Device driver installation = "The data is invalid"

[DFB]

I've put my parents/brother onto a locked down WinXP SP1 system (god bless limited priviledge accounts), but am having some issues getting the on-board sound and printer working.

Neither device was detected on the initial setup of windows (printer because I forget to hook it up, audio because windows didn't have the proper drivers for it). When trying to install the device (driver from windrivers for audio, winxp defaults for printer) by using the "specify device driver" route I get an error saying "An error occurred during the installation of the device. The data is invalid". It does go through the process of copying the files to the proper locations, but at the end of it all I get the specified error.

I have found 2 links dealing with issues which sound similar but neither has resulted in a working solution.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.as ... -us;810509
http://www.xtra.co.nz/help/0,,6156-1359658,00.html

The audio device is C-Media 8338 (CMI8338), and the printer is a HP 612c.

I have also tried disabling the onboard sound and installing a spare AWE64 I had lying around, but it has the same issue (and I know the AWE64 works perfectly in XP as I have used it on a different system in the past).

Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated.

[teststrips]

I had a hellofatime with this on my pc... Keep searching.. i forget which page helped me, and i never bookmarked it.

I did see that there was a windows update related to this about 2 months ago... is your machine current, or could you make it that way with windowsupdate.com?

Good luck, let us know if you find a working solution

[DFB]

Forgot to mention that I had installed all critical updates and most recommended ones. I'll go back into windows update and install every last remaining update hoping it fixes this issue. The way things stand it looks like I'll never be able to install any other device again.

Was hoping to use XP for its fast user switching, but suspect I'll be moving the computer over to Windows 2000 which I am more comfortable with anyways (linux would be ideal, but beyond the grasp of my family ).

[DFB]

Installed all the updates and unfortunately still not working

[NaTaS]

Hey DFB! Its been awhile - have you tried deleting the reg key for the device. Then reboot let XP detect and fail to install. Then trying the MS fix above, rebooting yet again and see if that fixes it? Please let us know when you get your solution. Sounds like one for the books .

[DFB]

Hey Nat,

Nice try but still a no go. I'll try reinstalling WinXP when I get a chance , thankfully the computer does work it just doesn't have a working printer/sound card.

Worse case I install Linux on it and do remote administration over ssh.

[PCguy]

I had a similar problem with my sound card. Only answer was to install the Win2K drivers from the CD, then upgrade to XP drivers. Try that.

[Restek]

I don't know if this is likely (since it sounds like you have issues with all device driver installations) but if the C-media chip is onboard it may be worth checking the motherboard manufacturers site for the sound drivers rather than windrivers. We've got a couple of boards with 'i810 onboard audio' and they need difference drivers - it seems some motherboard m,anufacturers tweak them slightly