XP Pro system problem

A few days ago I attempted to back (copy) up my C drive. I use an Addonics external USB enclosure with a SATA HD to clone the internal C drive (also a SATA HD) and Casper or EASEUS software to do that. I have two computers and two Addonics enclosures that have worked fine for the procedure for years until now on just one of the computers which uses XP Pro OS (the other uses XP Media Center Edition on which my backup process still operates well).
Both computers are regularly updated and I use Comodo internet security, as well as Super Anti Spyware and Malwarebytes to scan regularly on both.
On the XP Pro computer suddenly a few days ago (can't be sure at what point it started) XP Pro will not read (cannot see) the SATA HD I have installed in the Addonics enclosure and therefore my copy software also cannot see that drive, telling me there is no drive to copy to. However the Addonics enclosure is detected by XP and shows up in Device Manager, but the drive installed in Addonics does not show in either Device Manager or Disk Management. So even if XP could see that drive I don't know if it can be assigned a drive letter. I thought the drive letters in the system may have been corrupted or shared in some way so that my copy drive in Addonics could not be detected so I reassigned all drive letters in the same manner and sequence as in my other computer with XP MCE. That made no difference and XP Pro still will not detect the drive in my Addonics when I try the copy procedure. (When operating properly there was always a graphic desktop loading display on my desktop whenever I turned on the Addonics, but nothing now even after the Addonics itself is detected). I have googled for solutions and it seems others have had the same or similar problem but nothing others have tried or done have done me any good. I hate to think I will have to reinstall XP Pro and or restore to an ealier date whereby I will have to do almost as much recovery. If I have to I will but thought I would try here first...you guys have been so helpful once before (with a virus), thanks again, maybe you can do it once more. :-D

 

So the Addonics enclosure (powered on by USB) is being detected by XP, but the actual hard drive inside of it is not being seen/read properly.

Can you take this hard drive in question out of the enclosure and while the computer is powered off, attach the hard drive to the same machine (or a different one, does not matter) and see if the BIOs will even recognize this drive anymore.

That is what I think you should do first. If BIOs doesn't even see it, then there is a problem. The drive may be going bad. If you have more than one computer, see if the hard drive in question can be seen by the BIOs in any machine.

 

thisisu, thanks for the reply, I'm really getting frustrated with this problem. The hard drive installed in the enclosure is recognized by my other computer which does not have the problem. I have interchanged both enclosures and (HD's in the enclosures) between both computers, as well as using those HD's outside of the enclosure(s) internally in XP Pro, and the bios always sees that drive so that any legitimate software process works with the drive. I can use any drive that is or was installed in the enclosure with a internal SATA MB connection (instead of the external USB enclosure connection) and it is also recognized and works. So the problem is unique to only XP Pro computer in the enclosure. That seems to narrow it down to software in the XP Pro computer system, and probably related to USB(?). I have considered flashing the bios in case the problem is related to some outdated MB firmware or that firmware has been somehow corrupted. But flashing the bios is a bit dangerous and not to be done lightly so I have not done that yet.

 

Does the device manager show any unknown devices? I can only guess this is a driver issue.

 

Ruebarb, no unknown devices anywhere, especially in Universal Serial Bus controllers where there are USB devices and wherein I have thought the problem must be at least related to if not actually found. Naturally I have expanded all device categories in DM to check for unknown or any other problem indication, but nothing! Now I'm really getting worried if a senior member is stumped. HEEEELP! :cry

 

Ruebarb, I received two identical responses quoted above from you, spaced a day or two apart. I don't know if that was a software glitch or an attempt from you to respond again to my last post to you. Since I've not received anything else since, I just letting you know now. Thanks :confused

 

Are you using any type of software to back up the data (other than Windows explorer). I know some of those enclosure devices will come with a OneTouchBackup type software to make it easier. Are you using anything like that?

I agree that it does sound like a software problem. It may just be something else wrong with that Windows install. You may want to try doing a sfc /scannow or possibly even a Repair Install -- I know this may sound too drastic at this stage, just giving you options.

Have you tried every USB port on that computer? What about using a different USB cable? Same results?

I would also hold off on flashing the BIOs as that would be a last resort due to its risk factor.

 

thisisu, I don't know what Casper and EASEUS (Todo Back up) use for their cloning procedure, I just bring up the software and it normally copies to the destination drive without any problems or errors. (I guess this tells you why I'm still a private in this forum). I have tried every USB port on the computer, front and back as well as different USB cables....same result. (Those were also suggested on different forums where I googled previously). I also just tried your suggestion to do a sfc /scannow. That software apparently completed with no results messages after it closed so I restarted anyway and tried bringing up the HD in the enclosure with the same result, no disk detected in the enclosure.

