Install Button in Printer Setup Doesn't Work

• Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.1, 3.11
• Microsoft Windows for Workgroups versions 3.1, 3.11

SYMPTOMS

When you choose the Install button or double-click the selected printer from the list in the Printers dialog box of Control Panel, an hourglass appears but nothing happens.

The following error message may be displayed when you choose the Add button:

   The information file is damaged or not in the SYSTEM directory.

   Copy the original CONTROL.INF or SETUP.INF on Windows Disk 1 to
   your SYSTEM directory, or contact your device manufacturer to get
   a new file.

CAUSE

When you choose the Install button in the Printers dialog box of the Control Panel with a specific driver highlighted (not the Install Unlisted or Updated Printer option), Windows reads the SETUP.INF file and provides an Install dialog box. (The Install Unlisted or Updated Printer selection looks for an OEMSETUP.INF to read.)

If the SETUP.INF file has been renamed or deleted from your Windows SYSTEM subdirectory, Windows briefly displays an hourglass when you click the Install button; it does not display an error message or a dialog box.

If the SETUP.INF file or CONTROL.INF file is in a directory in a path other than your Windows SYSTEM subdirectory, the error message above is displayed when you choose the Add button.

NOTE: This error message is misleading; the CONTROL.INF file is actually located on Disk 5 of the 3.5-inch disk set and on Disk 6 of the 5.25-inch disk set.

WORKAROUND

To correct either of these problems, use one of the following methods:

• 1. Copy the SETUP.INF file from the Windows 3.1 Disk 1 to your Windows

        SYSTEM subdirectory. Copy the CONTROL.INF file from the Windows 3.1
        Disk 5 (3.5-inch disk set) or Disk 6 (5.25-inch disk set) to your
        Windows SYSTEM subdirectory. (These are not compressed files.)
  

  2. Restart Windows.

  3. Install the desired printer driver.

  NOTE: You should only have one copy of SETUP.INF on your system; and that copy should be in your Windows SYSTEM directory. Placing SETUP.INF in your root directory or Windows directory does not work correctly.

  -or-

• Rebuild the WIN.INI file. For more information on re-creating the WIN.INI file, query on the following words in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

       create and win.ini and without and third-party