Driverinstallation in XP Embedded fails with message “problem installing error occurred. A service installation section in this INF is invalid”
If you install a driver in XP Embedded you get the following error and the device driver installation fails.
“A problem installing <devicename> error occurred. A service installation section in this INF is invalid”
This will happen when the driver inf file contains a file which is not available in the driver folder and not available on the Windows system. Some drivers assume that the files already exist because they are there on a full XP Pro installation.
To solve this and be able to install the driver open the inf file in notepad and have a look into the the CopyFiles section.
Check if all files are either in the windows folders (system32, system32drivers,..) or in the driver folder.
If a file is missing copy it over from a XP Professional system and retry the installation –> if all files are there the installation should succeed.
Written by Wolfgang Unger
November 4, 2008 at 18:04
Posted in Windows XP Embedded
2 Responses
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Windows Embedded Blog 
Hi,
Hope that someone will help & answer me…
I am facing this same issue when I try to install a device on XP Embedded ( an FTDI card..)
In my INF files I have in the “CopyFiles” sections references to files named “FTDIBUS.NT.COPY” located in the system32 or system32\driver as you mentionned…
So I installed a Virtual Machine under Windows XP Pro, and when I go in these folders ( system32 or system32\drivers ) there no such file named “FTDIBUS”…
But when I install the Device in the virtual machine ( under windows xp…) I get the so called files as a ftdibus.sys”
Should I copy these files in the Windows Xp Embedded ??
Thanks in advance
AW
October 4, 2012 at 13:58
Hi,
you have to look for all the files under the FTDIBUS.NT.COPY section – those files must either be present in the driver installation folder or in the windows directories (depending on how it was specified in the inf).
What you can also do is to download my free tool “Driver Injector” from the elbacom.com website. If you run it on your target system and choose the option “Explore INF” it will highlight you all the missing files. Those are the files that are needed to be put to the system to install the driver successfully.
Hope this helps,
Wolfgang
Wolfgang Unger
October 4, 2012 at 14:11