Troubleshoot Driver Problems

	Windows Vista does not use the driver that you specified during Windows Vista installation for the storage device Consider the following scenario. You use a Windows Vista installation disc to install Windows Vista. Additionally, you have media that includes a storage device driver. This storage device driver is certified by Windows Hardware Quality Lab (WHQL). When you install Windows Vista, you use the advanced settings in the Windows Vista Setup program to specify this storage device driver. In this scenario, the storage device driver that you specified during Windows Vista installation appears to load. However, after the installation of Windows Vista is complete, Windows Vista does not use the driver that you specified. Instead, Windows Vista uses the driver that is included in the Windows Vista installation disc. When this problem occurs, storage device features are not available in Windows Vista for the driver that you specified during Windows Vista installation. The storage device features are not available even though Windows Vista appears to use the .inf file that corresponds to the storage device driver that you specified during Windows Vista installation.
	You receive error messages when you use a computer that is running Windows Vista to remotely install a printer driver on a computer that is acting as a print server Consider the following scenario. You use a computer that is running a 32-bit edition of Windows Vista to remotely install a printer driver on a 64-bit computer that is acting as a print server. Or, you use a computer that is running a 64-bit edition of Windows Vista to remotely install a printer driver on a 32-bit computer that is acting as a print server. In this scenario, you receive one or more of the following error messages: Error message 1 The Selected driver must be installed remotely from an x64 computer running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003. Error message 2 Unable to find a core driver package that is required by the printer driver package.

	A printer driver installation fails, or the printer does not work correctly when you use the Add Printer Driver wizard to update the driver in Windows Vista When you use the Add Printer Driver wizard to update a printer driver in Windows Vista, the driver installation fails. Or, the printer does not work correctly.
	Error message when you try to install a new hardware device on a Windows Vista-based computer: "Windows encountered a problem installing the driver software for your device" When you try to install a new hardware device on a Windows Vista-based computer, Windows Vista cannot install the driver for the hardware device successfully. Additionally, you may sometimes receive the following error message: Windows encountered a problem installing the driver software for your device. Windows found driver software for your device but encountered an error while attempting to install it. Device_Name This problem occurs if the Infcache.1 file that is in the %Windir%\System32 folder is deleted or corrupted.
	How to update a sound card driver in Windows Vista This article describes how to update a sound card driver in Windows Vista.
	Error message when you try to play the World of Warcraft game in Windows Vista: "Display driver stopped responding" When you try to play the World of Warcraft game by Blizzard Entertainment on a computer that is running Windows Vista, you may receive an error message that resembles the following: Display driver stopped responding
	Error message when you try to connect to a shared printer in Windows Vista: "The printer driver is not compatible with a policy enabled on your computer that blocks NT 4.0 drivers" When you try to connect to a shared printer in Windows Vista, you receive the following error message: Windows cannot connect to the printer. The printer driver is not compatible with a policy enabled on your computer that blocks NT 4.0 drivers. You experience this behaviour if the following conditions are true: You use the Windows Point and Print feature to connect to the shared printer. The shared printer uses a kernel mode printer driver.
	After you use Package Manager to add a driver to an offline Windows Vista image, the driver may not be added to the driver store folder You start Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) and then use Package Manager (Pkgmgr.exe) to install a driver to an offline Windows Vista image. After you do this, the driver may not be added to the driver store folder.
	Third-party network-related programs that use NDIS drivers may no longer function after you upgrade a computer to Windows Vista Consider the following scenarios: You upgrade a Windows XP-based computer to Windows Vista. You upgrade a prerelease version of Windows Vista to the release version of Windows Vista. You upgrade a release version of one Windows Vista operating system to another release version of Windows Vista.  In any one of these scenarios, third-party network-related programs may no longer function. You experience this issue with programs such as virtual private network (VPN) programs or load balancing and failover (LBFO) programs.
	You cannot install a device driver by using its installation program in Windows Vista When you try to install a device driver by using its installation program in Windows Vista, you are unsuccessful. You may experience this issue if the following conditions are true: The driver uses an executable file-based installation program. The installation program was not designed for Windows Vista.
