There is only one system file responsible for Device Manager - and if that
was screwed, then DM wouldn't work at all!
Your problem is almost certainly due to corruption in the device
enumeration - and can be sorted in Device Manager, by going to Safe Mode

In Safe Mode
Open Device Manager
Look for error-flagged devices - Remove ALL found
look for duplicated entries - Remove ALL instances of any found outside the
System Devices area
for duplicates inside the System Devices branch, list them in your response
Reboot to Normal Mode, and allow Windows to reinstall the drivers -
depending on the type and number removed, it may take three or four
reboots..

See if that helps.

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"Chipmonk" wrote in message
...
Hello,

Many months ago I lost use of my sound card (Device Manager shows the
yellow
exclamation mark). I also found that everytime I boot up, my USB mouse
won't
work unless I remove it from Device Manager, then unplug and re-insert it.
Also SCSI controllers have yellow exclamation marks and can no longer be
used. Unfortunately I don't have a restore point to go back to, and
reinstalling Windows ME is not an option for me.

I know it's not a problem with the hardware, because it's a dual-boot
system
and under the WindowsXP disk everything works fine.

I also know it's not a problem with individual drivers being corrupted,
because even new devices I install also appear with yellow exclamation
marks
(including a software based virtual CD drive).

It seems the system files behind Device Manager may themselves be
corrupted.

I work in tech support for a cable ISP and find it very common for
Win98/ME
customers to lose the ability to connect their modems via USB, so I'm a
little bit familiar with this type of issue (one of the very few problems
we
don't have a solution for).

So I would like to try restoring the systems files responsible for Device
Manager, using the MSConfig "Extract File" facility. Can anyone suggest a
list of appropriate files to restore, or point me in the right direction
for
locating such a list?

Thanks.