This is another public service announcement of interest only to a few people, but if you experience a problem under Win2K/WinXP installing a driver, with the folllowing error message:
The required section was not found in the INF
this might save you hours of fiddling around. In this case it happened with my vodafone/Globe Trotter 3G PCM card but I’ve seen people with scanners, printers etc experience the same problem. Basically the drivers won’t install, and that’s that.
I couldn’t find any solution on its own that fixed the problem, and I don’t know whether this works in all cases, but this is what I did, and it worked for me:
Open your C:WindowsSetupapi.log file, and look around for the “INF” reference. You should see something like
#E067 Could not locate section [ClassInstall32].
#E142 Class: {4D36E971-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}. Install failed. Error 0xe0000101: The required section was not found in the INF.
This tells you the section that is missing in the installation file. So now you need to find that file.
Go back up the log and see what INF file (a file with the last three letters, after the period, as inf, like c:windowsinfoem126.inf.
That’s the file that’s causing the problems. Open the file in notepad (in some cases you can do this simply by pasting the full path and file name into Start/Run. Sometimes this won’t work.
Save a backup of the file in question.
Then in the original, add a section with the name of the missing section. In my case, [ClassInstall32].
Save the INF file. Close it, remove the hardware and connect it again. Keep your fingers crossed. Now the installation should proceed normally.
At least it did for me. How dumb can installation software be that this basic problem cannot self-heal?
(Here’s where I got some information for this from.)
Thanks so much for this common sense approach to fixing installation problems in the INF! I’ve been stressing out about getting hardware preloaded on a Vista PC to work on XP (my employer won’t let us use Vista). I’ve searched high and low. I’ve downloaded countless driver packages that didn’t do squat. I’ve wasted so much time browsing message threads with much more complex– and potentially dangerous to the operations of the computer– solutions… only to come across your advice which was simple, quick, and effective. Thanks again for helping us deal with the inequities of Microsoft!
I appreciate your research. Could you please tell this newbie where to put the file and what the new section would look like?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks a lot – this really saved the day after couple of hours installing and re-installing the drivers!
In response to Rob above, just add a line [ClassInstall32] at the end of the file – that did the trick for me
Just wanted to send a HUGE thanks to you for that info! Been trying to sort out the problem with my mp3 player for ages and now its fixed! THANK YOU! really not that difficult, but something I wouldn’t have known to do, so thanks! 🙂
Thank you so much!!!
I came really close to formatting my machine because of this… 🙂
Same here for an update from Windows Update: Uninstall/reinstall Matrox G550 driver shows same error.
Adding [ClassInstall32] in G550.inf file and now seems to work well.
THX ALOT!!
ok, i did all of this for my mp3 player and it won’t let me save it on the disk that came with it. i tried saving it some where else and then using it, but it says that the file doesn’t contain information about my device. could you please help me?
thanks if you can!
the content of my SETUPAPI.LOG is this:
“The location of the SetupAPI log file has been changed.
The new location is: D:WindowsINF”
funny thing is, i DO NOT have a drive D. without this SETUPAPI.LOG, i would not be able to know the MISSING SECTION FILE…
PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!! 🙁
email: chris_flip21@yahoo.com
Thanks a lot!
Hi Jeremy, just sent you an email with regard to this blog posting..Hope you have a moment to take a look, thanks, Mike
The location of the SetupAPI log file has been changed.
The new location is: D:WindowsINF
pops up when i access the file i do have a drive D but Its Empty Anyway I Could Reverse this
I did everything you said but it didn’t work. Instead of “The required section was not found in the INF” I got “The system cannot find the file specified.” What should I do?
Thanks so much for this helpful info! This just ended two excruciating hours trying to get a printer to work. I am now printing out this article as my test page and it’s lookin fine!
I am trying to connect my old HP Laser Jet 1100 printer to my new HP a6400f PC with Vista Premium operating system. Each time I try, I receive the message: error 0xe0000101.
It seems that most all equipment or programs from my old XP PC are rejected by the new Vista OS. Any suggestions?
Ken
Hi all,
Thanks for this great post.
Peoples who are having same problem, but with vista, can do the following:
1- Open C:Windowsinf.
2- locate the file (setupapi.dev.log) and open it.
3- Search for the problem (use search option and search for THE REQUIRED SECTION…), and from that line take the name of the driver that is having the problem, also take the name of the missing section (like [ClassInstall32])
4- Then you have to go to the folder C:Windowssystem32driverstorefilerepository, and there locate the folder tht have the same name of the driver which have problem (also mentioned in the inf file), and open the folder.
5- In the inf file inside the folder you have to paste the missing section (ex: [ClassInstall32]), you can paste it at the end of the file then save it and exit, restart and install 🙂
N.B: you have to obtain permission in order to edit the inf file located in C:Windowssystem32driverstorefilerepository. Search net for how to obtain that permission.
Hope that this info can help someones.
Hassan El-Husseini
wow thanks it solved my problem!
thanks! IT really helped me, it took 4 hours searching for fix, but only your one helped me:)
Nice one mate, thanks a lot for the help 🙂
Here’s another big thanks. Three days wasted with a surgeons knife trying to excise and uninstall every reference to a bloated HP driver package to get a clean install that still wouldn’t work, fixed in a couple of minutes with your advice.
Thanks Jeremy!
Thanks!
