PRS-300 PRS-300 and Windows XP/ Vista issues

enygmatic · 01-03-2010, 10:40 AM

Hi,
I've had a PRS-300 for a few months now and its been a fabulous experience. I've however run into some issues while using it. I basically have two computers at home, a laptop that runs Vista and a desktop that runs Windows XP SP3.
When I plug in the PRS-300 into my desktop, I get a Windows error message saying "Device not recognized" or something to that effect. Any idea why this is happening?
I've had no problems in connecting the device to my Laptop, and Vista recognizes the device perfectly. The issue I had was with Sony's buggy software. The software just crashed once and now it refuses to start up. I've tried everything from re-installing the software to cleaning up the directories and setting files manually. Nothing has worked so far.
So I have been reduced to using drag and drop to get the books on to my reader. The only option I have at this point is to maybe use Calibre instead. So, does anyone know of any issues that Calibre may have on Vista? Also has anyone faced a problem like mine on Vista ?
Any help will be appreciated.

poshm · 01-03-2010, 10:53 AM

I have Win Vista Home edition and I don't use the Sony software at all - I was unable to download the new version of the Sony software after several tries so just gave up! I don't actually need it so no big loss.

I do use Calibre and have had no issues whatsoever with it and Vista so maybe you should try it out - I can highly recommend it.

Bremen Cole · 01-03-2010, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poshm

I have Win Vista Home edition and I don't use the Sony software at all - I was unable to download the new version of the Sony software after several tries so just gave up! I don't actually need it so no big loss.

I do use Calibre and have had no issues whatsoever with it and Vista so maybe you should try it out - I can highly recommend it.

Plus one to all the above. Unless you have to buy your books from the Sony store for some reason, I would strongly suggests not installing their software. Calibre works great on my Vista Business install, no issues. If you buy books with Adobe DRM (I do some) then you do need the Adobe software (but of course you can then liberate the ebook from the DRM...

)

ctol · 01-03-2010, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by enygmatic

Hi,
I've had a PRS-300 for a few months now and its been a fabulous experience. I've however run into some issues while using it. I basically have two computers at home, a laptop that runs Vista and a desktop that runs Windows XP SP3.
When I plug in the PRS-300 into my desktop, I get a Windows error message saying "Device not recognized" or something to that effect. Any idea why this is happening?
I've had no problems in connecting the device to my Laptop, and Vista recognizes the device perfectly. The issue I had was with Sony's buggy software. The software just crashed once and now it refuses to start up. I've tried everything from re-installing the software to cleaning up the directories and setting files manually. Nothing has worked so far.
So I have been reduced to using drag and drop to get the books on to my reader. The only option I have at this point is to maybe use Calibre instead. So, does anyone know of any issues that Calibre may have on Vista? Also has anyone faced a problem like mine on Vista ?
Any help will be appreciated.

Have you tried any of the following to see if it solves your Windows Xp problems:

1. Check to see if you recently updated your usb drivers or checked to see if any software you recently installed did this for you. If this has happened your Sony Reader may not be compatible with the new driver. If so you might have to roll back to an older usb driver and see if that solves the issue.

2. Check to see if you actually have 2 usb drivers installed as well. This might possibly have happened when you updated to service pack 3. It happened to me a couple of time when I was still running Xp a couple of years ago.

3. Check to make sure you have not disabled or had any programs disable any services on your system that you might need enabled to run the Sony Reader properly. This can also cause many devices to not work properly. Also if you have used any of the programs that let you remove parts of XP that can cause many problems with some devices.

4. Have you checked to see if you have any type of malware installed on your computer.

5. Make sure your usb port is not just going bad. It does happen alot more often than people realize. I had that happen to me a few years ago. I solved the problem by installing a new usb card in my system.

Hope any of this info will help you solve your problems of getting your reader to work with Windows XP.

enygmatic · 01-03-2010, 02:03 PM

@ctol
Will check on 1 and 2 - Seems like a driver issue, but not very sure as I have been able to use every other USB device I have on those ports.
And a definite no to 3,4,5 - No services disabled, no malware and definitely working USB ports (I use them all the time)

@Bremen Cole and @poshm Thanks for the update on Calibre. Will try it on Vista. I currently use Calibre on my WinXP machine to convert files to LRF for reading on the Reader

Thanks for all the help people

01-03-2010, 10:40 AM	#1
enygmatic Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Sony PRS-300	PRS-300 and Windows XP/ Vista issues Hi, I've had a PRS-300 for a few months now and its been a fabulous experience. I've however run into some issues while using it. I basically have two computers at home, a laptop that runs Vista and a desktop that runs Windows XP SP3. When I plug in the PRS-300 into my desktop, I get a Windows error message saying "Device not recognized" or something to that effect. Any idea why this is happening? I've had no problems in connecting the device to my Laptop, and Vista recognizes the device perfectly. The issue I had was with Sony's buggy software. The software just crashed once and now it refuses to start up. I've tried everything from re-installing the software to cleaning up the directories and setting files manually. Nothing has worked so far. So I have been reduced to using drag and drop to get the books on to my reader. The only option I have at this point is to maybe use Calibre instead. So, does anyone know of any issues that Calibre may have on Vista? Also has anyone faced a problem like mine on Vista ? Any help will be appreciated.

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01-03-2010, 10:53 AM	#2
poshm Fanatic Posts: 581 Karma: 1003580 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Cambs, UK Device: PocketBook 360, Sony Reader Touch, Ipod touch & Kindle 2	I have Win Vista Home edition and I don't use the Sony software at all - I was unable to download the new version of the Sony software after several tries so just gave up! I don't actually need it so no big loss. I do use Calibre and have had no issues whatsoever with it and Vista so maybe you should try it out - I can highly recommend it.

01-03-2010, 02:03 PM	#5
enygmatic Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Sony PRS-300	@ctol Will check on 1 and 2 - Seems like a driver issue, but not very sure as I have been able to use every other USB device I have on those ports. And a definite no to 3,4,5 - No services disabled, no malware and definitely working USB ports (I use them all the time) @Bremen Cole and @poshm Thanks for the update on Calibre. Will try it on Vista. I currently use Calibre on my WinXP machine to convert files to LRF for reading on the Reader Thanks for all the help people

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