Hardware issues

I started in the malware forum. CatByte took me through removing my Malware but that didn't fix the problem. You can view that thread here: http://forums.whatthetech.com/Malware_t112625.html
I use Widows VIsta home pro and recently started having issues with some of my hardware. I have a Canon Digital Camera that I have either hooked directly up the CPU via USB or by inserting the SD card into the SD card reader. I've been doing it for years and never had a problem until one day about a month or so ago they just stopped working. Every time I put in a SD card (and I've tried several different ones) it wants to format it. And everytime I hook up a USB it says it doesn't recognize the device. Upon closer look, the driver tab says it's not working correctly but when I try to update the driver it says I have the latest version. Also, the moment this problem started a "Safely Remove Hardware" icon showed up in my notification area. It's for my SD card reader.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Hey k7t7, Is your copy of Windows completely up to date with all the service packs? Which drivers specifically aren't working and what error codes do they present? Thanks Nahumi

I don't know about service paks, but I ran windows updated and did all the important ones. Right now it says all the drivers are working properly, but in my notification area, there is an "add or remove hardware" notification for my sd card reader.

Okay, what we can try to do is to force Windows to reinstall the drivers from scratch. Before we do that though, I need to know the rest of your Computer Specs . Once I know that I can talk you through the steps.

Nahumi, thanks for your help. OS Name Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium Version 6.0.6001 Service Pack 1 Build 6001 Other OS Description Not Available OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation System Name KEVINTAYLOR-PC System Manufacturer Gateway System Model GM5472 System Type X86-based PC Processor AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+, 2600 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s) BIOS Version/Date Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG, 4/27/2007 SMBIOS Version 2.4 Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32 Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2 Locale United States Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.0.6001.18000" User Name KevinTaylor-PC\Kevin Taylor Time Zone Central Daylight Time Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB Total Physical Memory 3.37 GB Available Physical Memory 1.86 GB Total Virtual Memory 6.97 GB Available Virtual Memory 5.48 GB Page File Space 3.67 GB Page File C:\pagefile.sys

Also, another program has stopped working. I can't record DVDs anymore. I'm assuming that goes with whatever has stopped my sd card and USB ports from working.

A friend just stopped by and put in his Sony sd card, it's longer than the ones I use, but it worked. But it wont read any one of my 5 other sd cards.

Hmmm, okay. Have you tried looking at the contacts of your SD cards? It could be that they're dirty. You could also try pushing your card in a bit harder, but not so hard that it breaks. It's possible that all 5 of your SD cards are faulty. I'm assuming that your friend has an SD card reader too, so if possible try seeing if it works on their machine. To be honest though, I have feeling that all these are symptoms of a bigger problem. I trust that you don't have Malware on your machine, which can only point towards some form of hardware failure, probably your motherboard. So, let me know if any of your SD cards work on a different machine. In the meantime, you could have a quick look to see if WIndows is throwing up any errors : 1. Go to your Start Menu and type "Device Manager" into the Search Bar. 2. Press Enter and the Device Manager should show you all the installed drivers. 3. Take note of any drivers with a yellow exclamation icon next to it. For each error, right click the entry and click Properties and note down the Error Code. We might get some ideas about what's causing your problems from that.

In my device manager there is a yellow exclamation mark by an unkown device. Under other devices. Messages: The drivers for this device are not installed. (Code 28)

Also, my friends cpu reads my sd cards just fine.

Okay, it should be a simple case of reinstalling the driver. To install the driver just head back to Device Manager , right click on the device and click install. If given the choice, get Vista to download the drivers off the internet. I'm not entirely sure whether that will solve your problem, however. The "unknown device" could be anything, but hopefully it's the SD Card reader. What we can do is try to reinstall the drivers specifically for the SD Card reader. There's two ways to do this. The first involves opening up your computer case and unplugging the SD Card Reader, and the other involves trying to track down the latest driver release. If installing the driver for the unknown device doesn't work let me know which option you want to try and I'll talk you through it. Edit : just missed your last post. Looks like we're definitely dealing with a hardware or driver issue. If you can, try backing up all your photos on your friend's machine.

I'll do whichever. Wanna try hunting down the drivers first? A quick google search revealed folks having the same problem, but no answers.

Yeah, a Code 28 is a fairly generic error. What we need to find out is the Vendor ID and the Product ID : 1. Go back to Device Manager and find the unknown device. 2. Right click and go to Properties. 3. In the Properties tab go to Details and choose Hardware "Ids" from the drop down box. Just let me know what it says under "Value" and I should be able to find out what specific driver you need.

"lds" is not in my dropdown box. It currently says ConfiFlags. the values are: 00000040 CONFIGFLAG_FAILEDINSTALL

The "Safely Remove Hardware" notification calls it a WDC WD50 00AAKS-22MA SCSI Disc Device. Oh hell, that's my hard drive! I have a 3 year old who kicked over my machine a month or so ago. Do you think some of the hardware may have come undone?