Device Manager Has Gone

Hi,
Its normally a Plug and play issue so have a look here:
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1051715405
and try each of these!
let us know how you go
Regards
paws

Device manager isn't empty though, it just isn't there at all… I looked up event viewer and the file that couldn't be replaced when I used sfc/ scannow is C:\Windows\sytem32\plugin.ocx I will try the solutions listed anyway. No luck, plug and play is working fine.

Hi, Do you mean that when you ran sfc it needed to replace C:\Windows\system32\plugin.ocx but that it couldn't find it? Did you insert your Windows XP Installation disc? it should be the version that has SP 2 on it (a slipstreamed version is also OK) Please do a search for that file (you will need to use advanced option in search, to search hidden and system files)…on Win Home Sp2 it should be found in your system32 dll cache Regards paws

As paws has informed me this doesn't work with XP Home. Edit to removed suggested fix.

Do you mean that when you ran sfc it needed to replace C:\Windows\system32\plugin.ocx but that it couldn't find it?
Yes


Did you insert your Windows XP Installation disc? it should be the version that has SP 2 on it (a slipstreamed version is also OK)
I did insert the disc, Windows XP home edition, it doesn't look like it has SP2 on it… it says version 2002.
You think that reinstalling sp2 might help?

Please do a search for that file (you will need to use advanced option in search, to search hidden and system files)…on Win Home Sp2 it should be found in your system32 dll cache

Couldn't find that file in that folder but found it in C:\Windows\$NtUninstallKB933566$

Hi Kimbles When you run SFC and it asks for your disc to be inserted it must be the one that includes SP2, If your installation disc doesn't include SP2 (I.E.it's a previous version) then its OK to borrow one from a chum (make sure its Home Edition) or as an alternative you can slipstream one and use that….. an installation disc with with SP2 is a jolly useful thing to have anyway, but takes a bit of time to make…whereas borrowing the correct one is likely to be quicker. As always its your call. (Theres no need to reinstall SP2 at this stage) Please note that this step is not guaranteed to provide the fix you want, but it's certainly what you should do next. Regards paws

It just seems odd that the file it wants is one that was supposedly removed by Microsoft because it was a security risk. Not sure if I can get hold of the windows sp2 cd. The more I think about it the more I feel that just admitting defeat and reinstalling xp is the way forward… Thanks for all the help anyway.