Re: Q: hardware detection and the registry (complicated)
- From: Malke <invalid@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 07 Jun 2005 20:17:22 -0700
"John Shaw" <anon> wrote:
> Need one small problem solved (pick one, any one) and would appriciate
> any
> *helpful* replies. Mostly I've solved my own problem (or rather found
> an
> acceptable workaround) except for the cosmetics of the situation.
> Here are my issues:
>
> * I need Windows XP Pro to quit asking me to reboot after
> automatically
> detecting and installing new devices. Some devices windows will not
> ask you to reboot, others it does --- what is the difference, and how
> can I modify (assuming using the registry) it to NOT prompt me to
> reboot after installing
> a device that it usually DOES give the reboot prompt. Example:
> Windows doesn't prompt to reboot after installing a floppy disk drive,
> but it does
> prompt you after installing a floppy disk controller. Specifically, I
> need it to NOT ask when installing a new floppy disk controller.
>
> - or -
>
> * I need to completely disable windows from detecting new devices in a
> specific category (not altogether!) -- in this case, as an alternate
> to the previous question, I need windows to NOT detect new floppy disk
> controllers! If I could restrict that, or even restrict the
> installation of a single Hardware ID / Device Instance ID (of that
> floppy controller) that would be absolutely ideal.
>
> Why you might ask? Well rather than getting flamed for why, here's a
> description of the problem and my workaround. An older system running
> Windows XP Pro was installed with the standard pc HAL, and going to
> ACPI is
> not an option (though the bios is supposedly ACPI compliant...) The
> BIOS was updated and there are no chipset drivers/patches for this
> particular ALi
> garbage. The client's reasons for the standard pc HAL are none of my
> concern, and XP cannot be reinstalled on the system, also not my
> concern.
> Something to do with some custom software. Regardless, the system
> works
> great, except the floppy drive. There are two Floppy Disk Controllers
> detected in device manager. With both detected, the machine will not
> detect
> the Floppy Disk Drive itself. Both FDC's fight for the same
> resources, which cannot be manually assigned - disabling one (either
> one) does no good,
> as the other still complains the resources aren't available. By
> uninstalling either (or both) of the problem FDC's, a rescan for new
> hardware finds nothing new. I've been through numerous
> troubleshooting and registry crawling in ENUM, checked for phantom
> devices (i.e. SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1) and done many
> other things, all to no
> avail. The simple workaround is to uninstall one ghost controller
> (either one) and almost immediately the Floppy Disk Drive is detected
> and shows up
> in My Computer. Sweet. So I through a script in the
> %allusersprofile% Startup folder that runs " DEVCON REMOVE
> @ROOT\*PNP0700\PNPBIOS_12 " to rip out one of the FDC's at every
> reboot, allowing windows to detect the actual FDD which happens in the
> background with no "new hardware/reboot" prompts -
> works like a charm 4/5 reboots on average. The timing is perfect on
> this system that the script runs AFTER the hardware detection and
> BEFORE the
> reboot prompt has a chance to rear it's ugly head. Sometimes though,
> the timing with windows' hardware detection on startup is off, so the
> script could execute WAY after the device is detected, leaving the
> client with a reboot prompt for the new hardware (confusing the
> client, since he didn't
> add new hardware, and the floppy disk is in fact working.) I added
> the script to the HKLM run key instead of using the startup folder,
> thinking it would execute sooner, and it does(!) but in this case,
> 100% of the time it is run before the hardware detection on startup,
> making it pointless, and
> the user is left with the reboot prompt AND the FDC screwed up. Right
> now, there are multiple users of the system, and getting it through
> each one of their heads to NOT restart the computer, because it
> *MIGHT* ask you to every 4 or 5 times you start it up, isn't an
> option... wouldn't be very
> professional either. So that's the story. Back to helping me solve
> either of the two bulleted problems, I would appriciate any help.
>
> Thx again!
I'm leaving your very long but interesting post intact instead of
snipping because I don't have a software solution to your problem and
maybe someone else does. But I do have a question - why not open the
computer and completely disable the floppy drive? Is the floppy
actually needed? If it isn't, just unplug it from the motherboard and
disable it in the BIOS. In fact, why not do that and if having a floppy
drive is crucial use a usb external floppy drive instead.
Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
.
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