Bug of the Month

Elusive Plug and Play

In an attempt to install a new modem to a Pentium PC running Windows 95, the installation program reported it couldn't find several files, including wsock32.dll and others. However, further digging showed that the allegedly missing files had all been present in the exact directories in which the installation program was reportedly looking. Several solutions proposed by the modem vendor's technical-support department left the PC confused. After another call, the user removed the modem from the PC and rebooted. The technical-support department suggested that this would clear things up. It was then that the installation program finally announced it had successfully installed the modem ( see the screen ). Unfortunately, the modem was at that point physically removed from the PC and in the user 's hands.

Deciding that the original target PC must be haunted by anti-Plug and Play demons, the user took the (now-removed) modem and installed it to another Pentium PC running Windows 95. The modem installed successfully in only 45 seconds. Calls to the modem vendor and vendor of the first PC never resolved the original problem. The user decided life was too short to pursue the problem further.

Send yours to edejesus@bix.com!

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Should Look Harder, or Better

screen_link (30 Kbytes)