[Bud Boxer]

I too have Moondy's plug and play problem on two HP dv6426us notebooks operating Vista Home Premium OS. Things like thumbdrives, memory sticks, mouse, keyboards, etc., Vista now considers Unknown Devices for which it can find no drivers.

The problem started a fortnight or so ago, perhaps after Windows Update downloaded MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB936181). Apparently, something was wrong with that, so MicroSoft promptly posted a “fixed” version, MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB941833). Now, both versions sit installed on the misbehaving notebooks. My impulse is to uninstall the former, but frankly, I’ve grown wary of annoying Miss Vista.

However, those downloads may have nothing to do with Madame’s recent bout of plug-and-play senility. Some of the gin’s missing as well.

A tedious work-around is, click "remind me later" on the pop-up when Vista says it needs drivers; locate the "Unknown Device" in Device Manager, click on "update driver," then tell Vista to look in its own \System32\! There, Voila!, Vista finds the missing drivers, and Vista and I get on with our lives - until the next need for Plug and Play.

Anyone have any ideas for a permanent fix? Moondy, I and others would like to know. A friend had the same problem and solved it with a simple System Restore. Alas, my Vista refuses to look back beyond the incident.

Of course, Vista SP1 will be the answer to all our prayers. Meanwhile, breaths held, we turn blue.