Hello,I recently reformatted my Sony VAIO. I was running the same Windows XP Pro prior to formatting as I am running now. My Sidwinder Precision 2 ran with no problems before. When I go to install the Sidewinder software I get to the test connection part of the process and the "Add New Hardware" wizard cannot find the driver for my Sidewinder hardware. The wizard shows that the device is a Sidewinder Precision 2 but it just can't find the driver. I connect to the internet for its search and it still cannnot find the driver. Any help would be greatly appreciated because I have been looking across the net for a week now and nothing seems to solve this problemThanks in advance,Larry Brown

I assume you have checked the MS Support site. I did and couldn't find any DL for 98 or XP drivers. I use W98 so I wouldn't need the XP drivers, but I installed my 98 drivers from the CD. You didn't mention installing from the CD so the obvious choice would be to try that. If you've lost your CD you may need to get the drivers from a driver support site. Or try a Google search - I did one that turned up this (at the bottom of the page.) http://www.linearg.com/start.php?content=drivers.php

Hello,I have tried the CD as well as support.microsoft.com. I will give the driver at that web site a try. It is really wierd how the driver installed off the CD last time but none seem to install this time.Thanks,Larry Brown

I have the same problem with a MS mouse. I bought the same mouse for 2 different computers and got 2 CDs. It installed fine on the first one but got the same error from both CDs on the second one.I finally realized I didn't need any new software at all - the default W98 package worked fine. I guess you can't do that with a joystick.One more thing you might check is your DirectX files/settings. Probably won't help but won't hurt. I just got the DirectX 9.0a (there's a thread here somewhere).

Larry - The sidewinder drivers are included with XP. You don't need to install the SW software. Just go to Settings/Control Panel/Game Controllers and add the sidewinder. Should work fine.Trip

As someone stated in another post, XP provides a driver for your sidewinder joystick. BUT, some of the joystick functions are not supported by XP (the SHIFT button, for example, will not work). Moreover, the software bundled with the joystick won't work with XP. XP is arguably a better operating system, but there are some trade-offs. This is one of them.Hauptmann

You know that is what I thought. I didn't get a chance to try the driver recommended above yet but I too am pretty sure that the driver should come with XP. So now I gotta figure out why the "Add New Hardware" wizard doesn't find the driver. I used to know quite a bit about Windows 98 but with XP I have returned to feeling like an observer. Oh well.Happy Flying,Larry Brown

Larry,I have the same Sidewinder stick on XP as well and for myself, I had no problems. I plugged it in and it installed itself, what could be more simple, right? I bought my father-in-law the same stick who also has XP and to this day, we have not been able to get that stick to work correctly.I've been to the MS support site, tried numerous other things and here's what it does now: The stick works sometimes, but when you change views, the buttons have a mind of their own. We spent an enormous amount of time and frustration on this stick and finally gave up. I seems to work on a inconsistent basis.I also gave a friend of mine my old Sidewinder Force-feedback who also has XP and he has not been able to get that stick to work properly on his PC. This person is very knowledgeable regarding PC's and I was surprised that even he was not able to get the stick to work.Bottom line: Like anything else, it seems to work for some and not for others for no consistent reason. Maybe it's time to try another stick. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.Sincerely,Hans

If you installed the Sidewinder driver to WinXP, you may have overwritten the default files. First, go to control panel, add/remove programs, search the list for the Sidewinder drivers, and remove them, reboot the computer with your joystick unpluged.After it has rebooted and is stabilized, plug your joystick into the USB connector to see if it finds the joystick. If not, open control panel, Game Controllers, see if the joystick is listed. If not, click add, arrow down to Microsoft Sidewinder (Auto Detect), select and OK. It should find your joystick.If not, you may need to conduct a repair/reinstall of WinXP by inserting your WinXP CD into the CD-drive and follow the instructions.

Hello,Sorry for not replying more quickly but I have been busy with work.I inserted my XP disk but I did not find an option for repair / reinstall. Do I need to reboot the system with the XP disk installed? I didn't test the idea because I don't know XP well at all and I don't want to accidentally lose any saved files.Thanks for all the help,Larry Brown

First, since you are using WinXP Pro, you would need to be on your administrators account. Once in the administrator's account, open Windows Explorer to the CD drive that has the XP cd installed. Select Setup and it should start the reinstallation process. Otherwise, you need to insert your XP cd, reboot and make sure your CD is in line to start the installation process.Check carefully on the reinstallation process, one of the options is to only repair/fix things that are corrupted.