	A device driver is not installed, or a hardware device does not function correctly after you install Windows Vista Service Pack 1 After you install Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) on a computer that is running Windows Vista, you experience one or both of the following symptoms: A device driver is not installed, and an exclamation point (!) appears next to the device driver in Device Manager. A device driver appears to be installed correctly in Device Manager. However, the hardware device does not function correctly.
	You cannot install a device that requires the Mf.sys device driver in Windows Vista When you try to install a device that requires the Mf.sys device driver on a computer that is running Windows Vista, you cannot install the device. Additionally, after you try to install the device, service keys that are related to the device are not in the Windows registry.
	Error message when you try to start a Windows Vista-based computer that is running Roxio or Sonic Solutions software: "The Sonic Solutions DLA Driver is blocked due to compatibility issues" You try to start a Windows Vista-based computer that is running one of the following software components: Roxio Drive Letter Access (DLA) Roxio Drag-to-Disk Sonic Solutions  After you do this, you may receive an error message that resembles the following: The Sonic Solutions DLA Driver is blocked due to compatibility issues
	A Windows Vista-based computer does not wake from sleep when a PassThru driver is installed On a Windows Vista-based computer, you turn on the "wake from sleep" option for a network adapter that supports Wake On LAN (WOL) functionality. After you do this, the computer does not wake from sleep when it receives network traffic. For example, you click to select the Allow this device to wake the computer check box on the Power Management tab of the properties dialog box for the network adapter. You install the sample PassThru driver that is included in the Microsoft Windows Driver Kit (WDK), or you install a virus scanner that uses the same PassThru driver technology. Then, you put the computer to sleep. However, the computer does not wake from sleep when you send a PING command or a "magic" packet.
	Error message when you try to install a new hardware device in Windows Vista: "Windows encountered a problem installing the driver software for your device" When you try to install a new hardware device in Windows Vista, you may receive an error message that resembles the following: Windows encountered a problem installing the driver software for your device. Windows found driver software for your device but encountered an error while attempting to install it. Device_Name Because of this problem, you cannot install the drivers for the new hardware device.
	You are prompted to install a new printer driver in Windows Vista when you try to print to a Windows Server 2008-based print server or to a Windows Server 2003-based print server Consider the following scenario. You use a Windows Vista-based computer to print documents on a shared printer that is hosted by a Windows Server 2008-based print server or by a Windows Server 2003-based print server. Additionally, one of the following conditions is true: An administrator installed an additional printer on the print server. An administrator updated a printer driver for another printer on the print server. System files that are used directly by the printer drivers, such as unidrv.dll or pscript5.dll, are updated on the print server. In this scenario, you receive the following message: To use \\Print_Server\Printer, you need to install the printer driver on your computer and then restart the print job. If you do not recognise or trust the name and location of the printer, do not install the driver. Also, Driver Update Needed is displayed in the Status field in the Printers folder in Control Panel. If you click Install driver, and you have administrator user rights, you can continue to print.
	The Disable button on the Driver tab of the parent USB host controller is not available in Device Manager after you connect a USB keyboard to a Windows Vista-based computer You connect a USB keyboard to a Windows Vista-based computer. Then, you view the devices on the computer in Device Manager. When you view the Driver tab of the parent USB host controller, you notice that you do not have an option to disable the device. The Disable button on the Driver tab of the parent USB host controller appears dimmed, and it is not available. If you disconnect the USB keyboard from the computer, and then you update the view in Device Manager, the Disable button is available.
	Error message when you try to watch live TV in Windows Media Center on a Windows Vista-based computer: "Restricted Content - Display Driver" Consider the following scenario: You are using an OpenCable Unidirectional Receiver (OCUR) device that is connected to a Windows Vista-based computer. You put the computer in standby or hibernate, and then you resume the computer. In this scenario, when you try to watch live TV in Windows Media Center, you receive the following error message: Restricted Content - Display Driver If you wait for 30 seconds after you resume the computer from standby or hibernation, and then try to watch live TV, the problem may not occur. In other cases, you may have to restart the computer to resume live TV playback. Because of this problem, scheduled recordings may not be recorded.
