vista
> > drivers recommended by cannon. Every time I get to the point where I attach
> > the printer to the USB port, vista looks for the drivers (which are installed
> > correctly) but can't find them! I know the drivers are intalled correctly
> > because I can see them where they are installed. However, the printer works
> > as a network printer which is attached to my other pc which has XP
> > installed. I have tried attaching other devices (card reader, IDE HD adapter,
> > USB hub etc) to my USB ports and I'm now having problems with all of them.
> > When I attach a device, Vista looks for drivers for the device (even if it
> > doesn't need one) and comes up with the same message (vista cannot find
> > drivers for this device). I've tried a system restore to a point as far back
> > as possible to resolve this problem....as I had no problems previously...but
> > no luck. I know my printer works as I have tried using it with a pc using
> > vista at work. I'm sure this is a windows problem and not the USB ports as
> > they work perfectly well for items I installed a while back. I don't want to
> > do a complete windows re-install!! Can anyone help please?

johnny,

Frustration is not good for the soul.
--
freddy


"johnny m" wrote:

> Thank you Freddy.....that has solved all my problems!!! My printer is now
> working with my vista pc....and I can also use my card reader etc which
> didn't install previously! Thanks again for your help....you have solved what
> was becoming a very frustrating problem!!
>
>
>
> "freddy" wrote:
>
> > johnny,
> >
> > Some folks have had good fortune in resolving such problems by deleting the
> > INFCACHE.1 file. It's located at C:\Windows\inf (scroll down to the file).
> > It's OK to delete the file even when it has nothing to do with the problem.
> >
> > Windows puts inf files in that cache when it has hardware to install but has
> > information about that hardware that it doesn't know what to do with
> > (layman's explanation). Inf stands for information, which Windows needs to
> > know how to install the hardware properly. With that file removed, Windows
> > will find the correct inf file and install the hardware, we hope. Post back
> > on whether that suggestion works.
> > --
> > freddy
> >
> >
> > "johnny m" wrote:
> >
> > > I'm having problems installing any hardware which use USB ports to my pc. I
> > > have tried installing my printer (cannon pixma ip4200) using the vista
> > > drivers recommended by cannon. Every time I get to the point where I attach
> > > the printer to the USB port, vista looks for the drivers (which are installed
> > > correctly) but can't find them! I know the drivers are intalled correctly
> > > because I can see them where they are installed. However, the printer works
> > > as a network printer which is attached to my other pc which has XP
> > > installed. I have tried attaching other devices (card reader, IDE HD adapter,
> > > USB hub etc) to my USB ports and I'm now having problems with all of them.
> > > When I attach a device, Vista looks for drivers for the device (even if it
> > > doesn't need one) and comes up with the same message (vista cannot find
> > > drivers for this device). I've tried a system restore to a point as far back
> > > as possible to resolve this problem....as I had no problems previously...but
> > > no luck. I know my printer works as I have tried using it with a pc using
> > > vista at work. I'm sure this is a windows problem and not the USB ports as
> > > they work perfectly well for items I installed a while back. I don't want to
> > > do a complete windows re-install!! Can anyone help please?