Repair install? You mean with the OEM XP Pro CD?

 

Greetings, provobis.

Pardon the intrusion, but a couple of quick questions:

1. Have you tried booting to Safe Mode and seeing if your symptoms change? Also, while in Safe Mode, check your Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Storage, and see if there are any indication changes re your external drive.

2. Since you stated that the symptoms suddenly appeared, do you recall if there were any program updates and/or Windows Updates that were introduced to your machine at or near the time of the symptoms first occurring? If so, you might consider rolling back to a previous state (via System Restore), see if your symptoms change.

 

Thanks Caliban, no need to pardon, I need all the help I can get. I have not yet tried safe mode to check...I will do so after posting this reply. As for updates all I can tell you is I discovered the problem after working on both of my computers (turned on...and I use Linksys if it makes any difference) to update Microsoft .net framework 4 (after which update I tried my usual backup procedure to save those updates when I discovered the problem), and of course I suspected that those .net framework updates might have caused the problem. But I have to emphasize that I don't know for a fact that the problem occurred at the time of those updates, or before at some undetermined time. I don't recall anything I did before that might coincide with the problem.

So I uninstalled all .net framework 4 updates but the problem was still the same. I will get back to you here after I check in safe mode. Thanks

 

Back again Caliban, In safe mode disk management still does not show the drive in the enclosure and the enclosure (driver) still shows in "universal serial bus controllers". However in "storage volumes" there are 5 "generic volumes" 4 of which have yellow exclamations. 3 of those 5 with apparent trouble indicate their location "on generic USB MS reader USB device" and the 4th is "on canon series MX870 USB device" which I know must be my canon multifunction printer. (On occasion MS software updates indicate an update for that printer but the configuration seems to refer to the shared canon function between the 2 computers I network. Last time I updated that software I lost my network settings so since the sharing works fine I never updated that particular one any more). As for the other 3 with yellow exclamations the MS message is "device driver is loaded but MS can't find the device(s) and the usage window says "use this device(enable). I don't know what those 3 devices are so I can't say any of them are really installed and/or have drivers and none of the five do not show any problem indication in a normal system boot up. What do you think?

 

Caliban, some updating...I have determined that 4 "generic volumes" showing in storage volumes (device manager) are card readers part of a Teac card reader I have installed. All the readers have drivers installed but I don't know why 3 of those should have yellow exclamations(!) unless I have no yet used them (only 1 which I use to read a camera storage chip has no yellow !. Also, the canon multifunction printer has a card reader also so evidently it's normal to show up with a driver in both device manager storage volumes and disk drives. thought I might be onto something there but apparently not.

 

Yes. I'm not sure if it has to be the same exact Service Pack you're running. I just know it would be preferred.

 

thisisu, just to let you know I've tried repair install about 6 times (with variations in the software menu process) and though I had no trouble executing that process the results were always the same..."unable to install MS windows installer 3.1" when going to update windows. In other words the process worked as far as I can tell, but the total repair can't be carried out without installer 3.1 which I can't do (so far). I may try other repair installs by others I can find on the internet. Meanwhile if you know of a foolproof repair installer author let me know. Thanks :-D

 

You did a repair install (6 times) like described here?

This is what I was recommending.

As far as your other issue with Windows Installer.

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=25

or http://www.microsoft.com/download/e...T.mc_id=MSCOM_EN_US_DLC_DETAILS_121LSUS007852

You would need: WindowsXP-KB942288-v3-x86.exe

It's not something I have personally tested many times, but they are direct from Microsoft.

The other thing you might try are the below DOS commands -- Easier if you make it into a .bat file.

Code:

msiexec.exe /unregister
msiexec.exe /regserver
regsvr32 /s msi.dll
net start "windows firewall/internet connection sharing (ics)"
pause

 

thisisu, I used this http://pcsupport.about.com/od/operatingsystems/ss/instxprepair1.htm which is identical as far as I can tell to the geeks procedure inclusive of the two Microsoft downloads you also recommend.
And as I indicated, every time the problem was failure to install windows installer 3.1.

By "other install repair installs" I meant other procedures I have found that have the same basic steps but with additional cautions or "warnings" such as this one http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm which I have not yet tried because I've been preoccupied trying to catch up with other matters, so also sorry it took longer to reply to your last post too.

BTW I'm not sure about the DOS command or bat file suggestion. I can manage DOS but not sure about BAT file, and if all of the above has not helped do you think DOD and BAT file would make a difference? :confused

 

Can you screenshot the error message you receive when you receive it?

