Add New Hardware Wizard bug in Win98 - USB 2.0 drivers - External DVD-RW

[mullardel34]

Win98 Add New Hardware Wizard TIME-KILLER

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PROBLEM: The "Add New Hardware Wizard" in Win98 refuses to follow the path supplied, stays locked on to a previous path, and says the driver can not be found. A recurring problem for me in Win98, so I recreated my trouble.

Starting with a new installation of win98 (video card and BIOS already setup), I add a USB 2.0 card.

The "Add New Hardware Wizard" appears stating ...

Windows driver file search for the device:

"NEC USB Open Host Controller"

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Here, I substitute the wrong controller. I click View, and select the one supplied on the Windows 98 CD (the correct controller is on a small CD supplied with the NEC USB 2.0 card).

After the USB driver installations are done, I go into Device Manager and remove the controller with the yellow exclamation mark, then reboot. When Windows asks for the NEC USB controller, I select the correct path to it on the supplied CD.

Now the Add New Hardware Wizard is stuck. Instead of adopting the path I supplied and installing the correct file, Windows insists on recalling the old path. Though I put the Windows 98 CD in the drive as asked (which would install the wrong controller again), Windows recalls the path to where the driver was installed, and reports that the old driver can not be found (it was removed from the hard drive thru Device Manager previously).

I have had this happen before with other types of cards, and usually Windows (the Wizard) snaps out of it and installs the driver.

I've tried 5 or 6 times now and I'm unable to install the USB 2.0 card because the Windows "Add New Hardware Wizard" remains locked onto the wrong path.

How do you correct this problem ?

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After installing the OS again, and installing the USB 2.0 card and drivers (without having to correct any errors), everything is fine. No yellow exclamation marks. However, my external Lite-On DVD-RW drive isn't recognized. No floppy disk was supplied, and installing files as instructed from a folder with win98 drivers on the recording software CD doesn't help ... So again, a time-consuming roadblock (the drive and card are functional and were tested in w2k). If anyone has a tip here, please post.

[glc]

Best tip I have is read the instructions carefully. Most USB devices require that you install the software (and reboot) BEFORE connecting the device. You don't just plug it in and expect the hardware wizard to be able to find the drivers on the CD, it usually doesn't work that way.

[mullardel34]

I found the driver for the external DVD-RW on the manufacturer's site. The driver I needed and several others weren't on the page when I looked the first time. I installed the driver and rebooted, now everything works the same as in win2k, tray eject icon and all.

The trouble with the Windows Add New Hardware Wizard I just don't understand. There must be some way to refresh it, so the path to the correct file will be accepted.