PC Hardware

Alan Meyer · Guest

I solved a scanner installation problem and want to post this
explanation of what happened, and how it was solved, so that
the solution is on record in case of future problems like this.

I bought a new Epson Perfection 2480 scanner to attach to my
Windows XP Pro box and the installation failed. The messages
I got from the "Found new hardware wizard" were:

Cannot install this hardware.
There was a problem during the installation of this device.
The required section was not found in the INF.

No further info or help was available.

I spent over an hour on the phone with Epson tech support,
who tried hard to help. I give them full credit for trying. It
may have cost them more to help me than I paid for the
scanner.

After much further research on Usenet, I discovered that I
had to check c:\Windows\setupapi.log, which told me which
INF file it was processing and what section ("ClassInstallID")
it could not find.

It turned out that I had no entry in the registry for imaging
devices. I needed a "folder" in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class
with key={6BDD1FC6-810F-11D0-BEC7-08002BE2092F},
which is a GUID (globally unique identifier) found in the Epson
scanner driver installer .INF file. Presumably it's a Microsoft
GUID, not an Epson specific thing. It is possible that I lost that
key in a previous wrestling match attempting to install an older
scanner or other device - or maybe for some weird reason
I never had it.

I installed the scanner successfully in my laptop. Found that
key using regedt32, exported it, copied the export to my desktop,
imported it with regedt32 and, voila - my scanner worked.

I offer my best wishes to the next poor computer user who
has a similar problem and has been losing hair trying to solve
it.

Alan

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