John,

Oh dear. I thought we might have been on to something. Norton System
Doctor is well known for populating the Windows\Inf folder with thousands of
zero byte oem*.inf files, so many that it fills the directory structure
preventing the creation of further files and thus preventing the
installation of new devices or any app using an inf file.

This used to be documented in Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB 281967 -
"Computer Stops Responding (Hangs) During Setup, Installing Updates, or
Adding New Hardware") but sadly the article is no longer available having
been withdrawn, like most other Win Me related KB articles, since Win Me
fell out of extended support in June 2006.

[Ponders.] The files are usually hidden so could you please check the
Windows\Inf folder again but this time first enable the viewing of hidden
system files in Explorer (Tools | Folder Options | View and check "Show
hidden files and folders" and uncheck "Hide protected operating system
files"). Does this reveal anything?

PS Out tonite; will pick up your response tomorrow. - Thanks again

No problem - I've other things to do also so don't know how much time I'll
be at the keyboard tonight.
--
Mike Maltby




JohnN wrote:

Hi Mike,

C:\Windows\Inf folder:

575 Files including 3Folders: Catalog,Other,and QFE.

No Zero bytes size files; some 1Kbyte.

OEM* Files = oem1,oem2,oem3 and OEMCPL

Does this indicate something?

I have deleted all files ref. 'Symantec' or 'Norton'

Regards John

PS Out tonite; will pick up your response tomorrow. - Thanks again John