For the past six months I have been using a 128MB Sony Microvault USB thumb drive on my laptop running Windows XP. The computer has no contact with the internet, and does not have much additional software installed. Recently, the USB drive has ceased to function, instead producing the error message: ‘The software you are installing for this hardware disk drive has not passed Windows Logo testing to verify its compatibility with Windows XP’. The Sony site offers drivers for other operating systems, but not Windows XP. The drive still works perfectly with my Linux computer.

The reason you cannot download Windows XP drives for the USB drive is because Windows XP already has in-built drivers for USB thumb drives (and other types of USB storage devices). This allows the devices to be plugged into any computer, without the need to install any drivers. The obvious advantage of this is the ease with which you can use USB storage devices to transfer and backup files, without the need to install drivers (and in some cases, such as when using a public computer terminal, you cannot install drivers).

Generally when you encounter such a message, the drivers may still be compatible with Windows XP. You should be given the option to ‘Continue Anyway’ or ‘STOP Installation’. You could try clicking the ‘Continue Anyway’ button, but please do so at your own risk, as there are circumstances where installing drivers that have not been tested with Windows XP will result in serious problems.

A second possible reason for the problem is that some other device drivers that have been installed are attempting to support the USB drive. The first procedure we should attempt is to uninstall any drivers which have been installed for the USB drive, and then allow Windows to reinstall its own inbuilt drivers for the device. We will start by removing the existing device drivers. Insert your USB device so it is recognised by Windows (ignore any messages about Windows Logo testing). Then, go to the ‘Start’ menu > ‘Control Panel’. In the Control Panel window that appears, open the ‘System’ control panel (you may need to click the ‘Performance and Maintenance category first, if the control panel is being displayed in Category view). In the next window, click the ‘Hardware’ tab and the ‘Device Manager’ button. Find your USB thumb drive in the list of devices. You may need to expand the ‘Storage volumes’ tree to find the device. Once you have tentatively identified which device is the USB drive, right-click the device and select ‘Properties’. In the Properties window, click the ‘General’ tab. If the device is actually your USB thumb drive, the ‘Location’ should mention something like ‘Sony Microvault USB Device’. Otherwise, it is probably not the correct device. Once you are absolutely certain that you have identified the correct device, click the ‘Driver’ tab then ‘Uninstall’. This will uninstall the drivers for the device. Only uninstall the driver if you are sure, as if you uninstall the driver for a different device it could cause your system to become unbootable! Once the driver has been uninstalled, close the Device Manager. If Windows automatically recognises the new device (i.e. the USB thumb drive) which is plugged into the computer, let Windows go through the motions to install the necessary drivers. Should Windows not recognise the device, remove the device, wait about 10 - 20 seconds, then reinsert the device.