Win XP keeps "finding new hardware" on reboots

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.packardbell (More info?)

X-No-Archive: Yes

I just installed a new hard drive in my iXtreme 9505 and it's working just
fine.
It's a Western Digital 80GByte and I used the Data LifeGuard utilty (Win XP)
to partition it....'looks okay....'but....
'Every time I reboot, Win XP keeps telling me it's "new hardware found" and
asks for a driver for it!
I never knew a hard drive needed a driver....'does it?! I then looked in the
Control Panel\System\Device Manager and it says the device is installed
properly.
Well, I'm using it...'but is there something I've done wrong? I've installed
hard drives before, but always used FDisk from DOS, this time I left it to
Data LifeGuard to do the
work for me. The new drive is an OEM one and therefore all I got was a bare
drive and had to download the Data LifeGuard utility from the Western
Digital website as I got no CD or floppy to help with the installation.

Any advice as to how to get rid of the mesage at bootup would be much
appreciated.

TIA.
Eos.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.packardbell (More info?)

Suggestion:

Remove the 80GB drive, or better yet, delete all partitions from it and start
over again. Use Windows XP's built in capabilities to partition and format the
drive.

Data LifeGuard utilty is nice for situations where someone does not want to
spend extra money on a hard drive controller when the capacity of the hard drive
exceeds the motherboard BIOS limits. But, frankly, it gets in the way of
Windows XP, same as all the other similar drive overlay software products.

.... Ben Myers

On Sun, 29 Aug 2004 02:55:59 GMT, "EOS" <FreeSoft@SkipThisPartTiscali.co.uk>
wrote:

>X-No-Archive: Yes
>
>I just installed a new hard drive in my iXtreme 9505 and it's working just
>fine.
>It's a Western Digital 80GByte and I used the Data LifeGuard utilty (Win XP)
>to partition it....'looks okay....'but....
>'Every time I reboot, Win XP keeps telling me it's "new hardware found" and
>asks for a driver for it!
>I never knew a hard drive needed a driver....'does it?! I then looked in the
>Control Panel\System\Device Manager and it says the device is installed
>properly.
>Well, I'm using it...'but is there something I've done wrong? I've installed
>hard drives before, but always used FDisk from DOS, this time I left it to
>Data LifeGuard to do the
>work for me. The new drive is an OEM one and therefore all I got was a bare
>drive and had to download the Data LifeGuard utility from the Western
>Digital website as I got no CD or floppy to help with the installation.
>
>Any advice as to how to get rid of the mesage at bootup would be much
>appreciated.
>
>TIA.
>Eos.
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.packardbell (More info?)

On Sun, 29 Aug 2004 02:55:59 GMT, "EOS"
<FreeSoft@SkipThisPartTiscali.co.uk> wrote:

>X-No-Archive: Yes
>
>I just installed a new hard drive in my iXtreme 9505 and it's working just
>fine.
>It's a Western Digital 80GByte and I used the Data LifeGuard utilty (Win XP)
>to partition it....'looks okay....'but....
>'Every time I reboot, Win XP keeps telling me it's "new hardware found" and
>asks for a driver for it!
>I never knew a hard drive needed a driver....'does it?! I then looked in the
>Control Panel\System\Device Manager and it says the device is installed
>properly.
>Well, I'm using it...'but is there something I've done wrong? I've installed
>hard drives before, but always used FDisk from DOS, this time I left it to
>Data LifeGuard to do the
>work for me. The new drive is an OEM one and therefore all I got was a bare
>drive and had to download the Data LifeGuard utility from the Western
>Digital website as I got no CD or floppy to help with the installation.
>
>Any advice as to how to get rid of the mesage at bootup would be much
>appreciated.
>
..........................................................

It appears that something happened in the install using Data Lifeguard
& the drive needs to be repartitioned.

A few years ago I discovered that Partition Magic indicates "problems"
with about half of the HDD partitioned with Fdisk. Even with WinXp on
a drive out of a sealed bag. This is a large sample of drives and
system as I am a reseller. Some of these drives were in service for a
very long time.

Now I use the drive manufactures utility to zero ( Mid level format)
the start of the drive and then use partion magic to partition the
drive. (Full drive zeroing takes far to long ) I read a while back
that the partition table is only created the first time the drive is
Fdisked, so I make sure a new one is created for a truely fresh start.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.packardbell (More info?)

