parallel pci card driver error

[kluwood]

I installed a single parallel pci card in a computer with the XP home edition OS.  When I tried to install the drive I get the error "A service installation section in this INF is invalid" please help!

[Jonathan]

I've seen that with some cards that have a windows 2000 and a windows XP driver in the same folder. The problem is windows XP sometimes tries to use the wrong INF file for it's driver installation.  It usually fixes the problem if you tell the hardware wizard that you want to install from a list instead of searching.  Then click the "Have Disk" button and browse to the specific INF that's made for windows XP.  Usually they are pretty easy to identify by having XP in the file name.   

Then when it asks for the driver for the port itself (as opposed to the card), do the same thing, but point it to the INF that has "ports" in the filename.   Most drivers i've seen use that as part of the name for the necessary INF file.

[kluwood]

Jon:  Thanks, your suggestions helped me to get the printer to work.

[kluwood]

Another problem with the parallel pci card.  Every time I turn on the computer I get the new hardware found wizard and have to reinstall the driver to get the printer to work.  And then it only works on a DOS based program or the command prompt.  It won't print from say word or excel.  OS is XP Home. Any suggestions?

[Jonathan]

Another problem with the parallel pci card.  Every time I turn on the computer I get the new hardware found wizard and have to reinstall the driver to get the printer to work.  And then it only works on a DOS based program or the command prompt.  It won't print from say word or excel.  OS is XP Home. Any suggestions?

I haven't ever had a problem with those cards requiring you to re-install the driver every time you reboot.  One thing that may fix that is to copy the XP INF files and all the other system files into the \windows\system32 folder.  That way windows can always access them directly if it ever needs to re-install them.

On the printing in windows, how do you have your printer configured?  Under the printer properties, port tab, what does it list fo the port it is assigned to?  Also, are you using a current version of the driver? If not, you may need to download and install that.