	Error message on a Windows Vista-based or Windows Server 2008-based computer that does not have a parallel port: "The Parallel port driver service failed to start" An error message that resembles the following may be logged in the System log on a Windows Vista-based or Windows Server 2008-based computer that does not have a parallel port: Event Source: Service Control Manager Event ID: 7000 Task Category: None Level: Error Keywords: Classic User: N/A Computer: Computer_Name Description: The Parallel port driver service failed to start due to the following error: The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it. This error message is logged after you disconnect the computer from the docking station, and then you restart the computer. For example, this problem might occur in the following scenario: You configure a Windows Vista-based computer for use with a docking station. The docking station has an attached printer that requires using the parallel port (Parport) service. You disconnect the computer from the docking station, and then you restart the computer. This problem does not occur on 64-bit versions of Windows Vista
	After you upgrade to Windows Vista, audio playback no longer works on the computer if the SigmaTel HD audio driver is installed Consider the following scenario: You upgrade a computer to Windows Vista. The computer uses a SigmaTel HD audio driver.  In this scenario, audio playback no longer works on the computer. Additionally, you receive the following message when you position the pointer over the speaker icon in the notification area: No audio output device is installed. This problem occurs even if all the audio cables are connected correctly, and the sound driver appears to be working correctly in Device Manager.
	The "Add" and "Remove" commands on the Drivers tab are unavailable on a remote Windows Vista-based print server When you open the Server Properties dialog box on a Windows Vista-based print server through a remote connection, you find that the Add and Remove commands on the Drivers tab are unavailable.
	After you update a storage driver, you may be prompted to reactivate Windows Vista After you update a storage device driver on a computer that is running Windows Vista, you may experience one or more of the following symptoms: You are prompted to reactivate Windows Vista. You experience reduced functionality in some components, such as Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center.
	You receive an error message that states that a driver was not installed because of a file copy error in Windows Vista When you try to install a device driver in Windows Vista, you receive an error message that states that the driver was not installed because of a file copy error. Note This message is generated by the driver's Setup program. The message is not generated by Windows Vista. Therefore, the error message text may vary. This problem occurs if the following conditions are true: The name of the user account or the path of the driver source contains quad-byte Unicode characters. For example, the current user name contains Chinese characters. The driver package uses Lempel-Ziv (LZ) compression.
	UMDF User-mode drivers that use the Windows SideShow class extension return errors when you process commands asynchronously When a User-Mode Driver Framework (UMDF) driver that uses the Windows SideShow class extension processes a command asynchronously, the class extension may return a false error without fully processing the command. This problem may occur when the incoming input/output control (IOCTL) is not passed to the class extension component immediately. This problem may also occur when the IOCTL is from a sequential queue.
	On a Windows Vista-based computer, the Microsoft ISATAP adapter appears with a yellow exclamation mark next to it in Device Manager, and you also receive an error message On a Windows Vista-based computer, the Microsoft ISATAP adapter appears with a yellow exclamation mark (!) next to it in Device Manager. Additionally, when you open the properties dialog box for the device, you receive an error message that resembles the following: Windows cannot load driver (Code 31)
	The screen may go blank when you try to upgrade the video driver on a Windows Vista-based computer When you try to upgrade the video driver on a Windows Vista-based computer, the screen may go blank. In this situation, nothing happens when you move the mouse or when you press CTRL+ALT+DELETE. If you turn off the power and then restart the computer, the desktop is displayed correctly. However, you receive an error message that states that the newly installed driver is incompatible with Windows Vista.
	You intermittently lose access to network resources if more than one Network Device Interface Specification (NDIS) filter driver is installed on a computer that is running Windows Vista On a computer that is running Windows Vista, you intermittently lose access to network resources if more than one Network Device Interface Specification (NDIS) filter driver is installed.