Found this just now on Google :-

Want to prevent at least some activation headaches? Make a backup copy of
Wpa.dbl, a tiny file stored in the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder. This file
contains the hardware "fingerprint" information used to determine whether
activation is required. If you need to reinstall Windows XP on a system that
has already been activated, you can restore this file and bypass the need
for activation-if your hardware hasn't changed appreciably since the
original activation. Windows also creates a backup copy of this file, called
Wpa.bak, at startup. This backup copy can be a lifesaver if you encounter
problems after a hardware upgrade. If Windows refuses to run because your
new hardware has triggered the activation code, you may be able to recover
using this workaround: Restore your old hardware, start your computer in
Networked Safe Mode, and rename Wpa.bak to Wpa.dbl. If all goes as it
should, you'll be reactivated and able to continue working.

Useful? Or jibberish?

Eos.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.packardbell (More info?)

If accurate, interesting and useful. I have no way to verify accuacy of the
statement at this time, but will attempt to do so.

Whether or not SP1 (or even SP2) is installed, the retail versions Windows XP
require product activation. Under some circumstances, XP does not need product
activation, usually when installed with an XP CD intended for use with a
corporate-wide COA. Some name-brand vendors sell their computers with a version
of XP that does not require activation when installed on their brand of
computer.

Even if you could uninstall SP1 and get back to the original XP that was
shipped, you would still have to activate XP... Ben Myers

On Thu, 02 Sep 2004 01:32:26 GMT, "EOS" <FreeSoft@SkipThisPartTiscali.co.uk>
wrote:

>Found this just now on Google :-
>
>Want to prevent at least some activation headaches? Make a backup copy of
>Wpa.dbl, a tiny file stored in the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder. This file
>contains the hardware "fingerprint" information used to determine whether
>activation is required. If you need to reinstall Windows XP on a system that
>has already been activated, you can restore this file and bypass the need
>for activation-if your hardware hasn't changed appreciably since the
>original activation. Windows also creates a backup copy of this file, called
>Wpa.bak, at startup. This backup copy can be a lifesaver if you encounter
>problems after a hardware upgrade. If Windows refuses to run because your
>new hardware has triggered the activation code, you may be able to recover
>using this workaround: Restore your old hardware, start your computer in
>Networked Safe Mode, and rename Wpa.bak to Wpa.dbl. If all goes as it
>should, you'll be reactivated and able to continue working.
>
>Useful? Or jibberish?
>
>Eos.
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.packardbell (More info?)

<ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
news:41379d70.33907935@news.charter.net...
> Elector,
>
> We are of one mind, whether I misunderstood you or not. Use of
> Maxtor's drive
> overlay software or any other brand of drive overlay software is
> often
> unnecessary, and may often cause complications, as in this case.
> And the people
> who make this software available with good intentions for use on the
> computers
> that need it fail to explain when to use and when not to use it...
> Ben Myers
>


Hi Ben:

You are far to valuable to the folks here "not to be of one accord" ha
ha
All kidding aside. In the old days you can simply fdisk & format and
then do an xcopy and the drive contents would maybe get transferred
over. Then the third party software like Norton Ghost and SyQuest's
Drive Image and many others hit the market. You also have those lovely
hard drive caddy's that have a utility to transfer one or many hard
drives over as exact copies. I also use those devices but as you can
see being in business are very expensive. Especially for a one time
use.

I don't subscribe to any overlay programs no matter who makes it.
IBM's Ontrack is the worst and followed closely by EZ-Drive by Western
Digital. Like Maxtors MaxiBlast software some if not all also have the
added software to simply "Ghost" the new hard drive with the old hard
drive. it also fdisks & formats the drive and can be set up to use the
partition you wish to have set without any forced bios overlay. You do
have to uncheck the box and make sure that the overlay is not used and
only the copy function is chosen. In this way it works like a charm
and no overlay means no problems caused by it down the road. Which you
and I have always stated is not a good idea to use to begin with.

We then have to look at this piracy feature that Microsoft and others
have built in, it is a know fact that in order to trigger a
re-activation of Windows XP more than four devices would have to be
changed at once (per news group posting in the MS groups) that could
be hard drive, processor, modem, & video card or three of these listed
with another device like your modem. If you do get that message you
simply go to the Activation site and reclick through the activation
menu again. it is very easy.

or call the number.

The original poster has been stating he/she knows how to fix and
maintain the computer as far as what should go on the IDE controllers
my guess is that he/she may have the knowledge but simple settings
that are wrong.

In windows xp that found new hardware message can be turned off if the
original poster went to the Microsoft Knowledgebase and looked it up.
Many as you know my friend don't even visit there and usually have
someone like you and I or Metronid do it for them. You see that same
pattern at the HP group as well with the "I have searched all over the
HP site and can not find the drivers and instructions etc." then you
and I go there and find them in seconds.

What a way to start the day...Google Searching...! ha ha

Elector