Computer newbies forum: USBSTOR.SYS

Grif, I'm sorry I forgot my OS. Yes it is XP. I searched for c\1386 and it said it wasn't a valid folder, so I tried c/1386 and nothing was found. Should i be looking somewhere else?

I haven't delved into the first 2 links which I will also do. Thanks. Judie

I searched for ''C:\1386USBSTOR.SYS'' in various forms and the response I get is (C:\1386 refers to a location that is unavailable. It could be on a hard drive on this computer or on a network. Check to see that the disk is inserted properly or that you are connected to the internet. If it still cannot be located, the information might have been moved to a different location.) Does that give you any hints? Judie

Isn't it C:\(eye)386. Not a numeric one.

Thank your for the (i). I did find C:\i386.I found Drivers and a number of other items, but no USBSTOR.SY. You mentioned inserting XP Pro. I use the home edition and I have inserted that disk with no success.

Thanks.......Judie

I read through the Scannow sfc and how badly can I mess up my computer if I get in there and don't know what I'm doing? I am so new at trying to fix my problems and I really don't understand what I'm doing, other than reading and doing what I'm told.
There is a paragraph in Scannow that states "other problems in Scannow".

Has the CD Drive's drive letter changed (perhaps by the addition of another hard drive, partition, or removable drive) since Windows XP was first installed? If so, simply edit the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Setup\SourcePath to reflect the changed drive letter.
After you restart the computer, WFP and sfc /scannow uses the new source path instead of prompting for the Windows XP installation CD-ROM

Now I have to tellyou I do not know how to edit the registry key to reflect the changed letter drive etc.

Am I best just staying away from running scannow?? Thanks. Judie

I forgot to mention that scannow sfc mentions inserting the XP Pro disk. I have XP Home. Is Scannow for the Home Edition also?
Judie

Somewhere I miscommunicated. I never did have XP Pro. In fact, my computer came with windows ME, I think and I had XP Home installed later.
Judie

I performed the Scannow and out of the 861 found problems, I am down to 683 with the free scan. In your opinions, should I subscribe to the full program or just have my hard drive formatted?

Question #2:
I am 65 years old and not exactly techy. Grif you wrote:
C:\I386

Besides, you should be able to find it manually by using Windows Explorer and navigating to the ''C:\I386\USBSTOR.SY_'' file. Copying and pasting it to the correct location, then renaming it to ''USBSTOR.SYS'' should do the trick.

I don't understand any of this....particularly pasting it to the correct location and renaming it. How do I know the correct location and what to name it? Can you explain to me word by word....step by step, just what this is and how to do it? If time doesn't allow for this, or it's too elementary, I understand. Thanks for all the help. Judie

Great instructions so far. I didn't find i386 so I did a search and it was in c:windows service pak files.There at the bottom of that I found USBSTOR (usb mass storage class driver) It isn't followed by SY-. Should I copy it out of there? When I copy it, it still stays in that original folder, doesn't it?

By the way when I did scannow, I had to click on show hidden files and uncheck clear hide protected files. I assumed that I should go back in and re-do those as they were prior to the scan. Should I have done that?

I'm really appreciating this help. Judie

Grif, as I said, I found UBSTOR in Windows Service Pak Files.
1. Your email directs me to click the plus sign next to the Windows Folder. When I do that the only folder that appears says "System". You asked for "System 32" which isn't there. When I double click on "System", The screen on the right is totally blank.

The folder below "System" is Drivers and when I double click that the ATI Raedeon Folder appears on the right side, and that is all.

Without "System 32" folder, What should I do? Thanks, Judie

Good Morning,

The latest in this saga is that I did follow your directions too a T, I think.
this is what I did.

Went to Explorer, looked on the left side but no i386 folder, opened Windows folder, Service Pak and there was i386. ( I did a search for it). I right clicked on USBSTOR...there was no .SYS..., I copied thae USBSTOR, went to System 32, Drivers File and Right clicked to copy there, and a message came up to say there already was a USBSTOR there and did I want to replace it. I chose ''NO'' and renamed the one that was there to USBSTOR.SYS. I did not get a message saying that changing the name may make the file unustable. I rebooted the computer just to be sure. After that, I could do nothing in my computer. I tried to go to Start, Explore to change the file name back but couldn't get into that. The bright blue screen came up saying they needed to shut me down. Then it dawned on me that I was connected by way of USB, so I unhooked that and went with the battery and I went in and reversed what I did with USBSTOR and I am now running with the USB connection again. Obviously I did something wrong. What do you think???

Thank you once again. Judie

OK, Grif, I think I followed it now. It's in the Driver folder as USBSTOR.SYS and also in the i386 folder. The USBSTOR.SYS in the i386 folder is not in caps, but in the Drivers Folder it appears in caps. Is this the way it should be? It's the only one in that folder in caps, but I right clicked on the one in i386, hit copy and then pasted in the Drivers Folder.


1. Should the i386 folder be in the Service Pak Files Folder?


2.. Another related issue. The reason I needed to get the usbstor.sys was because the computer gave that error message and wouldn't recognize the camera. Now, the computer is recognizing the camera, but now the message I get is the usbscan.sys is needed. I went to i386 and usbscan.sys is there and I went to System 32--Drivers and it's also there. Do I try the same procedure with that as I did with usbstor.sys??

Thanks. Judie

Grif thanks for your confidence and your help. I did the usbscan.sys the same way but the camera still brings up the same error message. As I looked into the 'drivers folder, I noticed that the date modified on both usbstor and usbscan that I copied into it, says 2004, so I don't know if I'm really accomplishing what I set out to do. I'm going to have the hard drive formatted, but I will save all this correspondence so that i can keep studying it. I really appreciate all the help. Judie

..and copying and pasting from the i386 folder on the hard drive works just fine.

Plus you are INCORRECT..I just used a Windows XP SP2 HOME CD and could easily copy and paste the 'usbstor.sy_' directly from the i386 folder on the CD to my desktop.

Hope this helps.

Grif