	You may be unable to use a WSD-based scanner driver to transfer data if the scanned data is very large in Windows Vista You may be unable to use a scanner that uses a "Web Services for Devices" (WSD) scanner driver to transfer scanned data in Windows Vista. This problem may occur if the scanned data is very large. Examples of scanned data that may be very large are multipage file formats, such as XPS and PDF, and single-page formats, such as EEXIF and PNG. This problem occurs even though you have installed the hotfix that is described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article: 931674 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931674/) You may be unable to use a WSD-based scanner driver to transfer scanned data in Windows Vista
	An Audio Streaming Input and Output (ASIO) driver may not work correctly on a Windows Vista-based computer On a Windows Vista-based computer, an Audio Streaming Input and Output (ASIO) driver may not work correctly. When this problem occurs, you experience the following symptoms: Symptom 1 When the ASIO driver calls the GetLinkPositionRegister routine that is provided in the Microsoft high-definition audio device driver interface (DDI), the GetLinkPositionRegister routine always returns 0 for the current direct memory access (DMA) position. In this situation, the ASIO driver may be unable to initialize. This symptom occurs only when certain hardware audio chipsets are installed. For example, this symptom occurs on a computer that has the ATI SB460 Southbridge chipset installed. Symptom 2 An application can use the AUDCLNT_STREAMFLAGS_EVENTCALLBACK flag to open an exclusive-mode audio stream in pull mode. In this situation, the audio engine should signal an event that is provided by the application to indicate that the audio buffer is ready for processing. However, the audio engine does not correctly signal the event on a Windows Vista-based computer.
	Problems with the network, hard disk drive, or storage drivers cause a program to stop unexpectedly in Windows Vista You start or run a network-capable program in Windows Vista. Then, the program stops unexpectedly (crashes) in either of the following cases: When the program tries to read valid data from a remote storage medium. When the program tries to write valid data to a remote storage medium. Additionally, you receive an error message that resembles the following: Program_name has caused an error and must be closed. We apologize for the inconvenience. If you were in the middle of something, the information you were working on might be lost. Please tell Microsoft about this problem. We have created an error report that you can send to help us improve Program_name. We will treat this report as confidential and anonymous. To see what data this error report contains, click here.
	Error message during Windows Vista startup if the Nero InCD program is installed and if the "Special pool" feature is enabled in the Driver Verifier utility: "Stop 00000050" Consider the following scenario: •  You install the Nero InCD program on a Windows Vista-based computer •  You enable the "Special pool" feature in the Driver Verifier utility (Verifier.exe) for a device on the computer. •  There is no media in the CD drive or in the DVD drive. In this scenario, Windows Vista stops unexpectedly during startup, and then you receive an error message that resembles the following: Stop 00000050 (83cb3054, 00000000, 8143cc97, 00000001)
	Windows Vista may stop responding when you install software that adds legacy network drivers When you install a software that adds legacy network drivers on a computer that is running Windows Vista, Windows Vista may stop responding.
	Some programs that use virtual device drivers no longer work after you upgrade a computer to Windows Vista or after you perform a Windows Anytime Upgrade in Windows Vista After you upgrade a computer to Windows Vista or after you perform a Windows Anytime Upgrade in Windows Vista, some programs that use virtual device drivers no longer work.
	After you install a device or update a driver for a device, Windows Vista may not start After you install a device or update a driver for a device on a computer that is running Windows Vista, Windows Vista may not start.
	Error message when you connect a USB printer to a Windows Vista-based computer: "A device driver was not installed correctly" When you connect a universal serial bus (USB) printer to a Windows Vista-based computer for the first time, you receive the following error message: A device driver was not installed correctly
	Error message when you try to automatically install a printer that has an unknown printer driver in Windows Vista: "STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION (0xc0000005)" In Windows Vista, you may receive the following error message when you try to automatically install a printer that has an unknown printer driver: STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION (0xc0000005)
	Some applications and services appear to stop responding for 15 seconds after you install a Windows Filtering Platform driver on a Windows Vista-based computer Consider the following scenario. You develop a Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) driver. You install the WFP driver on a Windows Vista-based computer. In this scenario, some applications and services appear to stop responding for 15 seconds when a Domain Name System (DNS) lookup occurs. This problem occurs if the applications or the services use the DNS function.
	Error message when you perform a scan by using a WSD-based scanner driver in Windows Vista: "A problem prevented Windows from saving the settings" When you perform a scan by using a "Web Services for Devices" (WSD)-based scanner driver, you may receive an error message that resembles the following: A problem prevented Windows from saving the settings that you last used to scan a document or picture (last used settings profile). You cannot create a new scan profile. Also, when you change the current scan profile, the changes and the current scan profile are lost.