Can I disable Plug and Play

[Rubybay]

HI, I'm having several problems so if you can help PLEASE POST ASAP!

My labtec webcam has stopped working, it says its a driver fault but I've uninstalled, clean boot, re-installed. It works once and the next time I switch my laptop off and on again it crashes every time i try and use webcam. I've tried uninstalling anything that might conflict which leads me to my second problem:

I've tried to do a system restore but it just wont work - no error message, just says it is unable to restore to any of my restore points. I really want to reimage c-drive and start from scratch but I have Dell Laptop with expired warranty and no floppy disk drive. So if i reconfigure c-drive i will have no OS.

Any ideas at all would be really appreciated - i need to get this orted as its affecting my business.

Thanks

 

[wahnula]

Rubybay,

If this is affecting your business then replace the $30 webcam w/ a new one. You can always keep the old as a working spare once the problem is solved.

I assume this is a USB camera??? Try the USB Autoplay Repair Wizard:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...B6-E8FA-45C4-A171-1B389CFACDAD&displaylang=en

And, to answer your question, you can usually disable PnP in the BIOS.

no floppy disk drive. So if i reconfigure c-drive i will have no OS.

You should not need a floppy...get a USB storage drive and either backup or image your C: drive to it using Ghost or Acronis. If all your files are in "My Documents" then the "Transfer Files and settings" wizard (if WinXP) will export/import your files and settings to the new install...but not the programs, which you will need to install manually. Best of luck!

Tony

 

[Rubybay]

Thanks, will try autorepair.

I would buy new webcam but I'm in France and there only seems to be labtec cameras for sale!!! As it's a driver problem I thought I'd end up with same problem - it's installing 2 of anything I plug into usb ports which is why I suspected a plug and play problem.

 

[Rubybay]

But I still want to know if I can disable plug and play

 

[wahnula]

Look up there /\

And, to answer your question, you can usually disable PnP in the BIOS.

 

[Jito463]

I'm not sure I'd recommend disabling PnP. UPnP is another story, but that's not what we're talking about. As for the tool wahnula posted, that is an invaluable program but it's for fixing Auto-Insert Notification problems, not USB driver problems.

Regarding reinstallation, I would do as wahnula suggested and use the File & Settings Transfer Wizard to backup your documents and settings to a USB pen drive, then use the restore disc that should have come with your laptop to restore Windows back to default. Make sure you immediately install all the latest updates for Windows after installing your drivers, then proceed to copy your docs & settings back over using the File & Settings Transfer Wizard again.

If you do not have a restore disc, but you do have a CoA (Certificate of Authenticity, label with product key on it), then take it to a reputable computer repair shop after backing up your data and pay them to format and reload your OS for you. If they're any kind of decent techs, they should have access to the OEM discs necessary to reinstall your OS without a restore disc.

If you do not have a restore disc or a CoA (as has been the case sometimes with the larger OEMs in the past), then your only option will be to either order the restore disc from Dell, or buy a new copy of Windows.