Computer question: XP crash when connecting USB device

Running XP with SP2 installed. Also have Roxio GoBack Deluxe 3.0 loaded. As soon as I connect an external HDD via the USB port, it is detected, and then XP crashes-pointing the finger at Roxio. Disabling Roxio doesn’t resolve the problem, and an email to Symantec is unanswered. I Googled for possible workarounds, and didn’t find anything. Ideas?

You may be another victim of SP2!!! Recently, I installed the SP2 upgrade to Windows XP only to have my computer crash upon reboot. It wouldn’t even reboot in safe mode! I was livid! It seems not all editions of Windows XP are created equal. Even if I say mine is “Home Edition”, it turns out that apparently the OEM of my pC has some sweet deal with MS selling a watered-down version of WIndows XP Home Edition installed on their machines. It’s all fine and dandy until some MS Windows upgrade comes along, and now my watered-down version won’t play nicely with the upgrade.

I say it is watered-down because (a) my OEM won’t provide the actual Windows XP disk which would help me overcome the problem without reformatting my hard drive AND (b) the full-blown version of Windows XP has no trouble at all.

Personally, it’s a real racket, and our States’ Attorney Generals Offices ought to be flooded with complains. For one, mine is a brand new machine slaughtered like a sheep by SP2! For starters, the makers of PC ought to be obligated to provide the original software in its entirety…and not watered-down and provided on what they’ll call a rescue disk, or a reboot disk, or a recovery disk. They’re fooling the general public. There’s no recovery here! You’re bound to lose all your files! (As opposed to the full-blown version that can run “repairs” as well as partial installs - targeting the corrupted files, which I wanted to do while I has MS on the phone, but couldn’t thanks to the OEM! The OEM had the nerve to tell me to go out and buy Windows XP Home Edition if I wanted the disk! What a game MS has going for itself!)

Isn’t it comforting to know the next Windows upgrade or patch could be just as deadly as not installing it? - Jinx

Are you getting an error message, or a blue screen? If so, write it down and post it if you’re able.

I suppose you’re addressing the OP, but in my case, the PC is getting stuck at the mup.sys, I believe it was, driver. This was only discovered by booting up in safe mode. Soon thereafter, the screen filled with a list of drivers being loaded, but stopped here. Telephone support via MS wanted me to reload drivers, but I didn’t have the original software, just what the OEM provided.

I hope the OP has better luck…

  • Jinx

Hi Jinx
Have you tried using a full version XP Cd to do a repair?
Some reading for you.

Sorry for being tardy with my reply Daizy. Symantec says that I have to remove GoBack, do a clean boot, and then reinstall. Still trying to import my data, I removed GoBack for the time being. The driver for the USB device is installed, and XP says it recognizes the device, but I still can’t see the data under Windows Explorer. I’d have thought that I’d see a directory tree for the drive contents, but have had no luck.

Two other things are going on: Outlook Express throws up ‘Spellcheck has been halted’ when I click send, even though I have it enabled, and didn’t halt it. Googling for an answer led me to download a file and drop it in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Proof which I did, but the problem still exists.

Lastly, I’ve downloaded Flashplayer and Shockwave Player from Macromedia, and both programs say they’ve properly installed. An attempt to play a .swf file brings up the ‘what do you want me to use to open this file’ window, and I can’t figure out what I need to link so that .swf are properly handled in the future.

Many thanks.