[makai]

So, I assume your flash drives still don't work?

When you plugh in a flash drive, does Windows see it at all. Do you have the green "safely remove hardware" icon pop up by the clock. Is the drive visible in My Computer?

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Hi,

When I plug in a flash drive, Windows sees it and the icon pops up in My Computer.

Also the green "safely remove hardware" icon pops up by the clock.

I use the "safely remove" to remove the drive.

Regards

[Rickles]

Hi,

When I plug in a flash drive, Windows sees it and the icon pops up in My Computer.

Also the green "safely remove hardware" icon pops up by the clock.

I use the "safely remove" to remove the drive.

Regards

[makai]

Do you have access to an XP Pro machine? If so, you might try the following...

Windows XP Home does not include GPEDIT; XP Home users can apparently run this program if they have access to files from an XP Pro (or possibly Win 2000?) installation, by doing the following:

Copy the files gpedit.dll and fde.dll from C:\WINDOWS\System32 on the XP Pro machine to C:\WINDOWS\System32 on the XP Home machine.
From a command prompt issue the following commands on the XP Home machine:
regsvr32 C:\WINDOWS\System32\gpedit.dll
regsvr32 C:\WINDOWS\System32\fde.dll

This will register the two dll's. You may be able to do this from Start>run. (even though the article states command prompt.)

Open the Microsoft Management Console
Go to Start>run... type in mmc.exe, click OK...

In the MMC window, go to File>Add/Remove Snap-in... Then click Add. Select the Group Policy snap-in from the list of installed snap ins.

You can now edit the Group Policy on the local machine. But XP Home doesn't support the same feature set as XP Pro, so the policies you are looking for might be missing.

*Source: http://fhctech.org/f...olicyeditor.htm (I reworded/edited a few things)

As stated, since some features may be missing, USB enabling/disabling might not be present. At least its worth a try though. Be sure to create a System Restore point before doing this.

Once gpedit and fde are registered. Go to Start>run... type gpedit.msc , click OK

Navigate the gpedit window (if in fact the above worked!), and check to see what Turn off Autoplay is set to. If its "Enabled", choose Not Configured. , click OK, then exit gpedit. You may have to restart your computer.

If you have any concerns or questions before attempting this, please don't hesitate to ask.

[Rickles]

Hi makai,

I got to the part "In the MMC window, go to File>Add/Remove Snap-in... " and got confused so I stopped.

I was going to upload some photos but got this:

Attachment space used 2.03MB of 2MB but the largest photo is 129kbs.

I'll try to explain in words.

I loaded the two DLLs and both ended with a pop up saying that they had succeeded.

Next I navigated my way through the instructions to "Welcome to the Group Policy Wizard"

When I clicked 'Browse' I got Browse for a Group Policy Object.

When I clicked OK it went back to the "Welcome to the Group Policy Wizard"

So I canceled out and stopped.

Regards

[makai]

As I never tested the procedure myself, (I don't run XP HOME), I don't know if it will actually work.

When I clicked 'Browse' I got Browse for a Group Policy Object.

I don't think you need to "Browse". "Local Computer" should already be identified, so just hit "Finish". Did you try that?



Are these the same screens you see?

[Rickles]

Hi,

Yes those are the screens I see.

I went back and clicked Finished and then Go to Start>run... type gpedit.msc but a window popped up saying it could not be found.

Regards

[makai]

Did gpedit get added to the MMC snap-in? I really don't know if this will work as the article does state "apparently", which also translates to... "possibly, maybe, maybe not".

Windows XP Home does not include GPEDIT; XP Home users can apparently run this program if they have access to files from an XP Pro (or possibly Win 2000?) installation, by doing the following:

[Rickles]

Hi,

I was sent this by a friend:

Snap-in Creation Failed when trying to open gpedit.msc (Pete H)

If you receive the "Snap-in creation failed" message when starting GPEDIT.MSC or a "Snap-in could not initialize" message: For Pro

Go to Start/Run/Msconfig/Expand File

File to Restore: framedyn.dl_
Restore From: i386 folder on your XP CD
Save File In: C:\Windows\System32

But I have not tried it yet.

Regards

[makai]

I honestly don't know what that will do. Its up to you to research and try it,... maybe.

However, I was doing more research about USB flash drives and came upon a quite interesting application. Its called USBDeview. This app runs stand-alone and will identify any USB device that was ever connected to your computer. Not only that, but you can uninstall any particular USB device and it will cause the computer to rediscover it when you plug it in again. I don't know if it will help with your Autoplay, but it's worth a shot.

This is what you should do...
Download USBDeview and run the program
Take one of your USB Flash drives and plug it in. When you do, the icon for that particular drive will turn "fuscia-colored", meaning its connected.
Go to My Computer, and get to the Autoplay options and select "Prompt" for each of the different list items in the drop-down menu. This will clear autoplay, and cause windows to re-prompt you.
Next, go back to USBDeview, take notice of which icon in the list belongs to the flashdrive, then disconnect/remove the drive from the computer.
Now, in USBDeview, right-click on the icon that belonged to the flashdrive and choose "Uninstall selected devices". This will uninstall the flashdrive forcing Windows to rediscover it later on.
Close USBDeview and plug in the flash drive again.

Hopefully, AutoPlay will prompt you, but I don't know if it will. Let me know how it goes.

[happyrock]

do you use ccleaner...we had a topic over a year ago and as I recall...running it would reset usb flash drives so they did not auto play ...
maybe someone else remembers the topic better ...you can also check the usbman site for anything usb related

[Rickles]

Hi both,

1/ I have downloaded USBDeview and will run it later.


2/
I do not use ccleaner


Regards

[Rickles]

Hi,

I have just installed a small program called Desk Drive. When I insert a Flash Drive an icon pops up on the desktop and I can open it from there.

I think I am just to lazy to go into C Drive to open it.

Regards

[makai]

Well, I'm very sorry we couldn't fix this and have Windows work normally for you. We tried everything we could and what made sense to no avail. This particular USB problem (or any USB problem for that matter) has always been difficult to fix short of a reinstall. Normally, if it's not a quick fix, it'll be a bear! I don't know what causes the USB bus to flake out so much, but there are a tremendous amount of unsolved threads dedicated to it, here and everywhere on the net.

I have a feeling you will nail it one day... at least for your particular situation. When that time comes (and I hope it does) please create a new post with your discovery so all of us can learn.

Thanks,
makai

[Rickles]

Hi makai,

I got this Error pop up when I ejected a DVD, I was going to upload a photo of the Error message pop up but got this message:

Attachment space used 2.03MB of 2MB
Upload failed. The file was larger than the available space

But I shall try to explain in words. At the top of the Error message is: Microsoft.NET Framework and the message below starts: Unhandled exception has occured in your application.

When I checked Add and Remove I found these two:

Microsoft.NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2

Microsoft.NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 3


My computer has a built in HP_RECOVERY partition but I have never used it and what would you say if I used the technical support from HP. Can it hurt the system. I have nothing on it that I cannot reinstall (I backup often to DVD)

Regards

Edited by Rickles, 03 April 2009 - 05:28 AM.

[makai]

Yah, you can try HP, it wouldn't hurt.

As for your recovery partition. Be aware that it will bring everything back to the day you bought the computer. Any programs you installed will have to be installed again, including any updates. Also, any user data will be wiped (if you backed up, then that's ok).

If you're having a lot of different problems, sometimes a restore off the recovery partition is not a bad choice.