[ptjanus]

a Memorex 2GB USB travel drive won't install on my one year old VAIO laptop PC running Windows XP (even though the package states "designed for windows XP"

-- first attempt: message that the drive DID NOT PASS WINDOWS LOGO TESTING -

and Windows recommended AGAINST proceeding with installation

-- further attempts, the device not even recognized

-- have tried all three USB ports - no difference

-- PUZZLING - have been using another 1 GB Memorex travel drive for about six months on this PC - without any trouble!!

PS a PNY 2GB travel drive I tried ALSO COULD NOT BE INSTALLED - FOR THE SAME "REASON"

thanks for any help

[kev1952]

You usually only get that message when you attempt to install drivers. In XP there is no need for any extra drivers - it should just be a matter of plug it in and away you go.

[ptjanus]

Kev, thanks for the post. what you say makes it even more confusing.

what on earth is the "windows Logo Testing" that this gadget didnot "pass"??

[kev1952]

It's one of those pain in the rear end "features" of XP. It looks for a "designed for XP" code in the drivers and when it doesn't find it it complains. In 99.9% of cases it's okay to just tell it to ignore it and continue with the installation. You can switch the "feature" off by going into "Control Panel|System" and clicking on the "Hardware" tab. Click the button marked "Driver Signing" and switch if off. That way you'll never be bothered by it again.

[JohnWill]

This message should never come up for USB mass storage. As correctly stated previously, there are no drivers required for USB mass storage.

Try this repair procedure to refresh the USB devices.

First step, Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore. Create a restore point and name it something like "Before USB Fix". This is to bail you out if something goes wrong during the following process and makes things worse.

Create a file with NOTEPAD containing the following lines and save it as FIX.REG

-------------------------- Use text after this line --------------------------------
REGEDIT4
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment]"DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES"="1"

-------------------------- Use text before this line --------------------------------

Double click on FIX.REG and say yes to the Merge Into Registry question.

Unplug ALL USB devices.
Open Device Manager.
View, Show Hidden Devices.
Uninstall all devices under USB Controllers.
Uninstall all devices under Disk Drives that you know are not present.
Uninstall all devices under Storage Volumes. Say no to any reboot prompts until you are finished. Also, if a Storage Volume doesn't uninstall, ignore it and move to the next one.
If you have a yellow ? with unknown devices, uninstall all of the entries there as well.

When this is done, reboot TWICE.

Reconnect the USB devices and see if they're recognized properly.

NOTE: If you have a USB keyboard and/or mouse, you'll have to modify the instructions and leave enough parts for those to function. I don't have one yet, so I haven't had time to modify the instructions.

[ptjanus]

thank you everyone - really apreciate the input

you are all correct -

i also got a reply from memorex over the weekend that said the drivers ARE in XP, and that I should just ignore the message and CONTINUE.

so i plugged the thing in one more time, and this time it was RECOGNIZED - AND WORKING OK.

the only difference -
-- was that this time, i happened to be connected to the internet when i plugged it in!!!

go figure

thanks again for all your input

[kev1952]

Very pleased you got it going - well done!