Hassan, you are a life saver! Thank you very much. With your advice I was able to get my HP web-cam working with Vista again. Thanks again.
hi mate,
i am having trouble with the texas instruments pcixx21 integrated flashmedia controller i have got the driver’s of the acer web site and install them. But after the install has done new hardware found box comes up so i go threw the process of adding the new hardware and at the end it say can not find the the INF file. I tryed your fix but there is so many INF entres in my Setupapi.log i dont now were to start, can you help please.
Adam
THANK YOU! I would of thrown this receipt printer against the wall before I figured this out myself. Your a printer saver.
Unbelievable that this thing solved the problem! Thanks!
Hi Jeremy,
Thanks a lot for the very usefull tips :), awesome! it really works..really appreciated it.
Worked like a charm. Pity I didn’t find this BEFORE tearing all my hair out! Thanks.
First time I’ve had the horror to encounter this in my 12 years of computer use, had this error on a clients laptop today while trying to install a texas instruments media controller
thanks for this fix, tried everything before i found your page……good man !!!! Bookmarked and appreciated
I still ran into problems after I added the [ClassInstall32] line to the end of my OEM42.INF so I renamed it, copied that file from another computer (both are Windows XP SP3) and pasted it into the same location and it worked great. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
explicit language aside You f’n Rock! dude even a Nutter brain like me could get this with your instructions Now i got my cam software installed ty a million times
I’m with XP lited and I don’t have the oem126.inf file I can only find from oem1.inf to oem15.inf
I modified several files with the intructions above.
But the solution isn’t working for me.
The error is the same, trying to install Huawei modem device
Worked for me too.
Thank you so much.
This worked perfectly on an older Compaq laptop. The Texas Instruments PCIxx21 install was failing for this exact reason. i added “[ClassInstall32]” to an empty spot in the called inf file (oem4) and saved. It allowed the device to install and now it works.
Thank you! Now my webcam finally working! I thank you so much!
Thank you so much! Finally my webcam works!
I just wrestled with the same issue and found what may be a friendlier fix: old-school explicitly loading the specific inf rather than letting Windows attempt any type of magic: rather than even specifying the location for automatic loading choose the option to select from a list of drivers, click on the ‘Have Disk’ button or equivalent, and load the appropriate .inf file in that dialog. I’d guess that it’s a problem caused by Windows attempting to attach functions to devices that don’t offer them (such as registering classes). I’m waiting on downloads to fully test the install, but so far so good.
;(, I could not find out the inf file as you mentioned. What should I do? Thanks in advance
I could not find out the inf file as you mentioned. What should I do?
Trying to get my (very) old UMAX scanner to use with an XP 32bit laptop. Tried for ages to get it to install, then found this and it worked first time. Thanks alot, saved me buying a new scanner!!
Brilliant! Thanks so much for the quick fix!
hi plesase help me i have this problem
The drivers for this device are not installed. (Code 28)
The required section was not found in the INF.
Thank you very much! 🙂 After 3 days of finding solution, this is what solved it…
After connecting a NAS through iSCSI connector, I was able to see the disk in device manager, but unable to create a volume on it, on windows 2008 server. It just created “unknown device”, trying to install generic volume, with the error message that I found in your article… and fixing the inf file solved it… thank you 🙂
I blew most of a day researching this on the web. Your answer was the only one that provided a cure. My device was a Sierra/AT&T AirCard. Since your problem component was also a 3G PCM card, it looks like poorly written INF files are endemic in this product group.
This is awesome! Solved my issues instantly. I was about to break things with all the anger this thing caused me.
After almost 6 years after this post, still manage to resolve our problems. A big thanks for this article. I manage to resolve my issue in 1 minute after reading this.
Thank you for sharing this information! Your post was a great help to me! 🙂
My first problem was a missing section (“[STRING.0409]”, which I copied from the “[STRING.0411]”), and then also the absence of “[ClassInstall32].” Key was the indication to read the file “Setupapi.log.” Now the webcam works perfectly!
Wow, thanx, it worked! Took a while before i was able to ‘have the rights’ to change the files and folders, but after all it worked. I did both suggestions, above and in the middle, from Hassan.
All u have to add really is a line with [ClassInstall32]
Cheers
I have a galaxy s3 (and as a side note, i’m really really bad with computers, i don’t know any computer language)
anyways, i’m trying to get music on it but everytime i try to plug my s3 in to my computer as a media device, the “Found new hardware” window shows up saying that “the required section was not found in the inf” and i tried doing everything you said, but it still doesn’t work. on another note, my computer is really old, an xp from circa 2007, i don’t know if that’s a problem. but i’m reaching the end of my patience here so some help would be really appreciated, thank you.
Heejin, hi, I’m afraid I can’t really help on this. I’d suggest that you contact Samsung directly. They do have software called KIES that is supposed to make this easier but it doesn’t always work very well. If you are near one of their service centers they can help, I’m sure.
install windows media format 11 and your problem will be solved.
and also better install user mode driver from microsoft.
i assure for samsung this section not found problem will be solved.
tnanks
FRIENDS>>>
this problem on windows xp for mobile devices MTP application is solved by installing
windows media 11 formats.
or/and user mode driver from microsoft
search and download these terms in google.
i tried all above methods and then found information on google that i shared with you and it solved problem..
thanks
Wow, kind of a fail for the INF processor here. I was trying to install the drivers for the Arduino Mega 2560 for my Ultimaker… just had to add [ClassInstall32] to the end of c:\windows\inf\oem10.inf. Thank you so much for posting this.