USB.inf -

Question

I am trying to install a HP Photosmart D5360, the installation gets so far and fails with the error message usb.inf missing. My system runs on XP Home Edition, the computer came with XP pre-installed and therefore I do not have an installation CD.

How can I recover the USB.inf to allow the printer installation to be completed.

Thanks

Answer 1

Microsoft Support Engineers seem to assume that everybody has a genuine bootable XP installation CD with Service Pack 3 on it.

The fact is, that most people that look for help in the MS Answers forums have never seen a genuine bootable XP installation CD in their life and wouldn't be unable to get their hands on one.  It is extremely unlikely that "your manufacturer" will send you one of you contact them, but that always seems to make it into the advice sooner or later.

MSE replies that have links to KB articles or other ideas that begin with "insert your XP CD-ROM..." usually don't go very far after that and somebody else has to step in and really do the fixing/helping.  That is a shame.

The usb.inf file is also not one of the 3498 files that Windows File Protection looks after, so there is no backup copy on your system.

I uploaded a copy of the XP Pro SP3 file you need to my SkyDrive (everybody has a SkyDrive for sharing files).  I think it should be the same for XP Home SP3.

You can download it and when you do, put a copy of the file in this folder (assuming Windows is installed on your C drive):

c:\windows\inf

Here is the link to my SkyDrive and you can look for the file you need there:

http://cid-6a7e789cab1d6f39.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?resid=6A7E789CAB1D6F39!311

When you download the file (especially if you use Internet Explorer), when you get a chance to save the file, it may not save the file with an extension (like .exe, .dll, .cpl, .sys) so you will have to manually add the proper extension to the file when you download the file before you save it.

You can download the file with no extension and then rename the file to add the proper extension.  You don't want to try to use a file called usb when the file name really needs to be called usb.inf (if the downloaded file has no extension you will have to change the name of the file to add the proper extension to get it to work.

You need to put the downloaded files in the correct folders on your system.

I don't know if that will resolve your issue or not, but at least you will not be missing the file.

Answer 2

USB.inf should be in \windows\inf (%systemroot%\inf actually).  Who manufactured your system?  In most cases, you can (and should) generate the installation and/or recovery CDs/DVDs.  What Service Pack level is your Windows XP Home Edition?

Answer 3

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=EC673DF6F8DFEE84&id=EC673DF6F8DFEE84!109 has the file.  It took some time to load so I sorted by Descending.

Once I downloaded it, I copied and pasted it in Windows/INF.  I went to device manager in the control panel and reinstalled with the manual location of Windows/system32 and PRESTO... It worked.  I had downloaded drivers and everything, but this was all I needed!  HA!  Thanks A.User!!!!!!!

Answer 4

SkyDrive was replaced by OneDrive so take a look here:

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=EC673DF6F8DFEE84&id=EC673DF6F8DFEE84!109

Answer 5

If your are actually missing USB.inf, you are very unlikely to find a backup of it as it hasn't been modified by any service pack.

You will have to go to the original source, your installation media, to retrieve it.  Unfortunately, it is not as simple as putting the disk in a drive and searching for USB.inf as it is not on the disk in that format.

It is on the installation disk but in a compressed format, is named USB.IN_ and can be found in the I386 directory at the root of the CD-ROM.  The utility to uncompress the file is there, too.  It is called EXPAND.EXE.

So, the easy way to restore the USB.inf file is with EXPAND.EXE.  From an administrator account, you copy both USB.IN_ and EXPAND.EXE to the %SystemRoot%\INF directory.  Run the cmd shell by typing <start-R> and then entering "cmd<enter>" in the "Run" window.  In the cmd.exe window, type:

  %SystemDrive%

  cd %SystemRoot%\INF

  expand -r usb.in_ %SystemRoot%\INF

You will not need USB.IN_ and EXPAND.EXE in %SystemRoot%\INF after restoring usb.inf and should delete them from that directory.

Officially , you should run the System File Checker tool (SFC).  You have to have the installation CD-ROM and the CD-ROM for whatever Service Pack level to which your system has been upgraded.  (Thisshould be Service Pack 3 as any other level is unsupported.)  You can read about the SFC tool in the Microsoft support knowledge base articleKB310747 .

First, from and administrative account, create a restore point !  Then type: <start-R> and in the "Run" window type: sfc /scannow

SFC will call for, first, your installation media and then later the service pack CD-ROM.  If SFC wants to replace files, let it.  Note, SFC should replace USB.inf before you get to the service pack CD-ROM.  If SFC rejects your Service Pack CD-ROM, read Microsoft knowledge base article KB900910 .  Note, this article applies to SP2 but is just as applicable to SP3.  Just use common sense and employ SP3 where the article refers to SP2.

If you don't have a Service Pack 3 CD-ROM, either order it (US/Canada , Europe/Africa , Asia or South America ) from Microsoft or download the ISO (here ) and burn it.  Be sure to select the correct language if you download the ISO.  Note, I recommend installing Service Pack 3 from a CD-ROM rather than via Windows Update so that youcan use SFC successfully!

---

Please, vote if this is helpful.  Please, clickMark or Propose As Answer if this answers your question.