 

Yes I think so, in order to display the screenshot here for you but let me first tell you I have retried the repair install procedure (the same basic one on geeks and the one I posted to show you) but this time I first downloaded SP3 manually saved it in HDD downloads as well as on a CD. Then I cloned that HDD and rebooted on the clone off line as recommended by the other repair/install author I showed you and turned off my firewall and internat security. Then I retried the repair/install on the new clone which went OK up to the point where I try to install SP3 manually and trying to install SP3 from either HDD downloads or CD I get an error message saying "access denied" and after Ok'ing that error message another error message saying SP3 was not installed. After Ok'ing that error message the entire SP3 attempt was rolled back automatically leaving me with the repair/install without SP3. Thinking there was some remnant of SP1, 2, or 3 interfering somewhere I uninstalled anything I was able to referring to those updates and tried the whole thing again. Same result. If you want to see the error message screen shots now, let me know. Thanks :-D

 

So you're currently on Service Pack 2? Correct?

If so... Does this help? Microsoft Fix it 50389

Source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949377

Try the FixIt tool first, then retry installing SP3.

 

Yes I would be on sp2 on the clone (I back everything up on a spare HDD before I do anything on that clone... if the repair does not work I then go back to the mother HDD and re-clone another one to test. So the clone I tested on now has all the SP's I could uninstall gone. I don't know if I should try those two links on that "spoiled" test clone. Maybe I should clone myself another test HDD and try your fix? (Your right that test clone would be SP2 because my copy of XP Pro CD I have is SP2 and anyway I checked system properties of the clone and it shows XP Pro SP2).

 

Your call

 

OK, I'll try the Fixit tool tomorrow...too tired tonight (it's after 10 PM in the NE US and I've had a busy day) as I'll have to clone the test HDD first and do the repair/install again up to the SP3. Thanks :zzz

 

back again thisisu, I have cloned my main HDD and run repair/install again on the clone. Then offline (because I turn off my firewall and antivirus) I ran Fixit which I downloaded before. Fixit runs to a point and then an error message
"There is a problem with this windows installer package. A script required for this install to complete could not be run. Contact your personnel or package vendor". I assumed that I had a script blocker or pop up running somewhere offline but could not find one anywhere. Since I was offline IE and FF browsers should not be that problem even if they were set to block scripts, but I checked anyway and both IE and FF are not set to block scripts as far as I can tell. So I'm stuck again at that point where I can't even load the Fixit software because something on the computer evidently blocks a script Fixit needs to run. Any thoughts? Suggestions? :confused

 

Can you try the following: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=8247

Also, were you able to run anything from my previous post here? >> http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showpost.php?p=1676927&postcount=15

 

On your previous post the MS links were downloads I already used, and saved until I was able to run the installs, which I have not been able to do yet. As for the dos codes, no not yet. Anyway, though I can run dos cmd I don't understand your order or sequence of how and where to enter the cmd lines you show and I'm not familiar with making a ".bat file".

Should I just install that http://www.microsoft.com/download/en...s.aspx?id=8247 on the clone I can't yet proceed with or make a new clone?

 

On the clone you can't proceed with.

Afterwards, try running the Microsoft Fix it 50389 file again.

 

thisisu, FYI I'm posting this using the cloned HDD that would not install Fixit and sp3 before that. I downloaded and ran http://www.microsoft.com/download/en...s.aspx?id=8247 as you said, and then ran Fixit also as you said. They both installed so I then ran sp3 which I had saved in downloads and it also installed. Then I went to Windows update and of course there were 99 high priority updates, several software updates, and one hardware update. I downloaded and installed all high priority updates except IE8 (because I never liked its reviews compared to IE6 which I have kept for years and I use Firefox most of the time anyway), one hardware update, and all software updates. This took a long time but they all installed. So the only MS update I have not downloaded is IE8.

Then I checked the external caddy with a HDD installed and XP detected the caddy and installed a driver, BUT XP PRO STILL WILL NOT DETECT THAT HDD IN THE CADDY SO IT STILL CAN'T BE SEEN BY DISK MANAGER OR DEVICE MANAGER.
That's the original problem that started me with this repair work on Geeks and obviously I still have that problem, my cloning software can't be used with the external USB enclosure and I can't use that caddy to back up my internal HDD. I don't know what, if anything, this repair install repaired, but it evidently had nothing to do with the USB enclosure HDD problem. What the heck is causing that failure? I've used it for years until now with no trouble. I thank you for your patience and efforts on my behalf but am I banging my head against the wall? And I'm now wondering if even a clean OS re-install will do any good...I almost feel like this puter is cursed. Any thoughts? Anyone else?

BTW I faxed the enclosure manufacturer (Addonics) but they never answered, though I can't see how the enclosure itself can be the trouble since I substituted my other identical Addonics that still works on my other (Dell) computer which uses most all of the same applications and hardware as this one. XP pro can't see the HDD in that enclosure either, and XP pro enclosure works on the Dell. :cry