Am having a problem with an Apacer handysteno flash drive. Have tried pretty much everything possible (including upgrade from win 98 to se) but cannot for the life of me get windows to load correct driver. Whatever I do I get messages like "windows was unable to locate a driver for this device" or "the specified location does not contain any information about this device".
The flashdrive used to work just fine until I had to replace the c: drive and reload win98. Still works fine on an xp machine. Problem pc is a toshiba satellite 2550cdt (with latest bios). Other usb devices (printer, camera etc) are ok. Have tried with supplied driver disk also with updated driver from apacer site also with generic drivers - all get same results. Is there any way known where I can work out what is actually wrong?

Have you installed the correct driver for the device?

win xp dosen't needs any driver for these kind of devices coz it has got inbuilt driver for that. so install the driver using the cd provided by your vendor when you bought the flash disk ( or download it from the net) and it will b ok.

Was it my post or someone else's you're responding to? I'm using win98 second edition (not xp) and yes I've tried the supplied drivers plus drivers from the site plus generic drivers. And no, it's not ok.

Now, I've wasted a a lot of time chasing this problem, not to mention an apparently unnecessary upgrade to windows98se.

So, my question is - "Is there any way known where I can work out what is actually wrong?"

Hi Collin,

Check your e-mail, possible driver, runs fine on my win 98 se.

Avagoodweekend.

hi OldSalt
Sadly no change but thanks for trying. Still can't seem to find what it's looking for.

When it says, the specified location does not contain any information about this device it means it can't find an .inf file or the .inf file it found didn't contain the necessary information.

It's possible the 'driver' is just an installation program that needs to be run separately rather than an .inf file. Check the installation instructions that came with the drive to see how the drivers need to be installed.

Yes, I've now tried about a dozen different drivers, each around 465 times, each time following the instructions to the letter.

I'm starting to think the whole driver thing is a red herring and it's something else it doesn't like (eg the format of the flash drive). Out of all those drivers, I'm pretty sure a majority at least should work. But there doesn't seem to be any way known of actually diagnosing the actual fault.

Logically, the pc's ok, win98se should work and has in the past, the drivers (at least some) are ok, the usb port is ok, the flash drive is ok. What's left - apart from formatting - that could cause this error?

With 98 and some of the flash drives, the drivers are very propietory. But if you've got the disk that came with the drive you shouldn't have to worry if they're the correct ones.

I don't know that formatting is a factor. The drivers should recognize the device regardless of it's formatting.

The only other thing I can think of is to go to add/remove programs in control panel and remove any other previous installations that show up there. Maybe they're conflicting with the correct drivers.

hmmm...done the add/remove (hardware and programs) a zillion times. Even reloaded windows a dozen times to make sure. Nothing seems even to change the nature of the problem - not even moving from win98 to win98se.

According to their FAQ, handy steno 1.1 will work with 98 first edition and above. Handy steno 2.0 needs 98 second edition and above. Since yours worked with first edition I guess you have 1.1.

Their site indicates you need to install the driver before connecting the flash drive. That's the only thing I can see that you may not be doing.

Otherwise you may need to contact them directly.

Yes that's right - it's a 1.1

Yes, I was very careful to load drivers before inserting the unit.

Sadly, I have already contacted them and as yet have had no response (or acknowlegement). I don't really expect much joy from them as the device seems to be ok - ie it's still working on my xp machine.

I wish I could find a diagnostic tool or process.

It sounds like you're doing everything right. Maybe someone will post back with other ideas.

Thanks for trying DAVEINCAPS (thanks also to Wetseal) - appreciate the help. Yes, hoping someone is sitting on the answer and will post it soon! cheers

Download USB driver from Flash Drive site:
http://www.usb-flashdrive.co.uk/support.html
I had same trouble. Works a treat now!

I had the same problem on win98se. Got the driver from http://www.eagletec.net/login/driver.asp?id=21&driver_category=05)+USB+Flash+Disk
Works like a charm.