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        Configuring device installation timeout

Section(s): Administration
Published on Jul 26, 2006.
Last Modified on Jul 26, 2006.
Last Modified by Mitch Tulloch.
Rated 4.5 out of 5 based on 2 votes.

How to allow more time for new devices to install properly in Vista.

By default, when Windows Vista tries to install a new device on your system, it allows up to 300 seconds or 5 minutes for the device driver install process to complete. It is possible that some new devices might take longer than this to install properly, and in this case the default device installation timeout value could prevent them from installing their drivers properly on your system. Fortunately, you can use Local Group Policy to reconfigure this behavior by specifying a longer value for the device installation timeout. To do this, do the following:

1. Type gpedit.msc in the Start Search box and hit Enter.

2. Click Continue when the UAC prompt appears.

3. Navigate to the following policy location:

Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Device Installation

4. Enable the following policy setting:

Configure device installation timeout

5. Specify a new timeout value in seconds.

Note that 300 seconds is the minimum timeout value you can specify.

Cheers,
Mitch Tulloch, MVP
http://www.mtit.com

About Mitch Tulloch

Mitch Tulloch was lead author for the Windows Vista Resource Kit from Microsoft Press, which is the book for IT pros who want to deploy, maintain and support Windows Vista in mid- and large-sized network environments. Mitch was also the author of Introducing Windows Server 2008 and technical project lead for the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Resource Kit, both books also from Microsoft Press. For more information on these and other books by Mitch, see www.mtit.com .